Z S Sfrother is assistant The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637

professor of art history at

The University of Chicago Press, LtcL, London
© 1998 by The University of Chicago
Columbia Umversity All rights reserved. Published 1998
Printed in the United States of America
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 5 4 3 21
The Umversity of Chicago Press
ISBN (cloth): 0-226-77732-4
fhanks the Umversity Seminars at
An earlier version of portions of the Conclusion appeared in "ïnvention and Reinven-
Columbia Umversity for tion in the Traditional Arts/' African Arts 28 (Spring 1995): 24-33, 90, and is
assistance in the preparation of reproduced with the permission of the Regents of the University of Cahfornia.
the manuscript for publication Uncredited photographs are by the author.

Materiai drawn from this Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

work was presented to the Strother, Z. S.
Inventing maslts: agency'and history in the art of the Central
Unïversiiy Seminar on the
Pende / Z.S. Strother.
Art of Afnca, Oceama, p. cm.
and the Americas In eindes bibliographical references and index.
1. Masks, Pende. 2. Pende (African people)—Rites and ceremonies.
3. Masquerades—Zaïre—History. I. Title.
This book is prmted on DT650.P46S77 1998
acid-free paper. 391.43408996393—dc21 97-16344
CIP
 CHAPTER ONE “Dar
Introd

WH AT n

We came to warm ourselves in the sun s rays, [but] rom 1

our home is in kalunga [the otherworld]. again
the Corp
—Common proverb
Pendelar
the fores
ed from
with her
she spied
Fearing i
and Eed c

A' i: -'<w~.'' s^^.Vr^. -' .*j-.. .;.w-

"Dancing the Masks;;
Introduction to the World of Pende Masquerading

WH AT MAKES A "PENDE"?
The young woman no doubt reasoned instantly (and
rom 1963 to 1965, a few Pende took part in a rebellion correctly) that the child was in little danger from the sol­
against the new regime in the Democratie Republic of dier. Nevertheless, there were witnesses. Some time later,
the Congo (later, Zaïre). In reprisal, soldiers moved into when order was restored, the woman was called before the
Pendeland, burning and looting villages. Families fled into chief and elders to account for her actions. With a self-pos-
the forest. The mother of an acquaintance became separat- session unusual in Pende women, who are not accustomed
ed from her family and was fleeing alone down a road to speaking in public, she stood. She is reported to have
with her young son strapped to her back. All of a sudden, answered with disdain: "Would you have me, a fertile
she spied a soldier coming in her direction down the road. woman, risk my life to defend a boy ? ... A boy who will
Fearing robbery or rapé, she threw down her yonng son never add a person to this lineage ?!"
and fled off into the bush. Later, she was able to collect the What she said was irrefutable because the Pende are
boy and rejoin her family. matrilineal, and des cent travels strictly through the
female line. If a couple has just one chili it had Letter be a support toward the classificatory "child." In return, chil-
girl. If the sisters of a family have no female children, the dren are not supposed to make distinctions in either affec-
family is considered "dead/' mortgaged without a future. tion or gifts among their "mothers." A paternal uncle has
Although rarely invoked, not having a daughter provides identical responsibilities, both legally and morally, toward
grounds for a woman to divorce her husband. Whenever his brothers' children and his own.
she had a beer too many at festivals, one of my hostesses This system provides a safety net for all involved. Not
used to reproach her husband for giving her six sons and infrequently, children are raised by individuals other than
no daughters. He would wail: "What can I do?!" their biological parents. Perhaps a grandmother has need
Nonetheless, there are truths that no society likes of someone to care for her; perhaps a young manled
voiced. The woman's bald statement scandalized the woman has need of a baby-sitter; perhaps a child is not
crowd. Her behavior did not conform to the idealized love getting enough to eat in a large family.
that a mother owes a child in Pende society. All the same, In light of current questions focusing on the colonial
after hemming and hawing, the chief could only dismiss construction of ethnicity in Africa (Vail 1989), it is worth-
her, saying weakly: "Well, next time, try to take him with while to weigh briefly the value of a term like "Pende,"
yon." considering the importance attachéd to membership in
The above anecdote illustrates the importance of the extended family described above. While it is no doubt
matrilineal affiliation. Pende society has engaged in a true that s elf-Identification before the imposition of the
remarkable experiment in communal organization based colonial state centered most often on local lineage, clan,
on an extended kinship system that collapses large groups and chiefdom, the scattering of clans from one end of the
of people to the same rubric. For example, "mother" in territory to the other and exogamous marriage practice
Kipende is a class that includes the biological mother, her ensured some sense of collective identity. During certain
sisters, and the daughters of the mother's mother's sis­ important rituals, foreigners from other ethnic groups
ters.1 What is critical to note is that these are not idle clas- may plead ignorance of the mies in cases of infringement,
sifications; they are lived realities that touch on law, hut custom allows no such excuse for "Pende," no matter
morality, and the emotions. All the women categorized as whence they come. In distinction from their neighbors
"mother," for example, have duties of nourishment and (especially their northern neighbors), they see certain
important societal institutions uniting them, such as lan-
guage, matrilineal social structure, cnltivation of millet,
circumcision and age grading based on initiation to a The Pende live today in the bush savanna of south-central
men's fraternity (mukanda), and, once most important, Zaïre. Their oral history States that when they fled north
the use of objects called mahamba as spiritual "transis­ in small groups to escape the slave trade in Angola, a large
tors" facilitating contact with their ancestors in order to segment of the population reunited for a time at Mashita
petition for the necessaries of life. Mbanza in present-day Zaïre. Archeologists recently cal-
This culture has a vivid sense of itself as one composed culated the earliest carbon 14 dates from the middens at
of immigrants from Angola. The ultimate justification for Mashita Mbanza to be 1685-90 ± 55 C.E. (Pierot 1987:
a belief or custom is that it "came from Angola." Among 196).4 Carbon 14 dating can be unreliable, but these esti-
the Eastern Pende, where the investiture of the chief mates coincide nicely with those made by scholars that
remains a vital ritual, the candidate must demonstrate the Pende left Angola in the seventeenth century (e.g.,
both his eligibility and his acceptability to the ancestors Kodi 1976:177; Haveaux 1954:19,23). After Mashita, tra-
by reciting a history. This begins with the words Ngudi dition has it that they dispersed peacefully eastward, some
Mupende (I am Pende) and proves his assertion by detail- eventually going as far as the Kas ai River.
ing the migration route from Angola and by listing cor- In their flight, the Pende found a niche suited to their
rectly the "grandmothers" from whom he is descended. millet cultivation on the sandy savanna bordering the for-
Most believe that ultimately all "true" Pende (i.e., those est zone of Zaïre, about 400 kilometers northeast of their
descended from the female line and not allied through home in Angola. Here they were able to live peacefully
slave lineages in the male line) share descent from the with peoples who had moved down from the north with
same "mother."2 Whether or not they share many cus- forest skills. In the late nineteenth century, the Chokwe in
toms and outlooks with their neighbors is immaterial; the south disrupted the balance of power as they pushed
ultimately they do not have the same grandmothers and farther and farther north, searching for trade goods (such
may not call on the same ancestors for aid. It is not lan- as elephant ivory and beeswax) and for women to expand
guage but this sense of shared lineage and history that the population of their lineages. Between the passage of
warrants the use of the term "Pende."3 Hans Mueller in 1884 and Leo Frobenius in 1905, the
Chokwe were atle to drive the Eastern Pende into the has increased differences between the two regions by
northeast corner of Pende territory along the Kasai River placing the language, Kipende, under the influence of two
(Wissmann et al. [1888] 1974: 85-119). very different lingua francaskTshiluba and Kikongo) and
Many Central Pende retreated to the Mbuun frontier by exposing the people to two vastly different economie
in the north. There they banded together with their regimes [diamonds and palm oil).
neighbors to defeat the Chokwe. The consolidation of a The administrative division at the Loange River has
Belgian presence in the early 1900s discouraged the tended to obfuscate internal regional relationships in Pen-
Chokwe from continning their aggression. Some of these deland. In many ways, the Central Pende, situated
Central Pende remained in the north, expanding the fron­ between the Kwilu and Loange Rivers, are closer to their
tier (Kodi 1976: 378-79) and creating an active artistic cousins in the Kasai than they are to the Pende west of the
center at the beginning of the twentieth century. Kwilu River. Clans are scattered throughout the territory,
No one can know precisely when the first Pende hut those situated in the center 'keep stronger ties with
erossed the Loange River, which today marks the border those in the east, occasionally even seeking candidates for
between two cultural zones (fig. 1). The considerable dif- the chieftainship from relatives on the other side of the
ferences in language and social practices on either side of Loange. Although the men's fraternity has evolved differ-
this frontier suggest a significant period of separation. The ently in the two areas, both organizations clearly spring
earliest collections of Pende art, made by Emil Torday in from the same root, and there are striking parallels in
1905 and 1909, by Leo Frobenius in 1905, and by Freder- investiture customs.
ick Starr in 1905-6,5 support this: they show the striking- On the other hand, the Pende west of the Kwilu once
ly individual regional styles to be already fully developed. had their own distinct artistic style and masquerading tra-
Popular usage distinguishes between the "Eastern" dition (de Sousberghe 1959:24,31, 69 ff.; Kodi 1976:327).
and "Western" Pende, who are separated by the Loange They practiced certain customs considered bizarre by all
River. Since 1932-33, the Loange has marked the border other Pende, for example, the enforced chastity of chiefs
between two major administrative units, the "Kasai" and (de Sousberghe 1954b). They also seem to have had much
the "Bandundu." Hence, the Eastern Pende are sometimes more interaction with the Aluund (Lunda), borrowing
referred to as the "Kasai Pende"; and the Western Pende, certain politica! terms and insignia from them.
as the "Bandundu Pende." This administrative division The South-Central Pende, who are notably less inter-
?gions by
ice of two
ongo) and
economie

River bas
ips in Pen-
V situated
er to their
vvest of the
e territory,
r ties with
didates for
side of the
tved differ-
arly spring
sarallels in

Kwilu once
nading tra-
1976:327).
^arre by all
ty of chiefs
2 had much
borrowing

r less inter-

1. Map of Pende terntory

CHARTER ONE

ested in masqnerading and who also have had a long his- elders were publicly whipped. Colonial administrators
tory of interaction with the Ahmnd on their frontier, com- applied considerable coercion to "recruit" workers for the
pose another cultural zone. If anything, they are perhaps Lever palm plantations (known as Huileries du Congo
dos er to the Pende west of the Kwihi than they are to Beige).
their neighbors due north. In 1931, a constellation of forces provoked rebellion
Por these reasons, the administrative division of among the Pende west of the Kwiln.7 Due to the death of
"Western" and "Eastern" Pende (separated at the Loange one Belgian administrator, they suffered brutal reprisals.
River) is misleading. The text will distingnish among four In the wake of this incident, the administration deposed or
regions: the "Kwilu Pende" (west of the Kwiln River), the threatened many chiefs in the territory of the Kwiln and
"Central Pende" (north of Ngashi, sandwiched between the Central Pende in order to impose their own selections.
the Loange and Kasai Rivers), the "South-Central Pende," The consequence of this action has been an extraordinary
and the "Eastern Pende" (sandwiched between the Loange erosion of respect for and prestige of chiefs in these areas
and Kasai Rivers) (hg. I).6 In the text, to the best of my vis-a-vis the Eastern Pende. .7
ability I will try to distingnish among these regions. Life eased a bit in the 1940s and 1950s, and young Cen­
"Pende" will refer to customs spanning the territory. This tral Pende men, deprived of traditional avenues of prestige
study focuses primarily on the masqnerading of the Cen­ in hunting and leadership, turned increasingly to the mas-
tral Pende. querades both as entertainment and as a form of indirect
Between 1903 and 1913, foreign commerce among the protest against the occupation force. Independence in
Central Pende; centered on rubber. When the rubber mar- 1960 brought short-lived euphoria. Some Kwiln and Cen­
ket crashed in 1913, the state began to exert more and tral Pende joined Mbuun neighbors in a Maoist peasant
more force to increase local production of palm oil. Colo- rebellion against the new regime, which resulted in civil
nial control greatly increased in the 1920s. In 1930, in war and a reign of terror, 1963-65. Once again, whole vil­
response to the precipitous fall in world palm oil prices, lages fled, abandoning their fields, to live hand-to-mouth
the colonial administration raised its head tax in the in the forest or to take refuge with kin in the south. The
Kwiln area and in south-central Pendeland. Without the Mulele Rebellion, as it is called, marks a real watershed for
means of raising such exorbitant sums, entire villages fled the Kwiln and Central Pende.8 Because of the flight and
to the forests to hide. Hunted down, chiefs and village the consequent famine, there was high mortality among
 DANCING THE MASKS" 9

the elderly. Many survivors returned to their burned or initiation fever lasting several years sweeps across the
looted homes demoralized, intent on rethinking what cle­ region. Dates and names do not always correlate between
ments of their heritage continued to hold relevance for regions. The following is a list of the Central Pende gener-
the present. Many customs already on the wane were ations relevant to the text.
simply not renewed. For the Central Pende, masquerading
Milenga (ca. 1885-90):The name of this generation
marked the one great exception.
helps to date its initiation. Milenga is derived from
sogo jia milenga, the name for immature manioc car-
rots about an inch wide. When the war with the
PROBLEMS OF DATING
Chokwe began, many Central Pende fled north to
For a study such as this, the relative placement of individ- seek refuge with kin on the border with the Mbuun
nals and objects in time is critical. One major tooi nsed is and were obliged to abandon their fields. On their
return, they precipitously launched the new age
the dating system of the Pende themselves: men's age
grade. The women had replanted the fields, but the
grades. Every ten to fifteen years, the Pende formerly ini- manioc had not yet matured. De Sousberghe records
tiated boys into the men's fraternity (mukanda).9 The that the last of this generation died in the 195Os
"generations" (indongo) that resnlted were distinguished (1955d: 82; 1961a: 68 n. 1). The first sculptor of
by names that described something topical at the time of Nyoka-Munene, Maluba, belonged to this age grade.
the initiation. For example, the initiation camps that Mingelu (ca. 1901—3) :10 The name is derived from
the verb guneluga, "to reflect" (used for both water
sprang up in 1972 chose the sobriquet "Zaïre" to com-
and oil). At this period, palm oil was heated as part of
memorate President Mobutu's renaming of the country the extraction process, which rendered it shiny and
in October 1971. They were the forst generation to gradu- reflective (maji a kingeluka). The local factory
ate in the country Zaïre. Present practice among the East- Bienge, forcibly recruited large numbers from this
ern Pende mixes boys who range from about eight years generation to carry small barrels and drums 195 kilo­
old to the early twenties. Among the Central Pende, an meters to the main factory in Kikwit. The sculptor
Gabama was a member of this generation,
occasional initiate was already manled and a father.
Mapumbulu (sing. Pumbulu) or Mbunda (ca.
Villages make more or less autonomous decisions to 1916—19) r11 In the village of Lozo, Kilota Kayongo
launch initiation camps. However, once several villages and Maluanya explained that this age grade was orig-
start, boys clamor not to be left behind their peers, and an inally called Mbunda but later became known as
1 0 CHARTER ONE

