fold them when the fish were inside. This is what we called mlembwe. Men would do the real fishing out there while we did mlembwe.”292
Rainy-season fishing offered the possibility of larger catches. Khaki Mwandipandusa remembered that “when the [annual Zambezi] floods came, we were very happy. . . . We were catching a lot of fish because, when the river flowed at a faster rate, fish at the bottom would now come to the shallow waters.”293From December through April, both the fish population and the number of large fish increased substantially. The faster-flowing currents, however, made catching fish harder and more dangerous.294 “We worked very hard,” stressed Aniva João, a fisherman from Inhangoma, “the river moved very quickly and there were so many fish that came out of the bhande [reeds]. We had to change our methods in order to capture them. During the floods we relied on a variety of different nets depending on where we were fishing, and [on] the types of fish.”295Most fishermen used dugout canoes to harvest their catch, while some individually trawled with nets along the shoreline.296They generally fished at night, when the water was calmer and the fish stayed closer to the surface, returning home with their catch before dawn.297Boatmen who were more skilled searched the Zambezi for rich fishing beds further afield.298
To ensure their safety against the dangers of the mighty river, fishermen—and mlembwe women—relied on the sheltering power of spirits to protect them from harm. Fishermen embarking on long river journeys made special offerings (ntsembe) to their deceased relatives. To avoid drowning in the river, some “sprinkle[d] libations into the water as an offering to ancestor spirits.”299According to Alberto Rapazolo, “in the past, before women went in work parties to catch fish, the chief and the elders would ask permission of the mudzimu [family ancestor spirits] to allow the women to enter the water and to protect them.”300
Because rainy-season fishing in the rivulets and streams connected to the Zambezi was much less time consuming and dangerous than in the swiftly moving river, it attracted both professional and part-time fishermen. During the seasonal floods, when water from the Zambezi filled these smaller channels, it carried in large schools of fish. Men in canoes set weiro, large traps made from bamboo reeds, at strategic points in the smaller channels. The floodwaters sweeping into the rivulets thrust fish into the traps, from which escape was impossible. Most fishermen using this technique returned daily to secure their catch until the river receded.301Others, working in groups of five to six, used nets to trap fish in the adjacent wetlands and marshes.302
Many peasants who lived near these inlets also took advantage of the high fish population during flood season to supplement their household food supply. These men used nkhonga, smaller triangular weirs they wove out of thick grass, bound with palm strings, and baited with porridge. After paying homage to their ancestors, they placed them with their openings facing the fast-moving water at the edges of waterways and in shallow ponds.303The men typically remained at these locations for a week or two, collecting and drying the fish and ensuring that crocodiles and other animals neither destroyed their weirs nor consumed the catch. Some, like Bernardo Gona, returned to his fishing site once every three or four days. On a good night, when the fish were running well, he could “bring home five or six sacks stuffed after only four hours.” He gave some of his catch to the people who worked with him in his garden, sold some to local traders, and consumed the rest.304After these part-time fishermen were satisfied that they had caught enough, they resumed working in the fields with their wives and children.305
As Gona’s account suggests, for many households the especially rich supply of fish the Zambezi provided during the rainy season both augmented protein intake and fueled local labor and commodity markets. Bene Ngoca, who lived on the opposite bank from Gona, painted a similar picture: “In a single day I could fill my entire canoe with large fish—bass, catfish, bream, and many others.”306In fact, the Zambezi valley’s fishing economy expanded considerably in the first part of the twentieth century due to the development of new fishing techniques, most notably the kokota seine nets and the psyairo (encircling fishing fence).307By the middle of the twentieth century, many families were selling fish at nearby markets, even though in some areas fishing for profit ran up against long-standing cultural prohibitions against overexploiting natural resources for individual gain.308As Marita Zhuwao explained, “In the past if one continued to fish even after one caught sufficient fish for one’s family, the spirit [of the river] would get angry. Then, if one threw in the nets to catch more fish, maybe one would catch a dead baby or [receive] some other bad omen.”309
Even if some exaggerated the size of the catch, there is no question that fishing was one of the twin pillars of the Zambezi valley’s economy, both for those who fished regularly and for many who primarily cultivated the land. Together with farming, it sustained riverside communities and fueled local trade. All this would change with the building of the dam.
Wildlife and Forest Resources
The riparian ecosystems of the lower Zambezi valley also supported an impressive variety of animal and tree species. Guinea fowl, bushpig, kudu, and waterbuck were everywhere, and eland, buffalo, gazelles, elephants, and rhinoceroses also roamed the region,310seeking nourishment, especially in the dry season, in the grasslands, floodplains, marshes, and caves near the river and regularly visiting its edge for water and food. The Zambezi delta, with its predictable episodes of massive flooding and silt deposits, and its abundant supplies of fresh water and food, also attracted a spectacular array of large mammals, including zebras, elephants, waterbuck, hippopotami, and buffalo,311and the river’s islands offered a particularly friendly habitat for many bird species, including the now-endangered wattled crane.
During the rainy season, when wild game that roamed the forests and scrublands of the floodplain stopped at the river to drink in the early mornings and late evenings, they became easy prey for local hunters.312Oral testimonies confirm the importance of hunting as both a source of food and an affirmation of male status in riverine communities. Zhuzi Luizhi reported that it was common to snare small animals as they “[sought] green grass along the river.”313Chidasiyikwa Mavungire remembered that “during the time we were young, people could . . . hunt in the floodplains. In the area between the two rivers, the Shire and the Zambezi, there used to be shrubs where [small] animals could be found.”314Other accounts highlighted both the prodigious supply of large game in the past (frequently expressed in the form of lists of animal species) and the community’s collective pride in the skill of talented hunters. Maurício Alemão, for instance, explained that “there were many animals for us to hunt, including elephants, buffalo, giraffes, and eland.”315
There were also two groups of renowned hunting specialists living on the margins of the river, who regularly provided meat to villages nearby. Those known as mukumbalumi killed elephants and larger game with homemade guns, called gogodas.316Their return to the village after a successful hunt was an occasion for great festivities and the consumption of large quantities of beer and meat—some distributed by the hunters among their relatives and the remainder exchanged for grain.317Phodzo canoemen armed with iron harpoons, by contrast, focused their hunting activities on hippopotami. After a kill, they removed the valuable hippo tusks for sale to the Europeans and sold some of the meat in nearby villages.318In a region inhospitable to livestock, the meat provided by all these hunters was a highly desired protein.
Rural communities also valued, and carefully managed, the timber and plant resources found in the savanna woodlands near the river. These river-nourished soils supported many species of trees, whose decomposing leaves were a natural fertilizer. Trees also supplied necessary materials for home construction, canoe building, fuel, and, the numerous wild fruits, roots, and tubers that supplemented rural diets.319Through the controlled use of fire, peasants balanced their dependence on these forest products with their knowledge that well-timed burns of wooded areas made other food sources available. Thus, fires at the conclusion of the harvest cleared land for next year’s agricultural cycle, while early-season fires were effective both at flushing game out of the forest for hunting and at creating paths through the bush for easy travel.
Additionally, floodplain habitats yielded many medicinal plants
