Lweji, the Lunda ancestress-queen and consort of the hunter-hero
Lweji (Lueji) is the Lunda princess and queen of the great Lunda-Chokwe origin legend. In the oral tradition her father passed over his sons and bestowed on her the lukano, the bracelet that was the insignia of royal authority; when the Luba hunter-prince Chibinda Ilunga arrived at the Lunda court she married him and transferred sovereign power to him, an act remembered as the foundation of the Lunda dynasty of the Mwata Yamvo. Chokwe chiefs trace their ancestry to Lweji and Chibinda Ilunga, and because the Chokwe reckon descent matrilineally she holds particular significance as a founding ancestress. Her name is recorded in numerous regional variants (Lueji, Luweji, Lweshi, Rweej) across the Lunda, Chokwe and neighbouring peoples, and she features prominently in the legend that the Chokwe and Lunda alike recount of their origins.
Domains
- kingship and sovereignty
- ancestors and the dead
Powers
- to hold and bestow the inherited insignia of royal authority
Epithets
Relations
- spouse: Chibinda Ilunga, the deified hunter-hero and founder of sacred kingshipLweji married the Luba hunter-prince Chibinda Ilunga and conferred upon him the royal authority she had inherited, founding the dynastic line from which Chokwe chiefs descend.Jan Vansina, Kingdoms of the Savanna (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966). (secondary); Marie-Louise Bastin, Tshibinda Ilunga: héros civilisateur (Brussels, 1966). (secondary)
Sources
- Lweji is the Lunda princess and ancestress-queen of Lunda-Chokwe oral tradition who inherited the royal bracelet, married the hunter-hero Chibinda Ilunga, and stands at the matrilineal root of Chokwe chiefly descent.: Jan Vansina, Kingdoms of the Savanna (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966). (secondary); Marie-Louise Bastin, Tshibinda Ilunga: héros civilisateur (Brussels, 1966). (secondary)