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Nyindu people

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Nyindu people
A Nyindu face mask with a feathered collar, Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia
Languages
Kirega, Kinyindu, Kiswahili, French, and English
Religion
Christianity, Nyindu Religion, Islam, and Irreligious
Related ethnic groups
Lega, Bashi, Bembe, Holoholo, Nyanga, and Amba


PersonMunyindu
PeopleBanyindu
CountryBunyindu

The Nyindu people are a Bantu ethnic group predominantly found alongside the Ulindi River in the northern, western, and southern regions, as well as near the Kilungutwe River in the Mwenga Territory of South Kivu Province within the eastern area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).[1][2][3][4] According to the 1970 population census, the aggregate population of the Luindi Chiefdom was 14,920. By 1977, estimations approximated the Nyindu people at 15,000, with a population density of 14.6 people per square kilometer in the Luindi Chiefdom.[1]

Nyindu are known for their agronomic customs, including the cultivation of staples such as Zea mays (maize), Manihot esculenta (cassava), and Phaseolus (beans). Additionally, they partake in animal husbandry, particularly focusing on bovine rearing. The Nyindu societal structure is delineated into clans, each governed by a chieftain who functions as a leader and arbitrator.[1][5][6]

History[edit]

The provenance of the Nyindu people remains somewhat obscure due to a paucity of ethnological documentation. According to Japanese anthropologist Takako Yamada's "A Report on the Ethnobotany of the Nyindu in the Eastern Part of the Former Zaire," suggests that Nyindu are a blend of indigenous groups (of M'minje and Lenge origins, intermixed with Pygmy communities) and migratory offshoots from the Lega and the Fuliiru-Vira.[7] Nyindu oral tradition recounts that the progeny of their first kings ruled neighboring populations such as the Shi, Hunde, Fuliiru, and Vira.[1] Moreover, some Nyindu people affiliated with the Kabila ya Banyindu share clans with the Lega, Fuliiru, and Vira, including the Batumba, Balambo, and Banyemganga. Nyindu architecture exhibits influences from the Lega and the Bembe, resulting in close cultural and historical affiliations with the Lega, the Shi, and the Bembe.[1][8][9]

In recent decades, the Nyindu people have confronted significant challenges, such as conflict and displacement stemming from political instability and armed groups in the region. On August 24, 1998, during the Second Congo War, a massacre was carried out by the Rally for Congolese Democracy (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie) rebels and Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) in Kasika and nearby villages, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 people, a majority of whom were Nyindu. The massacre is widely regarded as one of the deadliest in the conflict, which lasted from 1998 to 2003 and caused immense human suffering and displacement across the country. Following the massacre, they advocated for greater representation and recognition of their rights. The international community has also provided assistance to support the Nyindu people and other communities affected by the conflict, including efforts to promote peace, security, and development in the region.[10][11][12][13]

Culture[edit]

Economy[edit]

The Nyindu's economy is centered around slash-and-burn agriculture, with certain communities engaged in livestock rearing.[1] The Nyindu cultivate nearly 40 distinct crops, primarily in modest quantities. As of 1977, the principal crops included cassava (Manihot utilissima), maize (Zea mays), kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and banana (Musa × paradisiaca). Nonetheless, the most traditional crops, chakula ya asili, among the Nyindu encompassed finger millet (Eleusine coracana), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), supplemented by banana, yam (Dioscorea), and taro (Colocasia).[1][14][6]

Subsistence activities also include the hunting of mammals and avifauna, as well as fishing in fluvial environments. Prominent hunting techniques encompass communal net hunting with canines, spear hunting, and trapping.[1][9] A diverse array of trapping methods includes spring traps, gravity traps, birdlime traps, pits, and baited traps. Fishing techniques comprise rod fishing, scoop net fishing, and basket traps set in dams and wires, as well as fish poison, scoop nets, and scoop baskets.[1][9][14] The Nyindu also engage in small-scale commerce and market activities, vending their agricultural products and goods in local markets. The region inhabited by the Nyindu is endowed with abundant natural resources, including minerals such as gold, tin, and coltan; however, the extraction and trade of these resources have frequently been associated with conflict and human rights violations.[1][15][16]

