The Bushongo people are also known as the Bakuba. Their neighbors gave this nickname to them, and it means “the people of the lightning”; they should be called the Bashi Bushongo (or the sons of Bushongo). It is a small country composed of tribes from different parts of Africa. It’s leaders come from Sudan and are known as the Bambala, the western people come from the Upper Congo, and the south is a separate branch of the Baluba from around Lake Nyassa. This melting pot of ethnicity gives rise to a related diversity of principles.
The Bambala elder is known as the Moaridi, and is the official historian of the kingdom. A summary of the beginning of the world goes as follows: -In the beginning, there was only absolute darkness and water. Bumba, the Chembe god, looked like an enormous, white man. On the first day he vomited the sun, moon, and stars. From the sun, the water began to recede, and sandbanks began to rise out of the receding water. He again vomited, this time bringing forth a variety of different animals. He then vomited many men, but only one was white (Loko Yima-founder of the royal family).
These men and the animals then populated the world by vomiting mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects and plants. Soon after that, the lightning began to cause trouble, so Bumba sent it to heaven where it can only come rarely to the Earth for the people to get fire. The god then gave each village of people a “tabu”. A tabu contained the “ancestral prohibitions”, and says that the king, parents, and elders will be honored, that life and property are to always be respected, that an enemy in need must be helped, and that a noble life must be lived.
While this happened, the Bushongo lived near a lake filled with palm wine instead of water. The myth says that a woman tainted the lake, replacing the palm wine with a canyon with new varieties of trees. A goat then discovered how to obtain the palm wine from these trees. The first king of the Bushongo was Loko Yima, and was succeeded by his daughter who taught the people to build houses. Her son Woto succeeded her and gave the people names, iron, circumcision, and poison. Another part of Woto’s myth is that he committed incest with one of his sisters who had a son.
When the people found out his son, Nyimi Lele, left the country travelling south. It is said that he is the founder of the Bashilele nation. The people still did not like Woto for this, so he decided to leave the country. However, before he left Woto killed their birds and grass; Woto also tried to leave an illegitimate heir, but was caught by the true heir named Nyimi Longa. Lastly, Woto set his village on fire and his wife Ipopa invented vegetable salt from the accidental tasting of the ashes. Long was succeeded by his nephew Minge Bengela who emigrated the nation.
One of the most beautiful stories of the Bushongo people is the myth of how a man named Kerikeri gave the creation of fire to the king’s daughter. The second version of the creation story by the Bushongo people comes from its western peoples. According to their myths, the world was always complete, but only an old couple lived then. One day the sky opened and their God, Bomazi, appeared and told the old people that they would bear a child. After the girl grew up Bomazi married her and had five children. Each of these children became a ruler, and two of the children, Moelo and Woto, were twins.
Moelo committed adultery with Woto’s three wives, and Woto decided to leave the country. After he left, there was no more sun, therefore he could no longer see. Moelo then sent three of his men to find Woto, but returned unsuccessful. Moelo sent two of the men back out and found Woto. Woto gave them there birds and told them to let them loose in the village while they sleep. He said that when you hear the weaverbird, leave the hut and see. After this, the sun returned. Before this there was no disease and death, but a man with a deformed tongue invented them. Since this happened man has had to suffer illness and death.
The Bangongo also have a story similar to the tale of the Bambalan lake of palm wine. It relates how people drink water and how the lake was polluted by a woman that caused the palm trees to grow. The discovery of iron is attributed to ghosts that told a man while he was dreaming. This account, as well as that of the Bambala mythology has not been related as one, continuous story, but as a group of short stories. This mythology could retain real information hidden in fiction; an example of this is the Bushongo legends that show the ancestral home of the people.
These stories may also show more than just the origination of the tribes, but also a suggestion to the civilizations where people came into contact. The history of the people tell that a king did travel far to the west, which may have lead to the belief tat Europeans influenced the origin story of the people, as well as their art. There is strong evidence that Europeans did not influence their art because most shapes are found in tribes related to the Bushongo who weren’t influenced by the travelling king.
There is also evidence that in other parts of Africa, the creation stories resemble that of Genesis, put into African shape. According to the mythology, the original ancestor to the tribe was white. This suggests that a North-African Mussulman founded the Bushongos. Both accounts of Woto speak of him migrating. This can be seen through other, independent tribes of the Bushongo. No matter what, Woto seems to be a dominant character of myth in all of the tribes. There are many more myths known to the Bushongo, and these myths are full of interesting proverbs.
