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6— History, Ethnicity and Change in the 'Christian Kingdom' of Southeastern Zaire

1. Jean Maes and Olga Boone, in their 'Les peuplades du Congo belge', show 'Holoholo' on both sides of the Lukuga river, 'Ruwa' on one of their maps and 'Luba' on another in the same place west of the 'Holoholo', and 'Tabwa' south of these to the 'Bemba', who appear in lands some distance north of the Belgian Congo/Northern Rhodesia border. In the most recent reckoning of ethnic identity in the area, Olga Boone's 'Carte ethnique du Congo, quart sud-est' (Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale (MRAC), Sciences Humaines, 1961), 'Tumbwe' appears where in 1935 she had 'Holoholo' or where on earlier maps were found 'Rua', 'Gua' or something similar; 'Bwile' where thirty years before there had been 'Ruwa' or 'Luba'; and 'Tabwa' down to the Zambian border, cut off there in such a way as to indicate their further extension southward. To the west of these apparently well-defined, large groups is an area on either side of the Luvua showing a veritable salad of colours with names like 'Kunda', 'Boyo', 'Lumbu', 'Hemba' affixed; hyphenated combinations of these shown with different-coloured stripes; and a few 'Yeke' for good measure. [BACK]

2. E. Verhulpen, Baluba et Balubaïses du Katanga (Anvers, 1936), p. 64. [BACK]

3. Boone, 'Carte', pp. 42-50. [BACK]

4. S. Kaoze, 'Les mikowa chez les Batabwa', unpublished manuscript, 8 Sept. 1947. Quotation marks around names underscore their arbitrary or uncertain use to designate a 'tribe'. Four years of predoctoral anthropological fieldwork among the Tabwa at Lubanda were funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Committee on African Studies and the Edson-Keith Fund of the University of Chicago, and the Society of Sigma Xi. A Summer Stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for the final phases of writing this chapter. Helpful comments were offered by Johannes Fabian, Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Richard Sigwalt and Leroy Vail, some of which I have incorporated here. Nevertheless, all responsibility for this paper remains my own. In memory of Luvunzo wa Munsongo, and in celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Stefano Kaoze. [BACK]

5. Boone, 'Carte', pp. 82-91. [BACK]

6. The monograph, written after several weeks' research at Kalemie, is A. Coupez, 'Esquisse de la langue Holoholo', MRAC, Linguistique 12 (Tervuren, 1955). [BACK]

7. Boone, 'Carte', p. 156.

8. Ibid . Ethnic identity poses problems for African art history. For a discussion of Tabwa art and material culture as a factor of the social processes of identity formation and definition, see A. Roberts, 'Social and historical contexts of Tabwa art', in A. Roberts and E. Maurer, eds., The Rising of a New Moon: A Century of Tabwa Art (Ann Arbor, 1986), pp. 1-48. [BACK]

7. Boone, 'Carte', p. 156.

8. Ibid . Ethnic identity poses problems for African art history. For a discussion of Tabwa art and material culture as a factor of the social processes of identity formation and definition, see A. Roberts, 'Social and historical contexts of Tabwa art', in A. Roberts and E. Maurer, eds., The Rising of a New Moon: A Century of Tabwa Art (Ann Arbor, 1986), pp. 1-48. [BACK]

9. C. Mitchell, 'Tribe and social change in South Central Africa: a situational approach', Journal of Asian and African Studies, 5, 1-2 (1970), pp. 83, 85. [BACK]

10. The use of this term in such a context was suggested by linguistic anthropologist Hoyt Alverson. break [BACK]

11. C. Geertz, ' "From the Native's point of view": on the nature of anthropological understanding', in C. Geertz, Local Knowledge (New York, 1983), pp. 66-8. [BACK]

12. I. Cunnison, The Luapula Peoples of Northern Rhodesia (London, 1967). [BACK]

13. I. Cunnison, 'History on the Luapula', Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, 21 (1951, repr. 1969).

14. Ibid, pp. 1-6. [BACK]

13. I. Cunnison, 'History on the Luapula', Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, 21 (1951, repr. 1969).

14. Ibid, pp. 1-6. [BACK]

15. Mwine in Tabwa or mwenye in Swahili connotes identity with something; kyalo is a named land. The phrase is often mistranslated as 'owner of the land'. There is a debate amongst the Tabwa as to how precisely defined these lands were in the past, and this, in turn, is an important aspect of contention over the legitimacy of chiefs' claims to authority. [BACK]

