The elders of every culture instruct their youth, by example and often by precept, to negotiate the dangers and intrigues of the wilderness - be they the allures and snares of New York City or of the African bush. The youth must be taught to discern the trustworthy from the crooked. Thus, their elders tell tall tales to pass on their experience, hoping that by invoking the folk wisdom of traditional stories they might prepare the uninitiated. In Africa, moving safely through the wild requires not only skill - mastering the arts of traveling, hunting, and warriorship - but also maintaining alertness for tricksters, forest creatures, or malicious sorcerers. One must be bushwise. The Chokwe people, who live primarily in the savanna of southern Zaire and northeastern, Angola, tell traditional stories called yishima (singular chishima) that reflect their bush experiences.
Whether traveling, hunting, farming, or just walking to the river to bathe, the Chokwe traverse the wilderness daily. The mysterious bush intrigues them endlessly, as evidenced in the number of yishima centered there. Bush stories teach Chokwe youth that wise travelers - through their timely actions - not only avoid dangerous sorcerers and their harmful apparitions but can benefit from the assistance of spirit allies. The Chokwe tell and retell these stories; they are mirrors reflecting their lives. The images, both tragic and comic, make them worry and laugh about their daily struggles in gathering food and battling foes. In addition, these stories cause them to muse about their connection with the universe. Like humans everywhere, the Chokwe not only live surrounded by the actual "wilderness," but also explore ideas about their place within that world.
The Chokwe and their tales
In earlier days, the Chokwe (also Tshokwe and Cokwe) were renowned warriors, traders, and sorcerers who wandered throughout the Central African savanna - southern Zaire, northeastern Angola, and parts of Zambia. Today, as predominately small-scale farmers, they live in more established communities. Their villages, twelve to sixteen thatch-roofed huts housing relatives from the same clan, are nestled in the endless grassy plains. Settled near rivers and their slash-and-burn fields, the villagers live off the land and travel to the distant town only for commodities such as soap, salt, and cloth.
Day by day, people work in the bush: They farm, hunt, and fish; gather grubs and greens; and walk to the river to bathe, wash clothes, and get water. Living in a Chokwe village, one coexists with the nearby bush - its creatures, plants, and animals - for the bush provides almost all needs. The weather regulates the villagers' daily movements to and fro: In the rainy season, from mid-August to May, they plant and harvest and fish, while in the dry season they hunt in groups roving throughout the plain or scavenge for the few surviving manioc greens and riverside plants.
Primarily known in the West for their exquisite wooden sculptures and ritual masks, the Chokwe also dance, sing, and tell remarkable stories. Their traditional tales describe Chokwe life and play upon concepts about that world, passed on from generation to generation. Told around the home fires when people gather in the evening to visit, these stories entertain and teach.
The Chokwe also use yishima to instruct when
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