『人類学研究所 研究論集』第 3 号（2016）

The Sakata Society in the Congo
Socio-Political and Religious Organizational Patterns
Roger Vanzila Munsi

Key words
Sakata society, matrilineal kinship system, socio-political organization, religious
determinants, time-persistent patterns, changes

Introduction
The Sakata constitute a substantial minority of ethnographically recorded societies in thehinterland of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaïre, henceforth Congo). 1 It isof signal importance that research is conducted to further explore and reinterpret their
original cultural identity and current experiences. This article provides an important
opportunity to highlight the singularity of some salient socio-political and religious
constructs that define and determine the Sakata in their present localities, and to forge aconnection between these significant characteristics. Employing data triangulation at the
micro-level of analysis, I hope, among other things, to demonstrate how time-persistentpatterns of socio-political and religious life have been significant in identifying andpreserving Sakata society, despite the changes brought about by colonialism, decolonization,
neo-colonialism, state hegemony, urbanization and autonomization of social fields, as wellas the spread of Christianity and global culture into the region between the nineteenth
century and the present.
The synthesis draws on ethnographic data gleaned from two Congolese settings, namely
the Mabie Chiefdom and Bandundu City, on various dates between 2003 and 2007; 2009
1

The Sakata speak of themselves as Basakata (singular Musakata) and their language as Kisakata. However,I omit herein the prefix ‘Ba”, except in some instances of quotations, in the interest of simplicity. Studies on
the existence or non-existence of the terminology Basakata in pre-colonial Sakata communities are too scarce
to allow us to draw any definite conclusions from it. However, it is a valuable clue in our investigations thatthe ethnonym “musakata” or “mosakata” probably derived from the verb ‘zaa boi” (to inhabit) and from the
Lingala word “kati” (middle, centre). Given the prefix “moba”, its origin would be “mosakata” (plural
basakati), meaning “inhabiting in the middle”, a formulation that would refer to the present geographicallocation of Sakata homeland (Bayens 1913-1914, IV: 160). Throughout this article, I have, on the basis of agreat deal of valuable information, represented the Sakata as a matrilineal society. It would be incorrect,
however, to claim that they are patrilineal society, as Tonnoir (1970) did, perhaps for lack of sufficientethnographic evidence.

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and 2015. For data collection, I chose these two field-sites because of my extensive
experience of living and working in the region. The Mabie Chiefdom is home toapproximately 50 small subsistence farming villages located in the Sector of Mfimi thatbelongs to the present-day Kutu District (Mai-Ndombe Province) in western Congo. Apartfrom the purely practical consideration of ease of access, it was typical for this case study
because the Sakata formed the mass of the population. Bandundu City (headquarter ofKwilu Province) is located on the Kwango River, between the Kwilu and Kasai Rivers,
about 432 km from Kinshasa (the national capital and largest city) in the central-west of theCongo. It is divided into three large administrative areas (Basoko, Disasi and Mayoyo)
known as Communes. Within each of these communes there is a further geographicaldivision into Quartiers. More recently, however, the city has continued to expand throughnew large residential and commercial developments. Its population is made up of about 20
ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages. Christianity is the majority religion in
the area, followed by Kimbanguism (officially “the Church of Christ on Earth” founded by
the prophet Simon Kimbangu), and traditional religions. I chose this site because I noticed
there a great number of long-term Sakata residents and more transient Sakata households.
Interestingly, pilot research has shown that they have brought with them religious beliefs,
therapeutic techniques, relic veneration, and social forms of the Sakata, using the cherishedtraditional resources to set going something local but something recognizably African.
Sixty-five Sakata households (45 in rural and 20 in urban settings) agreed to participate in
the research and a total of forty individuals from these households participated in theinterviews. Over half of the participants were male. These Sakata households were chosenbecause of the level of participation in various socio-political and religious activities and theimportance ascribed to their historically recorded past and some changing social conditionsin the present. Within this sample, specialist informants, who provided relevant points ofview on the aspects researched, included the traditional political chief and village chiefs ofMabie chiefdom, and elderly persons of different localities. Regular informants, who have a
far-reaching knowledge of local history and culture, included local officials, social workers,
eminent academics, and persons representing the younger generation. Almost half of theparticipants had lived in the region all their lives. Sakata participants who engaged insubsistence farming accounted for almost three quarters of the sample. Given the nature of
the research aims, I decided that participants should be over 18 years of age to assure
meaningful responses.
The research was conducted in the Lingala and Kikongo languages (two of the four
national languages spoken in the region) as well as in the Kisakata language and in French(the official language) as needs demanded.2 Data collection was conducted in a flexible
manner, within a multi-method approach (David &Sutton 2004; Axinn & Pearce 2006;
Maxwell 1996; Russell 2006), in order to access different types of data so as to complete the2

Kikongo, Lingala, Kiswahili and Tshiluba are the Congo’s four national languages.

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required ‘picture’ of the present-day Sakata society. At all phases I worked with four
qualified Sakata research assistants (two from the Mabie chiefdom and two others from the
Mbantin and Batere chiefdoms respectively). The two-hour semi-structured interviews
focused on the socio-religious and political systems of the Sakata, and historical events thathave befallen them. The opened-ended, unstructured interviews (Mattson & Stage 2003)
were conducted in the home with single households and key informants together. Theinterviews were taped and transcribed for the purposes of analysis. In addition, two focus
group discussions were held with women from different age groups. In the process, I
scrupulously reviewed all the relevant data. Every year, during the period of the study, key
informants in rural and urban areas were then re-interviewed to obtain additional
information and to make comparisons. On some occasions, however, the country’s politicalunrest/turmoil and social insecurity which disabled means of transportation prevented myaccess to some of my intended interviewees. Secondary data were also used, wheneveravailable, to contextualize the key outputs of the assessment. Data gathered throughdifferent methods therefore allowed triangulation of various datasets and contributed to thereliability of data analysis.
Within the sampling strategy adopted, I particularly tried to understand various aspectsof their society and religion, perceptions and lived experiences from the members’ point ofview—not merely analyzing them from a third-person perspective. The term ‘religion’ isused herein merely to denote ‘a covenant faith community with teachings and narratives
that enhance the search for the sacred and encourage morality (Dollahite 1998:5). Threemain integrated and interrelated themes surveying past and recent research drive theanalysis forward. I argue that the matrilineal kinship ideology and religious forms
constitute dynamic forces at the foundation of the Sakata culture. It is precisely in terms ofthis enduring interdependence between these two areas of their social and religious life that
the Sakata have increasingly ensured the combination of adaptation and continuity in theirpresent localities.
1. Ethnographic Background of the Sakata
1.1 Identification and Geographical Location
In his seminal work (1966a), Belgian Anthropologist Jan Vansina classifies the Sakata aspart of the Lower Kasai Bantu-speakers found in the hinterland of the Congo. This
heterogeneous group of Bantu-speaking peoples indeed forms what he calls the‘Boma-Sakata cultural clusters’ (peoples sharing features of social structure, material
culture and worldviews) which includes the Nku and several ethnic groups broken up into
small political fragments. These diverse groups speak different though related languages
and have different histories, socio-political organizations, cultural and religious practices(For further details, see Birmingham 1981:87-93; Vansina 1966b; 1992; 1994; 1995; 1999).
Within the Mai-Ndombe Province (Figure 1.1), the Sakata corporate land (Figure 1.2) is167

