and their commercial history have established them
as significant players in the development of the
trade along the coast. However, it is at the level of
custom, culture, politics, and traditions that they
exhibit strong African religious practices. They cul-
tivate yam, paddy rice, and maize. They are known
principally as rice producers, although they only
started that practice when they moved their villages
to the mangroves during the European slave raids
of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.
The intensive human labor that was required
by rice farming also impacted the structure of the
community’s religion because it required high-
density and compact village patterns. The Balanta
had to develop the use of the iron tip shovel,
kebinde, to compete with their neighbors in the
practice of agriculture. Although the Balanta are
not the most numerous people in Guinea Bissau,
they occupy a large geographical area and still
produce millet, maize, and peanuts.
The Portuguese created an enormous crisis in
the culture of the coastal people as the Muslims
had done hundreds of years earlier. The Balanta
had worked to maintain customs and traditions
based on their ancestral histories; however, noth-
ing could prevent them from being seduced by
the unchecked slave raids along the coast. The
European slave trade reinforced ethnic distinc-
tions and led to neighbors fighting against neigh-
bors. The Bijagos ethnic group was well known
as supporters of the European slave traders. But
other groups, such as the Papel and the Manjaco,
were dedicated to producing food supplies for the
European coastal trading posts. When the slave
trade ended, the Balanta, involved tangentially in
the trade, sought to continue their traditional cus-
toms, but the commercial interests established by
the Portuguese produced a desire for many of
them to migrate to Europe and Cape Verde as
share croppers and to Senegal and Gambia as
rubber producers.
Balanta and other groups sought to limit
Portugal’s control of the coast. However, Portugal
gained power over this coastal region through
trade and maintained it by fostering interethnic
conflicts among neighbors. For example, in 1913,
the Portuguese under the leadership of Teixeira
Pinto formed an alliance with the Fula army under
the leadership of Abdulai Injai to defeat all coastal
groups, including the Balanta. By exploiting the
competition among the African groups, the
Portuguese were able to gain control of the food
and water supplies along the coast and contain the
Balanta people. Of course, what they could not
contain or restrain were the traditions of the
people and the survival of their will to respect
their ancestors.Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoAncestorsFurther Readings
Lobban, R. A., Jr., & Mendy, P. K. (1999).Historical
Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau(3rd ed.).
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Lopes, C. (1987).Guinea-Bissau:From Liberation
Struggle to Independent Statehood. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press.
Rodney, W. (1970).A History of the Upper Guinea
Coast, 1545 – 1800. New York: Monthly Review
Press.BALENGUE
The Balengue live in Equatorial Guinea bordering
Gabon. Their language is Molengue, a language
that is similar to many in the so-called Bantu
group. However, the Balengue are a small group
of people who are also called the Molendji. They
are related to many of the other people in the
northwestern cluster of Bantu speakers in Gabon.
This northwestern cluster is composed of several
groups, including the Bubi, Duala, and Kossi;
however, the Balengue are a significant group
within the area. Moreover, they are also in close
proximity to the Fang people, a larger ethnic
group that has had an important cultural impact
on the Balengue people.
The Balengue, like other Bantu peoples, believe
in life after death, and they believe that the dead
can and will interact with the living. In this regard,
they are not different from many other Africans
who accept the idea that ancestors are active in the
lives of the living. All Balengue believe that those94 Balengue