Mapumbuhi (soldiers) when the Belgians forced some Dardar (slang for "quick") (ca. 1980): A few
of the older boys to serve in World War L Two other villages, especially in the north, held a short, folkloric f
Mapumbiihi at Lozo recounted that their age mate version.
Gipnku was drafted from the camp to go fight. The
In addition to the age grades, local events may be tied to
scalptor Gitshiola was a member of this age grade.
Only a few of the very youngest of this generation known documented dates of either national or local sig-
were alive in 1989. nificance. Important watersheds in local history include
Ndende (palm nuts) (ca. 1931): Many camps were the rebellion of 1931, independence in 1960, the disrup-
in session at the time the rebellion occurred in 1931. tions of the Mulele Rebellion of 1963-65, investitures of
The name probably refers to the large numbers of important chiefs, and the dates on which the Belgians
men from this age grade recruited for the palm plan-
compelled certain villages to rebuild along the roads (for
tations in the north. The scalptor Nguedia belongs to
this group. surveillance) and away from the water (for fear of sleep- f
Pogo jia Mesa (table knives) (1938-40):12 This was ing sickness).
the Êrst generation to arrivé at the camps with many
boys already circumcised as infants in state birthing
centers. It is the age grade of Miteleji Mutundu (b. SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE MASQUERADES
1930), inventor of the mask Gatomba. The historians Kodi and Sikitele have argued that resis-
Solomogo (1946 at Nyoka-Munene; 1949-50 in
tance to authority is a perduring Pende cultural trait (Kodi
the Kinkasa [Mbuun] area): lts name translates as i
"barst out" and indicates that the boys spent little 1976: 164-65; Sikitele 1986: 118). Despite government
time in camp. This is the age grade of the dancers opposition, even today villages fracture easily and some
Khoshi Mahumbu (b. 1935) and Masuwa. Pende joke that they vote with their feet. The goal of
Yembele (1956 in Mukedi, Nyoka-Munene, Lozo, many institutions is to preserve a relatively egalitarian
Ngondo): This is the last generation initiated in the social structure. Because they are matrilineal, the eternal
bush across mach of Central Pende territory The conflict between individual autonomy and responsibility
scalptors Gitshiola Léon (b. 1940), Zangela Matangua
to the group is visualized on a pers onal le vel as the strug-
(b. 1943), Gisanuna Gakhusu (b. 1943), and Mashini I
Gitshiola (b. 1949) belong to this group. gle between nephew and maternal uncle (lemba).
Zaïre or Tuzua Meya (1972): Some villages held a Although descent travels through the female line, the
short, folkloric version of the old initiation rituals. Pende are patriarchal and virilocal, so the most important
 "DANCING THE MASKS'' 11

figures in a person's life are the "uncles." These men are Muyombo, which Mungilo wished to perform at an
)lkloric the classificatory Brothers of the mother and matrilineal upcoming masquerade. Gifembe prides himself on his
grandmother. In a substantive sense, children belong to reputation as a renowned dancer for this premier Central
r be tied to the "uncles/' a concept that has certain repercussions for Pende mask. He refused categorically. He also went so far
: local sig- sorcery as discussedbelow.Theoretically, the "uncles" are as to forbid Mungilo from performing Muyombo at alk
ry include supposed to provide for the education and major expenses This is extraordinary behavior, and village scuttlebutt
he disrap- that an individual incurs. In the past, they kept a commu- attributed his motives to a fear of being upstaged. Mu­
stitures of nity chest for the needs of the lineage. Fines are billed to yombo's dance requires great vigor and flexibility. Many
s Belgians the "uncles." In return, they have rights to "nieces'" chil­ think that the aging Gifembe has passed his peak and is
roads (for dren and "nephews'" labor. As children usually grow up in relying on the beauty of his costume rather than his per­
r of sleep- their father's village and move back later, there is always a formance to please crowds (hg. 2).
certain mobility and fluidity in the region. At the masquerade, Mungilo became inspired after his
Because the "uncles" hold so much power over their uncle had performed and sought out a makeshift body-
DES
sisters' progeny, the maternal family relationship is usu­ suit and headpiece. Witnesses claim (perhaps for the saké
ally a prickly one marked by undercurrents of fear. The of a good story) that, despite the ragged costume, they
that resis- older generation tends to feel neglected; and the younger, have never seen such an accomplished and moving por-
trait (Kodi exploited. Because of their interest in building a commu- trayal. When the audience poured onto the floor to
tvernment nal society, evenhanded generosity is the virtue most applaud Mungilo, his uncle left in a fury. That night
and some admired in Pende ethics. Hoarding and bias provoke Mungilo suffered a nervous breakdown and has remained
ae goal of insults because they create a situation in which envy and a shadow of himself to the present.
igalitarian hurt feelings may blossom into rancor and malice. The The timing was damning and angry accusations flew
he eternal danger is that they may lead to sorcery (wanga). that Gifembe had bewitched his nephew out of envy for
)onsibility A masquerading anecdote will illustrate this point. At his youthful grace. Fearing violence, Gifembe and the
the strug- Kinguba, there is an energetic entrepreneur, Mungilo, elders insisted that the state be brought in to try the case.
i). who has been teaching himself how to sculpt. He is also a These officials ruled that drug abuse had been responsible
Ie line, the gifted dancer and one day went to his "uncle" Gifembe a for Mungilo's breakdown, and many at Kinguba seem to
important Pinda to ask to borrow his elaborate costume for the mask accept this explanation. Abroad, most prefer to use the
1 2 CHARTER ONE

story as an exemplar of uncle-nephew

rivalry.
i //
Crudely translated above as "sor-
cery/' wanga is the ability to manipulate
A
the material and spirit world for pers on­
r
. t-GAT'-'' al advantage: it is the "power-to-make-
things-happen."13 As power may be used
for benign, as well as self-aggrandizing,
•Vv-1? motives, it is an ambivalent concept.
Considered the cause of all illness (with
the recent exception of malaria) and sud-
den death/14 it is also associated with all
2 Gifembe a Pinda dances talents and abilities, no matter how mun-
the mask MUYOMBO Kmgu- dane, that surpass the ordinary A public
ba, Zaïre, August 1989. speaker famed for eloquence, a student
who always gets the highest marles on
exams, a hunter who never fails, even a
woman who routinely produces hot,
delicieus meals in the blink of an eye: all
will be suspected of having sought out a
charm or some form of wanga. While
the Pende admire talent as much as any-
one, they fear that egocentric ambitions
can undermine the communal base of
society by provoking envy.
The emphasis on 'personal advantage
is important. Performers and artists may
>-
 DANCING THE MASKS"

vnephew seek to distinguish themselves; nonetheless, they con- the conception of wanga toward the pnrely negative. It is
tribute something very real to society. It is the wealthy als o disassociating the system from God (Maweze), so
as "sor- who pose the greatest threat to the communal ideal. Peo- that sorcery no longer plays a role in ethics. All sorcery
anipulate ple reason that since everyone works hard, for one pers on (wanga) has become "criminal sorcery/' to borrow a use-
>r person- to amass significantly more than others calls for a hélping ful phrase from Achille Mbembe (1991:120).
to-make- hand on the "other" side. NonethelesS/ even if wanga was never construed as
ly beused Wanga stands as the linchpin of the ethical system. It is "evil," the term has always been weighted toward the
^andizing, the spur that drives redistribution of goods in the commu­ antisocial because of its emphasis on -personal advantage.
: concept, nal society for fear of arousing the resentment and envy of Suspicions can drive old men out of the village to live mis-
ress (with others. The specialist in wanga (the nganga) will always erable and alone. Accusations at funerals can become
)and sud- emphasize that he cannot strike without ethical cause. volatile enough to provoke bloodshed. Periodic antisor-
H with all Even with the worst intentions in the world, his recipes cery movements in the past often culminated in the
how mun- will not "take" unless the victim or the victim/s family has accused being forced to drink a poison (kipomi) to prove
y A public made her or him vulnerable through selfishness, adultery guilt or innocence. Unless one can counterdemonstrate
a student etc. Sorcerers will address a wheedling prayer to God, try- one's use to the community in some way—for example, as
marks on ing to transfer responsibility for their actions: "Maweze, chief, accomplished healep or gifted hunter—a reputation
dis, even a you created the leaves and the objects that we use, so we as a specialist in wanga is not one to cultivate.
luces hot, are just using that which you have provided us." However, It is rare for serious accusations of sorcery to be made
an eye: all it is understood that their actions will not work unless against women. As will be discussed in chapter 5/ women
mght out a there is cause (kitela). Still, human nature being what it is, are believed to be loath to hurt others. They have other,
iga. While most people fear that it is all tb o easy for the malicious to benign means of releasing their anger. The grandmother
ich as any- find some excuse in an individuaTs comportment. who wants something will send a gift of pineapple or spice
: ambitions There is a great deal of critical debate about how West- to activate old affections. Refusing her may result in
ral base of erners may have exaggerated the negativity of African embarrassment, but no fear. Her displeasure or cranki-
conceptions of sorcery. It is a thorny question because as ness, unlike her husband's, will be cause only for tolerant
l advantage Christianity takes root in Pendeland, its duality of good amusement. Novelist Margaret Atwood has observed: "I
artists may versus evil is definitely recasting the debate and shifting don't think that it does women any favors to think they
1 4 CHARTER ONE

are congenitally nice. Power is always potentially power masks" (ulumbu wa mbuya). In addition to the perform­
to harm. Think of electricity think of fire. It can be used ers, the event requires a team of drummers and as many i

for benign purposes, bxit unless it bas that implied or singers as possible. lts success also depends on the active
implicit ability to harm, it's not power/715 Because tbey participation of the audience, who will sing, clap, and
hold little political or economie power, women are seldom dance along with the masks.
accused of wanga. Significantly in the two instances I wit- An entire lineage of musicology has stressed the
nessed where women were accused, both had used busi­ important role of music and dance in socialization. In a
ness acumen to help make their husbands wealthy seminal work, Alan Lomax observed:
In the context of the masquerades, it is the selfish use of Teamwork of any soit demands that idiosyncracies
metaphysical power that receives the most attention in and personal conflicts be subordinated to the
representations of older men. These "uncles" may have requisites of a common goal. Most music-making and
turned to sorcery out of a love of power, ouyof envy for dancing are the outcome of teamwork; indeed, it
might be argued that a principal function of music
the abilities of youth, or out of resentment at the callous
and dance is to augment the solidarity of a group. !

indifference of young relatives. While anyone (including Singing the same melody dancing to the same
the occasional woman) may turn to the exploitation of rhythm, even utilizing the same pitch ... arise from
metaphysical power for personal ends, people fear most its and enhance a sense of communality ... Thus every
consolidation in the segment of society that already holds performance demands andbrings about group
the most power over others. The only prudent way to solidarity in some degree. (1968:171)
neutralize this fear is by scrupuleus attention to the needs Within African studies, however, while scholars have reaf-
of the "uncles" so that they do not feel driven to seek firmed the role music plays in building communities, they
external means of exacting care and respect. have observed that structures such as multiple meter, call
and response, and improvisation assure the individual of
room for personal experimentation and recognition (e.g.,
THE VILLAGE THAT DANCES TOGETHER
Chernoff 1979:125; Thompson 1966: 91).
STAYS TOGETHER
Many Pende crave fame (hitumbu). Masquerades pro-
In Kipende, one speaks of "dancing a mask" (kukina vide a safe and socially sanctioned means for personal dis-
mbuya), and a "masquerade" is literally a "dance of tinction while contributing to the health of the communi-
 "DANCING THE MASKS" 1 5

ty. Like a baseball game, it diffuses male rivalry into the ments. The occasion allows elders to show off their gen- 3 The Eastern Pende POTA in
realm of popular culture. Each batter has his moment erosity in praise gifts and everyone can parade their good performance Nofe the sup-

when all eyes focus on him alone, but then he must fade clothes. Because audience participation is the rule of suc- portive smgers and

back into the team. The serial nature of mask presentation cess, a masquerade requires a huge number of people to drummers, as well as the

provides dancer after dancer with hi's time in the lime- fiourish (hg. 3). In the past, the chief appointed someone chief's wife, who is hononng
hght. While the masquerade lasts, singers, drummers, and to secure the dance floor from envious or ill-willed practi- the masquerader. Kingange,

sculptors get their chance to exhibit their accomplish- tioners of sorcery.16 Zaïre, 29 February 1 988.
1 6 CHARTER ONE