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precisely located in the Kutu District (19,237 km²). There it covers an area of roughly
180,000 km² bounded in the north by the Mfimi and Lukenie Rivers, and in the south by
the Kasai River which flows into the Congo River, the second largest river in the World interms of freshwater discharge (1457 km³ yr-1).3 The vast area forms an isosceles triangle,
starting in the west at Mushie District with a latitude of about 2.30˚, at the confluence ofthe Mfimi and Kasai Rivers, and ending in the east at the Lukolela River with a longitude
of about 17˚, where the Sakata share borders with their neighbors, the Nkundo-Ipanga. The
length of the whole Sakata homeland measures about 225 kms and the width distance
between the Kasai River and Lukenie Rivers measures approximately 80 kms (Nkiere
1984:31; see also Bylin 1966: 31, 37-46; Denis 1935:481). A glance at the data in Figure
1.3 below shows that Sakata communities share borders with many Bantu-speaking ethnic
groups, namely the Boma, Sengele, Ntomba, Nkundo-Mbelo and Nkundo-Mbindjankama
in the north, and with the Nkundo-Ipanga in the east, as well as with the Yanzi in the south(on the left side of the Kasai River).

Figure 1.1 Map of the Democratic Republic of Congo
showing Mai-Ndombe Province and Bandundu City mentioned in the text3

From the socio-cultural anthropologist and social archeologist’s standpoint, it is interesting to note in thewords of Patton (2014:89) that, like the Australian Aboriginal people, so too the Sakata’s utilization of theirlandscape (lake, rivers and land) is “mediated by long-term patterns of customary tenure and reinforced
through rituals to maintain and negotiate boundaries and interfaces, and through these interactions, maintainindividual and group identities”.

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Figure 1.2 Map of the Kutu District showing Sakata Corporate Land and surrounding regions

Figure 1.3 Ethnic Groups in Central Congo Basin
Source: De Saint Moulin 2003:108 (Carte 3, fig. 6)

The vast region exhibits a tropical semi-humid climate, with heavy rainfall. The
vegetation is mostly savannah covered plateaus which are naturally cut by streams, springs,
rivers and Lake Mai-Ndombe (120 kms long and as much as 50 kms wide at one point), as
well as by pockets of thick and gallery forest every 20 to 50 meters, all along the169Research Papers of the Anthropological Institute Vol.3 (2016)

waterways. There is a further consideration: “In the north–eastern parts of the region can
you also find the big National Park of Salongo. Oil has been found near the big lake (Lake
Mai-Ndombe) some twenty years ago but no one has bothered to pursue this for many
years, because of the collapsed infrastructure and problems involved in operating acompany there” (Eriksson 2006:22). The huge river system has historically served as a
primary means of transportation, and thus also of cultural diffusion and influence. The
main means of transportation for the Sakata people are ferries, planes, and dugout canoes.
Lack of jobs and better means of transportation is the most often cited barrier to
employment among the Sakata living in rural areas. Equally the lack of roadcommunication resulted to the isolation of the area from the rest of the country for a longtime. Sakata populations living in urban areas continue their ethno-historic linkages andattachments to the area.
1.2 History
The following is a brief historical sketch of Sakata society. Note at the outset that I will
not be interested in the past for its own sake, but only as it throws light on the present
structures and social life of the Sakata.
1.2.1 Migration and Settlement
There is scarcely any scholarly material about the origins of the Sakata. The attempt to
conduct systematic research in this specific area is a far from straightforward task. This ispartly because the absence of early historical and archeological records makes it difficult tobe definite about their pre-colonial society4. However, by comparing fragmentary oral
evidence preserved through generations with the empirical and linguistic evidence so far
available, ethnographers and historians have recently attempted to piece together the
narrative of historical trajectories, early and late material, social and ideological processesof the Sakata in the region.
The intriguing question of when, how and why the early Sakata groups migrated to theregion of Lower Kasai has prompted considerable debate (Tonnoir 1970; Cornevin 1963;
Bompere 1958; Denis 1954; see also Van Everbroecker 1961; Focquet-Van Kerken 1924
quoted by Nkiere 1984:26), and not all research points convincingly into the same direction.
However, the orthodox view, to the best of my knowledge, is that early Sakata groups
probably migrated into their present homeland (Kutu District) around the ninth and tenthcenturies (or even earlier) from the northwestern corner of present-day Cameroon andsouthern Nigeria (Tonnoir 1970:57; see also Cornevin 1963:27-28, hypothesis based on the1957, 1958 and 1959 Carbon 14 dated by Naquin and J. Hiernaux). They are said to have4This observation is not surprising, partly because of the following widely acknowledged reason: “Thestudy of history came late to Central Africa but is now developing rapidly. In the pre-colonial period it asks
new questions about each facet of population growth, each economic innovation, each interface between the
inner world and the outer world, each evolution of religious perception, each new mastery of political skills,
each realignment of kinship networks” (Birmingham 1981:vii).

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left those parts of Africa before the arrival of Europeans by crossing the Ubangi River. It
might seem peculiar that this migration took place in different groups and periods (Figure
2).

th

th

th

Figure 2 Map of Presumed migrations in 9 , 11 and 12 centuries
Source: Tonnoir 1970:44

Oral tradition that I recorded in 2003 from specialist informants and elders of the Sakata,for example, suggests that the ancestors of the Sakata migrated in large numbers in the
middle of the second century. Overpopulation, draught and famine in their original locality
could have been incentives of their migration into the Central African Republic, where they
were called “Basar”, a descriptive appellation meaning “people from the Sahara desert”.
From there they moved to Congo-Brazzaville, crossing the Congo River embarking on the
coast at the present-day Bolobo village. Even though the land appeared unoccupied, theydecided not to settle, but rather to continue the journey until they reached the coast of thepresent-day Mushie District, where the Mfimi River joins the Kasai River. At this stage, thelarge community of the Sakata split into two groups. The small group, which was afraid tocontinue the long journey, settled at the wells, and was then called Baboma of the north byothers who saw themselves as courageous. The word ‘Boma” means “fear, afraid” inKikongo language, and literally Baboma (plural of “Boma”) would mean fearful people.
Members of the large group then continued the journey until they reached the wells of
Biboko, an Island that separates the Kasai and Mfimi Rivers. Later the remaining
community of Biboko split again into two groups. The small group migrated towards theright bank of the Kasai River, where it connects with the Kwango and Kwilu Rivers, andfinally settled in the Ombali village, on the opposite side from Bandundu city. This group
was then called Baboma of the south. The large group that remained in Biboko land171

