who live on both banks of the river in the cataracts districts,
the Kabinda and the Mayumbe—the two last named dwelling
in the coast districts and foot-hills immediately north of the
mouth of the Congo. A custom prevails among the coast tribes
of placing their marriageable maidens on view in little bowers
specially built for the purpose—the skin of the girls being stained
red. The Ba-Kongo, as a whole, appear to be a degenerate race,
the primitive type having been degraded by several centuries
of contact with the worst forms of European civilization (see
further Angola: Inhabitants). Extending from the Kwango
affluent of the Kasai to Lake Tanganyika are the Luba-Lunda
groups. Of these the most widespread tribe is the Ba-Luba (q.v.).
The next in importance, the Ba-Lunda, are mostly confined to
the western half of this vast region. They have given their
name to the Lunda district of Angola. From the 16th century
(and possibly earlier) down to the close of the 19th century the
Lunda peoples formed a more or less homogeneous state, the
successive sovereigns being known as the Muata Yanvo. The
Katanga, one of the Luba tribes, also founded a kingdom of
some extent and power. They occupy and have given their
name to the south-east part of the colony. In southern Katanga
a tribe called Bassanga are cave-dwellers, as are also the Balomoto,
who live in the Kundelungu hills west of Lake Mweru. Possibly
connected with the Luba-Lunda group are the cannibal Manyema
(q.v.), whose home is the district between Tanganyika and the
Lualaba at Nyangwe.
Living north of the Luba-Lunda tribes, and occupying the country enclosed by the great bend of the Congo and bounded west by the Kasai, are a large number of tribes, the chief groups being the Bakuba, Basongo Mino, Balolo, Bakete, Bambala, Bayaka, Bahuana, &c. Of these the Basongo Mino are spread over the country between the Kasai and Lomami. Between the last-named river and the Lualaba dwell the savage and cannibal Batetela and Bakussu. Farther north and largely occupying the valley of the Ruki are the Mongo, a large forest tribe. Along the middle Congo from Stanley Pool to Stanley Falls the more important tribes are the Bateke, in the Stanley Pool district, but chiefly on the north side of the river in French territory; the Bayanzi (Babangi), between the mouths of the Kasai and the Ubangi; the Bangala, one of the most gifted of the Congo tribes, whence are recruited many of the soldiery; the Bapoto and the Basoko. These Bangala are not to be confused with the Bangala of the Kwango, also cannibals, who in marauding bands under leaders styled Jaga were devastating the country in the days of the early Portuguese settlements in the Congo regions. The Banza and Mogwandi are large tribes living in the region between the Congo and the Ubangi.
These Bantu races may be further divided into plain, forest and riverine tribes. With the exception of a few riverine tribes, such as the Wagenia who are fishers only, all are agriculturists and the majority keen traders, going long distances to buy and sell goods, but there are marked differences among them corresponding to their environment. The riverine tribes build excellent canoes and large “fighting” boats, and are almost uniformly expert boatmen and fishermen and live much on the water; so much so that Hermann von Wissmann and other travellers were struck by the insignificant leg development of several of these tribes. In general the physical development of these people is scarcely so great as that of the average northern European, but the majority are well formed. The most savage and truculent of the tribes are those who live in the forest regions; the most advanced in culture, the dwellers in the plains. Nearly all the tribes have tattoo markings on the face and body; to this rule the Ba-Kongo tribes are an exception. Save where the tribes have come under Arab or European influence, the clothing is extremely scanty, but absolute nudity is not known. The villages of the tribes of the lower Congo are usually surrounded by a palisade; the houses or huts are rectangular and about 7 ft. high, fetishes are usually found over the entry. The Bateke build their houses in circular groups opening on a sort of courtyard; the houses in Bangala villages are built in parallel rows about 200 ft. apart; plantations of manioc usually surround the villages. Two varieties of culture exist among the tribes inhabiting the state: that extending over the western and central area, and that of the Welle district and eastern fringe. In the former the bow with vegetable string is the chief weapon, and clothing is woven from palm fibre; in the east spears are found, and in the Welle district swords and throwing-knives also; clothing made from skins also makes its appearance, and more attention is paid to the shades of departed ancestors.
Some tribes, notably the Ba-Luba, possess considerable skill in working in wood, ivory and metals (chiefly iron and copper). The knives, spears and shields of native workmanship frequently show both ingenuity and skill, alike in design and execution. Musical instruments of crude design are common. Over a great part of the country the natives manufacture cloth from vegetable fibre. They employ four different colours, yellow, the natural colour, black, red and brown, which are obtained by dyeing, and these colours they combine into effective designs. In some tribes a rude form of printing designs on cloth is practised, and on the Sankuru and Lukenye a special kind of cloth, with a heavy pile resembling velvet, is made by Bakuba and other tribes. In several districts the action of the state officials and the concession companies in enforcing the collection of large quantities of rubber caused the tribes to abandon their former habits and industries; on the other hand, cannibalism, formerly widely prevalent and practised by tribes with a comparatively high culture (e.g. the Bangala), has been largely stamped out by the rigorous measures adopted by the state. The holding of slaves, and slave-raiding by one tribe upon another, is also prohibited.
In general, each tribe is autonomous, but, as already stated, considerable kingdoms have been created by the Luba-Lunda groups, as also by the Ba-Kongo, the founders of the “Kingdom of Congo” (see Angola). The Balunda “empire” of Muata Yanvo fell to pieces on the death of the chief Muteba, killed in a war with the Kioke, a Bantu tribe of the upper Kasai, in 1892. At one time this “empire” extended from the Kwango to the Lualaba.[1] The Katanga kingdom, then ruled by an Unyamwezi adventurer named Msiri, was overthrown by the Congo State in 1891. The kingdom of the Cazembe (q.v.), which was to the south and east of Katanga, has also vanished. Among the Bangala, each village has its chief.
Each tribe speaks a different language or dialect of Bantu, the chief groups being described in the article Bantu Languages. Swahili, a Bantu tongue with an admixture of Arabic, &c., is understood by many tribes besides those which have been under the direct influence of the Zanzibar Arabs, and it is the most general means of communication. The religion of the Congo tribes is difficult to define. Belief in a Supreme Being is vague but universal, but as this Being is good, or at least neutral, he is disregarded, and the native applies himself to the propitiation and coercion, by magical means, of the countless malignant spirits with which he imagines himself to be surrounded, and which are constantly on the watch to catch him tripping. Elaborate funeral rites, often accompanied by human sacrifice, play a most important part in native life. The idea is that the dead man shall enter the spirit world in a manner befitting his earthly rank, or he would be despised by the other spirits, and also that if proper respect were not shown to his remains, he might bring supernatural punishment on his relations. The point to be recognized is the extremely close connexion in the mind of the native between life in this world and the next, and between the mundane and the supernatural.
The European population, before 1880, consisted of a few traders, Dutch, English, French and Portuguese, having factories in the Congo estuary. By the end of 1886 the Europeans numbered 254, of whom 46 were Belgians. In January 1908 the white population had risen to 2943, 1713 being Belgians.
- ↑ Later on a chief named Kalambo carved out a new “empire” in the central part of the Kasai basin, his authority extending westward from the upper Sankuru into the Lunda district of Angola. He was in 1909 and for several years previously independent of the Belgians and Portuguese, and had closed the country to Europeans.
