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The Luba people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have a twelve-month calendar which is thought to begin in September. Each month is named for natural occurrences and human activity appropriate to that time.
Months
- Mvul'a Mbedi (September) - "first rains", the beginning of the rainy season
- Kibitenda (October) - "white ants come out"
- Kaswa Bitenda (November) - "the little insects that can be seen here and there", brown ants come out of their mounds
- Tshiswe Munene (December) - "numerous brown ants"
- Tshiongo Wa Minanga (January) - "month of drought"
- Luishi (February) - "planting season" (corn)
- Lumungulu (March) - "planting season"
- Luabanya Nkasu (April) - "hoe distributor", a weeding month
- Tshisanga Nkasu (May) - "hoe assembling", the dry season, no planting goes on
- Kashipu Nkenza (June) - "first cold, dry air, then hot."
- Tshibungu Mulume (July) - "the cloudy month with a strong cloud"
- Tshibungu Mukaji (August) - "the cloudy month with a weak cloud"
References
- Mukenge, Tshilemalema(2002). Culture and customs of the Congo. Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 144-146, ISBN 0-313-31485-3.