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occupied both the left coast of the Kasai River from Biboko to Dungu land (where the
Sakata share borders with the Nkundo of the Kasai River), and the right coast of the Mfimi
River, as well as the land along the Lukenie River, where the Sakata share borders with the
Nkundo of the Mai-Ndombe Lake. Of great interest to this narrative on the earliest
ancestors of the Sakata is the peculiar fact that their occupation of the Kimbali-Mayi land is
attested to by the “great baobab tree” (biboko), in an excellent state of preservation today.
Not much is known about the distribution of the earliest forebears of the Sakata in the
Kutu region. Nkiere (1984:30)’s evidence, however, indicates that they would haveprobably settled first in the present-day Lemvia-Sud (Mbanzankwi) chiefdom.
According to testimonies gleaned from my informants, the ancestors of the
Sakata would have immigrated by clan groups. On their arrival in the region they
currently occupy, each clan settled in unoccupied territory. It was in thepresent-day Lemvia-Sud (Mbanzankwi) chiefdom that these pioneers initiallysettled before experiencing a gradual dispersion due mainly to overpopulation.
The rest of the country, in particular, the present-day Mabie chiefdom, was still
uninhabited and was part of the two Lemvia [Lemvia-Nord and Lemvia-Sud]chiefdoms which at the time formed a single whole entity starting from Lukenie toKasai Rivers. (My translation from the original French).
Already from their earliest forebears the Sakata had inherited a history of dominationand power. Under the pressures of overpopulation, for instance, it is reportedly that the
Sakata had usurped some neighboring ethnic groups and conquered their lands, leading to asocial crisis. Nkiere (1984:30) aptly observes:
The dispersion of the clans throughout the country was not made without a blow
here and there. There was sometimes a tradition of conquest. The best-known caseconcerns the country’s eastern region. A conflict between members of the sameclan among the Batere [sub-group of the Sakata] pushed one of the members, thechief Mukamata, to cross the Kasai River and forcefully settle in Bagata territory.
As a conqueror, he organized several clashes in Yanzi country and hence spread
panic [and desolation in the area]. To make peace the Yanzi of the region had, bycustomary treaty, to give portions of land to the chief Mukamata. In addition, thesister of the Yanzi chief of the region was also given in marriage to the chief
Mukamata. This union therefore cemented the ties between the two sides,
fostering peaceful coexistence [in this specific region]. (My translation form theoriginal French).
This becomes telling because one major finding of our previous study (Munsi 2008) isthat many chiefs engendered antagonism in their own communities by unscrupulously172

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seizing upon their new-found authority as an opportunity for defrauding their people. Those
conflicts affected the population rate and were one of the incentives for the practice of‘secret societies’, sorcery and witchcraft as means of defense and protection of the families,
lineages and clans, as well as the village communities and chiefdoms. One thing seems
certain: If any organization existed in pre-colonial Sakata society, it was rather within theframework of customs which had been institutionalized over the centuries at the level ofvillage communities, matrilineal lineages and clans, which I discuss further below. Since
their settlement in Kutu territory, Sakata communities have been commonly known for ironarms and tools technology, arts of pottery and weaving, folkloric dance, and traditional
medicine and health. 5 The study by (Bekaert 2000) offers probably the mostcomprehensive empirical analysis of the latter theme.
1.2.2 Exploration and Colonial Periods
The encounter between the Sakata European navigators, explorers, conquerors, colonizers,
merchants and missionaries had reportedly a two-fold aspect: immediate and practical. At
both levels, much evidence indicates that conquest, colonization and trade led to modes ofdomination or coexistence and multi-faceted trans-cultural relationships. The following is aglowing review of it. From 1874 to 1884, during his third trip to Africa in the service ofKing Leopold II of Belgium, Welsh-born journalist I. Henry Morton Stanley opened theCongo River Basin and laid the groundwork for the Congo Free State, largely by persuading
local chiefs to grant sovereignty over their land to the King Leopold II (1835-1909) of
Belgium, after setting up 21 trading posts along the river. During the Berlin West Africa
Conference—but not the Conference as such (1884-5)—convoked by the German chancellor
Otto von Bismarck, the participants, representing fourteen European states and the UnitedStates of America, agreed to recognize King Leopold II of Belgium, as the sovereign of a“Congo Free State” (CFS) or Etat Indépendant du Congo (AIC). As a result, his government
began a move to "imprint a Belgian character upon Christian missionary work in the Congo”(Reardon 1968: 85;86) That character was Belgian Catholic, the religion of theirmotherland, which was also a state supported church.
The first extended contact of the Sakata with Western culture took place between 1882
and 1888 when Henry Morton Stanley explored the Mai-Ndombe region, followed by Kund,
Tappendeck and A.Delcommune (see Van der Kerken 1941:476; Van Everbroeck 1961:49,
quoted by Nkiere 1984:148). These explorers have reportedly gathered the mostethnographic history to date. Their studies included that of the social, political, economic,
and religious aspects of the Sakata culture.

5

In the light of Maes’ empirical evidence (1930:88-90; 100-1), Rowlands (1973:594) for example, recordedthat the Sakata metalsmiths in Congo are hierarchically ranked on the basis of the metalwork they can produce.
Thus “the production of parade objects and insignia could only be done by the master-smith who also
happened to be the village chief”.