Masquerades Wild and cement communities. Among Exegetes insist that explanations of masks (mbuya) as the
the Eastern Pende, where the ritual context is alive, they dead (vumbi) are for the noninitiated. As a church consti-
reunite the maternal family across the divide of death. In tutes an agreed-upon site of contact for Christians
traditional theology Maweze created the world andplaced hetween the physical and metaphysical realms, so the
humans in a cycle of reincarnation in which the dead act as masks preate a liminal space in which the worlds of the
caretakers over their junior relatives. Masquerades occur living and the dead may be superimposed. The masks'
after the ritual renewal of the village to thank the ances- presence reminds the living of the invisible family mem­
tors for past heneficence and to petition for their contin- bers dancing alongside. The danced communion is fol-
ued goodwill. They tend to occur when the millet is to be lowed on the last day with a sacrificial meal behind the
sowed or harvested, when the chief is seriously ill, wdien chief's house for lineage heads to honor the dead, to
there are calamitous epidemics, etc. In short, they take assure them that they have not been forgotten. Kubalu- i
i
place when the community has pulled together to meet a muna, luthondo.
challenge. Group solidarity is such a goal, in fact, that vil- There is good evidence that masquerades among the (
lagers who refuse to participate may be fined for asocial Central and Kwilu Pende once fulfilled the same ritual
behavior. (If they are ill, all the more reason to come.) function.18 This function seemed to decline with belief in
Masquerades celebrate the restored state of peace and the efficacy of appeal to the ancestors after the disastrous
security rebellion of 1931. At that time, Pende west of the Kwilu
Older men and women insist that the dead dance received graphic demonstration of the inability of the
among the living on these occasions in a true reunion of ancestors to protect them from the bullets of the militia.
the extended family. The night before a masquerade Nonetheless, even in its secular form, the sense of com­
begins, the talking drums boom out with the rhythms of munity remains paramount in the masquerade. One
the different masks. This rehearsal gives younger dancers should remember that many Americans who are agnostic
a chance to show their mettle and alerts the countryside -to or atheist celebrate Thanksgiving as a ritual of family and
the festivities. Most important, the drums invite the national incorporation. The Central Pende will dance only
guests of honor, the village's deceased family members.17 when there are no problems in the community, when
The masks do not impersonate or incarnate the dead. there are no important disputes.19 If they cannot seek the
 ya) as the help of the ancestors in building a conamunity, they still mbuyajia mukanda, "masks of the meiks fraternity/// and
ch consti- use the masquerade to reinforce a sense of community mbuyajia kifutshi, "masks of the village" (in the largest
Ihristians and common purpose. sense, including heids and forest). The distinction, there-
as, so the What is important to stress, however, is that this easy fore, is made by context and function rather than by
Ids of the adaption of the masquerade to the secular world was pos- materials. This study will address the village masks,
ae masks' sible precisely because individuals before the colonial although one could as easily focus on histories of inven-
üly mem- period had greatly expanded the masquerade's entertain­ tion for the fraternity masks.
on is fol- ment function. From the point of first contact, outsiders The fraternity masks are associated with whips and the
•ehind the were struck by the extensive corpus of Central Pende discipline of boot camp (plate 1). Among the Eastern
2 dead, to masks. Pende, they appear only during the initiation period and
i. Kubalu- act both as protectors and as drill sergeants for initiates.
West of the Loange River, they may appear singly and in
MASK CATEGORIZATiON
imong the groups at any time. For example, chiefs commonly send
ame ritual The Jesuit anthropologist Léon de Sousberghe identified them to ambush cheaters' attempting to harvest caterpil-
h behef in two categories of masks: the minganji and the mbuya. He lars before the legal season begins.
disastrous attributed the difference between them to the materials of Village masks are reserved for members of the men's
the Kwilu manufacture: the minganji are made of raffia, and the fraternity, but they do not perform during the initiation
ity of the mbuya of wood (1959: 29). Although this is largely true, period, and they are never connected with violence or dis-
he militia. there are a number of exceptions, as de Sousberghe him- ruption of any kind.20 On the contrary, as described above,
se of com- self noted. The most famous of the minganji, Gitenga, is their performance is conceived of as a service for the com-
rade. One sometimes made of wood, and there are several mbuya munity at large, most dehnitely including women. How-
re agnostic made (or once made) of raffia (Tundu, Gandumbu, ever, in the past, it was believed that physical contact with
family and Kolombolo, etc.). A truer translation of these two cate­ any of the paraphernalia of the men's fraternity could
dance only gories wouldbe masks associated with the men's fraterni­ render a child ill. It could also provoke a host of gyneco-
nity when ty (minganji) and village masks (mbuya). This point is logical problems for women, including miscarriages.
ot seek the made crystal clear among the Eastern Pende, who refer to Some associates among the Eastern Pende feared this fate
CHARTER ONE

for the writer and urged me to return for treatment if any 1931 and 1963-65, have made the sharpest break with the „ Bihiaü!
symptoms developed.21 past. In fact, many are more comfortable speaking the lin- sanc! and!
Villages once kept communal chests of masks and cos- gua franca Kikongo than Kipende. The oldest men, of the of stody:
tumes, enabling those with the skills and desire to per- Ndende age grade, initiated around 1931, had never prac- renowned
form for the benefit of all. If a given maslhs popularity ticed as adults much of what they were describing. Conse- be good p-
waned, it sometimes happened that "nephews" of the quently their understanding, derived from childhood wekomec
inventor or last performer feit obliged to keep it alive for memories, lacked subtlety. many elk
fear of alienating its deceased advocate. Pende reason that The Central Pende, in contrast, regard themselves as by dus sc
the dead, like the living, do not like to see their contribu- placed at the heart of Pende culture and language. Some and coun
tions passed over and forgotten.22 were highly amused that I should try to speak Kipende The same
The Central Pende hunger for masks was such that it with what they regard as a provincial accent and archaic dancers p
encouraged the development of itinerant dancers who vocabulary from across the river. They too have made a by Zaïria
would circulate with a lead drummer (and perhaps a good sharp break with the past. There seem to be only a few eigners ir
singer). As the communal chest was abandoned, dancers pockets downriver (i.e., north) where old, conservative Thus 1
began collecting their own personal collections of costume chiefs maintain ritual houses and still make sacrifices to from scu
and props necessary for performance. the ancestors. and cliem
Masquerades, however, continue to flourish among the ! are entire
Central Pende. Transformed from their original ritual fession rv
NYOKA-MUNENE
role, they still galvanize young men. From my reconnais- men whe
I began to work in the Ban dun du region after two years' sance, one village stood out: Nyoka-Munene.24 Other vil- nuances,
work among the Eastern Pende, where I had witnessed fif- lages are better known for their performers, hut certainly supports
teen days of village masquerading and over four months no other center is more obsessed with masquerading. This rich Kasa
of daily initiation (mukanda) masking.23 Circulating village of approximately 750 people25 supports 7 profes­ One b
among the Kwilu and Central Pende in 1989,1 was aston- sional (full-time) sculptors. I do not know of a greater con- fieldwoiT
ished at the differences from the Eastern Pende, among centration of Pende sculptors in one place. Even the local shiola. Bc
whom ritual life continues to flourish. The Kwilu Pendè, Pende nurse had caught the fever and hung twenty or so comparis
who bore the bruut of repercussions for the rebellions in masks in the dispensary waiting room! means ol

\i
 Exhausted by over three months of constant hiking in surely know about the world and the roles of men and
sand and heat, I approached Chief Kapinga with a project women in it. At that moment, I discovered that the ques-
of studying the masks for which his village was tion y/How do men differ from women?" elicited an entire
renowned. He agreed, reasoning on the lines that it wonld aesthetic discoarse. This is a subject that interests a great
be good public relations for the village. The scalptors also many people, and even children have a lot to say I had the
welcomed the free advertising and asked me to send as impression that male field associates took a certain ironie
many clients their way as possible. As will be made clear satisfaction in telling a female researcher all about the
by this study there is no hermetic division between city perfidy of women. I often challenged them, and my
and country between //modernity// and "authenticity/' refusal to see facts amused them greatly. Some of my own
The same scalptors who take pride in their work for Pende interests and habits that did not seem to conform to the
dancers pay their children's school fees with money paid rules were attributed to personal or national oddity and
by Zaïrian middlemen for masks destined for sale to for- thus did not pose a challenge to the system. Among the
eigners in Kinshasa.26 Eastern Pende, women would sometimes ask why I got to
Thus began a very agreeable séjour spent wandering do things that they could not. The Standard reply rather
from sculptor's atelier to atelier. Accustomed to friends exasperated because it was embarrassed, was: "BECAUSE
and clients stopping by to watch them work, the scalptors SHE'S NOT PENDE." Colonialism may have ended, but
are entirely at ease in discussing fine points of their pro- world power relationships extend to the remotest village.
fession while they handle the adze or knife. They are all In 1987-89, Zaïrians realized that one had to be careful
men who love masquerading and enjoy reflecting on its with Americans, that there were repercussions if they dis-
nuances. As a spin-off from the mask trade, Nyoka also appeared or got hurt. Sculptors resisted my experiment-
supports seven raffia weavers, a lost art in the diamond- ing with an adze, for example, out of fear that they would
rich Kasai. be held responsible if I wounded myself. In general, how-
One breakthrough came in the twenty-ninth month of ever, women and youthful researchers benefit from
fieldwork in a discussion with the scalptor Mashini Git- appearing less threatening. The Pende are very kind to
shiola. Benefiting from an agile mind, he started to make "children."
comparisons between the faces of masks and people as a As in the Kasai, a critical point in my education was
means of reminding me of what he thought that I mast reached when some Pende, interested in the project for
itself, decided to intervene. Malenge-Mundugu-Mukho- have ever met. They are his life, and the joy that they
kho did so with his customary wit and whirlwind energy: arouse in audiences allows him to recoup a reputation tar-
He decided that I wras not going about the project in the nished in the Mulele Rebellion. He has an extraordinary
right way as I was talking to sculptors bnt neglecting the kinetic memory, including an acute sense of who intro-
performance of the masks. At that point Nyoka had not duced what when. It was he who found all of my best case
hosted a masquerade in over two years due to tensions studies. Popular with the other dancers, his entree made a
between the new chief and the Mulamba quarter. In addi- significant difference in my reception. In a real sense, this
tion, converts to the Neo-Apostolic Church since 1988 study emerges from Malenge's and KhoshFs reorienta-
have expressed some hostility about whether or not tion of the project toward dancers.
masks constituted "graven images."
Malenge started agitating in the village for masquer-
CONCLUSION
ades. He also approached a friend of his at Kinguba,
Gifembe a Pinda, a well-known dancer of the mask Mu- The Central Pende have largely removed masquerading
yombo, to suggest that Kinguba should also get involved. from its original ritual context. Yet field associates across
In the end, Nyoka-Munene and Kinguba each sponsored central Pendeland and into the north insisted that mas­
two days of masquerading, at which I learned a great deal. querades "beautify the village" (gubongesa dimbo) or
As well as seeing the minganji (plate 1) a little bit every- "rejoice the village" (gusuanguluisa dimbo). One dances
where, I also witnessed impromptu village masquerades at when the village is calm, at peace, most emphatically not
Mukedi, in delayed celebration of Ndunda Mus enge's when it is torn by dissension or rivalries.
investiture as chief, and at Makulukulu. The 1989 Festival Muhenge Mutala, a Pumbulu initiated late, ca. 1921,
de Gungu was a photo event, but many of the dancers spoke eloquently of the power of dance. He explained that
were coerced by state officials, and their performances the masquerade was capable of "making rejoice the bodies
lackluster. that are shivering."27 The cold and the ill assume many of
Khoshi Mahumbu also radically reshaped the project the same postures. Malaria often begins with the chills,
by insisting that I interview performers like Gambetshi and nothing is colder than the grave. Traditionally the
Kivule. Both professional dancer and scalptor, Khoshi is Pende believed that the primary attraction for spirits of
more committed to masquerades than any man that I the dead in the world of the living was simple warmth. As
 "DANCING THE MASKS" 21

that they a familiar proverb has it: "We came to warm ourselves in strengthens and reinforces the village (gukolesa dimbo).
ation tar- the stin's rays, [but] our home is in kalunga [the other- It speaks with bravado. Muhenge relates that one marks
lordinary world]."28 off the masquerade arena with palm fronds in order to
rho intro- According to Muhenge, dance warms the body and the boast, "We will dance until the fronds dry up" (one to two
^best case heart. It drives out the chili of incipient death. It stimu- days); that is, we will not get tired. In short, dance puts
ée made a lates the weak and ill so that they feel stronger and inter- death at a distance.
sense, this ested in others as well as themselves. By doing so, it
reorienta-

squerading
ates across
i that mas-
dimbo) or
Dne dances
atically not

:e, ca. 1921,

plained that
e the bo dies
me many of
h the chills,
tionally, the
;or spirits of
* warmth. As
Masks ir

n the 1910s“30:
tral Pende of Z,
revolntionary net
Including life-size
animals, whirling
(figs. 99-101), thi
incomprehensible
Chinese Encyclop(
and Foucault ([IS
would not even b
Already by the 19
ferred to replace th
Masks in the Colonial Period

n the IPlOs-SOs, a series of older men among the Cen­ danced with facepieces. In serious decline by the 1950s, the
tral Pende of Zaïre invented and sold concessions to a mafuzo masks have all but disappeared since Indepen-
revolutionary new category of masks: mbuyajia mafuzo' dence in 1960. Today they are usually dismissed as "masks
Including life-size puppets, lumbering maquettes of fierce of sorcery" (mbuyajia wanga).1
animals, whirling barrels, and wriggling snake dancers
(figs. 99—101), this group of masks seems as opaque and
SOMETHiNG WITCHING THIS WAY COMES
incomprehensible in its "taxonomy" as the apocryphal
Chinese Encyclopedia made famous by Borges (1981:142) It is the mode of presentation that defines the mafuzo as a
and Foucault ([1966] 1970: xv). Indeed, most of them distinct subset of village masks. To the Pende mind their
would not even be recognized by Westerners as masks. presentation is far more extraordinary than the bewilder-
Already by the 1940s, new generations increasingly pre- ing array of forms that the masks take. The word mafuzo
ferred to replace these inventions with comedic characters is derived from the verb gufuza, "to blow on," and signi-

229
)
 232 CHARTER EIGHT
| mouth. In one h
(gupupa mbala), ^
|
cutioner's blindfc
i
makes spectators
I
s might be hiding ir
i
1 traditional sword
machete or whip.
in the sunlight as
mark death by bk
If their appeai
1' helpers blow kaol
I tion of the crowc
fearing an airbon
101. The Nyoga (snake)
masquerade at Ngashi
panic and keeps 1
;

in 1956. Dancers relyon

the scary music i
«
« for the reception
body-paint and distance
* The mafuzo d
from the audience to dïs-
guise mdividual identity.
ture as "our gimr
Note the special "back­
sons for maintaii
stage" shelter built on the
mask. One was tc
the other was p:
dance floor for the per­
1
structed over a
formers, which is marked f
ance possible by dressing like the helpers of Pumbu in the 1 sight of the feet
off by a palm fringe sigm- fies "somethingblown." The most outstanding character-
fying prohibition. (Photo- istic for these audiences is that each mask is accompanied garb of ngunza. 2 At their temples, they wear long feath- exposed underne
graph by Léon de Sous- by male helpers (enya mafuzo) who blow mysterieus ers (substituting for those of the extinct predator pungu) der people from
or the blood-red feathers of the nduwa (Musophaga The technique fc
berghe.) substances in the direction of the crowd.
These helpers cultivate the most frightening appear- rossae). They rub kaolin down the forehead and across the I masks was open 1
I
#

s.
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 233

mouth. In one hand, they fan a square of raffia cloth for the mbuyajia mafuzo had to be purchased. Thus, even
(gupupa mbala), which the crowd connects with the exe- initiated males were kept at a distance from these masks,
cutionehs blindfold. At the least, the square of cloth an extraordinary development.
makes spectators uneasy for fear of what the dancers Kaolin is a beneficial substance in Pende thought, but
might be hiding inside it. In the other hand, they carry the spectators who were not in on the secret had their own
traditional sword (pogo ya khusa) or, by substitution, a ways of interpreting what they saw. Muyaga Gangambi,
machete or whip. They brandish this weapon, twisting it the first to identify the mafuzo category by name, specu-
in the sunlight as part of the kuhala dance performed to lated that the powder was composed of kaolin mixed with
mark death by blade. medicines made from tree and animal parts, by analogy
If their appearance were not fearsome enough, these with the blown concoctions prepared by specialists to pro-
helpers blow kaolin powder from their palms in the direc- tect men from the spirits of people or animals they intend
tion of the crowd as they dance forward. The audience, to kill or have killed (1974:134). Most spectators link the
fearing an airborne sorcery agent, stampedes backward in powder to those that dancers sometimes blow on them-
panic and keeps to a respectful distance. This effect, like selves in the manner of charms. For example, men com-
the scary music in a Western horror film, sets the mood monly blow powder from the sengu plant on fraternity
for the reception of the frightening apparition to follow. maskers in order to enable them to run super fast without
The mafuzo dancers surviving today refer to this ges- tiring. Many also assume that the powder neutralizes the
ture as "our gimmick" (gadilo g'etu). There were twd^rèa- sorcery tricks of rivals (gulebesa ngolo jia ima). There is a
sons for maintaining distance between the crowd and the fear that sorcerers, jealous of the acclaim of a certain
mask. One was to add to the sense of mystery and danger; dancer, might bury sharp shards of palm nut kerneis in the
the other was practical. Many of the masks were con- sand or dig little holes in the dancehs path to make him
stmcted over a basketry frame. Distance obscured the trip. While these are common concerns of maskers, they
sight of the feet of the dancer(s), which might well be relate to private ambitions and are dealt with in private.
exposed underneath. Another practical reason was to hin­ The open blowing of powder is particularly inappropriate
der people from figuring out how the "trick" was done. at a masquerade, whose function is to unite the village, not
The technique for making and dressing Standard village disperse it. Whatever the motive, no one wishes to get in
masks was open to any initiated male, but the devices used the way of unknown potent substances, and a common
234 CHARTER EIGHT