16. Cunnison, 'History', p. 14. [BACK]

17. For an elaboration of such an approach, see A. Roberts, 'Aardvarks and covered baskets: social change as reflected in Tabwa origin myths', in preparation as a chapter of a forthcoming book on Tabwa social change and identity. [BACK]

18. Cunnison, 'History', p. 5. [BACK]

19. C. Davis-Roberts, 'Magic and the missed reality', in preparation. See also, 'Through the bamboo thicket: the social process of Tabwa ritual performance'. The Drama Review, forthcoming, 1988. [BACK]

20. (Kinshasa, 1982). My thanks to Dr Genevieve Nagant, an anthropologist who has worked for many years among 'Tumbwe' around Kalemie, for making this book and copies of Kaoze's manuscripts available to me. She has reproduced passages from several of Kaoze's writings in her two theses, 'Une société de l'Est du Zaire, les Tusanga dépeints par eux-mêmes', Memoire de licence, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, 1972; and 'Famille, histoire, religion chez les Tumbwe du Zaire', Thèse du 3e cycle, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, 1976. [BACK]

21. See A. Roberts, ' "Comets importing change of times and states": ephemerae and process among the Tabwa of Zaire', American Ethnologist, 9, 4 (1982), pp. 712-29; and idem,' "Fishers of men": religion and political economy among colonized Tabwa', Africa, 54, 2 (1984). [BACK]

22. N. Bennett, 'Captain Storms in Tanganyika, 1882-1885', Tanganyika Notes and Records, 54 (1960), pp. 51-63. [BACK]

23. H. Wack, The Story of the Congo Free State (New York, 1905), pp. 37-8. [BACK]

24. Archives of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Fonds-Storms (FS-A.M.R.A.C.), Storms to Strauch, from Mpala, March 1884, B-II/22/F-V; idem, 'Journal de la Station de Mpala', 1 Dec. 1884. [BACK]

25. FS-A. M.R.A.C., B-II/F-VI, E. Storms, untitled pages. Leopold's agents established 450 concessions of plots, 'protectorates', or other treaties of varying nature. Once the Congo Free State was recognized by world powers, these were used to divest traditional rulers of their rights to land they had 'sold'. See the polemicist E.D. Morel, The Black Man's Burden (New York, 1920, repr. 1969), p. 115. [BACK]

26. FS-A. M.R.A.C., B-II/ 14/F-IV, E. Storms, random pages partially destroyed by fire. [BACK]

27. FS-A. M.R.A.C., B-II/22/F-VI, E. Storms to unidentified person, 1883; B-I/6/F-III, Anonymous, 'Notice sur Storms'; F. Renault, Lavigerie, I'esclavage africaine et l"Europe (Paris, 1971), p. 270; Storms, 'Journal', 1 Dec. 1884. [BACK]

28. Renault, Lavigerie, p. 272; R. Heremans, 'Lés etablissements de 1'Association Internationale Africaine au lac Tanganika et les Pères Blancs, Mpala et Karema, 1877-1885', Annales, MRAC, Sciences Historiques, 3 (1966), p. 109. [BACK]

29. FS-A. M.R.A.C., B-II/21/F-V, E. Storms, untitled pages dated September 1884; idem, 'Journal', 12 April 1885; Mouvement Géographique, 9 Aug. 1885, p. 65; ibid., 23 Aug. 1885, p. 65. [BACK]

30. Archives of the Kalemie-Moba Diocese, Kalemie, Zaire (A.K.M.D.), White Fathers, 'Journal de Poste de Mission de Kapakwe', 26 Dec. 1884, typescript. [BACK]

31. FS-A. M.R.A.C., B-1I/38/F-X, Moinet to Storms, from Mpala, 26 Aug. 1885; continue

B-II/38/F-X, Moinet to Storms, from Mpala, 10 Feb. 1886. [BACK]

32. See Renault, Lavigerie, p. 364. Among the many works devoted to Cardinal Lavigerie's life and times, his personal intellectual development leading to his stance on proselytism, abolition of slavery and establishment of a Christian Kingdom in Africa is best traced in X. DeMontclos, Lavigerie, le Saint-Siège et I'Eglise, de l'avènement de Pie IX à l'avènement de Léon XIII, 1846-1878 (Paris, 1965). [BACK]

33. White Fathers' Central Archives, Rome (W. F.), c-19-295, I. Moinet to Eminence (Cardinal Lavigerie), from Mpala, 2 Aug. 1885. [BACK]

