|
Zaire Bantu-Speakers of the Eastern Forest and Plain
To the south of the Central Sudanic-speaking groups and
to some
degree mixed in with them live a number of Bantu-speaking
groups.
While generally forest-dwelling, some groups have sited
themselves
in the more open plain leading to the eastern highlands,
and a few
have established themselves in the Ruwenzori Mountains.
They have
been grouped together primarily because they and their
Central
Sudanic-speaking neighbors share some significant cultural
and
organizational features and may be clearly distinguished
from the
neighboring highland Bantu-speakers.
Here again, the village in which a localized lineage
dwells is
the significant political unit rather than any overarching
descent
group. Links between villages are provided by religious
associations and initiation rites. Clan names are shared
with
adjacent Bantu-speaking groups as well as with some
Central
Sudanic-speaking communities. Lineage alliances found in
some parts
of the area also sometimes cross linguistic lines.
Farther south along both sides of the Lualaba River and
extending east along its tributary, the Ulindi, another
congeries
of varied Bantu-speaking groups may be found. All but the
Lengola
and Metoko share closely related languages. Frequently, in
this
area of close intermingling, communities are known to have
adopted
the language and much of the culture of a neighboring,
unrelated
group. For example, groups of Lega origin, according to
anthropologist Daniel Biebuyck, have adopted the culture
of other
entities and vice versa. Among most of these communities,
hierarchically graded religious and political associations
have
served to tie together systems in which patrilineal
lineages
provide the bases.
Despite the absence of a centralized state among the
Lega and
despite the permeability of the borders between them and
their
neighbors, the Lega have a strong sense of their own
historical and
cultural unity. That sense was reinforced during the
mid-1960s
rebellions in eastern Zaire; rebel groups led by intrusive
ethnic
groups killed a number of Lega and thereby turned most of
the
others into supporters of the national army that fought
and
eventually defeated the rebels
(see
Rural
Insurgencies: The "Second Independence,", ch. 1;
The
Congolese National Army
, ch. 5).
Data as of December 1993
|