nickname for the mafuzo Kas hecome "masks of sorcery" (1974: 174). In order to fully understand their unprece- under the tail t
(mbuya jia wanga). dented form, let us examine the most widespread: Pagasa, assistant woulc
The connection in the minds of many spectators with the Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer).5 Pagasa is recognized grass or leaves
sorcery is only strengthened by the unusual things that just about everywhere, whether or not the village dances (fig. 99). Muy;
some of these masks do and by the advanced age of the it. It is also one of the few still performed, although almost retreating a litt
present holders of the concessions. The young today tend exclusively at state-sponsored festivals. foot rattles (15
to see them as the property of old men, who are synony- The makers of Pagasa adapted outside skills to form from the kulu
mous in their minds with sorcery the barrel of the animaEs body from a basketry frame, formed by the:
over which they layered blackened sheets of raffia cloth At both Nyc
(later, cement sacks or burlap) (fig. 102).6 They left the
ANIMALS OF THE BUSH We! Eh h
bottom of the basket open and attached a wooden face-
Muenya
It is the psycjhological preparation of the, spectator that piece in front (fig. 99). The original prototype for the Pagasa y<
unites the hete-rogeneous forms of the mbuya jia mafu­ 'headpiece was very simple and abstract, but younger
We! Ehh
zo.3 The blowing snbstances and the preserice of the ngun- sculptors have preferred to elaborate on the form and to The resid
za signal the arrival of an ont-of-the-ordinary andfright- naturalize it. Sometimes they embed bits of glass or mir- [enough]
ening apparition. The largest subset of the mbuya jia rors into the eyes of the facepiece to flash reflected light The Cape
mafuzo depict dangerous animals of the bush: the Cape into the eyes of spectators. Although it is worn like a face The song refer
buffalo, the leopard, the lion, the crocodile, the snake, the mask, there are no eyeholes, and the dancers must rely on buffalo. Respc
elephant. Although the Eastern Pende incorporated char- assistants to guide them verbally: "Take a step to the right deaths than ar
acteristics of some wild and domestic animals into the to avoid the tree and then walk straight ahead ..." Two buffalo is partr
superstructures of the face masks used by the men's fra- men, one standing behind the other, bend over and sup­ dency to circle
ternity masks intended for the village on both sides of the port the basketry frame on their backs. The man behind from an unex
Loange River were completely anthropomorphic.4 moves the tail, which is made from a cord. The feet of the Bourgeois, zoo]
Like the regular masks, the mbuya jia mafuzo are very dancers are exposed, but it does not matter, because the nursing a grud
much village specific. As Muyaga notes, only a relatively mask never leaves the grass on the fringe of the village. may strike hu
small number of villages perform masks from this catego- People recount that dancers often added dramatic ges- dictable (1991:
ry and among these, most will dance only one or two tures. Sometimes the man behind pushed out mud from the Cape buffa.
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 235

their unprece- under the tail to simulate defecation. Sometimes an 1

pread: Pagasa, assistant would "feed" the bush buffalo by pushing
\ is recognized grass or leaves into a hole just under the mask's face |
village dances (fig. 99). Muyaga reports that the mask advances, !
though almosi retreating a little for every step forward, but without
s
foot rattles (1974: 142). The stutter-step is adapted A
skills to form from the kuhala, the same ritualized dance per-
asketry frame, formed by the ngiinza accompanying the mask.
of raffia doth At both Nyokas, the chorus sings the following:
’ They left tlie
We! Ehhel Pagasa yamukuata!
i wooden face- ■■ i
Muenya Mbango gashigo pushi
totype for the Pagasa yamukuata! 1 02 Chief Kikunga-Tembo
, but younger (Kangoro Kanyama)
We! Eh he! The Cape buffalo has caught him!
ae form and to weavmg a chicken basket of
The resident of Mbango [did] not [run] fast
if glass or mir- [enough]. the style that served as a
reflected lighc The Cape buffalo has caught him! model for the mbuyo jia
vorn like a face The song refers to the deadly speed of the African mafuzo. Kikunga-Tembo,
rs must rely on buffalo. Responsible perhaps for more hunters' Zaïre, 1987.
•tep to the right deaths than any other animal, the wounded Cape
ihead ..." Two buffalo is particularly dangerous because of its ten-
l over and sup- dency to circle around behind its pursuer to attack
he man behind from an unexpected angle. According to Arthur
The feet of the Bourgeois, zoologists consider the species capable of
er, because the nursing a grudge; if a wounded animal re covers, it
i)f the village. may strike humans later, unprovoked and unpre-
d dramatic ges- dictable (1991:19). Heavy, fast, and willing to attack,
out mud from the Cape buffalo makes a formidable opponent. The
236 CHARTER EIGHT

masquerade provided the opportunity to glimpse this travel and one of the most enduring. At Nyoka-Munene,
killer from a vantage point of safety. they attribute the intro duction of Pagasa and s ever al
Territorial Administrator Delhaise penned a particu- other mafuzo masks to the sculptor Maluba from the
larly graphic description in 1924 of a performance at Milenga age grade, initiated ca. 1885-90 (see chapter 4).
Kilembe that supports this interpretation: "[Pagasa] runs Maluba had sojourned at Kasuele, near Lake Matshi,
on four feet and tosses his head from right to left, which where several new mafuzo masks were then creating a
[action] makes the spectators flee. He has, in back, a bag of sensation. At Nyoka-Kakese, they relate that Gatshaka of
mud that he drops from time to time to imitate buffalo the Mingelu generation (initiated ca. 1901-3) introduced
manure. The assistants threaten him with bows [and Pagasa to their village when he invited Kihuele of Mbelo
arrows] and with rifles. They shoot at him with blanks and village in the north to come demonstrate. In the north,
he falls. They rush forward and take off the cloths of his independent sources conhrm that Kihuele of Mbelo was
costume [lit. Tiis clothes'] to mimic skinning [the animal]. indeed a renowned dancer of Pagasa.
The women cry with joyT7 Ndambi MuiVa Muhega sup­ The model that Pagasa offered of representing a
ports Delhaise's account. He notes that in his own village, frightening animal of the bush by building a body around
Kitombe-Samba, the drama haa a special note of veri- a basketry skeleton was a potent one. Dancers quickly
similitude because the men who accómpany the mask are adapted the structure to other animals for added novelty.
proven hunters of dangerous animals, and one of the Several villages in the central region performed a mask
dancers was himself the son of a huri'ter gored to death by representing the elephant (Njiamba) (hg. 103).9
a Cape buffalo (1975: 290,292).8 In their descriptions of this mask, Muyaga and Ndambi
Ndambi recounts that the mask plays to the women are agreed that the elephant created a particular sensation
spectators, who are particularly gleeful to see it killed among spectators. Muyaga attributes this to the rarity of 296). Both remai
(1975: 290). The bush buffalo is known not only for seeing a real elephant and the incongruities of the ani- examine the mas
threatening hunters but also for rooting up the heids maPs appearance: "The elephant is a dangerous animal considerable dist
where the women have invested so much labor. In an that a lot [of people] have not yet seen; the children keep bush on the ed^
unusual intro duction of drama int o the masquerade, the on hearing that the elephant is a big animal with a big (Muyaga 1974:1
villagers triumph over one of their worst fears. head [and] little eyes."10 Ndambi notes that the crowd was Ndambi imag;
Pagasa seems to have been the hrst mafuzo mask to curious to gauge its size and its manner of walking (1975: one offspring, bt
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 237

\
^a-Munene, i
i
and s ever al
^a from the
chapter 4).
ake Matshi,
•n creating a
Gatshaka of
) introduced
iele of Mbelo
[n-the north,
)f Mbelo was
103. The elephant mask of
presenting a
the Bakwa Nzumba among
body around
the Eastern Pende
ncers quickly
(1926-30). Some Bakwa
dded novelty.
Nzumba made an elephant
3rmed a mask
mask durmg the initiation to
33).9 the mens fratermty. It is the
ja andNdambi
only kind of maquette known
ular sensation
296). Both remark that although the crowd was eager to famine would reign in the village/'11 If Cape bnffalo were among the Pende to
;o the rarity of precede the maquettes of
xes of the ani- examine the mask, they were forced to observe it from a capable of tearing tip women's fields, elephants were capa-
considerable distance, where it appeared briefly in the bleof completely destroyingthemintheir searchforfood. fierce ammals used in the
geroiis animal
bush on the edge of the village, striding very slowly Nevertheless, unlike the buffalo, the women do not exult mbuyo jia mofuzo (Photo-
children keep graph by FrankJ. Enns
mal with a big (Mtiyaga 1974:166; Ndambi 1975: 298). in the killing of the elephant. Instead/ Ndambi reports, in
Ndambi imagines the elephant saying: "I give birth to honor of its bringing forth only one offspring (like Courtesy of Katharine Enns.)
t the crowd was
one offspring, becanse if I were to give birth to many, humans?), they send the mask corn, hoping to bribe the
walking (1975:
CHARTER EIGHT

elephants that it represents not to destroy their corn and Nyoka-Kakese was noted for its performances of attacked a chilc
maniocfields (1975:300). masks from the mafuzo category among them Giicwaya, school. Villagei
Galeba of the Mapumbulu generation (initiated ca. the Nile crocodile. Again, they built the body around a ("eata little"!)
1916—19) at Nyoka-Munene adapted the basketry frame chicken basket frame and covered it over originally with to bring him tl
to make Kholoma, the leopard. Nguedia Gambembo raffia cloth. Latei; they adapted cement sacks when those then the mask 1
recounts that Galeba danced it three times, twrce in the old became available. Whereas the Cape buffalo and the ele- sorcery and th
village (before 1949) and once in the new, but that no one phant were somewhat naturalistic in form, Gikwaya and (1975:314).
has continued it since his death.12 Nguedia would make the leopard relied on stock designs of oscillating red, black, NdambLs stc
the basketry body for him, and either Gabama or Gitshio- and white diamonds or spots (called kaji-kajï) to represent creatures. The C
la would sculpt the face. the scales of the reptile or the spots of the big cat. It used lion, and the cr
Galeba appropriated a well-known song for it: no song but adapted a rapid and strongly marked drum- ings presented t
Kholoma, nzangi ya khombo! beat like that used to scare (and distract) the boys during of any one cons
Tumutanda gilema. their circumcision. De Sousberghe photographed a per­ is cause for inv
formance of this mask at Nyoka-Kakese in the 1950s. capable of takin
Leopard, thief of goats!
We have skinned him. The Central Pende distinguish between two types of as alternative b
crocodiles; Gikwaya represents the larger variety which eage heads can
Leopards, stealing needed poultry and livestock from the prefers deep water. Muyaga calls it "the meanest of all ani- animals/ close
fringes of the village and threatening women and children mals."13 A crocodile attack is a fearsome sight. Muyaga barred from ea
at the water source, had once been a very real concern. As describes folklore on how the reptile seems to hide where their skins, tee
in the Cape buffalo performance, the sqrig emphasized tri- people like to wash or cross and how it seems to play with power.
umph over a formidable enemy its human prey before dragging him or her underwater. These anima
Sh/a Kapela of Nyoka-Munene, also initiated ca. Worse yet, it always leaves a little behind, after feeding, Bourgeois recoi
1916-19, tried to introducé a mask representing the lion "to let them know that the person is dead" (1974:136). details the mei
(Khoshi). Like the Cape buffalo, it was a "blind" mask, In the Pende worldview, such a sudden and horrific with sorcery. Li
and the dancers had to be led verbally by their helpers. lts death could never qualify as accidental. For this reason, turnal rovers"
distinctive feature was its mane. Ndambi connects the mask to the story of a crocodile that large animals t<

II
 MASKS IN THE COLONI^L PERIOD 239

rmances of attacked a child in 1929 who was attending a mission from an unexpected direction is likened to the s oreer er
m Giicwaya, school. Villagers accused a man named Mudiandambo "preying upon an unsuspecting foe" (21). Bourgeois
ly around a ("eat a little"!) of putting the reptile in the Lwanji River notes: "Witch powers are said to permit its owner to be in
ginally with to bring him the child for his nefarious purposes. Since several places at once, travel long distances in a few
■ when tliose then the mask has been connected in people's minds with moments or transform the human witch into an animal,
and the ele- sorcery and they are not happy to have it performed for example, a wild boar, leopard, crocodile, or buffalo in
diKWAYA and (1975:314). order to stalk and kill one's enemies" (21). In short, there
Qg red, black, Ndambks story highlights a theme uniting all of these is something more serious taking place here than a light-
) to represent creatures. The Cape buffalo, the elephant, the leopard, the hearted theatrical representation. The mbuyajia mafuzo
g cat. It used lion, and the crocodile compose the major tribute offer- enact visions of devouring power barely kept at bay on the
arked drum- ings presented to paramount chiefs. Failure to pay tribute outsldrts of the village. These animals began to appear in
1 boys during of any one constitutes a declaration of independence and masquerades just as (or just after) they were becoming
■aphed a per- is cause for investigation or hostilities. All are creatures rare or extinct in Pende country.
he 1950s. capable of taking human life, who are regarded therefore
two types of as alternative bodily forms that chiefs and powerful lin-
MACHINES OF SORCERY
rariety, wbicb eage heads can assume to go hunting. Because of these
aest of all ani- animals' close association with chiefs, the latter are The themes of menace and sorcery are present in the
ight. Mnyaga barred from eating their flesh, although they preserve other masks in the mafuzo category and explain the con­
to hide where their skins, teeth, claws, or horns as emblems of their nections conceptually linking their diverse forms. The
is to play with power. dancers of Mbungu, which is composed of two large
t underwater. These animals also act as familiars for sorcerers. Arthur stuffed figures representirigpa man and a woman, would
after feeding, Bourgeois recounts Yaka folklore on the Cape buffalo that use thin strings to make them wave and move their arms
(1974:136). details the metonymical connections of these animals in a naturalistic fashion (fig. 104). While this seems
n and borrific with sorcery. Like sorcerers of evil intent, they are "noc- familiar and nonthreatening to Western audiences
Dr this reason, turnal rovers7' (1991: 19). Their astonishing ability as through the realm of children's puppetry it was the reifi-
l crocodile that large animals to vanish when injured and then to attack cation of a common folk belief that criminal sorcerers
 }
240 CHARTER EIGHT