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There is a further aspect. Between 1885 and 1895 the Sakata territory was also attached to
the District of Kasai, which then included a portion of Katanga, Kasai, the whole Leopold II
Lake, and the whole Kwango region. In August 1895, however, the Sakata were detachedfrom the Kasai District to be incorporated into Leopold II District, with the Centre Kutu as
the administrative capital. On 9 August 1895, a large portion of the Sakata homeland fell
under the patronage of the King Leopold II, in what was variously called either “le domainede la couronne”, or “the crown domain”, which covered a total area of approximately
250,000 square kilometer (Barbara 1988:259). It is surmised that the colonial powers’ main
source of income was the exploitation of rich rubber plantations and ivory resources (Anstey
1966:1-3; see also Greinker, Lubkemann & Steiner 2010:425), as well as copper and gold in
the Congo. Consequently, Sakata populations were subjected to horrible atrocities during
this time. Hands were cut off, people were whipped, and kidnapped, held hostage and manyother cruelties were committed in Leopold’s search for ivory and rubber (For further details,
see Hochschild 1998). In concrete terms this means that “[from] 1885 to 1908―the crucial
years during which the Congo was opened up to European exploration andsettlement―Leopold controlled its destinies. The Sovereign—who never set foot in his
African kingdom—was very largely responsible for the way in which relations between
Europeans and Africans developed there” (Slade 1962: iii). It should be noted in passing that
European (especially Belgian) presence signified forced labor and relocation, but alsoavailability of manufactured goods, services like health and education, and the introductionof cash economy.
1906 brought some structural changes to the Sakata homeland. Notable among them are
the shift of the administrative centre from Malepie (present-day Kutu) to Inongo, theadministrative headquarter of present-day Mai-Ndombe Province. The pre-existing sevenlarge chiefdoms of the Sakata were officially recognized and integrated into the colonialadministration by Belgian colonial authorities. With minor exceptions, the Belgian
administration came to control the entire Sakata society through its prominent chiefs,
leaving the internal organization of the society intact. These changes took place under the‘colonial policy’ that was generally ‘paternalistic’ in tone and ‘indirect’ in administration. 6
Local chiefs were used as pawns of the government; often they were removed from power
if rumored to be anti-colonialist. Belgian colonial authorities played the role of tutor among
local populations and controlled them through local traditional institutions. To reduce thepower of the regional ethnic groups, the latter were all incorporated into a unified
administrative system (Nkasa 2005; for historical review, see Fabian 2001). Even though
the extreme violence of the state, which the Belgian monarch Leopold II held as his private
property, led to a huge international scandal and obliged the Belgian parliament to annex it
in 1908, it is assumed that this pre-independence Belgian rubber regime lasted until 1933
(Anstey 1966:67). Even now, the majority of long-time residents interviewed still6

It might seem peculiar that the Belgian colonial administration affected local leadership by sometimes
changing chiefs based on their willingness or lack of willingness, to collaborate with Belgian administ rators.

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remember those Belgian colonial atrocities.
Since the middle of the nineteenth century Christianity has been adopted by large
segments of the rural Sakata population (Mputu 1999 among others). Major life transitions(such as birth, puberty, and death) were marked by religious ceremonies, many of which
combined Christian and ancestral traditions. Thus far, many contemporary ethnographers,
especially Congolese professor Nkiere (1984)−whose work features prominently in thispaper−have argued that the spread of Christianity and urbanization, and urban development(as a result of the period of state hegemony and modernization), have, in many ways,
changed some religious perceptions and attitudes of the Sakata. This reflects theacknowledgement that “[no] religious world can remain the same forever and in response tothis traditions undergo transformation processes, answering to the needs of the community;
new places, roles and powers gain recognition whilst old places, roles and powers gain newmeanings” (Lawson 1984:9).
But the positive aspects of Christian (mostly Catholic) mission apply only to certain
subjects, or in certain contexts. In other places, we are told that the misinterpretation of the
Bible and Christian teaching instead led some ministers to destroy precious things such as
statues that embodied the cultural heritage of the Sakata. It is reported for example that in a
moment of desperation, a Sakata chief decided to give one precious statue to a vendor.
Interestingly, this statue, which held within it the energy to support women in the birth
process, was later displayed at the Cultural Surviving Bazaar held at the Prudential Center
mall in Boston in 2009. A note was stuck to the statue with tape, written in red magic
marker and read: “Congo, the last Sakata mask (original) 100 years old” (Figure 3),
suggesting that all of the other remaining statues had been thrown into a fire by the Sakata
in the insistence of a Roman Catholic missionary priest.

Figure 3 The probable last surviving Statue in a Sakata Village
Photo by Cultural Survival organization, 19 Dec.2009

1.2.3. Some Structural Changes in Post Independent Period
It is reported that the integrity of the existing seven chiefdoms in Sakata society has
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continued to be preserved in the region since the creation of the Leopold II District(present-day Mai-Ndombe District) in 1960 and the reunification of the Dia and the Sakata
in Kutu territory (present-day Kutu District) and later the attachment of the whole Leopold
II District to the Province of Bandundu (present-day Kwilu Province) in 1970 (For further
details, see Mouvements géographiques 1885:7732;1910:30 & 1913-1914: 4; Profils duZaire 1972:102-112; quoted by Nkiere 1984: 148-149).
Throughout the 1970s, the whole of Sakata society experienced changes brought about
by the reorganization of provinces and districts, which resulted in the incorporation of theparamount chiefs into the structure of the wider Congolese administrative system. In asense, a Sakata chief became the principal agent between his chiefdom or village
community and the colonial authorities. In this context, however, it must be noted that
Sakata society had to cope with all these external pressures without losing its internalautonomy. It can thus be submitted here that the great strength and tenacity of thesocio-political and religious systems of the Sakata have remained evident throughout thesestages of their historical development (see especially Bompere 1998; Nkiere 1984; Mave
1975). Viewed from the public domain, it is ironical that they have been displaying a kindof ‘cultural conservatism’, which should always be regarded as a good thing, rather than asliable to hinder the assimilation of their matrilineal society into the Congolese nationalsociety.
1.4 Population Growth (1970 -2012)
Sakata communities are mainly concentrated in the Kutu District, where they represent
the majority of the population. However, Sakata individuals and families also have asubstantial presence in various parts of the Congo and of the world, where their numbers
have reportedly spiked in recent years. The 1970 census indicated that about 92.900 Sakata
people lived in the region, while in 1972 the number rose to 144,718. The 1981 census
estimated the number at 140,130 out of a regional population of about 209,513 (Monse
1987:10); in 2003, according to the Interior Provincial Division of Bandundu, the figure
was 200,000 out of the total population of 450,930. Since the mid-1980’s, however, theSakata population has been increasing, with an average population density of about 5,16
persons per square kilometer (Nkiere 1984:34). This increase was due to a slight increase in
the birth rate combined with a small decline in the death rate. Estimates range upward from
207,000 (see People Groups Organization 2016). The true figure of the core Sakata group’s
population is probably 300,000 Sakata individuals, excluding those who have permanently
settled in urban areas.
Despite this, reliable figures for the total number of the Sakata are still unavailable. In
2012 the population of Kutu District was estimated at 405,796 out of 1,500,000 inhabitants
found in the present-day Mai-Ndombe Province. We may estimate (very approximately, inthe absence of precise censuses) that there has been a great increase in the Sakata
population, due to the rapid increase in the regional population in recent years. In passing,176