34. I. Linden, Church and Revolution in Rwanda (New York, 1977), p.30. [BACK]

35. London Missionary Society staff established a post at Mtoa on the west-central shore of Lake Tanganyika in 1879; see J. Wolf, ed., Missionary to Tanganyika, 1877-1888: the writings of Edward Coode Hore, Master Mariner (London, 1971). Protestant and Catholic missionaries cooperated with each other, but in a manner only thinly veiling their mutual disdain and competition; see, for example, W. F., c-19-243, Moinet to T. R. P., from Kapakwe, 25 March 1885. [BACK]

36. N. Gapangwa, 'La première evangelisation du Masanze et du Bubwari: (1880-1893) ', Mémoire de licence, Faculty of Ecclesiastical History, Gregorian Pontifical University, Rome, 1980, p.57; idem, 'Les origines de la Mission du Tanganyika (1878-1914): les méthodes pastorales'. Thèse du doctorat, 3e cycle. Faculty of Ecclesiastical History, Gregorian Pontifical University, Rome, 1983, pp. 59-74. [BACK]

37. Cardinal Lavigerie, cited in Gapangwa, 'Evangélisation', p. 61. Gapangwa draws upon a number of the cardinal's more obscure writings, but see Lavigerie's 'Mémoire secret sur l'Association Internationale Africaine et Bruxelles et l'Evangélisation de l'Afrique Equatoriale', in M. Stonne, 'Rapports du Pere Planque, de Mgr. Lavigerie et de Mgr. Comboni sur l'Association Internationale Africaine', Académic Royale des Sciences Coloniales, Mémoires, NS, 9, 2, pp.75-138. [BACK]

38. Cited in Heremans, 'Etablissements', p. 96. [BACK]

39. L.-L. Joubert to M. le Vicaire, from Algiers, 15 Feb. 1880, photocopy in the Fonds Joubert du Musée National du Zaïre, Lubumbashi (FJ-A.M.N.Z.). While many authors have discussed these incidents (e. g., S. Karugire, A Political History of Uganda (London, 1980), pp.62-5), none consulted mentions the White Fathers' explicit desire to found a Christian Kingdom with the Ganda court as its centre. [BACK]

40. Heremans, 'Etablissements', p.86. [BACK]

41. Cited in Heremans, 'Etablissements', p.97. [BACK]

42. T. Houdebine and M. Boumier, Le capitaine Joubert (Namur, n.d.), p.87; White Fathers, 'Diaire de la Mission de Mpala' (1889-1935), 16 Sept. 1890, typescript at A.K.M.D. A photocopy of the typescript of the first notebook (1885-1889), unavailable at Kalemie, was obtained through the kindness of Fr. Lamey at the White Fathers' Central Archives, Rome. [BACK]

43. J. Erian, Le capitaine Joubert, chevalier et apôtre, 1842-1927 (Anvers, 1934), front cover. Several other ex-Zouaves served with Lavigerie's missionaries in Africa, but none so long nor in so celebrated a fashion as Joubert. [BACK]

44. L. Griendl, 'Notes sur les sources des missionaires d'Afrique (Pères Blancs) pour l'Est du Zaire', Etudes d'Histoire Africaine, 7 (1975), p. 190. Heremans, for instance, avoided the issue by assuming that Lavigerie only ever meant to 'foster the birth of a Christian state' led by Africans, rather than 'constituting a sort of ecclesiastical principality in the region of the African Great Lakes' ('Etablissements', p.97). In a later thesis he corrected this, citing the complaint of an administrator in 1904 of the 'State within a State' of the White Fathers southwest of Lake Tanganyika, See Heremans, 'Missions et écoles: l'education dans les missions des Pères Blancs en Afrique Centrale avant 1914. Objectifs et realisations', unpublished Ph. D. dissertation. Catholic University of Louvain, 1978, I, p.113 and passim . [BACK]

45. R. Rotberg, 'Missionaries as chiefs and entrepreneurs: Northern Rhodesia, 1882-1924', Boston University Papers in African History, I (1964), p.199. break [BACK]

46. A. Des Forges, 'Kings without crowns: the White Fathers in Ruanda', Boston University Papers on Africa, 3 (1969), pp. 176-207. [BACK]

47. D. Crawford, Thinking Black (London, 1914), pp. 324-5. [BACK]

48. R. Rotberg, Christian Missionaries and the Creation of Northern Rhodesia, 1880-1924 (Princeton, 1965), p.55; idem, 'Missionaries', p.199. [BACK]

49. See M. Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization (New York, 1969), p. 156 and passim ; G. Balandier, Political Anthropology (New York, 1970), reviews the literature. [BACK]

50. W. F., c-19-222, Moncet to Révérend Venere Père, from Mpala, 26 July 1888. This same phrasing was used for many years. See White Fathers, 'Diaire de la Mission de Baudouinville' (1892-1947), 30 June 1903, typescript at A.K.M.D. [BACK]