104. The mafuzo mask could create mechanical eblis to do their nefarious bid­ together. By extension, one often hears the phrase "Look,
Mbungu performmg at ding. you're as silent as a mbungu/'14 At Ngundu and in the
Nyoka-Kakese in the mid- Mbungu is the queen o£ the termites. She sits in the north, they refer to the same mask as Gihundundu, which
1950s. (Photograph by Léon center of the termite hill hut does not speak or work. signifies in Kipende "someone who does not speak/'15 The
de Spyjsberghe.) Mbungu is als o the term for the immobile butterfly or names of the mask indicate that, like the dolls sent on mis-
moth chrysalis, whose wings are still tightly bound sions by s oreer er s, the chilling characteristic of the mask
lies in its silence. Althongh the figures move,, they do not described the paradox of the mask's appearance.17 He stat-
control their own destiny. ed that one performed Kolombolo "for fun" (manzangi)
Kolombolo, too, belonged to this realm (fig. 100). The but that people found it scary because it wore a ruff and
body was made of a rotating barrel marked with the kaji- hat like the minganji fraternity masks; it was spotted kaji-
kaji spotting of a leopard or crocodile. lts name, "Cock," kaji like a leopard; it was coming from the bush. The
punned on the little red crocheted hat the dancer wore sculptor Gisanuna described the reaction of the spectators
with a crest of blood-red nduwa (Musophaga rossae) to Kolombolo's appearance: "The crowd has to wonder:
feathers. There was also a thick ruff attached to the top, 'What is it? [With] no arms! Off in the bush! Ima ya
which bounced and flew out with the barreTs move- wanga' [a sorcery machine] ... !"
ments. The mask Mbambi, too, orchestrates a vision in the
When the organizers announced that Kolombolo bush of an extraordinary machine, as high as a palm tree,
would dance, the audience hushed. One of the helpers topped by a face mask, that appears suddenly in an unsus-
would wander here and there, searching for Kolombolo. pected direction and waves its arms (hg. 105). It rises out
He cried out: "My Kolombolo, if you've gone upriver, if of a palm frond enclosure. It is preceded, not by the usual
youVe gone downriver, cry so that we can hear jou/'16 helpers dressed as ngunza, but by the mask Mboloicoto,
Kolombolo finally revealed itself by crowing like a roost­ which performs with a chief's sword and shares the elon-
er: "Ko lo guél Ko!" Then the drums began pulsing. gated form of the Eastern Pende Pumbu mask.18 It is used
The dancer spun the barrel so that it would transform precisely because it is both unique in the Bandun du
into a whirling blur. Trom time to time, there was a dra­ region and frightening. While the audience has their eyes
matic break when the drums and singing suddenly riveted on this unusual sight, the assemblers of Mbambi
stopped. After a momen.t of silence, Kolombolo crowed are hard at work assembling the framework so that when
and then the drums and songs recommenced. When he they finish, the crowd will turn to see the apparition com-
crowed, the dancer stuck out his head, disguised by the pletely formed. At a performance at Gungu in 1989, they
red-feathered head covering, to see where he was going. handled this quite skillfully so that the spectators were
The mask Kolombolo most definitely does not repre- taken unawares.
sent a cock, despite its crow. The dancer of the mask at Mbambi is primarily -associated with the village
Nyoka-Munene, a Pumbulu (initiated ca. 1916-19), Ndumbi a Gabunda. Everyone assigns it to the mafuzo
242 CHARTER EIGHT

category—except the owner of the con- Mukedi and f

cession, Mazanga a Gimbadi, who refers added the idea
to it as a "light-entertainment mask" during the 19'
(mbuya ya pamha)\ Nevertheless, he Gungu, two n
noted that although he is perfectly willing cords to move
to sell the s eer ets to Mbambi's construc- the Pogo jiafv
tion, he never gets any offers because of the younge
everyone assumes that sorcery is involved
and becanse the cost is high (a goat). He
attributes its origin to Kafunvu a Kimbin- THE BETTER
da, of the Makuln generation (initiated ca. Ginzengi (or
1870-75), who worked out the idea for the of the oldest a
105 The mofuzo mask tower and topped it off with a Ginjinga- zo. Delhaise a
MBAMBf, consfructed on the style facepiece. If Mazanga is correct in tant figure. T
outskirts of the 1 989 Festival attributing its origin to someone of the heavily. Dres
de Gungu. Makulu generation, Mbambi may predate increase his v
the emergence of the mafuzo masks and Carries a knif
may have been incorporated into the cate­ hand. Must £
gory later by popular association. arrivés; [w]on
Pulu, of the Mingelu age grade (initiat­ Ginzengi rep
ed ca. 1901-3), held the concession for tales, Gimbon
many years.19 Mbambi traveled a great the animals aj
deal for bravura performances in other [a creature] fr
villages and for state festivals. Dancers Master dai
from the Mingelu generation also tried to claim that it
introducé it into a few outside villages like describes Gin
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 243

aer of the c®xi~ Mukedi and Ngunda. Mazanga claims that it was he who slow [lit. "cool"] and stately like that of Mazaluzalu [the
>adi, who refers added the idea of the torso and the arms waving fly whisks chief] "22 It is not a mask that performs in place with high
dnment masr4' dnring the 1950s; however, he may be grandstanding.20 At aerobic outbursts and strongly flexed knees. Instead, it
fevertheless, be Gungu, two men stood inside the structure and pulled on advances by taking a small step back for every step for-
Derfectly >alïü~'g cords to move the arms (Ég. 105). Mazanga/ a member of ward.
uvibi's consOTC- the Pogo jia Mesa age grade (initiated ca. 1938M0)/ is one Field associates across the central and northern regions
offers because of the youngest men associated with a mafuzo mask. are agreed that Ginzengi was originally made by tying
rcery is involveo together two to five separate masks in a row on a strip of
igh (a goa-c). palm bamboo. The dancer would look through the one in
funvu a Kimbio - THE BETTER TO GOBBLE YOU UP the middle (de Sousberghe 1959: fig. 103). For the masks
;ion (initiaced ca. Ginzengi (or Gimbombi a Kumba) is, like Pagasa, another they often used Muyombo, Ginjinga, and Pota, but
it the idea £or rbe of the oldest and most widespread of the mbuyajia mafu­ sometimes other masks, too. Sometimes, as a variation,
vith a Ginjiwg ^ - zo. Delhaise added it to his original list in 1924: "Impor­ performers would make Ginzengi female by joining two
rga is correct .ai tant figure. Two-headed man . . . arrivés dancing very female facepieces. Around 1980, Gibao a Gasanji from
someone of tbc heavily. Dressed up in a lot of cloth (indigenous) to Kimbunze came to Nguedia Gambembo with the idea of
,mbi may predatc increase his volume. Sits in the middle close to the chief. carving Ginzengi as a helmet mask with three heads. The
afuzo masks and Carries a knife on his back; a bow and three [arrows?] in. dancer Khoshi saw the result and liked it because it would
Ltedinto the caee- hand. Must frighten the children and women when he allow the performer to dress himself. He has carved and
■ociation. arrivés; [w]omen and children flee; only the men stay"21 danced this form of Ginzengi many times since (fig. 106).
ige grade (initiat­ Ginzengi represents the multiheaded monster of folk- To lighten the mask, he has cut open a space in the back,
ie concession for tales, Gimbombi, which catches and swallows people. Like which he closes with netting.
traveled a great the animals and the machines, it is classed as "something Because Ginzengi is a striding mask it wears a hand­
"mances in o tb er [a creature] from the bush" (gima gia mu foto). some, pleated, raffia wrapper. Ideally, the male-version will
festivals. Dancers Master dancer Khoshi Mahumbu supports Delhaise's carry a chiePs sword in one hand (pogo ya khusa) and fly
’ation also tried to- claim that it is a mask that dances ''heavily." Khoshi whisk in the other. The female version never carries a
atside villages like describes Ginzengi as "a mask for the elders; his dance is sword. Feathers are attached at the temples, which substi-
244 CHAPTER EIGHT

tute for those of the predator pungu bird, now mangeur d'homi
extinct. Field associates from the center and 111) and a "ma
the north stressed that performers wear a piece (takes in) everyt
of the woven kiala mat reserved for chiefs tale, when the vil
around the chest, which is decorated with a they heard a bah}
t
kaji-kaji design (in this case interlaced dia- they found six n
monds). As with almost all of the mafuzo f chairs, six bells, t]
masks, Ginzengi is danced in the bush on the f eighteen calabas]
fi
edge of the village. merly units of c
1
Delhaise rightly noticed the terror of the popper, nineteen
children because the multiheaded Gimbombi bombTs enormot
features prominently in folktales designed to multiple heads (v
106. The multiheaded frighten children from wandering off into the more) signify hk
mafuzo mask GlNZENGI bush, where they could lose their way or run desires. He has m
performing at the 1989 across snakes and other dangers. In these tales The destructive a
Festival de Gungu. the savanna is described as the den of wild ani- metaphor of "ea
Danced and sculpted by mals/ sorcererS/ and the envious andill-spirited (139) are frightei
Khoshi Mahumbu. among the dead (tsupolongongo).23 Naughty social, who know
GlNZENGI has more children frequently fall prey to Gimbombi. His
heads in order to have lair is full of "a great many children, big, well-
EXTRAO RD f NA
more mouths to gobble fed, all slaves/' along with every kind of stolen
up everything in his path. village livestock.24 The noise of all the crying, In the heyday of
bleating, baying, clucking, crowing, etc. is a gimmick took s
deafening (Van Coppenolle and Pierson 1982: chapter 2 for the
110). Delhaise reported
Gimbombi is described as a "sorcier et stilt-walker. Alth
 1

igu birct nov,/ mangeur d'hommes" (Van Coppenolle and Pierson 1982: mask, Gangonga seems to have been appropriated from
e center and 111) and a J/mange-tout" (145) because he consnmes the mungong, an Aluund (Lunda) funerary ritual. It is
s wear a piece (takes in) everything from people to calabashes. In one danced with a song from that ritual and carries a sword in
ed £or chiefs tale, when the villagers succeeded in killing a Gimbombi, one hand and a fly whisk in the other.25 The Central
Diated witli si they heard a baby wailing in his enormous stomach. Then Pende adapted the mungong in the mid-1930s as a secu-
iterlaced dia- they found six men, some dogs, some calabashes, three lar dance society, but it seems likely that the Pende hor­
the mafuzo chairs, six bells, three corn baskets, enough palm oil to fill de ring on the Aluund would have borrowed it at an ear-
e bush on the eighteen calabashes, about twenty rings of copper (for- lier date.26 As noted in chapter 1, these Pende, as well as
merly units of currency), some women's wigs, ground those west of the Kwilu, are much less interested in
terror of the pepper, nineteen hoes, and thirty-six knives (145). Gim- masking and have a close relationship with the Aluund of
ed Gimbombi bombi's enormous stomach is a sign of his greed, and his Mwaat Kombaan. The mungonge, as the Pende call it, is
es designed to multiple heads (which can number up to two hundred or rare today among the Central Pende but continues in
ag off into the more) signify his terrifying ability to take in all that he these regions (nourished by state festivals and occasional
dr way or run desires. He has more heads in order to have more mouths. television performances). From Delhaise's note, it is clear
u In these tales The destructive ability of sorcery is described through the that the Central Pende began to dance the stilt-walker as
en of wild ani~ metaphor of "eating," and "[l]es sorciers-mange-tont" a mafuzo mask well before they appropriated the rest of
and ill-spirked (139) are frightening apparitions of the greedy and anti- the rite.
ro).23 Naught}^ social, who know no limits. Muyaga describes the mask as one that involves a lot of
dimbombi. Plis prohibitions for the dancer (mbuya ya mikhwala) (1974:
dren, big/ well- 92). Due to the danger of falling, assistants were more
EXTRAORDINARY SIGHTS
/ kind of stolen than usually concerned with providing the stilt-walker
f all the crying, In the heyday of the mafuzo masks, dancers in search of with protection from the envious and ill-spirited. At
rowing, etc. is a gimmick took some of the same shortcuts described in Nianga-Kikhoso, where they once had three dancers of
i Pierson 1982: chapter 2 for the regular village masks. Already in 1924, Gangonga, the dresser would blow a special powder on
Delhaise reported the dance of the mask Gangonga, the the performer. Among its key ingredients were fragments
; a "sorcier et stilt-walker. Although it appears wearing a Muyombo from the nest of a swallowlike bird (galanda) whose eggs