『人類学研究所 研究論集』第 3 号（2016）it should be noted that migration plays a part in population fluctuations. Experience showsthat increased permanent or seasonal migration to cities or urban areas accompanied thecountry’s economic development during the 1980’s, but there is also significant migration
between rural areas as people leave their places for more productive work or farm
opportunities.
1.5 Linguistic Classification
The Sakata―united in the special type of kinship resulting from the matrilineal descentsystem―speak Kisakata (Kesakata or Keshaa), a Bantu language that the Turveren School(1867) classified into the category of B/B34 Zone languages within the phylum of the
Niger-Congo family, whose varying degrees of similarity and dissimilarity have long beenrecognized.7 Knowledge of the spoken and written language of the Sakata is neverthelessscant, due to the small number of systematic studies. Given the size of the population andthe territorial range of the Sakata, there is much dialectical variation in their language (i.e.
waria, kebai, mokan, kengengei, kitere and kintuntulu), to the point that some dialects arebarely intelligible mutually (Monse 1987; De Witte 1955). However, in education,
government, trade (including expatriate business), and evangelization Lingala (one of thefour national languages) and French (the official language) are preferred as a tool ofcommunication. Practically, the Sakata residents of Bandundu city are also well acquainted
with Kikongo (a national language). In practice of course, Lingala appears to function as a
crucial element in local communities’ political and economic development and ultimate
regional integration.
1.6 Subsistence and Economic Activities
The Sakata, whom some ethnographers have accurately identified as hard workers andwho value self-sufficiency, live in an area which is, by Sub-Saharan African standards,
densely populated and agriculturally productive. For livelihood, they rely mainly on stable,
ecologically sound, and efficient slash-and-burn type of shifting cultivation and a mix offishing. Men are primarily involved in 4 to 6 months fishing expeditions, but heavy
agricultural labor such as logging and cleaning fields also fall to them. Women are engaged
almost exclusively in subsistence agriculture. Put differently, they are major agricultural
producers. They farm the land above water-levels and hoe the weeds, but both genders do
the harvesting together. The main food crops (old and new) include cassava the (mainstaple food since the nineteenth century), corn (maize), sweet potatoes, yams, beans, root
7

The linguistic foundations of Bantu migrations are discussed in two chapters in Collins, Problems in
African History: Joseph Greenberg, “The languages of Africa,’’ 78-85, and Thomas Spear, ‘‘Bantu
migrations,’’ 95-98. Vansina’s evidence (1995) is also of greatest interest. More recently, however, it isreportedly that on account of the “lack of ancient written records, historical-comparative linguistics hasgrown to be an important way of accessing the early history of Africa. Within the realm of Bantu studies,ongoing internal classifications of the Bantu languages have not only led to changing hypotheses on theirevolution and dispersion, but these linguistic theories have also incited and oriented archaeological andcultural historical research in this field of study” (Bostoen 2006:1)

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crops, groundnuts and plantains, peanuts and other grain legumes, oil palm nuts, and rice.8
Other crops include coffee, fibers, rubber, vegetable crops, or wild fruits, hunting anddomesticated livestock (ducks, chicken, sheep, goats and cows). Beside their contacts with
Bobangi traders, the Sakata have increasingly been involved in a symbiotic network ofregional exchanges and the high degree of specialization in fishing and commercial
exchanges.
2. Socio-Political Organization
In this section I shall bring together material information gleaned from a variety ofsources to determine how the influence of Kinship determinants in Sakata society isparticularly reflected in the patterns of village settlements and in the socio-politicalstructures, and why. In so doing, I shall also identify key features of how their dynamic
interplay is construed, attempting a holistic account of Sakata society with its institutions.
For analytical purposes, I shall deal separately with the social and the political whilebearing in mind that the social and political systems develop asynchronously. I draw
inspiration from a descent theory that follows Radcliffe-Brown’s formulation and deals
with actual relations between persons and lineages (Schneider 1965), and Bondarenko(2013; 2006).
2.1 Social Organization
My primary attempt here is to highlight the function of the kinship system of the Sakata
in relation to their living arrangements, social classes and political structure, as well as
norms and behaviors in different circumstances. Understanding the intricacies of theirpatterns of social structuring is “significant from a materialistic perspective because theyreflect a society’s adaptations to its social and material environments” (Keegan&Maclachlan 1989:618).
2.1.1 Living Arrangements
The rural settlement of the Sakata is in villages (officially referred to as localities)
8

Cassava (manioc), the most prevalent crop in the region, is classified among many other crops that wereintroduced by the Portuguese from the Western Hemisphere, while rice was introduced from the East coast of
Africa by the Afro-Arabs in the nineteenth century (Meditz and Merrill 1993). Originally the “agriculture of
the Lower Kasai was reportedly founded on sorghum and bananas, but ese were gradually being
supplemented or replaced by maize, and later by cassava, which became the staple food by the nineteenth
century…Although it is clear that crops, agricultural techniques, currencies and material goods spread fromthe west into the Lower Kasai area, it is not clear by what means these influences spread, or at what periods.
There is also much uncertainty about the social, political, linguistic and demographic changes which may beascribed to the influence of western neighbours” (Birmingham 1981:88). Due to its ease and convenience,manioc cultivation would have extended along much of the Mfimi, Lukenie and Kasai Rivers and must havebeen easily accessible to most of the population.

