FurtherReadings
Harper, P. (1969). Dance in Nigeria.Ethnomusicology,
13 (2), 280–295.
Nodal, R. (1983). The Social Evolution of the Afro-
Cuban Drum.The Black Perspective in Music, 11 (2),
157–177.
Vega, M. V. (2000). Interlocking African Diaspora
Cultures in the Work of Fernando Ortiz.Journal of
Black Studies, 31 (1), 39–50.
BATONGA
The Batonga are a southeastern African ethnic
group that can be found in Malawi, Zimbabwe,
and Zambia. Their historians say that they origi-
nated in a land in northeast Africa and migrated
to their present area during a period of political
and social unrest. It is also believed that the
Batonga are related to the Maravi or the Tumbuka
because their languages are similar. However,
among the Bantu, it is possible to see similarities
in the languages and yet not be able to detect a
direct line of descent.
The Tonga or Batonga claim to be a separate
ethnic group largely because they share a common
language and a common name for their group.
Their language is calledchiTonga, meaning the
“language of the Tonga.” The Batonga, for exam-
ple, do not accept the identification of the
Tumbuka or the Maravi. Nevertheless, their iden-
tity has been complicated by the fact that they
were invaded and conquered, in part, by the
mighty Ngoni during their migrations up and
down the Rift Valley and into southern Africa. A
group of Ngoni reached the area of the Batonga as
late as the 19th century and defeated the Batonga
in battle, subduing them and integrating them into
the Ngoni civil and social systems.
The Ngoni were a patrilineal people, after
having adopted the practice hundreds of years
before, and they forced the matrilineal Batonga
to accept the new pattern of descent. By 1855,
most of the villages of the Batonga were matri-
lineal and had become areas under the domina-
tion of the Ngoni army. Incorporated into the
Ngoni military units, the Batonga soldiers were
forced to perform the most menial of tasks.
However, in 1876, the Batonga rose in a violent
revolt against their Ngoni overlords and fought
fiercely for independence. They were unsuccess-
ful, and the reaction of the Ngoni was severe.
Members of the royal house of the Batonga were
killed, the oversight of the Batonga people
became more stringent, and the use of the
Batonga in military raids was increased, also
increasing the possibility that they would
become fodder for the armies of opponents.
Remnants of the Batonga who were able to
escape the power of the Ngoni built their villages
on small islands in the middle of Lake Nyasa or in
fortresses alongside the shores of the lake. This
gave them military advantage and protection from
marauding armies. It is easy to see how the religion
of the Batonga was influenced by their lifestyle.
Living in and around Lake Nyasa in Malawi,
the Batonga developed a deep regard for water.
They became principally fishers, although they
ate cassava as one of the mainstays of their diets.
Given that the Batonga were infiltrated by Ngoni
culture, they adopted many of the customs and
styles of the Ngoni. They usedlobola, a gift of
cattle, for marriage payments, and they adopted
the Ngoni tradition of the family paying the hus-
band’s family if the wife became ill. There were
certain rules to keep males from divorcing wives
without public hearing and repudiation, although
the wives could dismiss their husbands without
any such formality. This may have been one of
the holdovers from the time of the woman-
centered tradition of the Batonga. If a woman
died away from her family, they could demand
payment from the husband.
The Batonga people have a distant supreme
deity who is quite remote—so remote, in fact,
that the people do not call his name because he
does not figure in their lives at all. It is only
when they are pressed to discuss the nature of
creation that the Batonga would reveal the fact
that they believe in a supreme deity. Otherwise,
the Batonga honor the ancestors whom they
have known. They consult diviners, believe in
the power of spirit transcendance, and search
for answers to ordinary problems from the
ancestors. All spirits are respected, consulted,
and propitiated as needed by the society.
There is also a belief in reincarnation. The
Batonga believe that after death a person could
receive another totem—that is, by consulting the112 Batonga