flashy sequins or beads are known aspacquets-
congo. Thesimbior Kôngo spirits of the Dead are
believed to guide the making of pacquets.
Bottle trees, as seen in the southern United
States, are also found in the Berbice area of
Guyana and among the Djuka of Surinam and
Trinidad.
Patricia E. CansonSeealsoNganga; Nkisi
Further Readings
Creel, M. (1991). Gullah Attitudes Toward Life and
Death. In J. E. Holloway (Ed.),Africanisms in
American Culture(pp. 69–97). Bloomington: Indiana
University Press.
Diop, C. (1974).The African Origin of Civilization.
Chicago: Lawrence Hill.
Fu-Kiau, K. (2001).African Cosmology of the Bantu-
Kongo. Brooklyn: Athelia Henrietta Press.
Holloway, J. (Ed.). (1991).Africanisms in American
Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Matibag, E. (1966).Afro-Cuban Religious Experience:
Cultural Reflections in a Narrative. Gainesville:
University of Florida Press.
Sarduy, P., & Stubbs, J. (Eds.). (1993).Afrocuba.
Melbourne: Ocean Press.
Thompson, R. (1983).Flash of the Spirit. New York:
Random House.
Thompson, R. (1993).Face of the Gods:Art and Altars
of Africa and the African Americas. New York: The
Museum for African Art.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization. (2005, July 21).Slavery in Brazil.
Retrieved December 10, 2007, from http://portal
.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8161&
URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
PEDI
The Pedi are a southern African people often
called the Northern Sotho because they are a
branch of the large Sotho people. However, the
Pedi have established their own identity through-
out their history. They developed as a separate
group in the 16th and 17th centuries through a
series of wars and political arrangements. Like so
many larger groups in Africa, the Pedi combined
with smaller kingdoms to create a larger confed-
eration for defensive and social reasons. The fact
that they shared the same language and customs
made it easy for them to have a confederation.
When the Pedi were defeated by the armies of
the Ndebele king Mzilikazi on his way north, they
were scattered until a great king, Sekwati, restored
their unity and revived the Pedi people. Of course,
they were then engaged in battle against the
invading European Boer armies pushing toward
the Limpopo River.
One must not assume that the Pedi are a rela-
tively young people, because they have a long his-
tory as a part of the body of the Sotho-speaking
people. They migrated southward from the region
of the Great Lakes in Central Africa around the
14th century and settled in southern Africa.
Among the people who settled in what is now
South Africa were the Hurutse. The Pedi are
related to this group of people. There was a great
king named Mokgatla who gave his name to the
people called Bakgatla. According to history,
Mokgatla withdrew from the group that he had
created, and another king, Tabane, split from the
main Pedi group as well. Tabane was succeeded
by Mostsha, his son, who was then succeeded by
his son, Diale.
The Pedi developed a strategy for defending
their homesteads that depended on surprise.
They were the masters of surprise during
encounters with other ethnic groups. The sol-
diers would march for 2 days in a direction
opposite the enemy, giving the impression that
they were not going to attack, but were engaged
elsewhere, and then suddenly, like a leopard,
they would turn and pounce on the enemy’s ter-
ritory. Because they had been defeated by many
groups, the Pedi, who were not military in the
sense of the Zulu, Ndebele, or Xhosa, had to
develop an alternative strategy. The military
organization of the Pedi was not a science or a
way of life. The Pedi people practiced neighbor-
liness and lived as much as possible in harmony
with their closest neighbors.
An independent people, the Pedi encouraged
each man to be responsible to his family, provide
for his children, follow the ideas of his ancestors,
and take no prisoners in any warfare. Thus, a
king might hold a council with the elders of an520 Pedi