of the Barotse Province. Each 'recognized' Lunda and Luvale chief was nominally placed under of a Barotse induna; the language of local administration was Lozi, and all major decisions were referred to the Barotse Province headquarters in Mongu. In 1941, Balovale was formally made independent from the rest of Barotseland. Years prior, Sir Hubert Young, the governor of Northern Rhodesia at the time, had signed a 1936 agreement with the Litunga and the Kuta, setting up Native Courts in Barotseland, including Balovale in it. The Luvale and Lunda opposed this, and refused to accept the jurisdiction of the Barotse courts. The two tribes argued that they should have been consulted for this agreement, and another meeting was held in Livingstone in 1937, attended by the Barotse, Lunda, and Luvale leaders. However, the opposing sides were unable to come to consensus, and it was decided that a commission should look at the claims of both sides. King George VI selected Philip MacDonell as the president of the commission for his prior experience as a judge in Northern Rhodesia and elsewhere. He visited the areas in question and interviewed witnesses, but upon MacDonell's return to England, the government became preoccupied with WWII, and a final decision took some years to be made. On July 9, 1941, the Northern Rhodesia Government Gazette announced the change, stating that the King's Commissioner found that the land in the Balovale district did not belong to the Barotse. In accordance with this finding, it was decided that the Lunda and Luvale were entitled to be free from Barotse influence, and will have their own Native Courts, Native Authorities, and Native Treasuries. Post independence Luvale and Lunda ethnic strife reached such an intensity that States of Emergency had to be declared in the Zambezi District in the 1940s and 1950s. On August 27, 1998, conflict between the Luvale and Lunda once again erupted in northwestern Zambia, leaving hundreds homeless. Zambian President Chiluba had appointed only Lunda to top positions in local government in the region, widening ethnic divisions. Society and culture Society The Luvale observe matrilineal descent and prefer cross cousin marriage. Commoner lineage groups play a bigger role than in other northwestern Zambian peoples, and are rather independent of the chiefs. Traditionally, the Luvale do not recognize a paramount leader, but instead pledge allegiance to local chiefs who inherit their positions matrilineally from the maternal uncle. Chiefs