"Tradition" has neither been static or blissful, nor are colonial powers to be blamed entirely for its "decline". The historical analyses of the marriage "traditions" of the Toka from the turn of the century to the present day clearly indicate that the making and unmaking of marriage practices were mainly due to the power play between rural elders and urban young men, and for a period the colonial administration with its introduction of a formalized court system. In independent Zambia the struggle between young and old men over the control of women and the resources that are involved still gives rise to the creation of new "traditions".