Language[edit]

The Nyindu people speak Kinyindu, a Bantu language within the Niger-Congo language family. According to Belgian scholar of Central African art, Daniel P. Biebuyck, the Nyindu have the closest cultural and historical connections with the Lega people among neighboring ethnic groups. Nonetheless, the linguistic classification of the Nyindu language remains ambiguous.[17][6][8] Belgian scholar of Bantu languages and people in the eastern part of the Belgian Congo, Van Bulck, includes the Nyindu language within the subgroup of Lake Kivu of the young Bantu group of Northeastern Bantu (Section B). He posits the Nyindu language as part of the same language group as the Shi, Hunde, Havu, Tembo, Kinyarwanda, and Kirundi, yet distinct from the Lega language.[18] Conversely, Belgian historian and anthropologist Jan Vansina includes the Nyindu language within the Maniema group, the same group as the Lega language.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Yamada, Takako (June 1999). "A report on the ethnobotany of the Nyindu in the eastern part of the former Zaire" (PDF). Kyoto-u.ac.jp (in 1–3). Kyoto, Japan: Kyoto University. Retrieved 7 June 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  2. ^ History in Africa, Volume 2. New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States: African Studies Association. 1975. p. 139.
  3. ^ Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. Afrika-Studiecentrum (1985). Abstracts Journal of the African Studies Centre Leiden, Volume 16 (in English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Afrikaans). De Centrum. p. 111.
  4. ^ Sigwalt, Richard Dean (1975). The Early History of Bushi: An Essay in the Historical Use of Genesis Traditions. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin--Madison. pp. 102–106.
  5. ^ Africa, Issue 3 (in English, Spanish, and French). Suita, Japan: National Museum of Ethnology. 1984. pp. 70–73.
  6. ^ a b c Biebuyck, Daniel P. (1982). Statuary from the Pre-Bembe Hunters: Issues in the Interpretation of Ancestral Figurines Ascribed to the Basikasingo-Bembe-Boyo (in English, French, and Dutch). Tervuren, Belgium: Royal Museum of Central Afrika.
  7. ^ Biebuyck, Daniel P. (1973). Lega Culture; Art, Initiation, and Moral Philosophy Among a Central African People. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 20. ISBN 9780520020856.
  8. ^ a b Biebuyck, Daniel P. (1973). Lega Culture; Art, Initiation, and Moral Philosophy Among a Central African People. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 20–23. ISBN 9780520020856.
  9. ^ a b c Roy, Christopher D.; Gesellschaft, Kestner (1999). Kilengi: African Art from the Bareiss Family Collection. Washington, Pennsylvania: Univ.Washington P. ISBN 9780295978222.
  10. ^ "CASUALTIES OF WAR". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  11. ^ "RDC: 22 ans après le massacre, retour à Kasika où la blessure des charniers reste vive". RFI (in French). 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  12. ^ "20 Years On from the Kasika Massacre, Women Survivors Share Their Stories | Women For Women". Women for Women International. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  13. ^ "Life for women in the country that 'never turned the page of conflict'". The Independent. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  14. ^ a b Rédaction, La (2020-09-11). "Mwenga: Le dialogue politique et social sur la gestion des Ressources naturelles dans le territoire de Mwenga a vécu". Politico.cd (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  15. ^ "Le WWF appuie le dialogue social et politique sur la gestion des ressources naturelles dans le". www.wwfdrc.org. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  16. ^ "Exploitation illégale des ressources naturelles au Sud-Kivu : huit députés nationaux en mission à Bukavu et Mwenga". Radio Okapi (in French). 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  17. ^ Grimes, Barbara F.; Pittman, Richard Saunders; Grimes, Joseph Evans (1992). Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. p. 448.
  18. ^ Africa, Issue 3 (Contributor: Kokuritsu Minzokugaku Hakubutsukan) (in English, Spanish, and French). National Museum of Ethnology. 1984. p. 72.
  19. ^ Vansina, Jan (October 22, 1990). Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780299125738.
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