LAK ES
Lakesembodyuniquequalitiesofwaterthat are
distinc t fromstreams,rivers,waterfalls,se as,an d
oceans.Like streamsandrivers, lakesarea source
ofpreciousfr eshwateran d fis h,bothessentialfo r
sustaining life. However, unlike rivers, lakes are
completelybor deredbylandthat,combined with
theirabilitytonu rture andsustainlife,likenthem
to th e li fe-sustaining fluids of thewomb.There fore,
manylakesareconsidered“mothers,”have fe mi -
nineattributes,or areconnectedwithorigins.
TheLuonameforAfrica’smostfamouslake,
Nalubaale(Victoria),thesecondlargestfreshwater
lakein theworld,translatesas“Mother ofGods.”
Lubaale meansdeity,andth e prefixna de notes the
fe minine.A furtherconnectionbetween lakesand
motherhoodexistsinthere gionwhereNalubaale
is located, whichis calledth e Great Lakesre gion
of East/CentralAfrica.TheGreatLakes regionis
part oftheGreatRiftValley, hometoth e world’s
earliest human fossil record. LakeNalubaale is
alsothesourceofth e NileRi ver.
The ancient Egyptians referred to the lands
southoftheNileValleyasta -kensetorliterally
placenta land. Today, more than 100 million
peopleliveinth e GreatLa kesregion,which con -
sistsof 14 majorlakesandnumeroussmaller ones,
suchasTanganyika,Malawi, Turkana,Edward,
Ki vu , Kyoga,Rukwa,Mweru,MobutuSeseSeko
(Albert),Haya,Naivasha,Ukerewe, andNyassa.
Althoughmanylakesareconsi deredfeminine,
therearesomewhosespirits anddeitiesassociated
wi thit ar emasculine. Among the Buganda,
Mukusa,thedeityas sociatedwithLakeVictoriais
male.Mukasa,themost importantofalldeities,
dwellsin thelake andis thelakeitself.Mukasais
alsothegodoffisher menandis knownthrough -
ou t theregionbyhisassociationwithCwezi cults,
a groupofherogodswhodisappearedintolakes
orholesinthegroundmadebyMukasa.Mukasa
alsohaschargeoverrain,storms, increaseinfish,
aswellasthegrantingofthebirthoftwins.His
symbols includepythons,canoepaddles,andthe
can oeandhereceivessacrifices.Onthesouthern
shoresofLakeNalubaale, thename ofth e high
godis Ngassa,a possiblevariationofMukasa,but
withthesimilarattributes.
Lakesarea placeofdangerandmysteryand
arehome tomythicalcreatures,numerousspirits,
andquasihumanbeings. Thepeoplelivingonthe
mainlandclaimthatthecenterofLakeNalubaale
is a danger ousplace with islands inhabitedby
ho stile na tives.TheBanyoromakeofferingstothe
spiritofLakeMobutuSeseSekowhena person
wants tocr ossit.InGhana,soulsaresaidtosay
goodbyetoGodatLakeBosumtwi.Therefore,it
is forbiddentouseboatsonthelake.Fishermen
mustus e flatboardsorrafts,andduringJulyand
August, fishingis forbiddenaltogetherbecausethe
spiritofthelakeis resting.
Gen er allyspeaking,thereis a deity,spirit,or
spiritsthatresideinorareassociatedwithmost
lakesinAfrica.However,thegeographicaldistri-
bu tionoflakesinAfrica varies, with anabun -
danceofnaturalla kesinCentralandEastAfrica
andrelativelyfewlakesin NorthandWestAfrica.375