51. V. Roelens, Notre Vieux Congo, 1891-1917: Souvenirs du premier Evêque du Congo Belge (Namur, 1948), p.36. [BACK]

52. White Fathers, 'Mpala', 8 Sept. 1890; L.-L. Joubert, 'Diaire' (1884-1927), 24 Aug. 1887, incomplete photocopy in FJ-AMNZ. [BACK]

53. The territory of Mpala was called a 'colony' in the older missionary literature, as in F. Klein, Le Cardinal Lavigerie et ses oeuvres (Paris, 1890), p. 196. Given communication difficulties—Joubert received no mail for three years—and the personalities of Joubert and the early Fathers, a case can be made for their virtual independence from all higher authority during stressful years of contention with slavers. [BACK]

54. These skirmishes are briefly outlined (or merely listed) in Joubert's diaries. Some of the consequences of Storms's, Moinet's and Joubert's systems of reward and punishment are discussed in A. Roberts, ' "Fishers" ' and idem, 'Insidious conquests: war-time politics along the southwestern shore of Lake Tanganyika', in M. Page, ed., Africa and the First World War (New York, 1987). [BACK]

55. Joubert, 'Diaire', 4 April 1894, 26 Dec. 1895, 23 Jan. 1896. [BACK]

56. These events are detailed in the various mission diaries of the White Fathers. See A. Roberts,' "Like a Roaring Lion": Tabwa terrorism in the late nineteenth century', in D. Crummey, ed., Banditry, Rebellion and Social Protest in Africa (London and Portsmouth, N.H., 1986), pp. 65-86. [BACK]

57. W.F., 'Baudouinville', 20 and 28 Nov.; 8, 22, 27 Dec. 1902. The mission scribe makes the priests' intentions very clear (20 Nov.):

We are doubly pleased by this news. Our people will find a great outlet, in the Moliro market, for their produce; and then the presence at Moliro of a large contingent of troops can only be favourable to us. Corvées and requisitions will rain down upon the natives outside of our jurisdiction, and will make our people appreciate the more life within the shadow of the Cross.

58. Ibid., 12 Feb. 1907, 21 July 1908, 4 Feb. 1910.

59. Ibid., Sept. 1908.

60. Ibid., Jan. 1909.

61. Ibid., July 1911, 8 Oct. 1908, May 1909, 16 July 1910. The tax-collector's brash act is mentioned but not explained in the diary.

62. Ibid., 10 March, 17 June 1913. The political economy of the Tabwa area is discussed in A, Roberts, ' "The ransom of ill-starred Zaire": plunder, poverty and politics in the OTRAG Concession', in G. Gran, ed., The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (New York, 1979), pp. 211-36. Material here is also from interviews with Father Joseph Kimembe, Sept. 1977, at Kalemie. [BACK]

57. W.F., 'Baudouinville', 20 and 28 Nov.; 8, 22, 27 Dec. 1902. The mission scribe makes the priests' intentions very clear (20 Nov.):

We are doubly pleased by this news. Our people will find a great outlet, in the Moliro market, for their produce; and then the presence at Moliro of a large contingent of troops can only be favourable to us. Corvées and requisitions will rain down upon the natives outside of our jurisdiction, and will make our people appreciate the more life within the shadow of the Cross.

58. Ibid., 12 Feb. 1907, 21 July 1908, 4 Feb. 1910.

59. Ibid., Sept. 1908.

60. Ibid., Jan. 1909.

61. Ibid., July 1911, 8 Oct. 1908, May 1909, 16 July 1910. The tax-collector's brash act is mentioned but not explained in the diary.

62. Ibid., 10 March, 17 June 1913. The political economy of the Tabwa area is discussed in A, Roberts, ' "The ransom of ill-starred Zaire": plunder, poverty and politics in the OTRAG Concession', in G. Gran, ed., The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (New York, 1979), pp. 211-36. Material here is also from interviews with Father Joseph Kimembe, Sept. 1977, at Kalemie. [BACK]

57. W.F., 'Baudouinville', 20 and 28 Nov.; 8, 22, 27 Dec. 1902. The mission scribe makes the priests' intentions very clear (20 Nov.):

We are doubly pleased by this news. Our people will find a great outlet, in the Moliro market, for their produce; and then the presence at Moliro of a large contingent of troops can only be favourable to us. Corvées and requisitions will rain down upon the natives outside of our jurisdiction, and will make our people appreciate the more life within the shadow of the Cross.

