Indigenous People of the Congo Essay -- Anthropology, Mbuti, Culture

The Congo is the home to a nomadic group of hunters-gatherers known as the Mbuti. The Mbuti are one of the oldest indigenous people of the Congo region of Africa. The Mbuti is an egalitarian society, and the band is their highest form of socialization. Bands are based on principles of teamwork and sharing. The bands are composed of about fifteen to sixty families. The Mbuti reside in the Ituri forest, a tropical rainforest in the northern part of the Congo River Basin. The forest is named after the Ituri River. The Mbuti have lived in the rainforest for more than six thousand years. According to Turnbull (1968), â€Å"The first recorded reference to the Mbuti dates back to a story of an expedition to the area by Egyptians around 2250 B.C. where the Mbuti were referred to as people of the trees.† The Mbuti see the forest as mother and father and themselves as its children. The Mbuti life cycle consists of birth, puberty, marriage, and death. Each transition corresponds with the defining child, youth, adult, and elderly age groups. Mbuti make three very significant transitions in life from childhood which includes birth, to youth including puberty, to adulthood containing marriage, and finally old age which eventually leads to death. The roles and duties found within each age group are important because personal identity is defined by Mbuti’s role in society. The term BaMbuti refers to all the different cultures within the Ituri forest. The forest region has rivers and lakes, and also has a high amount of rain. The dry season is short, and lasts one to two months. The country’s capital and larges... ...d propagating the Catholic faith and took Congolese to Portugal for study. The first missionary group arrived in 1491 and consisted of Franciscan and Dominican priests (Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2007) The Congo king was baptized and a large church was built at the royal capital, which was renamed San Salvador. The King’s son was concerted and sent away for training to eventually put the Catholic Church in power for many years. However, the Yaka invasion of the 16th century shook the kingdom. Toward the end of the century, traders who began buying and selling slaves drove missionaries out of the country. In the 19th century when the Belgians arrived there was not a trace left of this once influential kingdom or the two and one-half centuries of Catholic evangelism and church planting (Riddle, & McGavran, 1979).