ZT73
246 C-H A P T E R E I G H T

never fall out of their nests, even when the the dancers be
nests are built in precarious positions, because (1975:284,286]
the nests are so well woven with feathers and Although th
rags. Muyaga reports that Gangonga strides masks, togethe]
with long steps (guthaula mathambo) and that classified as mbi
he may even clack his stilts together to the beat paint and dista
(1974: 94). They appear ot
Because the mungonge involves some especially for 1
sleight of hand. and magie tricks (e.gv feigning stand by to kee;
to pierce the cheek with an arrow), outsiders so. If they see i
connect it to sorcery practices and find it both and blurring th<
fascinating and frightening. In the mungonge, to the shelter to
107. Painfing a Nyoga the stilt-walker appears at dawn and is part of a It appears tl
(snake) masquerader at complex ritual symbolism (de Sousberghe Nyoga on a dai
Kahungu in 1974. (Photo 1956). Gangonga appropriates the stilt-walker ment m the eai
graph by Nestor Seeuws. from its ritual complex merely to astonish the one of the very
No. NS 74.61 2. Courtesy crowds. haps due to the
of the Institut des Musées The Nyoga (snakes) are perhaps the most gious movemei
Nationaux du Zaïre.) surprising member of the mafuzo category. ing a fast of
Dancers usually appear as a paii; covered with Sousberghe 19f
red, white, and yellow body-paint in zigzag and In the case c
diamond designs (figs. 101,107). They perform that certain vill
upright a synchronized, wriggling dance ed dances from
remarkable for its suppleness, which recalls the ing. As chapter
locomotion of snakes on the ground (de Sous­ er, it should be
berghe 1959: figs. 59-62). Ndambi claims that mafuzo p erfon
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 247

ven when the the dancers become intertwined and move backward reports folklore that the Nyoga are connected with sor-
itions, because (1975:284,286). cery and that they cannot appear without "eating" some-
h feathers and Although the dancers do not wear headpieces or face one (1975:286,288).
gonga strides masks, together they form the Nyoga (snakes) and are
imbo) andthat classifiedas mbuyajiamafuzo (masks).They rely on face-
THE CHIEF AS SORCERER
her to the beat paint and distance to prevent personal identification.27
They appear out of a shelter of palm fronds constructed Not every mafuzo mask developed a following. At
nvolves some especially for them as "backstage" (hg. 101). Helpers Nyoka-Munene, Njio and Pulugunzu, launched by mem-
; (e.g., feigning stand by to keep the crowd at a distance of fifty yards or bers of the Mingelu age grade, linger only in name. At
’ow), outsiders so. If they see sweat trickling down a performeks body Ngunda, Nzambi (also Mingelu) invented a mafuzo mask,
nd find it both and blurring the designs, they signal the dancer to return Maloba. Dressed in a beautiful wrapper, it carried a chiePs
die mungonge, to the shelter to renew his body-paint. sword (fogo ya khusa) and performed to the tones of the
and is part of a It appears that performers at Munzombo based the iron bell of the chiefdom (muangala). Some even shot off
Le Sousberghe Nyoga on a dance borrowed from an antisorcery move- guns for it as they would have at the investiture of a chief.
the stilt-walker ment in the early 1930s.2S This would make the Nyoga The elderly chief of Ngunda (Ginzungu Lubaka) insisted
to astonish the one of the very last mafuzo masks to be invented. Per- that Maloba was a mafuzo mask because of its connec-
haps due to the dance's original connection with a reli­ tions to the chiefly insignia (ufumu).
rhaps the most gieus movement, the dancers are strict about maintain- The association that the chief of Ngunda makes
ifuzo category ing a fast of several days before they perform (de between the mafuzo masks and the chiefdom identifies a
Lr, covered wich Sousberghe 1959: 58; Ndambi 1975: 284). thread linking many of these diverse manifestations. The
nt in zigzag and In the case of both Gangonga and Nyoga, it appears animal masks, remember, represent creatures that are
I.They perform that certain villages among the Central Pende appropriat- considered familiars of high chiefs. The puppetlike couple
dggling dartce ed dances from neighbors less interested in masquerad- represented in Mbungu travels on a colonial "tipoy" (a
diich recalls the ing. As chapter 2 relates, this is common practice; howev- chair slung between poles and carried by bearers on their
ound (de Sous- er, it should be noted that the dances appropriated for shoulders). Because of the tipoy and the type of face
mbi claims that mafuzo performances already had a scary aura. Ndambi masks used on the mannequins, de Sousberghe identifies
 J
248 CHAPTEPs EIGHT

the couple as the chief and his wife (1959: 56). Mbambi,
THE CENTRAL QÜESTION OF THE of the performa]
and indeed almost all of these masks, are accompanied by
MBUYA JÏA MAFUZO the Pende fronti
ngunza like Pumbu, the chief's executioner. Ginzengi
masking from tf
wears designs from the chief's mat (used for pomp at tri­ The mbuya jia u^afuzo present an extraordinary chapter
Once the moe
als and other public hearings), dresses in a chief's wrapper, in Pende art history.29 They are unique in incorporating
edge used to ma]
and carries his sword. The mafuzo masks present a nega- large models of animals into the canon of village mas-
in the bush, (3) <
tive image of chiefly power eclipsing the chief's mission as querading. They are unique in both village and fraternity
ing powders to
nurturer, as peacemaker, as the "granary" of his people. masking in being promulgated through concessions. For
using basketry f
One story reinforces the connections of sorcery and the first time, not all initiated men had access to every
the precedent tc
the chieftainship. At the village of Kamba, Sh'a Ndeya mask.
ma, the leopard;
Gambembo originated a mafuzo mask, which he called Central Pende are agreed that most mafuzo masks
Even Mbambi, v
Kapunga. This seems to have been a normally attired have their origins in the north before 1930. The sculptor
of waving arms
masker; however, he had helpers carry him about on a ’Maluba, of the Milenga generation (initiated ca.
from the northe
tipoy while he waved his fly whisks like a chief coming out 1885-90), imported Pagasa, the Cape buffalo, from the
The mafuzo
of seclusion for his investiture. During the performance, north to Nyoka-Munene. Gatshaka, of the Mingelu age
apparitions.30 ï
Karinga approached a child. The next day the child died, grade (initiated ca. 1901-3), brought Kihuele of Mbelo in
masks was inte
creating a rumor that someone must die every time this the north to Nyoka-Kakese to introducé Pagasa. Mbun-
pulse; the spo
particular mask appeared. Understandably that was the gu, as noted above, came from Kasele in the north to
proper to chiefs
end of Kafunga's career. The appearance of the chief at the Nyoka-Kakese; Gikwaya, from Luende. Ginzengi seems
tion of glass or
time of his inauguration is imbued with both beauty and to have a northern origin, although no one can pinpoint
spectators' eyes
ominous import because of the widespread belief that the source. Gimasa Gabate, a Pumbulu initiated at a
part I, later im
someone must die to provide the new chief with a ghostly young age ca. 1919, was responsible for introducing Gi­
snake dancers f
bodyguard. The mask Maloba also seems to have built on kwaya, the crocodile, to Nyoka-Kakese in the 1930s. He
from different
this association. Such a connection is strikingly different and his friends identify this as one of the last mafuzo
dire reputation
from the conception of ordinary mbuya, which are linked masks to be imported south. Gimasa invited the inventor,
(Kaeunga and 1
to healing and reconciliation. Kibungula Jacob of Luende, to teach them the mechanics
Nonetheless,
 249

of the performance. Kibtingula is a Mbtiun, who lives on to wanga (sorcery) that make this category unique. There
the Pende frontiei; where they have acquired the taste for were the helpers, dressed as takers of human life, blowing
masking from the northern Pende. mysterious powders in the direction of the audience.
linary chapter
Once the model was lannched (1) of selling the Itnowl- There was the fact that one had to pay for the knowledge
incorporadag
edge used to make the mask as a concession, (2) of dancing and the right to make such a mask—as one would have to
f village mas-
in the buslp (3) of using helpers dressed as ngunza blow- do for a sorcery recipe. There were the connections with
and fraterniry
ing powders to keep the crowd at a distance, and (4) of sleight-of-hand magie tricks (using strings to wave the
incessions, For
using basketry frames for maquettes, locals could build on arms of mannequins, walking on stilts, raising a tower as
ccess to ever]/'
the precedent to launch variations on the genre: Kholo- tall as a palm tree in the blink of an eye) that required the
ma, the leopard; Khoshi, the lion; Njiamba, the elephant. dancers to keep chaste and to keep fasts so that they could
nafuzo masks
Even Mbambi, with its unique history borrowed the trick achieve the proper concentration to pull off the perfor­
D. The scuiptor
of waving arms with strings (invisible from a distance) mance. And then, there were the apparitions themselves,
(initiated ca,
from the northern Mbungu. sorcerers' familiars, sorcerers' machines, sorcerer-mon-
Efalo, from the
The mafuzo evolved into a category of ominous sters, and sorcerer-chiefs, erupting ominously from the
e Mingeki age
apparitions.30 Everything about the detailing of these bush into village life.
ele of Mbelo ni
masks was intended to be scary: Gikwaya's rapid drum With only a few exceptions for older sculptors, the men
^AGASA. MBUN-
pulse; the spotted light-and-dark designs (kaji-kaji) associated with introducing and dancing the mbuya jia
a the nortli co
proper to chiefs, leopards, and crocodiles; the incorpora- mafuzo are overwhelmingly from two age grades: the
inzengi seems
tion of glass or mirrors to flash reflected light into the Mingelu (initiated ca. 1901-3) and Mapumbulu (initiated
ie can pinpoint
spectators' eyes. True to the stress on novelty outlined in ca. 1916—19).311 could find no case of a member of the fol-
initiated at a
part I, later innovators on the genre appropriated the lowing age grade, Ndende (initiated in 1931), who invent-
ntroducing Gi~
snake dancers (Nyoga) and the stilt-walker (Gangonga) ed a mask from the mafuzo category or introduced one
l the 1930s. He
from different contexts. Others sought to build on the from elsewhere into his village. There are, however, some
he last mafuzQ
dire reputation of the chief at the time of investiture examples of Ndende who continued their fathehs or
ed the inventcr,
A (Kaeunga and Maloba). uncle's concession.32 Although men from these genera-
i the mechanics
Nonetheless, it is the persistent and marked references tions continued to dance the mafuzo masks in the 1940s,
'1
250 CHAPTER EIGHT

the'younger age grades were uninterested. There have red vulva.33 Notwithstanding these touches of humor and
been few performances since Independence except in the beauty, they preferred to end their masquerades with the
context of state festivals, a pattern begun in the 1950s. The appearance of mafuzo masks.
central qnestion of the mbuya jia mafuzo therefore is The Ndende generation, initiated ca. 1931, in contrast,
why matnre men of the age grades Mingein and Mapum- are remembered for their dancing but not as great inven-
buln were so drawn to incorporating frightening appari- tors of masks. They continued to reinvent and perfect the
tions into the village masquerading milieu. personae of Matala and Tata Gambinga. In a fusion of
the female mask with the genre evolving in Matala of
the modern youth, Ndende in the north probably
A RETURN TO LAUGHTER
launched Gabugu, the modern young woman. Ndende
The men of the Mapumbulu age grade, who matured in also seem to have been responsible for Gatambi a
the 1920S, are remembered as committed masqueraders. Imbuanda, one of the variations on the female mask that
Lest their association with the dark mbuya jia mafuzo appeared with one or more "babies" in the form of dolls,
give a distorted image, it should be remembered that their It was not an Ndende but a mature Pumbulu, Mushila,
members were also responsible for the genre of the mod­ who invented Galubonde, the mask that mocked a dis-
ern young man in Matala (chapter 3), for rejuvenating honest colonial police officer (chapter 2), during the
the genre of the diviner in Tata Gambinga (chapter 2), 1930s or perhaps early 1940s.
and for many comedic masks. These include Sanya, whose Masquerading experienced a reflorescence in the next
dance mocked the itching of someone suffering from bed- two age grades. Pogo jia Mesa, initiated in the late 1930s,
bugs; Gangema, the drunkard who must tap his own palm and Solomogo, initiated in the mid- to late 1940s. Mitele-
wine; Gimuanga Thugu, a variation on Muyombo; ji Mutundu, the inventor of Gatomba, and many other
Kulungu a Ndambi, a "mask of beauty'7 that did not find field associates recall nostalgically that there were dances
followers. Members of the Mapumbulu generation may almost every Sunday- The spirit of masquerading after
have invented, but certainly became renowned dancers of, World War II in the late 1940s and 1950s, however, was
Madikweleta (the scratcher) and the bawdy Gatua Ulu very different from that which reigned under the
(m the genre of Gandumbu), who took advantage of the Mapumbulu. De Sousberghe speculated on the decline of
abbreviated dress used by women fishing to flash a large the mafuzo category in the 1930s (1959: 39). There were

f/
I
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 25 1

of humor and1 only occasional, fitful performances of these masks by period of frequent dances and comedic interludes came to
rades with ïhe older Mapumbulu and Ndende. De Sousberghe noted that a definitive end with the devastation of the Mulele Rebel-
Mbambi, for example, was reborn for the state festival in lion, 1963-65.
51, in contrast, 1958 after a lapse of more than twenty years (1959: 39). To understand what these masks represent, we must
is great inven- The dark vision of the mbuya jia mafuzo no Jonger spoke explore not just their cultural context but also the histor-
md perfect the to aspiring dancers. ical moment in which they were danced. We cannot inter­
In a fusion of Instead, the young men of the succeeding age grades view today the inventors and innovators of the mbuyajia
in Matala of are known for an explosion of comedic masks. Gatomba, mafuzo. When I conducted my fieldwork, in 1987-89,
erth probabiy the failed sorcerer, and Giiutshikitshi, the stamping only a few of the youngest members of the Mapumbulu
aman. Ndeu.de European of chapter 2, belong to this period. Other age grade were left. However, it is suggestive that the life
ar Gatambi a comedic masks include Matabuanga, Gin'a Mukombo, span of the mbuyajia mafuzo exactly coincides with that
male mask thac Gasuswa, and the lewd Gibango, Ndumbu, and Gawen- of the two age grades that bore the brunt of the establish­
e form of dolls, ji a Thowa. In addition, succeeding dancers of the popu- ment of the colonial state.
bulu, Mushila, lar masks representing modern young people, Matala We know very little of how these generations experi-
: mocked a dis- and Gabugu, increasingly played up the humor of their enced and understood the colonial transformation of their
2), during the prancing and preening. Observers in the 1950s even society Can Central Pende masquerade provide evidence
report masks representing prostitutes (de Sousberghe of the interior life of its audience during the Belgian occu-
mee in the nex-t 1959: 49-50), a conception foreign to both previous and pation? Can the life and demise of the mafuzo masks teil
i the late 1930s, subsequent interpretations of the female mask. Probabiy us anything new about what T. O. Ranger calls "the giddy
e 1940s. Mitele- the inventors of such masks were responding to another variety of existential experience" built into the structures
md many other aspect of modern life and hoped to attract viewers of colonialism (1975: 2) ?
ere were dances through the novelty of the presentation. Other popular
querading after masks were centered on the palm products that had
THE RESHAP1NG OF PENDE SOCIETY
)s, however, was become the foundation of the modern economy for the
ned under the Central Pende: Gabidi-Muamba, the merchant in search De Sousberghe has dated the Mingelu initiation to the
an the dedine of of palm nuts from chapter 2, and SeEa Kasanda of Muke- period just before the establishment of the first posts of
39). There were di, which pantomimed the extraction of palm oil. This the Compagnie du Kasai (hereafter abbreviated CK) in
 I
CHARTER EIGHT

Pende country, ca. 1901-3 (see diapter 1). As Mabaya the well-populated savanna near Mukedi. The riverine (462-64). If they
Mutumtangolo emphasized in 1974, the Mingelu were sources of rubber were almost exhausted and the compa­ quality of the rt
the last generation to reach adulthood in precolonial ny hoped to exploit the rhizomes of the rubber shrub j rubber or in liv
Pende society.34 The Mapumbulu were initiated quite late, (Landolphia thollonii) (de Sousberghe 1963:13; Sikitele ■ would try to hidc
ca. 1916-19, probably due to social disruptions.35 The 1986: 232 n. 76, 263). Their agent. Oscar Bombeeck, also ; in the forest. Age
efflorescence of the mafuzo masks, 1910s to early 193Os, moved the CK post Dumba at this time from the river to j es of individuals
coincides with the period of effective colonial occupation, Mulassa, on the Pende-Mbuun frontier. It was this post f and lineage head
forced labor, and the metamorphosis of the chief into an that Torday and Hilton-Simpson visited in 1909. \ By 1910 a re
"agent of the state." To "encourage" trade, the state demanded a tax in rub- ’j present: 29 in Pe
The lives of the Mingelu changed greatly within a few ber supposedly equivalent to 40 hours of work per month. ; 7 at Mulassa, 2 c
years of their graduation. Although the Compagnie des If this were not heavy enough, a report compiled in i 77 agents at Din
Magasins Généraux du Congo had opened the first trad­ 1904-5 admitted that in fact the quantities required { odically (Sikitel
ing post in Pendeland after 1888 (Sikitele 1986:190-91), demanded considerably more than 40 hours' labor to fill. | Bienge alone (r
the Congo Pree State and its commercial policies made lit- Whole families were obliged to go camping in the bush 8 whopping seven
tle impact on the Pende before 1903. In 1891, the Congo several times per month to seek rubber supplies far from j forced labor (de
Pree State made porterage a legal obligation for the their homes (Sikitele 1986: 502). The lion's share of this CK lost its con
African population. The implications of this law hit after work feil on the Mingelu, in their twenties. worse through
the state created the CK in 1901 and granted it a commer­ The density of the commercial presence increased. The Portuguese firn
cial monopoly that extended into Pendeland. historian Sikitele reports that by 1906, all of Pendeland 1986: 283).
For our purposes, focusing on the Central Pende, a west of the Loange was crisscrossed by a system of com­ As bad as thi
critical date is 1901, when the company La Loange from mercial counters and posts (1986: 265-66). By 1908-9, Maryinez Lyon
Antwerp opened the post Bienge on the left bank of the each trading post had a personal arsenal of forty to sixty < from tax becau
Loange River, upstream from Lake Matshi (Kodi 1976: Albini rifles and, thus armed, exacted the rubber quota by Between 1910 ai
396 n. 2). lts goal was to exploit rubber from vines found flogging resisters and by holding women as hostages of Pendeland we
along the river. When the CK took control of its monop­ (506-8). At this period, there was no supervision whatso- nial officials witl
oly, ca. 1902-3, it decided to move the post Bienge onto ever governing the behavior of commercial agents collection amon;

1
I

I*
Mi
 ....'' •:- -:':*5VrV*»C
■■%-.:' s .; -, x.-,-’.