58. Ibid., 12 Feb. 1907, 21 July 1908, 4 Feb. 1910.

59. Ibid., Sept. 1908.

60. Ibid., Jan. 1909.

61. Ibid., July 1911, 8 Oct. 1908, May 1909, 16 July 1910. The tax-collector's brash act is mentioned but not explained in the diary.

62. Ibid., 10 March, 17 June 1913. The political economy of the Tabwa area is discussed in A, Roberts, ' "The ransom of ill-starred Zaire": plunder, poverty and politics in the OTRAG Concession', in G. Gran, ed., The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (New York, 1979), pp. 211-36. Material here is also from interviews with Father Joseph Kimembe, Sept. 1977, at Kalemie. [BACK]

57. W.F., 'Baudouinville', 20 and 28 Nov.; 8, 22, 27 Dec. 1902. The mission scribe makes the priests' intentions very clear (20 Nov.):

We are doubly pleased by this news. Our people will find a great outlet, in the Moliro market, for their produce; and then the presence at Moliro of a large contingent of troops can only be favourable to us. Corvées and requisitions will rain down upon the natives outside of our jurisdiction, and will make our people appreciate the more life within the shadow of the Cross.

58. Ibid., 12 Feb. 1907, 21 July 1908, 4 Feb. 1910.

59. Ibid., Sept. 1908.

60. Ibid., Jan. 1909.

61. Ibid., July 1911, 8 Oct. 1908, May 1909, 16 July 1910. The tax-collector's brash act is mentioned but not explained in the diary.

62. Ibid., 10 March, 17 June 1913. The political economy of the Tabwa area is discussed in A, Roberts, ' "The ransom of ill-starred Zaire": plunder, poverty and politics in the OTRAG Concession', in G. Gran, ed., The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (New York, 1979), pp. 211-36. Material here is also from interviews with Father Joseph Kimembe, Sept. 1977, at Kalemie. [BACK]

57. W.F., 'Baudouinville', 20 and 28 Nov.; 8, 22, 27 Dec. 1902. The mission scribe makes the priests' intentions very clear (20 Nov.):

We are doubly pleased by this news. Our people will find a great outlet, in the Moliro market, for their produce; and then the presence at Moliro of a large contingent of troops can only be favourable to us. Corvées and requisitions will rain down upon the natives outside of our jurisdiction, and will make our people appreciate the more life within the shadow of the Cross.

58. Ibid., 12 Feb. 1907, 21 July 1908, 4 Feb. 1910.

59. Ibid., Sept. 1908.

60. Ibid., Jan. 1909.

61. Ibid., July 1911, 8 Oct. 1908, May 1909, 16 July 1910. The tax-collector's brash act is mentioned but not explained in the diary.

62. Ibid., 10 March, 17 June 1913. The political economy of the Tabwa area is discussed in A, Roberts, ' "The ransom of ill-starred Zaire": plunder, poverty and politics in the OTRAG Concession', in G. Gran, ed., The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (New York, 1979), pp. 211-36. Material here is also from interviews with Father Joseph Kimembe, Sept. 1977, at Kalemie. [BACK]

57. W.F., 'Baudouinville', 20 and 28 Nov.; 8, 22, 27 Dec. 1902. The mission scribe makes the priests' intentions very clear (20 Nov.):

We are doubly pleased by this news. Our people will find a great outlet, in the Moliro market, for their produce; and then the presence at Moliro of a large contingent of troops can only be favourable to us. Corvées and requisitions will rain down upon the natives outside of our jurisdiction, and will make our people appreciate the more life within the shadow of the Cross.

58. Ibid., 12 Feb. 1907, 21 July 1908, 4 Feb. 1910.

59. Ibid., Sept. 1908.

60. Ibid., Jan. 1909.

61. Ibid., July 1911, 8 Oct. 1908, May 1909, 16 July 1910. The tax-collector's brash act is mentioned but not explained in the diary.

62. Ibid., 10 March, 17 June 1913. The political economy of the Tabwa area is discussed in A, Roberts, ' "The ransom of ill-starred Zaire": plunder, poverty and politics in the OTRAG Concession', in G. Gran, ed., The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (New York, 1979), pp. 211-36. Material here is also from interviews with Father Joseph Kimembe, Sept. 1977, at Kalemie. [BACK]

63. A. DeRoover, Victor Roelens, de Vlaamse Lavigerie (Antwerp, 1952). [BACK]

64. W.F., c-19-407, G. Debeerst to Monsignor, from Kibanga, 15 Oct. 1892. [BACK]

65. W.F., c-19-430, Roelens to Livinhac, from Karema, 12 Feb. 1892; c-19-431, Roelens to Livinhac, from St Louis de Mrumbi, 16 Sept. 1892. [BACK]

