Tokaleya

The Tokaleya people are indigenous to the area surrounding Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe. They comprise two related groups, the Toka (Batoka) and the Leya (Baleya), and they speak dialects of the Tonga language.

The Tokaleya have a long history in the area. For them the Falls are a sacred and essential element in their culture. Victoria Falls forms an integral part of their way of life and they have inhabited the area for hundreds of years. The Batoka give their name to the gorges downstream of the Victoria Falls.

The Tokaleya were not the first inhabitants of the area; rather, the hunter-gatherer Bushmen were autochthonous.

An example of a Tokaleya village is the Songwe Village, located 5km downstream from the Victoria Falls. Many specialist Botswana wilderness safaris, take visitors to a traditional Tokaleya village.