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generally fairly large in size, composed of fifty to a hundred rectangular wattle-and-daubhouses. The village infrastructure includes churches and in some cases meeting areas forsocial activities and for the local chef de terre (land chief), a dispensary, and a school. Eachvillage (uleba or lebenge) is traditionally headed by a local chief or chef de terre (Mbe ne
kyum, Ndza uleb) issuing from the landowner matrilineal descent group (Bambe).
Individual households are not interspersed evenly, but in clusters of closely kin-related
compounds (sprawling structures). The practice of exogamous marriage serves to create an
overlap between residence and kin. 9 Inter-clan and inter-chiefdom marriage was
encouraged. Post-marital residence is virilocal. A Musakata wife moves to her husband’svillage. She uses land that belongs to her husband’s matrilineage and that will be inheritedby his sister’s children. Thus her children do not automatically contribute to the strength of
the household, as they have their own interests to protect in their mother’s brother’s village.
Although the virilocal residence naturally forces brothers and sisters to live separately, it isassumed that male and female members are necessary for the normal working of Sakatasociety. For this reason, there is always social activity devoted to overcoming the difficultyof the spatial separation inherent in the system.
From the structural point of view, there are two main axes upon which the cluster isinternally created. The first is the parent-child relationship, which is a vertical axis. It is
about continuity, in the form of developmental cycles and access to land for building
houses. In practice of course, the relations between the father and children are carefully
cultivated in individual Sakata families. As Schatzberg (1998:83) has commented:
For the matrilineal Sakata, the most crucial relations within the basic family are thosebetween father and children. Compared to the maternal uncle, the Musakata father
incarnates understanding, tenderness, and comprehension. The cash economy andspread of capitalist values and modes of production has accentuated the fundamental
importance and influence of the father.
The point for consideration is that the father of the family has a definite role to play in thehousehold affairs. However, according to the matrilineal kinship principles, his role islimited by the final word of the maternal uncle (pipi or Ngonshi) who holds more power in agiven individual Sakata lineage. Thus, we could argue that the maternal uncle is thesustainer of their social, economic and legal interests.
The second aspect to be considered in this social interaction is the sibling set, which is ahorizontal axis. It is primarily about cohesion, keeping things together, either throughco-residence or affinity. Actually both of these axes are equally important, but they have
“Exogamous (substantive exogamy) “means marrying outside,” and implies that marriage is forbidden
within a specified group, usually though not necessarily a clan… A clan is usually a named group of people
who believe themselves from a common ancestor in the remote past. Members of the same clan usually havespecial obligations toward one another” (Beattie 2002:1).
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different roles in social organization and therefore are not opposed to each other. What thistranslates into is the observation that kinship and family continue to exist as the foundationof economic, social and reproductive behavior in the Sakata homeland, though the situationof urban areas indicates now the increasing importance of the nuclear family as an economic,
residential, and psychological unity.
Why is this residence pattern still exactly and finely maintained? What does this signify topresent-day Sakata individuals? Conceivably, this notion of physical proximity of
kin-groups and family networks of sharing and reciprocity is essential to the psychologicalproximity required for stabilizing family units within the wider descent groups andmaintaining at the same time people’s closeness and their relations to the Sakata hereditarychiefs. If anything, the following points understate the case. Most notably, the house of thevillage headman (Mbe ne kyum, Ndza uleb), for example, is purposely located at the centreof the village, in order to assure the unity of individual households through his political,
socio-juridical, economic and religious authority. Nearby are lined up the houses of his
married children and nephews who claim a common founding ancestor (Ngalela). Thismatrilineal ancestor occupied a higher position among many other ancestors (Bale e dzia)
who also lived on earth and have already crossed what is evoked in Sakata myths as the‘river of life’.
Equally important is the fact that the house of the traditional political chief (Mudju) is
placed at the entrance of the village. And it turns out that there are a number of intriguing
reasons for this specific location. One of the most important of these is the emphasis on the
mystical security or protection of the village populations and their lands. This suggests thatpolitical and religious leadership among the Sakata consists of a series of features that are
causally interconnected. One further example should suffice. Close by the house of the
traditional political chief (Mudju) is found the ‘palaver tree’ (nshima). More usually, it is aplace where family and village issues are discussed and resolution of conflicts takes place.
Traditionally the Sakata have subscribed to the belief that this important ‘palaver tree’ wassecretly planted in the village by former matrilineal religious priests through a series of rites
called ‘Placing the first stone to protect the village’ (eteka nshima n’uleba) performed before
settlement. Evidence is still incomplete as to when exactly this tree was planted. All weknow is that during those secret religious ceremonies, they also buried two ceramic vessels
endowed with spiritual powers with a twofold aim: first, to be in conformity with the will of
the deities in the area, and second to protect the population from any misfortune (usa) sent
by witches. This specific tree has therefore its practical aspect. Its sacredness justifies thestrict prohibition against cutting it down.
My sense from the field is that the strict norms of Sakata kinship regarding authority andinter-generational relationship continually play an important part in maintaining the identity
and cohesion of residential groups. In addition, there is also a simple realization, given
people’s mobility and the migration to urban areas, that the influential role played by thematrilineal kinship system even extends beyond village communities, whether through180

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marriages with other lineages or with kinsmen distantly related. An interpretation of thefacts gleaned in Bandundu city, for example, reveals that many Sakata virtually live in aclose-knit community and they look out for one another. A common thread linking thesekinship networks is the deep-felt requirement to engage in social interaction with people ofcommon cultural history and identity. The Sakata encourage their members to maintaintraditional practices of obligation and reciprocity in a new environment. This set in motion areciprocal, feedback relationship between Sakata migrants to Bandundu city and their circleof relatives in the new location.
Although the experience of the Sakata found in Bandundu city is not quantitatively
typical, it is nonetheless characteristic. My sense from the field is that the Sakata extended
families tend to nurture the virtues of extended kinship obligations, generosity, cooperationand hospitality. This reality also becomes clear when kinship distance is evaluated verticallyand laterally or horizontally. Generational distance affects both intensity and mode
(behavior) of social interaction. Laterally or horizontally, affinity induces extra distance,
also both in the intensity and mode of interaction (avoidance of behavior). This finding
purports to say how cultural background has a strong effect on Sakata migrants’ likely
choice of adaptive strategy in the new setting. This should not be surprising. It is widely
acknowledged in many societies that social behavior, ritual occurrence, and legal action are
for a large part governed by a tacit evaluation of kinship distance. One note, however, must
be made here. While extended family networks remain extremely important in themaintenance of ethnic identity among Sakata residents of Bandundu city, non-kin networks
developed through neighborhood community centers have also taken on a new role ofincreasing prominence.
Of greatest interest to us is the observation that some Sakata individuals living in urban
settings are often engaged in circular migration from rural to urban and back again. Sakata
individuals’ interrelationship and their degree of cultural emphasis on kinship in a newenvironment might have facilitated the implantation of modern values into rural areas andthe importation of traditional concepts (i.e. kinship ties, religious beliefs and practices andcultural celebrations) into urban areas by Sakata migrants. The impression that emerges isthat the interactions among the Sakata residents of Bandundu city involve various kinds ofknowledge sharing, the establishment of kinship networks and religious and culturaltransmissions. It is evident that some of these Sakata migrants have been engaged in the webof relations and practices within urban institutions of development cooperation. By
contrasting the results, we see that the kinship networks that have been transplanted to theurban areas apparently do not differ from the traditional rural networks. Conducting evenlimited studies would, however, satisfy the intellectual needs of anthropologists. The next
step is to describe the matrilineal lineages and clans which represent the binding forces of
Sakata society.

