colonial powers. The Katotola also possesses supernatural powers, the one who finds what is hidden. The completion of the mukanda is celebrated with a graduation ceremony, the makishi masquerade. The boys are welcomed back into their community as adult men; the entire village is free to attend the makishi masquerade and pantomime- like performance. After the ritual, the makishi masks are burned or buried, symbolically returning them to the world of the dead. In recent times, masks have incorporated notions of the new; newer representations of makishi might include the face of a boom box, a VCR player, radio, or etc. The mukanda has an educational function of transmitting practical survival-skills as well as knowledge about nature, sexuality, religious beliefs and the social values of the community. In former times, it took place over a period of several months and represented the entire reason behind the makishi masquerade. The practice is not unique to the Luvale, and is also performed by many other groups. Today, it is often reduced to one month in order to adapt to the school calendar. This adjustment together with the increasing demand for makishi dancers at social gatherings and party rallies, might affect the ritual's original character. Marriage As is custom, when a couple is ready to be married, the groom is required to pay a bride price to the woman's family. In Luvale, the bride price is called "matemo" or "vikumba" ( meaning 'things'). It is offered to the bride's ("mwenga") relatives as a sign of respect and appreciation. A groom may welcome a bride with a small celebration ("vitilekela"). At this time, people of his village will greet the bride, encouraging her to be a good person and feed the village's children and strangers. Some days later, the bride goes through a ritual introducing her to her own hearth. This "lighting the fire" ritual characterizes all female transitions and is also performed for girls who have reached puberty and for new mothers. Sometime later the groom gives gifts ("vifupa wenga") to the bride's relatives which enable him to eat within their village or villages. This is followed by a return gift to the bride's matrilineal relatives which thereafter enables them to eat at the groom's village. Traditionally, the groom was expected to provide everything in the marriage (a house, food, clothes), so the wife leaves her home without her personal items including clothing.