The Banyamulenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo : a cultural community in the making

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

Authors

Rukundwa, L.S. (Lazare Sebitereko)

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria

Abstract

In recent years the name Banyamulenge has become associated with a warrior group in Eastern Congo because of the role some of its community members played in the war against the Mobutu regime. Researchers have been intrigued by the political motivations which unfortunately do not cover the cultural aspects of this community. This article attempts to document the cultural heritage of the Banyamulenge community. Many of the practices and traditions have become obsolete. The article explains the Banyamulenge cultural way of living, and how the divine was traditionally revealed to them in the form of human deities. Burnt sacrifice was part of community worship. The article documents what has been learnt from elders about the oral tradition, the cultural and religious realities of the community.

Description

Spine cut of Journal binding and pages scanned on flatbed EPSON Expression 10000 XL; 400dpi; text/lineart - black and white - stored to Tiff Derivation: Abbyy Fine Reader v.9 work with PNG-format (black and white); Photoshop CS3; Adobe Acrobat v.9 Web display format PDF

Keywords

Banyamulenge, Culture (Civilization)

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Rukundwa, SL 2004, 'The Banyamulenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo: A cultural community in the making', HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, vol. 60, no. 1&2, pp. 369-383. [http://www.hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/issue/archive]