MASKS IN THE COtONIAL PERIOD 253

The riveriDe (462-64). If they were not satisfied with the quantity or imposed a head tax to be paid in money by men, with sup-
id the compa- quality of the rubber, they would exact "fines" in more plements for polygynous households.
rubber shmb rubber or in livestock. For all these reasons, villagers A number of organizational changes were initiated to
)3:13; Sikitele would try to hide their young men, women, and livestock facilitate this tax collection. A decree of 1910 required
ombeeck/ ais o in the forest. Agents would respond by burning the hous- ethnographic inquiries to establish chiefdoms sympathet-
im the river to es of individuals or whole villages and by flogging chiefs ic to the government. In 1913, the first territoires were
• was this post and lineage heads. organized to better administer the interior. From 1913 to
1909. By 1910 a record number of European agents were 1931, the colonial administration took an increasingly
id a tax in rub~ present: 29 in Pendeland and 16 at border posts, including direct role in selecting Pende chiefs and regrouping clans
irk per montli 7 at Mulassa, 2 at Bienge, 2 at Kitombe. There were also and villages, actions which provoked bitter land and polit-
t compiled in 77 agents at Dima, who no doubt toured the region peri- ical disputes that continue to this day (Sikitele 1986:
tities required odically (Sikitele 1986: 270-72). Until 1910, the post 323-27).
rs' labor to nii. Bienge alone (near Nyoka-Munene) was producing a The proof of the tightening noose of the state comes in
ng in the bush whopping seven tons per month of rubber—all through the desperate armed resistance mounted by individual
pplies far Trom forced labor (de Sousberghe 1955b: 26 n. 3). When the Central Pende villages from 1916 to 1919 (Kodi 1976:
T share o£ this CK lost its commercial monopoly, the situation grew 403-4; Sikitele 1986: 695-96, 952). In response, the gov­
worse through fierce competition for scarce resources. ernment founded the military post of Kilembe in 1916 in
i increased. The Portuguese firms placed 34 agents by 1912 (Sikitele the heart of the Central Pende. Frustrated, the people
11 of Pendeland 1986:283). turned to passive resistance, which led territorial officials
System of com- As bad as things were, they grew worse. As historian to appoint and depose chief after chief from 1919 to 1920.
6). By 1908—Sv Maryinez Lyons observes: "Conquest was inseparable It was the mature Mingelu, who figured prominently in
)f forty to sixty from tax because conquest was for tax" (1987: 152). these acts of resistance, who began to invent the mbuya
’ubber quota hy Between 1910 and 1916, the state effectively took control jia mafuzo.
en as hostages of Pendeland west of the Loange. After 1910, Belgian colo- Sleeping sickness broke out among the Kwilu Pende
rvision whatso- nial officials with military escorts started systematic "tax" and their neighbors during this period. In 1916, with a
mercial agents collection among the Central Pende. In that year, the state mandate from the state and fearful of the dangers to one
254 CHARTER EIGHT

of the most poptilous labor supplies in the Congo, the and their neighbors to be living under stress, poised to flee
Catholic missionary Ivan de Pierpont began forcing vil- at the approach of the white man or his minions.
lages to relocate froxn valleys near water supplies up onto The Abbé Gusimana conveys how intimidating the
the plateau away from the supposed source of infection. mysterious physical exam for sleeping sickness (which
As well as rebuilding, villages were als o forced to regroup could result in a lumbar puncture) was in this racist
in larger units, to strip the area of all vegetation, and to atmosphere:
align themselves along the road. The victory over sleep-
ing sickness is still lauded as one of the triumphs and jus- A nurse (ndombi) shouts out in the village: "Tomor-
row, at the first cock's crow, you will wash with hot
tifications of the colonial state. Ironically, recent research
water your necks, your heads, and your bodies. For
indicates that it was their own forced-labor policies that the white man does not touch the dirtiness of blacks."
provoked the epidemics by weakening the population and The people ran to the stream to gather leaves called
by forcing men to work away from home, where they had "mienge" in Kapende, by way of soap. Around 2:00 in
not built up natural immunity (Lyons 1987; Giblin the morning, the people poured water into their
1990). terra-cotta pots and boiled it, with the intention of
removing the oil from the neck and face [head].
De Pierpont's Journal testifies to the terror provoked in Mama practically scalded my neck with leaves
1919 by the arrival of a white man: "When I arrivé on the plunged into the hot water. If your neck is dirty you
rise that dominates the Lutshima valley, I see from afar all pay a fine. (1970b: 64)37
the villages emptying of their inhabitants, carrying off all
their belongings: chickens, goats, pigs. Useless to go there: If someone received the dread diagnosis (which doctors
I will see no gne. I modify my itinerary and spontaneous- admitted was often inaccurate), the person would be
ly present myself at the hamlet of Moansa. General and arrested to make sure that he or she received the required
frantic flight..." (1921b: 267).36 De Pierpont found this injections of atoxyl (Schwetz 1924: 5-8). Inevitably it
experience repeated in village after village well into the sometimes looked like the examiners themselves were
1920s. As he himself recognized, flight was the people's spreading the disease, as apparently healthy people would
only recourse to protect themselves from losing their men die after receiving the injection (1924: 37).
and livestock to the exactions of colonial agents and risk- The Mission Médicale Antitrypanosomique du Kwan-
ing their women to rapé. His Journal reveals the Pende go-Kasai continued de Pierpont's work. It achieved most
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 255

poisedto flee of its objectives from 1920 to 1923, although it continued the economy among the Central and Kwilu Pende
ions. into the 1930s. Nyoka-Munene, for example, was moved switched defïnitively over to palm products, 1915-21
xnidating 'die in 1922.38 (It was moved yet again, along with Nyoka- (Sikitele 1986: 547-48). The factory at Kinguba opened
dcness (whicb Kakese and Kimbunze, in 1948^19 to the top of the during this time. In the beginning, the merchants bought
in this racissi plateau.) The government profited from the mission's calabashes of palm oil that had been prepared in the vil-
work because the newly regrouped and aligned villages lage by traditional means. While the harvesting of palm
were much easier to keep under surveillance. Dr. J. fruits was less onerous than rubber collection, the burden
"Tomor- Schwetz writes that part of the mission's mandate was to of forced porterage was severe. Gimasa Gabate (a Pumbu-
with hot profit from the required physical examination by making lu of Nyoka-Kakese) and his father (a Mingelu) were
)dies. For an accurate census (1924: 1). Pende avoided censuses as forced to carry oil many times to Kikwit (195 kilometers).
sofblacks."
much as possible because of the abuses that tax collectors He reports that the Portuguese officials of the CK would
ves called
>und 2:00 in
and labor recruiters made of the information. Sabakinu arrivé out of the blue and command: /yYou and you and
o their Kivilu deerns Schwetz's censuses of 1917-24 highly suc- you: take this to Kikwit/' If you refused, you were arrest-
ention of cessful (1974: 132-33), no doubt due to the military ed and'whipped. The worst part was that they would
head]. escort. arrivé abruptly and the men would have to leave immedi-
eaves With the crushing of resistance, the Mingelu and the ately without time even to eat or to gather proper provi-
s dirty, you
newly initiated Mapumbulu faced the complete transfor- sions. It was a long journey to go hungry Since they did
mation of life as they knew it during the late 1910s and not know people along the way, they were obliged to bury
(which doctors 1920s. Sikitele, profiting from evidence collected follow- cassava bread in order to have something to eat on the
srson would be ing the Pende rebellion of 1931, has been able to docu­ return. If they happened to have some food on hand, they
ved the required ment that the increased presence of the state after 1913 might have to take along a young boy to carry it. First
8). Inevitably it
did nothing to curtail the license of commercial agents in they carried calabashes of palm oil, then small kegs, and
ihemselves were this area, despite periodic government reforms or com- finally they rolled drums.39 Significantly, the Mingelu
:hy people would plaints (1986: 462-64, 540-44). Tax money had to be adopted the name "sheen" to commemorate this early
earned from European traders, who successfully con- period dominated by forced porterage of palm oil.
7)-
)mique du Kwan- trolled the terms of exchange. From 1915 on, commercial agents applied enormous
It achieved most Following crises in rubber prices on the world market, pressure, particularly in the north around Take Matshi,
 '•TT-'

256 CHARTER EIGHT

the apparent birthplace of the mbuya jia mafuzo, where suddenly became an onerous burden. Beginning in the Roads, paths, and
there were large natural groves of oil palms (Sikitele 1986: mid-1920s, agricultural monitors required families to (Sikitele 1986: 1
550-51). As the palm market became important, mer- produce set quantities of various agricultural products under the usual
chants began to exact palm fruit for small local presses and and to sell them a,t fixed prices. They replaced the indige- arrest, and whip]
palm kemels for processing in Europe. These hand press­ nous system of field distribution by forcing the women to faire as dreaded a
1
es were inefficiënt and required huge quantities of fruit, farm in squares on assigned plots, no matter what the fer- I pamba Lushinge
along with teams of workers. One particularly effective tility of the soil (Sikitele 1986: 1252) 42 Administrators
i
strategy that agents developed involved leaving a machete would periodically arrest a certain number of larger boys Those who did
or bolt of cloth in front of a house, along with a certain for service in the colonial army (La Force Publique) 43 ed, thrown int
number of sacks. If the sacks were not filled, they would They took advantage of the initiation to the Mapumbulu 1] One would saT
threaten the householder with arrest and prosecution by age grade to raid the camps in the bush for larger boys to j villages sough
the doctor imp
I
the state for theft. Reports in 1931 demonstrated that this serve in World War I. The families of these boys mourned I When someon
so-called advance system operated throughout the 1920s, them with wakes as if they were officially deceased. II fine; when son
despite a decree outlawing it in 1916.40 Workers were also recruited at gunpoint among the Cen­ I fine; when son
As the colonial administration tightened its hold in tral Pende for the Pluileries du Congo Beige, a Unilever paid a fine and
the 1920s and 1930s, there seemed to be no aspect of life concern 44 In the early years, these workers suffered an I money to pay
a rope around
left untransformed. The burden of forced porterage extremely high mortality rate due to the poor food and
thrown in pris
became so scandaleus in the colony as a whole that the conditions in the work camps.
Commission pour la Protection des Indigènes labeled it The so-called sanitary laws proliferated as the state In 1989, the lat:
"intolérable" in 1919 (Sikitele 1986: 467). In response, remade the Pende village in the mid~1920s and early stateT exploitat
the government made the construction of roads a priori- 193Os. In addition to rebuilding along the road, villagers believe that it is ]
ty. Ironically the hated road-building corvées for men, were constrained to mark off their houses one from density is low to
1
women, and children increased the stress on the popula- another with fences, to set the houses away from the bush latrines, numero
I
tion in the 192ÖS.41 Hunting was banned. As a result of by a certain distance, and to build latrines. Beginning in al acts of resistai
1
moving the villages up onto the plateau, women found the early 1930s, women were required to give birth in In short, in a
their work significantly increased because fetching water lying-in centers, where their sons were circumcised.45 members of the
I

f
 .inning in the Roads/ paths^ and the local spring were inspected for litter experienced the transformation of every aspect of life as
'd families te (Sikitele 1986: 1263). The multiplication of these laws they knew it. From birth to burial (and even during the
:ural products nnder the nsual threats of enforcement through fine, intimacies of moving their bowels), the colonial state was
:ed the indige- arrest, and whipping made the arrival of the agent sani­ peering over their shoulders. One could not hunt, farm,
, the women to taire as dreaded as that of any other colonial official. Gam- build, or even practice medicine as one wished. The body
r what the fer- pamba Lnshinge reconnts the common perception: itself became subject to invasion through injections and
vdministrato rs lumbar punctures. All of these changes were always
■ of larger boys Those who did not fence off their houses were arrest- accomplished under the familiar litany of threats of fine,
:e Publique),43 ed, thrown into jail, and subjected to a heavy fine.
arrest, and whipping. The nicknames given to various
ie Mapumbulu One would say that all the whites who came into the
villages sought to exploit ns or to make a profit. Thus colonial agents teil the whole story: Mundele Ngolo (the
: larger boys to Violent White Man), Nyoga (Snake), Attashio! (Pay
the doctor imposed on ns the work of latrines__
boys mourned When someone did not bnild his latrine, he paid a Attention! or Beware!), Pilipili (Hot Pepper), Makasi
ially deceased. fine; when someone did not clear his yard, he paid a (Anger), Defini (IPs Definite!), Ngolo Mingi (A Lot of
mong the Cen- fine; when someone did not fence off his house, he Work), etc. The state itself became identified under the old
dge, a Unilever paid a fine and when someone did not have the
nickname of Stanley: Bula Matadi (The Breaker of Rocks).
money to pay the fine, he was arrested and sent, with
;ers snffered art This was the life of the creators of the mafuzo masks.
a rope aronnd his neck, to the Territory where he was
ï poor food and The historian Sikitele unites oral history with documen-
thrown in prison. (In Sikitele 1986: 69)46
tary evidence to paint a grim picture of a people subject to
ted as the state In 1989, the latrine was still perceived as a sign of the almost "anarchie" labor demands (1986: 464; vol. 2 pas­
920s and eariy state's exploitation. Many Pende, sensitive to smell, sim).47 The abuses of the system climaxed after the begin­
e road, villagers believe that it is much more sanitary when the population ning of the world depression in 1929, when producers
)uses one from density is low to disperse into the bush. Required to build responded to falling prices by extorting more production
iy from the bush latrines, numerous people view not using them as person- and paying less. The Kwilu Pende rebelled in 1931.
es. Beginning m al acts of resistance and self-determination. Although they were brutally subjugated, the subsequent
to give birth in In short, in a twenty- to twenty-five-year period, the investigation led to better surveillance by the state of
•e circumcised.45 members of the Mingelu and Mapumbulu age grades commercial enterprises.
CHARTER EiGHT

what the Mingelu and Mapumbulu generations experi- in place on labor.

