ABSTRACT
The Lunda, Luena, and related peoples together occupy most of the eastern half of Portuguese Angola and smaller areas in the north-western districts of Northern Rhodesia and in Katanga Province of the Belgian Congo. Groups of Lunda and Luena have lived in Northern Rhodesia for about four centuries, while further immigrations of Luena, together with Chokwe, Luchazi and Mbunda, have occurred within the last fifty years. The Nkoya-Mbwela are thought to be the descendants of pre-seventeenth century settlers in the region. Apart from this last group, about which very little is known, these peoples form a fairly homogeneous group, speaking similar languages, practising matrilineal descent and patrilocal marriage, and having loose, de-centralised political systems. The rela tive importance of various features of their economy differs considerably from one area to another, corresponding with ecological differences, but the variation is sometimes as great within one tribe as between different tribes. Grouping in this survey has therefore been adopted for con venience only and follows that generally used in the literature. Thus the Portuguese tend to class Lunda and Chokwe as one group, and Luena, Luchazi, Mbunda etc. as another, the latter group being usually called the Ganguella, In Northern Rhodesia, on the other hand, all these tribes (with the exception of Nkoya-Mbwela) are often referred to collectively as Balovale.
