Nachituti's Gift: Economy, Society, and Environment in Central Africa (Africa and the Diaspora)

320 Pages·2006·1.3 MB·English

by  David M. Gordon

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nachituti s gift
’
africa and the diaspora
History, Politics, Culture
series editors
Thomas Spear
David Henige
Michael Schatzberg
NACHITUTI’S GIFT
ECONOMY, SOCIETY, AND
ENVIRONMENT IN
CENTRAL AFRICA
David M. Gordon
the university of wisconsin press
The University ofWisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53711
www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LU, England
Copyright © 2006
The Board ofRegents ofthe University ofWisconsin System
All rights reserved
1 3 5 4 2
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gordon, David M., 1970–
Nachituti’s gift: economy, society, and environment in central Africa / David M. Gordon.
p. cm.—(Africa and the diaspora)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-299-21360-9 (hardcover: alk. paper)—
ISBN 0-299-21364-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Luapula River Valley (Zambia and Congo)—Social life and customs.
2. Luapula River Valley (Zambia and Congo)—Economic conditions.
3. Luapula River Valley (Zambia and Congo)—Environmental conditions.
4. Fisheries—Economic aspects—Luapula River Valley (Zambia and Congo).
5. Fish trade—Luapula River Valley (Zambia and Congo).
6. Bemba (African people)—Economic conditions.
I. Title. II. Series.
DT3140.L83G67 2005
968.94—dc22
contents
Illustrations vii
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Translation and Orthography xiii
Introduction: Tenure, Wealth, and Environment 3
part 1: stories of conquest
1 Nachituti’s Gift: The Kazembe Kingdom and
Owners of the Land 27
2 The Colonial Net: Chiefs on a Colonial Border 62
3 The Meanings of Wealth: People and Things 86
part 2: the fishery
4 Mpumbu: Colonialism and Conservation 115
5 Pale: States and Patrons 141
6 Chisense: Wealth and Family 170
Conclusion: Tragic Assumptions 199
Appendix 205
Abbreviations 207
Notes 209
Glossary 257
Bibliography 261
Index 291
v

illustrations
Figures
1 Genealogy of the Kazembes 39
2 Goat Clan Matrilineage and the Kazembes 41
3 Expatriate and African Firms and Outlets in
Kasenga, 1932–48 92
4 Purchases of Mpumbu by Union Minière du Haut
Katanga from Kasenga, 1945–48 120
Photographs
1 Weirs and Traps on the Luapula 121
2 Removing a Trap from a Weir on the Luapula 122
3 An Ichombo on the Luapula 122
4 Union Minière du Haut Katanga Fish Buyers at Kasenga 123
5 Weirs on Floodplains near Kanakashi Island to
Catch Juvenile Pale 147
6 Loading an Ichombo with Goods to Trade for Fish 147
7 Fish Trader with Smoked Juvenile Pale on an Ichombo 148
8 Fresh Fish Trader at Mukwakwa Fishing Camp 149
9 Chisense Fishing Boat 184
10 Distributing the Chisense Catch 185
11 Drying and Processing Chisense 185
12 Rural Traders in Kashikishi Fishing Camp 186
13 Bus with Chisense 186
14 Urban Fish Depot 187
Maps
1 Mweru-Luapula and the Region xiv
2 Mweru-Luapula, 1860s–80s 49
vii
viii Illustrations
3 Colonial Mweru-Luapula, 1940s–50s 80
4 Select Fishing Camps and Villages, 1970s–90s 150
preface and acknowledgments
When I first arrived in Mweru-Luapula, the fertile floodplains, rivers,
andlakesthatformpartof thepoliticalboundarybetweenZambiaand
theDemocraticRepublicof Congo(DRC),Iplannedtoinvestigatehow
chiefs, businesspeople, and politicians had secured power and profit
during the colonial and postcolonial periods. In graduate school, after
readingtheworkof scholarslikeJanetMacGaffey,JaneGuyer,andSara
Berry,Ihaddecidedtostudyinformalpoliticalandeconomicnetworks
that rested on unrecorded or illicit economic activities. It took more
thanafewvisitstothefishmarketstochangemymind.Whilebargain-
ingovermyeveningmeal,IpracticedmyBembalanguageskillsbyask-
ingaboutthefishery.Whocaughtthefish?Whereweredifferentspecies
found? How were they caught, processed, and traded? As some of my
questionswereanswered,Icametorealizehowcrucialthefisherywas
tothesubsistenceandcommercialeconomyof theLuapulaValley—it
seemed to be the full-time occupation of nearly one-quarter of those
who lived in the densely populated valley and a significant source of rev-
enue and food for all. A study of the fishery posed questions key to
understanding central Africa’s political economy, most notably how cor-
porate groups controlled access to scarce resources and translated this
access into forms of wealth.
Iwasuncertainaboutthisrealignmentof interests.Apioneerinthe
writingof Luapula’shistory,MwelwaC.Musambachime,hadalready
written an excellent doctoral dissertation about the rise of the fishery
duringthecolonialperiod.Perhapsaninvestigationof afisheryputtoo
literalaninterpretationonJean-FrançoisBayart’s“politicsof thebelly”?
Yet if, as the popular African saying goes, a goat eats where he is teth-
ered,myfoodforthought—andmyfood!—wasLuapula’sfish.Patterns
of wealth, patronage, and political power in Luapula revolved around
the fishery; fish are to Luapula what cocoa is to parts of West Africa.
The questions I had asked about rural elites in the abstract became
grounded in the fishery. How had forms of ownership and control in the
ix