Ethnos

Bakongo

The Bakongo people (aka. the Kongo) live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire, Congo (Brazzaville) to Luanda, Angola. In the late 20th century they numbered about 10,220,000. In the east, their territory is limited by the Kwango River and in the northeast by Malebo (Stanley) Pool, in the Congo River. The Bakongo thus live in Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Angola.

The Bakongo religion centers on ancestor and spirit cults, which also play a part in social and political organization. They retain curious traces of the Christianity professed by them in the 16th and 17th centuries and possibly later. Crucifixes are used as potent fetish charms or as symbols of power passing down from chief to chief; whilst every native has a "Santu" or Christian name and is dubbed dom or dona. A strong tradition of prophetism and messianism among the Bakongo has given rise in the 20th century to nativistic, political-religious movements, mostly xenophobic. The most prolific art form from this area is the nkisi objects, which come in all shapes, mediums, and sizes. The stratification of Bakongo society resulted in much of the art being geared toward those of high status, and the nkisi figures were one of the only forms available to everyone. Their language is part of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo languages. Descent is reckoned through the female line, and tribes are grouped in lineages. The main characteristic of their social organization is fragmentation: nearly every village is independent of its neighbours, and almost nothing remains of the ancient Kongo kingdom.

The Bakongo cultivate cassava, bananas, corn (maize), sweet potatoes, peanuts (groundnuts), beans, and taro. Cash crops are coffee, cacao, urena, bananas, and palm oil. Fishing and hunting are still practiced by some groups, but many Bakongo live, work and trade in towns. ***