66. Heremans, 'Missions et écoles', I, p. 183.

67. Ibid., I, pp. 184-5. [BACK]

66. Heremans, 'Missions et écoles', I, p. 183.

67. Ibid., I, pp. 184-5. [BACK]

68. Anonymous, 'La grande aventure de Stephano Kaoze, premier prètre congolais', Caravane, 13 (1960), pp. 1-2. break [BACK]

69. Kimpinde, Kaoze, p.39; Anon., 'Stephano Kaoze, premier prètre congolais', pp. 1-2. [BACK]

70. Anonymous, 'L'histoire d'un Seminariste Noir', Missions d'Afrique des Pères Blancs (1905), pp. 289-92, 321-9, 353-9. [BACK]

71. Kimpinde, Kaoze, pp. 39-40.

72. Ibid., pp.50-3. The relationship between the mother's brother and sister's son (i.e. a man and his heir) is problematic for people like the Tabwa who observe matrilineal descent. Many Tabwa myths portray this, as people seek through story-telling to understand complicated human relations. The stories of Kaoze's 'mother's brother' should be seen in this idiom, a bit like the 'stepmother' of Western myths such as 'Cinderella'. [BACK]

71. Kimpinde, Kaoze, pp. 39-40.

72. Ibid., pp.50-3. The relationship between the mother's brother and sister's son (i.e. a man and his heir) is problematic for people like the Tabwa who observe matrilineal descent. Many Tabwa myths portray this, as people seek through story-telling to understand complicated human relations. The stories of Kaoze's 'mother's brother' should be seen in this idiom, a bit like the 'stepmother' of Western myths such as 'Cinderella'. [BACK]

73. Heremans, 'Missions', I, pp. 116, 187.

74. Ibid., p. 122. On chapelles-écoles in Tabwa lands, see B. Schmitz, 'Chapelles écoles Namuroises'. Missons d'Afrique des Pères Blancs (1903); and Gapangwa,'Origines'. On the same organizational form at other Congolese missions, see M. Markowitz, Cross and Sword: The Political Role of Christian Missions in the Belgian Congo, 1908-1960 (Stanford, 1973), pp.14-15 and passim ; and elsewhere in Africa, R. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (New York, 1978), pp.52-66. [BACK]

73. Heremans, 'Missions', I, pp. 116, 187.

74. Ibid., p. 122. On chapelles-écoles in Tabwa lands, see B. Schmitz, 'Chapelles écoles Namuroises'. Missons d'Afrique des Pères Blancs (1903); and Gapangwa,'Origines'. On the same organizational form at other Congolese missions, see M. Markowitz, Cross and Sword: The Political Role of Christian Missions in the Belgian Congo, 1908-1960 (Stanford, 1973), pp.14-15 and passim ; and elsewhere in Africa, R. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (New York, 1978), pp.52-66. [BACK]

75. Victor Roelens, cited in Heremans, 'Missions', I, pp.188-9. [BACK]

76. Kaoze's schooling is detailed in Kimpinde, Kaoze, pp. 50-78. [BACK]

77. Revue Congolaise (1910), pp. 406-37, (1911), pp. 55-63. Kaoze's article is introduced by A. Vermeersch in 'Les sentiments supérieurs chez les Congolais', pp. 401-6, in which we are told that 'Stephano Kaoze (the author of the memoir) is not an ordinary nigger' (p.402), lest the reader think the contrary. [BACK]

78. Kimpinde, Kaoze, p.78. [BACK]

79. Roelens, Notre Vieux Congo, pp. 199-214. See also his 'La formation du clergé indigène au Grand Seminaire de Baudouinville', Grands Lacs, 51, 11-12 (1935), pp. 562-95; and his 'Esquisse psychologique de nos noirs', Grands Lacs, 51, 7 (1935), pp. 279-86, 8 (1935), pp. 341-5, and 9 (1935), pp. 415-23. [BACK]

80. Roelens, Nofre Vieux Congo, pp. 199-200, 209, 204. [BACK]

81. Archives de la Sous-Région du Tanganika, Kalemie. Van den Boorgaerde, 'Rapport annuel 1917: participation du District (du Tanganika-Moero) aux operations militaires en A.O.A.', Kongolo, 18 March 1918. See also Roberts, ' "Insidious" ', where these events are discussed in greater detail. [BACK]

