My father is Tumbuka, a tribal-specific group that broke away from the Zulu people during the Mfecane (the great migration of Zulu people during Shaka’s reign, moving north from South Africa). For the longest time, I didn’t appreciate my tribe, as very little is discussed, particularly in Zambia (there is a larger population in Malawi), but my father always made sure we knew the basic Tumbuka practices.

One of them was Gule wa Vimbuza, a traditional healing dance said to heal a diseased person suffering from ‘vimbuza’ and to be healed by the gule (dance). However, during colonisation and post-colonisation, the overarching message was that traditional practices are devilish. Having had all my education at a British private school, all my history classes made sure to drive that theory home. It never sat right with me. It was only post-high school that I decided to question this narrative. I stumbled upon an article, “Wazungu missionaries and Vimbuza performers: Contradictions in Northern Malawi", that discusses the effects Christian colonial missionaries had and have on African and African history specific to the Tumbuka people. I want to take this opportunity to reshape that narrative in the hope of reclaiming our history.