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2.1.2 Matrilineal Lineages and Clans
The Sakata are organized into a number of structurally similar and functionallyequivalent family segments which traditionally follow matrilineal descent patterns. These
surviving segments are called lineages—localized communities composed of extended
families, whose members trace descent to a known ancestor. These unilineal lineages thus
constitute exogamous units, with distinctive facial marks, food taboos, and sets of names:
minimal lineages (mpare); major lineages (ipfune) and maximal lineages (mapfune, also
referred as kenkare). The lineages themselves are characterized by their being represented
by certain members who are specifically related by their social and religious positions to thematrilineal figure from which the lineage descended (Nkiere 1984:46-48). Thus identity inthe life of the Sakata is constructed in large measure through a concern for lineages. As
corporate units in economic, political, juridical and religious respects, Sakata matrilineage
lineages join together to form clans (kenkare), that is, a totem and exogamous community
whose members are not allowed to intermarry. These matrilineal clans include all the closely
related people in a particular subsistence village community and historical antecedents.
Analysis has shown that members of a single Sakata descent group still maintain a highsense of community and a high level of solidarity, which are expressed through kinshipterms, sharing practices, and a constant concern for one another’s welfare.
It is important to note that these matrilineage lineages and clans are communities of boththe living and the dead. The clan category is more appropriate than ethnicity in analysing the
Sakata kinship system. The essential point here is that the matrilineal clans represent
functional units. They are social entities in which individuals practically disappear in the
midst of collectivity. Thus viewed, they constitute social or even socio-political units
perfectly defined and customarily immutable, and hence continue to exist as ‘thecornerstone of the total traditional fabric’, fostering and sustaining Sakata communities
linked by a shared culture and spiritual values. There are therefore clear indications that thematrilineal lineages and clans continue to be meaningful for the Sakata by reference to theirsocial functions in relation to certain social practices such as exogamy and incest prohibition.
Most notably, the influential role of the Sakata kinship system is seen in the upsurge insocial stratification discussed below.
2.1.3 Social Stratification
The entire Sakata society is made up of three major matrilineal clans, which arethemselves organized into three strata: the high-rank clan (Badju), the landowners (Bambe)
who also preside over matters of land allocation, and commoner kin groups (Nsane) who
form the majority. This segmented clan system has been presented as the foundation of
Sakata society, and to understand Sakata politics, history and even culture, one merely has
to look at their kinship and clan system. The interaction between these three strata is
intricate. To date, these Sakata social groupings continue to serve as the most important
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through generations to demarcate and discharge social obligations with devotion andenthusiasm. Their potential impact is in evidence as societal coordination continues to belargely mediated through the kinship relationship. My understanding of the material thus
leads me to believe that Sakata kinship constitutes the major bond for maintaining humanrelations between the aforementioned three social classes and for regulating ownershipeven in changing environments. However, it should be noted in passing that the socialorganization of the Sakata also appears to have functioned simultaneously as an incubatorof forces of unity and conflicts, and the history of the Mabie chiefdom reveal valuable
examples of this kind.
The above descriptions are of necessity simplified. In the Sakata lands, all social
differences continue to be institutionalized as hereditary and inviolate, and social statusfinds its expression generally through matrilineal descent. Other things being equal, age
requires respect, although seniority does not necessarily confer access to the office of
highest status in the descent group or in the local community. Males have higher status thanfemales in Sakata society, despite the presence of matrilineal descent groups andmatrilineally based succession and inheritance. Moreover, the supporting material andcultural (including religious) base of local identity is inhibited, and class differentiation
promoted. More usually, the social differences expressed by variation in Sakata society
include community membership, residential group differences, occupational differences,and social ranking. The extent and degree of social inequality expressed by this variation isdecidedly less certain in the present study and hence requires much further analysis. It
merits remarks as well that lineage chieftainship is also an absolute, not a relative matter.
Therefore, it is imperative to argue that without the dynamic elements we find in lineages,clans and social strata founded on the matrilineal system it would be impossible to explain
the existence of Sakata society as we know it today.
2.1.4 Gender-Roles Divisions and Father-Children Relationship
The influential role of the matrilineal kinship system is also crafted from other roles, theresponsibility of women and men within a specific social milieu defined by specific duties.
On the basis of matrilineal descent, for example, Sakata women are the channels throughwhich identity, titles, land rights, and property are acquired. Also understandable in thiscontext is the fact that they exercise considerable influence over the conduct of domestic
affairs, and even the allocation of use rights to land. Sakata men typically control thepolitical and economic affairs in the public sphere and have ultimate authority over domestic
decisions (a role not available to a woman unless her husband has died or can no longer
support his family). However, evidence is accruing that shared tasks provide males andfemales with valued roles in Sakata society. The continued existence and vitality of thematrilineal kinship ideology among the Sakata is also evident in the area of politicalorganization discussed below.
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2.2. Political StructureThis theme also recurred throughout the dataset. Here I focus on Sakata society to more
specifically consider the political system as only one of its integral parts. I also treat
political culture as a natural part of Sakata culture as a whole, as a manifestation of its
general pattern in the sphere of the political that is embedded in institutions, ideologies,
legal norms, etc. In the light of the viewpoints developed by Bondarenko (2006:67-72), I
therefore label Sakata society according to its more general, inclusive feature (the societal
type; or culture pattern).
2.2.1 Territorial Divisions
The Sakata administer their society on the basis of organized kinship groups throughsocial units by a system of decentralization. The results, as shown in Figure 4 below,
indicate that the entire Sakata homeland is divided into seven large autonomous chiefdoms
known as Idju, which have received official recognition since 1906. Traditionally theseautonomous chiefdoms are considered as the third level of administrative subdivision, with
their administrative centres in parentheses listed below: Mabie (Ndwakombe), Mbamushie(Mongobele), Mbantin (Kempa), Lenvia Nord (Mbaizakwi), Batere (Nsobie), Lenvia-Sud(Ikoko), and Nduele (Admin. centre Nselekoko). It is certainly with the descendants of theearly occupants of Sakata homeland that the ethnonyms and toponyms of the chiefdom areassociated. Analysis shows that these kinship-based permanent political entities, theframework of which is very old, draw their spatial and human structure from a logic that isclearly one of Sakata identity.

