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.