Baganda, it is important to go through all the
phases where one learns manners (mpisa), how to
greet visitors properly, and how to sit and stand
correctly in order to engage in the necessary prepa-
rations for afterlife. All relationships are valued,
and the idea of being sociable is the key compo-
nent to a good community.
Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoRites of Passage
Further Readings
Fallers, L. A. (Ed.). (1964).The King’s Men:Leadership
and Status in Buganda on the Eve of Independence.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Lugira, A. M. (1970).Ganda Art. Kampala, Uganda:
OSASA Publications.
Roscoe, J. (1911).The Baganda:An Account of Their
Native Customs and Beliefs. London: Macmillan.
BAKONGO
More than 10 million people comprise the
Bakongo ethnic group that lives along the coastal
regions of the Congo, Peoples Democratic
Republic of Congo, and Angola. They migrated to
this region in the 13th century from the northeast,
which would place their point of origin in the
eastern Peoples Democratic Republic of Congo or
the heart of Africa. The Bakongo enjoyed a highly
developed kingdom and were one of the earliest
groups to make contact with the Portuguese in the
15th century. Not long after, Catholicism and dis-
graceful Portuguese trade practices were intro-
duced, which caused division among the Bakongo
people, prompting King Affonso to write the King
of Portugal proposing a resolution of the situa-
tion. This would signal the beginning of a long,
tragic, and complex relationship among the
Bakongo, Portuguese, and Catholicism that sent
many Bakongo into the European Slave Trade in
enslaved Africans, set up the Congo for colonial
rule, and influenced the contemporary political
activity of the region. Although Catholicism was
introduced to the Bakongo relatively early com-
pared with other parts of Africa and today retains
a strong Catholic presence, indigenous religious
and cultural practices thrive and have been identi-
fied in Haitian and New Orleans Vodou, Cuban
Regla de Palo, Lucumi, and Regla de Ocha,
Brazilian Umbanda and Candomble, and African
American expressive culture.Creation and Cosmology
The principle creator of the world is Nzambi
Mpungu, the sovereign master. After creating the
world and all creatures in it, Nzambi Mpungu
withdrew and has little interest in the world and
its inhabitants. Although Nzambi Mpungu with-
drew, he still causes the rain to fall and seeds to
grow into food to sustain people. Nzambi
Mpungu is also responsible for their health and
the birth of children. Nzambi Mpungu is strong,
rich, and good, although also responsible for
death. Nzambici is God the essence, the god on
Earth, the great princess, the mother of all the
animals. Nzambi is the mystery of the Earth. She
was sent to the Earth by Nzambi Mpungu, who
then marries her, making him the father of all
creation. Nzambi gave humanity all laws, ordi-
nances, arts, games, and musical instruments and
settled quarrels between animals. She also stole a
part of Nzambi Mpungu’s fire. Other deities
among the Bakongo are Ntangu who is the sun,
Ngonde the moon, Nzassi who is thunder,
Lusiemo who is lightning, and Chicamassi-
chinuinji who dwells in the sea.
Like many African groups, the Bakongo have
numerous accounts of creation and the origins of
things. Often in these narratives, the activities of
different deities or characters vary from, contra-
dict, or clarify previous information. This is the
nature of oral cultures, in which storytelling is
fluid and contextual, but also in which knowledge
is esoteric. In such cultures, stories mask deeper
knowledge that is known only to initiates. What
follows is an account of Bakongo cosmology,
from anngânga, an initiate into an Africa way of
thinking, using concrete and less symbolic or
mythological language.
The world was empty of all life in the begin-
ning. A fire force,kalûnga, emerged within this
empty circle, ormbûngi, and heated up its con-
tents, which, when cooled, formed the Earth. The
Earth, the starting point of the fire, is now a green90 Bakongo