82. A. Hoornaert, 'M. 1' Abbé Stephano Kaoze, premier prètre noir du Congo, est mort le jour de Pacques', Revue Coloniale (1951), pp. 33, 35. The Lake Tanganyika Campaign of joint Anglo-Belgian forces ended with the fall of Tabora in September 1916. See G. Moulaert, La Campagne du Tanganika (Brussels, 1934). [BACK]

83. Kimpinde, Kaoze, pp. 91-5. [BACK]

84. That missions at Lubanda and Kirungu were built as fortresses against possible attack by hostile slavers in the 1880s and 1890s has meant that White Fathers have been both physically and symbolically enclosed, separated from the communities they serve. [BACK]

85. This last is a poor translation of Kaoze's 'les Europeens font aussi du tribalisme entre eux', since in Kaoze's French there is a sense of action, literally, 'the Européans also make tribalism between themselves.' Kimpinde, Kaoze, pp. 95-6, 193-4.

86. Ibid., pp. 97-100. [BACK]

85. This last is a poor translation of Kaoze's 'les Europeens font aussi du tribalisme entre eux', since in Kaoze's French there is a sense of action, literally, 'the Européans also make tribalism between themselves.' Kimpinde, Kaoze, pp. 95-6, 193-4.

86. Ibid., pp. 97-100. [BACK]

87. E. Colson, 'Contemporary tribes and the development of nationalism', in J. Helm, ed., Essays on the Problem of Tribe (Seattle, 1968), pp. 201-6. [BACK]

88. The phrase is from A. Mazrui, 'Francophone nations and English-speaking states: imperial ethnicity and African political formations', in D. Rothchild and V. Olorunsola, eds., State Versus Ethnic Claims: African Political Dilemmas (Boulder, 1983), pp. 25-43. [BACK]

89. G. Debeerst, 'Essai de grammaire tabwa', Zeitschrift för Afrikanische und Oceanische Sprachen, I-II (1894); A. Van Acker, 'Dictionaire kitabwa-français, français-kitabwa continue

(EIC), Annales du Musée du Congo, Ethnographie—serie V—Linguistique, 1907; White Fathers, Vocabulaire français-kitabwa et kitabwa-français (Algiers, 1907); Anonymous, Manuel kitabwa à I'usage des missionnaires (Algiers, 1909). Debeerst translated several gospels as well. His 'Enjili Viandikilwe na Yohane Uzukile mu Kitabwa' (John, 1-21), of 1899, was completed in 1973 by P. Msonsya and mimeographed by Max Tertrais for distribution in the Kirungyu/Kala area. [BACK]

90. Moinet complained in 1885 about the lack of a reliable interpreter, since 'language' changed every sixty miles; these languages had much in common, he added, but whereas local people could master them in several months, the priests had great difficulty with them. W. F., c-19-243, Moinet to T.R.P., from Kapakwe, 25 March 1885. Language learning was such a preoccupation that the Fathers temporarily suspended evangelization. W.F., c-19-219, Moncet to Lavigerie, from Mpala, 1 Jan. 1887. Missionary policy through which 'literary instruments' became important are discussed by J. Fabian, 'Missions and the colonization of African languages: developments of the former Belgian Congo', Canadian Journal of African Studies, 17, 2 (1983), pp. 165-87, and T. O. Ranger in his essay in this volume. For an apposite West African case, see P. Alexandre and J. Binet, La groupe dit Pahouin (Fang, Boulou, Beti; Paris, 1958). [BACK]

91. Archives du Bureau des Affaires Culturelles, Division Régionale des Affaires Politiques, Lubumbashi (BACDRAP), D. C. Adj. Gilson, 'Affair Manda/Bulani', note of 26 Nov. 1916, as discussed in Roberts,' "Insidious" '. My thanks to Professor Jan Vansina for suggesting the connection between Gilsons in the Congo and in Belgium. Personal communication, 1981. [BACK]

92. Archives du Congo Beige, Section Documentation, 'Documents pour servir à la connaissance des populations du Congo Belge: aperçu historique (1886-1933) de l'étude des populations autochtones', Leopoldville, 1958. Gilson, 'Notes sur Manda pour M. le Commissaire de District', Kongolo, 20 April 1922, BACDRAP. For a discussion of this 'Balkanization' of the Congo, and the manner in which Minister of Colonies Louis Franck's own Flemish nationalism led to his concern for the cultural autonomy of Congolese peoples, see E. Bustin's Lunda Under Colonial Rule: The Politics of Ethnicity (Cambridge, 1975), p. 62. [BACK]

