The Lukasa: The Luba Memory Board
The Lukasa (memory board) is a sacred object in Luba tradition, a wooden board covered with beads and shells arranged in patterns that encode the entire history of the Luba people. According to legend, the first Lukasa was given to the Mbudye (memory specialists) by the founding heroes themselves. The beads represent kings, migrations, battles, sacred sites, and cosmic events. A trained Mbudye historian can 'read' a Lukasa like a book, reciting epics of the Luba kingdom that take days to complete. The Lukasa records the founding story of Mbidi Kiluwe and Kalala Ilunga, the list of all Luba kin