COLONIAL SOCIETY
enced, make the distinction that they and the Pogo jia dren. However d
The age grade Pogo jia Mesa was the first generation to Mesa never suffered like their fathers because forced tations might be
arrivé in the initiation camps already drcumcised, ca. porterage had ended. In the 1930s, the system of roads tating malnutrit
1938-40.This event is important symbolically in marking that the Mingelu and Mapumbulu had built allowed agri- one's labor as in
the first generation to have been born and to have grown cultural products to be moved by truck directly from the Men even began
up entirely within the Controls of the colonial state. They villages. The obligatory work parties were now devoted to home a sewing r
grew np fiving in amalgamated villages on the plateaus, in maintaining the roads rather than to the back-breaking Industrial goods
houses fenced off from each othei; farming in squares, burden of building them. lives. Significam
used to the periodic visits of tax collectors, of agents sani­ All of this is not to say that their problems were over. /yTable Knives"
tair es, and of moniteurs agricoles. Many of the boys had Their labor was still exacted through a system of taxes and forced labor, as h;
spent some time in schools organized by the missions, corvees. From 1942 to 1947, considerable duress was used
now dotted across the territory. to reintroduce rubber production among the Central
CONCLUSiON:
A thoughtful drummer at Nyoka-Kakese described the Pende. Mulambu Mvuluya has shown that war produc­
THE QUESTION
change in attitude of his generation by pointing to the tion feil entirely on rural populations, reinforced by
changes in funerary customs. The Pende once covered harsher penalties and increased restraints on free move- How did people «
gr ave s with broken pots and plates as well as peanuts, ment for fear of rural flight (1974: 36). Historians lives ? Africanist
chickpeas, and other foodstuffs. No one had worried about attribute the rapid growth of cities during and after the attention to this <
children disturbing the graves because most people avoid- war to a desire to escape the onerous demands on farmers that the Mingeh
ed cemeteries altogether for fear of troubling spirits of the Qewsiewickil973:156-57; Tshibangu 1974:291). Admin- identify themsel
dead (nvumbi). In contrast, as a boy the drummer and his istrative reorganization in Pendeland led to an explosion The name Minge
friends started to raid the cemeteries after funerals in of land disputes after 1948 that continue into the present. is heated during
order to eat the peanuts. The nvumbi had no terrors for People deeply resented' persistent colonial meddling in (soldiers) took th
this generation brought up in the wake of the failed rebel- succes sion. bers torn from th
lion of 1931. The colonial system itself changed after World War II ing World War I.
The Ndende (initiated ca. 1931), who saw something of as the economy boomed, 1946-57. More safeguards were The evidence <
 1

MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 259

ions expsni- in place on labor recmiters, especially for women and chil- experienced the early colonial occupation as a sorcery
the Pogc ]i> dren. However distasteful a tour of duty at the palm plan- attack. The mbuya jia mafuzo were born as the colonial
cause forceA tations might be, it no longer resulted in death or debili- state took control of northern Pendeland in the 1910s. As
tem of roTids tating malnutrition. And one began to see a return for reviewed above, the unprecedented series of masks
allowed agri- one's labor as improved safeguards ensured better pay launched by the Mingelu and Mapumbulu are United by
ctly from the Men even began to volunteer for work in order to bring references to devouring power encroaching on the bor­
)w devoted to- home a sewing machine or bicycle' (Sikitele 1986:1239). ders of the village. They speak to the inability of the vil-
'ack-breakmg Industrial goods started to make a real impact on people's lage to maintain the integrity of its borders against the
lives. Significantly, the Pogo jia Me sa took the name demands of merchants, tax collectors, labor recruiters,
tls were "Table Knives" rather than something associated with medical officers, missionaries, and agricultural monitors.
n of taxes and; forced labor, as had the previous three generations. The fear of being eaten alive, of being consumed, is what
ress was used unites ravenous animals with the multimouthed monster
, the Central Ginzengi and with the image of the chief on his inaugura-
CONCLUSION:
t war produc- tion day The masks witness to a real fear of annihilation.
THE Q U ES Tl O N OF EXPERI ENGE
reinforced by There is a growing literature sketching parallel beliefs
Dn free move- How did people experience the violent reshaping of their in Central and East Africa (e.g., White 1993; Roberts
j). Historians lives ? Africanist historians are increasingly turning their 1993). In his work on the dream diary of a Cameroonian
and after the attention to this question. As noted in chapter 1, we know freedom fighter, historian Achille Mbembe argues that
ids on farmers that the Mingelu and Mapumbulu generations came to because colonialism was perceived as the practice of
: 291). Admmv identify themselves by reference to forced-labor policies. "criminal sorcery/" it had therefore to be opposed by men
3 an explosior? The name Mingelu refers to the sheen on palm oil when it able "to see the night" (1991:120).48 Controlling the day
to the preser. r is heated during the extraction process. The Mapumbulu was dependent on controlling the night since what hap-
1 meddling in
(soldiers) took their name in remembrance of their mem- pened in one domain was linked to what happened in the
bers torn from the initiation camps to fight in Europe dur­ other (101). The night was a "redoubtable universe. A
r World War IJ ing World War I. place of potential 'consumption' [devouring]. . . . it could
ifeguards were The evidence of the masks suggests that their creators also be converted into a space for personal protection, in
260 CHARTER EIGHT

dangerous situations" (102).49 Dreams servedas places of authority had become the whip. The state wished appoint- know the harsh
mediation between the living and the "otherworld" ed chiefs (chefs médailles) to accompany territorial offi­ surprising they
(102). cials for "tax" collection and to execute punitive measures of the Loange R
Masqnerades are another site of such mediation (flogging, seizing livestock, even burning houses) (Sik- The resurger
between worlds. One may wonder if members of the itele 1986: 694). To ensure their ruthlessness, they were 195Os is due in
Mingein and Mapumbuln age grades were als o trying to personally threatened with flogging and arrest if their avenues of mal
take control of the invisible when they lannched the people did not produce enough palm products for the CK been discredited
mafuzo masks, to strengthen themselves through victo­ (557) or rubber for the state during World War II (1265). the stateT exp
ries over their worst fears, as in the mock death of They were als o alternatively threatened and paid off by banned. Smelti
Pagasa, the Cape buffalo. At the least, the birth of the Huileries du Congo Beige recruiters to provide men for first forbidden c
mafuzo masks pro vides further evidence to support the hated detail at Lusanga (589-91, 585). They acted as goods (Sikitele
Mbembe in his assertion that "colonial violence did not agents for the state with real power and little accountabil- by nurses or i
touch only on the physical space in which the native ity to their own people. They made ugly decisions about remained as om
evolved. It touched on the foundations even of the imag- which lineages had to sacrifice men to the army or chil- men seeking dis
inary" (1991: 119).50 Subject to censorship and surveil­ dren to the missionaries. They harried the population The comedk
lance, the Mingelu and Mapumbuln nonetheless found about conforming with the agricultural and sanitary laws. evidence of a ra
means to exteriorize their experience of being subject to In exchange, many claimed the privileges of colonialists, of the mbuya j
consumption on the most literal level.51 for example, being carried in a tipoy exacting free food younger gener
The mbuyajia u'iafuzo are dressed in the language of and water, eating out of sight (765-66). achieved an iro
power through their references to the symbolism and Belgian commentators themselves noted repeatedly some extent, tl
insignia of chiefs. As such, they als o speak to the perver- that these policies had resulted in an enormous loss of light of them (s
sion of authority when knowledge of the supernatural respect for chiefs. From 1937 to 1948, a major administra- chapter 2). The
becomes criminal sorcery, directed at persónal profit. Sig- tive reform created larger administrative units, secteurs, forceful reasser
nificantly this message was brought home to the Central to assume responsibility for taxes, agricultural quotas, tri­ ized the masqu
Pende in the 1920s when chiefs were transformed from als, and so forth. It was too late, however, to salvage the divorcing it fro
ritual intermediaries into petty despots, whose badge of reputation of local chiefs. Eastern Pende, who did not ship of masks ai
I1
•r
 vished appoin t- know the harsh regime of palm oil, remark today on how The selective "traditionalism" constructed by the
territorial ofB- surprising they fxnd the disrespect with which Pende west Pende in the wake of the 1931 rebellion became a tooi to
litive measures of the Loange River treat their chiefs. needle the invaders even as it reminded the people of who
y houses) (Sik-’ The resurgence of masquerading during the 1940s and they were. Hairstyles became a source of silent con-
ness, they y^ere 1950s is drie in part to the disappearance of traditional tention. Belgian administrators and missionaries would
l arrest if their avenues of male prestige. Chiefs, judges, and elders had not hire skilled workers unless they cropped their hair.
xicts for the CK been discredited as colonial straw men, who profited from Ideologically, they claimed that elaborate hairstyles
d War II (1265), the state's exploitation of the young. Hunting was encouraged people to be lazy by spending too much time
and paid o ff by banned. Smelting had disappeared. Blacksmithing was on matters of personal vanity when they should be
)rovide men eoif first forbidden and then reduced by the sale of imported increasing production for the state. In response, more
). They acted as goods (Sikitele 1986: 1215). Circumcisers were replaced Pende than ever began to dress their hair. Foreigners fret-
ttle accountabih by nurses or midwives in maternity wards. Dancing ted over the defiance (Hoet 1936a; Maquet 1954k: 10). The
decisions abont remained as one of the few major avenues open to young lesuit F Hamerlinck reported to his superiors that the
ie army or diih men seeking distinction. Central Pende did not join the 1931 rebellion but contin­
the population The comedic masks of the 1940s and 1950s provide ue "obstinately to hold themselves aloof from everything
nd sanitary iayts, evidence of a radically different mental stance from that EuropeanT52 In 1953 the musicologist Maquet noted the
ïs of colomalists, of the mbuya jia mafuzo. They seem to indicate that continuance of indigenous hairstyles and redwood pow-
cacting free rood younger generations, born into the colonial system, der skin lotion (unusual by this point in the colony). He
achieved an ironie detachment from the occupation. To wondered over the fact that the Pende were willing to
roted repeatedbj^ some extent, they ignored the invaders, or they made adopt bicycles, bells, even phonographs, but not Western
normous loss of light of them (as in Gikitshikitshi and Galubonde; see clothes (1953:1). Traditional hairstyles went definitively
tajor administra- chapter 2). They proclaimed their independence by a out of fashion only at Independence.
re units, secteiïvs, forceful reassertion of "tradition" even as they modern- The Central Pende found their most distinctive mode
itural quota s, tri- ized the masquerade through numerous changes (e.g., of resistance in their masquerading from the late 193Os to
er, to salvage die divorcing it from ritual contexts, individual proprietor- 1950s. In the populous area around the Protestant mission
ide, who did not ship of masks and costumes). of Mukedi, masquerading and the boys' initiation camps
became sites o£ fierce contention. Erma Birkey, one of the adult men [who shouldbe working] are his suppliers
founding members of the Mukedi station, wrote ca. 1938: of palm wine.
"[W]e shonld have an attendance of four thousand Life at Mukedi is summed up by dancing and palm
wine, the recognized chief rules this life.
instead of fonr or five hnndred.... The native drum does
P.S. I underline that they dance indisputably eveiy
not attract as many to church as to the dance" (in Weaver day.53
1945:193). Lubu of Mukedi reports that he and his friends
often goaded the missionary Vernon Sprunger, who once Chief Sefu Nzamba is affectionately remembered today
ran from the church to argue with the masquerade's orga- Cabiaux correctly interpreted his endorsement of mas­
nizers. Sprunger finally won the day . . . by breaking the querading as a treasonous act of solidarity with his people.
lead drum 1 lean Comaroff reports that "collective dance and song"
Sundays became contests for crowd size. At Nzaji, the became points of conflict in South Africa as well. She spec-
Pumbulu Muhenge Mutala recalls with glee how they ulates that one of the reasons that colonialists responded
used to start the drums just as the church bells rang on so negatively was because "activity of this sort was also a
Sunday. In contrast to the usual order of things, the per­ dramatization of the vitality of the system it represented"
formance would begin not with the clowns hut with (1985:151). The booming drums and the crowds United in
MukedTs most popular mask, the elegant Sh'a Kasanda, song and dance spoke forcibly of an alternative identity to
in order to lure women from church. the one that the foreigners were trying to construct with
In 1945, Territorial Agent Cabiaux wrote recommend- their square fields, fenced houses, and cropped hair.
ing the deposition of Sefu Nzamba, chief of the Gatundo, Although colonial officials came to promote Pende mas­
precisely because the people were masquerading too querading in the 1950s, it remained a source of contention
much: with some missionaries for many years.
Cultural historians have sometimes argued that pop­
[H]is authority is great, he obtains what he wants
ular culture can provide unique access to the viewpoints
when he wants. The village of Mukedi is for him a
dance floor and a brewery, he has at his service around and experiences of classes deprived of voice by hegemon­
thirty //Minganji// dancers. They dance absolutely ie political systems. Within African studies, some pio-
every day—next to the chief's enclosure. The healthy neering works have used popular-culture manifesta-
 MASKS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 263

3 suppliers tions,54 but they have predominantly focused on urban evidence of the life and demise of the mafuzo masks
or urban-originating forms. And yet, the colonial experi- argues instead for the responsiveness of some traditional
g and palm ence was overwhelmingly endured by rural peoples. So- forms to political realities. By following clusters of inven-
called traditional forms have been ignored because, in the tions in masquerading, one learns something of history
tably every
mind of many scholars, "traditional" implies a static pre- as well as art history
colonial practice unable to speak to "modern" life. The
mbered today.
ment o£ mas-
dthhis people„
mee and song"
well. She spec-
ists responded
sort was als o a
t represented"
owds united in
dve identity to*
construct witli
cropped hair.
'te Pende mas-
e of contention

gued that pop-

the viewpoints
2 by hegemon-
ies, some pio-
ire manifesta­