93. BACDRAP, Roelens to D. C., Albertville, 15 April 1922. Kaoze's contribution is entitled 'Les populations indigènes du Sud de la Lukuga—leurs engines et organisation—d'après les dires des vieux, de plusieurs clans différents, renseignements recueillis par 1'Abbé Stefano Kaoze, prêtre indigene—de la tribu des Batabwa'. [BACK]

94. Kaoze's definition of 'tribe' is very similar to that of Cunnison, 'History', p.12. The social organization implied is different from and greater than that of the clan, but it is less inclusive than the name 'Tabwa' as Kaoze himself uses it in the same document. [BACK]

95. Kimpinde, Kaoze, pp. 153-63. Proceedings of the eighth session (28 April-7 May 1947) of the Permanent Commission for the Protection of Natives attended by Kaoze (the first and only African participant) are in L. Guebels, Relation complète des travaux de la Commission permanente pour la Protection des indigènes (Elisabethville, n. d. (c. 1952)). Kaoze would have participated in the ninth session, in 1951, but he died that Easter. He was not replaced. [BACK]

96. A particularly complete set of documents from Katanga State archives (now at BACDRAP) concerning events leading up to Kyando's death will be discussed in future writing. [BACK]

97. Kimpinde, Kaoze, p. 15 2. The late Fr. Joseph Kimembe, a Tabwa ordained some years after Kaoze, was like a younger brother to the latter and cared for him during his bouts of madness in 1949-51. As he recounted, when some concerned people around Kaoze's mission learned that he was speaking nonsense in moments of mental alienation, they felt that he had become possessed by a Bulumbu spirit and urged him to 'repair' ( kutengeneza ) this through the proper ritual. (On Bulumbu, see Roberts, continue

' "Fishers" '.) Only then could the spirit be induced to define its desires, therapy could begin, and Kaoze would return to his senses. Kaoze was furious on hearing this and never again spoke to these erstwhile friends. They, in turn, explained his death by invoking his failure to heed their advice to supplicate the spirit. (Interview at Kalemie, 10 Sept. 1977.) [BACK]

98. Interview with Fr. J. Kimembe at Kalemie, July 1977. Ironically the mulopwe, too, was radically separated from his subjects by coronation ritual including incest. On the Luba concept of bulopwe, see T. Reefe, The Rainbow and the Kings: A History of the Luba Empire to 1891 (Berkeley, 1981), and L. de Heusch, The Drunken King, or, The Origin of the State (Bloomington, 1982). [BACK]

99. Interview with J. Kimembe at Kalemie, 10 Sept. 1977. [BACK]

100. This is in part a reference to a concept voiced repeatedly by other informants, that 'Before the Belgians came, people didn't die; they had illnesses . . . but these could be healed. Death began with the introduction of reading; one read, "Your death will be like this", and so it was, and people began dying.' (Interview with Mumbyoto, at Lubanda, 9 July 1977.) Literacy, history and time, as reckoned by the colonizers, caused the 'death' of earlier lifestyles. [BACK]

101. As Kizumina concluded his tale (at Nkuba, 3 June 1977), Kaoze was locked in his rosary because he had refused to marry and so had 'lessened the world' (anapunguza dunia ) by begetting no offspring. Tabwa make abundantly clear that the purpose of life is to give birth: those who cannot are pitied and scorned; those who do not are deemed absurd or, possibly, evil. [BACK]

102. Manda Kaseke, 'Hasili ya pili', MS in possession of Chief Manda at Kirungu, written circa 1939. Such manuscripts were never in wide circulation, it seems, but Kaoze's 'Histoire des Bena Kilunga' (Archives of the Moba-Kalemie Diocese, 1950, reproduced in Nagant, 'Une société, in annex) may be the document referred to with reverence as his 'book' by supporters of an overthrow of Chief Manda by Kaoze's clanfellows; copies of something like it were said to be possessed by slain firebrand Kyando Polycarpe, but I was never able to consult one. [BACK]

103. Late in 1976, for instance, as tension grew in Zaire prior to the 'Shaba I' attempted coup d'état of March 1977, a Sanga clan member was arrested at Moba. He had been a lifelong, active adversary of Manda, especially as a territorial administrator of the secessionist State of Katanga in the early 1960s. Accused of collusion with 'Katangans' in Angola, the man 'disappeared' after transfer to a Kinshasa prison. In the same few months, Manda prepared to run for election as a People's Commissar. [BACK]

104. The terms of the accord signed by Mobutu and officials of Orbital Transport und Raketan A.G. (OTRAG) granted virtual sovereignty over a Montana-sized portion of southeastern Zaire in a manner one author compared to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1903. Only Tabwa and closely related people lived there. See Roberts, '"Ransom"'. break [BACK]


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