Chisungu

The Bemba female initiation rite, marking the passage of a young woman from girlhood into marriage. Chisungu lasts several weeks and is conducted by senior women, who use clay figurines, painted designs, and songs to transmit the social, sexual, and ritual knowledge a Bemba wife is expected to carry. The rite was famously documented by anthropologist Audrey Richards in the 1930s and continues in modified form today.