Figure 4 Diagrammatic Representation of Political Organization among the Sakata
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More significantly, as can be seen from Figure 4 above, the whole socio-politicalconstruction’s encompassment of the Sakata is from below, that is from the local
community level, while the community itself is underpinned by matrilineal kin ties. The
synchronic ‘vertical axis’ of the social organization represents a purely static aspect of thehierarchical order of social entities with all three categories of matrilineage lineages (mpare
ipfune, kenkare) and their leaders (mfra-maa), village communities (ibue), each with its
headman (Mbe ne kyeum), and finally seven chiefdoms (idju), each with its administrative
centre. This suggests that each single Sakata Chiefdom (idju) represents an aggregate ofsocial units: lineages, traditional homogeneous village communities (basic units of politicalstructure) and sub-divisions organized by custom. Each of them is headed by a prominent
political and sacred chief (Mudju n’itsui) issuing from the matrilineal line. After investiture,
he is usually recognized and inaugurated by the provincial governor. Traditionally the
Sakata have subscribed to the belief that the traditional political chief (Mudju) is therepository and guardian of the symbols and mysteries of their culture in his chiefdom.
Equally, when viewed cross-sectionally, it is perhaps not too fanciful to suggest thatwithout relevance to the individual households and village communities that make up thesocio-political and religious dynamics of a single chiefdom, the traditional political chief(Mudju) is not fully living up to his mission.
Moreover, a closely linked assumption has been that this political system of the Sakata,
to a significant degree, displays similarities to that of the Mongo of the northern Congo. A
possible explanation for this might be that “[the] interaction between the western Mongoand the eastern Teke apparently led to the creation of a new system of kingship with a strong
religious core and hereditary court of secular administrators. This pattern of ‘socialized
kingship’ seems to have influenced the Boma-Sakata peoples and led to the evolution of amore complex political hierarchy than existed south of the Kasai” (Birmingham 1981:89).
This influence is also manifest in the monosyllabic and consonant terms Kp and gb found in
the Kisakata language (Tonnoir 1970). All we can claim with some certainty is that theearliest ancestors of the present Bantu speakers in the hinterland of the Congo werepreceded by the Pygmy inhabitants.
Defined as radically, politically, vertically and decentralized autonomous unit, a single
Sakata chiefdom (idju) therefore conducts its own social and religious activities. Moreover,it carries on local welfare work among the cluster of villages or hamlets (which are madeup of several families and lineages) and provides a meeting place for social functions. In
practice, of course, it has its own functionaries (hierarchy of chiefs), whose duties,
responsibilities, and rights have been formally allocated. The powers and prerogatives ofthese Sakata officials are defined by the customary law. This suggests that, for Sakata
households and individuals interviewed, kinship is not only ideology but also the realsocio-political background. Indeed the very existence and prosperity of the populace isbelieved to be guaranteed by the presence of the chiefdom (Idju) headed by a sacralized185

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ruler titled Mudju. It is also noteworthy that the Mudju’s privilege of being vested withtitular dignity and the tinsel insignia of office did not prevent his authority being subject toconstant interference. This leads us to consider more closely below some salient aspects ofchieftaincy or coordinating structure in Sakata society.
2.2.2 Status and Legitimacy of Chiefs
The political organization of the Sakata is based on chieftainship which is linked inprinciple, and in fact, to the system of unilineal matrilineal descent groups that provides thebasic sociopolitical framework of their society. The politically significant matrilineal
descent groups are those localized in a single village or a cluster of related village
communities. There are also clear indications that in all chiefdoms (Idju)―which continue
to function more effectively and efficiently in the face of changing conditions―thematrilineal kinship system claims to rule through autonomous paramount chiefs (men andwomen) recruited from the female line. Until more recently, females sometimes used toinherit chiefly positions. During the period of the study, however, most chiefs I met in
Sakata corporate lands were men. 10 The fact that the Sakata’s matrilineal kinship system
has male leadership means that the clan or lineage segment will have to have both males andfemales born each generation. Experience of the ruling families in the Mabie Chiefdom
between 1923 and 1987 has shown that where there is no male in the matrilineage, the roleof lineage head is not assumed by one of the women, but rather, the unit merges withanother matrilineage. This is a structural process that needs further investigation in the
future, especially in light of labor migration, cash cropping and so forth. Specifically, themechanism of power in the Sakata homeland is marked by a striking hierarchy of chiefs(men and women) whose secular authority considerably differs at any level. Let us consider
now closely the status and legitimacy of these Sakata chiefs.
(i) Traditional Political Chief (Mudju)
At the apex of the pyramid of traditional authority is the office of the traditional politicalchief (Mudju n’itsui) selected from the dominant matrilineal clan of Badju and endowedwith the power of decision making for a particular chiefdom. He lawfully accomplishes
several tasks, such as (a) to assure the maintenance of social order by instilling in people theduty to observe the customary law; (b) to protect the whole chiefdom from any external
attack; (c) to strengthen relationships between individual families, households and lineages
within the village communities, and between the visible community of the living and theinvisible community of the ancestors, deities and Supreme Being (Nzaw). Thus viewed, theSakata consider the traditional political chief (Mudju) as a visible representative based on
10

In the past, certain eminent women seized the political opportunities afforded by the crumbling ofmale-dominated centres of power. Not only were there women chiefs and counsellors, but common women
were permitted to take part in discussion. During the period of the study, however, there was apparently little
information about newly invested woman chiefs in the Sakata lands. The reasons for this fact, according to key
informants, were diagnosed as lack of observing the regulations and constraints related to the office secre cy.

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the blood relationship between him and the ancestors of the clan. In fact, this link withancestors is symbolized by the stool which the reigning chief occupies. This position as apolitical and spiritual leader both makes his office a sacred one and let him wield aconsiderable influence upon his local community. Traditionally, Sakata chiefs wore a red
uniform as (Figures 5-1 and Figure 5-2).

Figure 5-1 A Mudju, Traditional Political Chief

Figure 5-2 Two Badju, Traditional Political Chiefs

in Sakata Society

in Sakata Society

However, Sakata history records that some of these chiefdoms were unstable on accountof several conflicts. This happened as lesser chiefs or persons not qualified for chieftaincy
tried to take power from higher ranking chiefs, or when one chief conquered another. In thechiefdom of Mabie, for example, I noticed at least three salient conflicts. The first was theconflict between the women chiefs Mudju Boshang and Mudju Mamonie. The second was
between two men chiefs, Mudju Mbakala and Mudju Iluna. The third conflict occurred
between the current chief Mudju Kenine Kenzo (Figure 5-3 & Figure 5-2) and Mvula Tazu
(cousin of a chief). Analysis shows clear indications that all these conflicts affected thesocio-political and religious organization of the Mabie chiefdom.

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Figure 5-3 Mudju Kevine Kenzo Jean-Pierre
Current Traditional Political Chief of Mabie Chiefdom
Photo by the author, 20 August, 2012

Figure 5-4 Mudju Kevine Kenzo Jean-Pierre holdingin his hands a document released by the Congolese
officials to end up the issue over leadership powerthat occurred in the Mabie Chiefdom
Photo by the author, 20 August, 2012(ii) Land Chief (Mbe)Beneath the office of the traditional political chief (Mudju) is the office of the land chief(Mbe ne nkeyun). Lest we overlook the traditional value of the Sakata land chief (Mbe) andthe authority he formerly had in the pre-colonial period, it is important to note at the outset
the deep-seated change in traditional political structure in the history of Sakata society. In
pre-colonial Sakata society, we are told that only chiefs issuing from the landowning
kin-groups (Bambe) had the monopoly to fulfill the basic functions of both the chiefdom andthe village. This dual role continued virtually unchanged until the colonial era when the
Belgian territorial administrators replaced the office of the traditional political chief (Mudju
n’itsui) with that of the land chief (Mbe) for purposes of control and taxation. What issignificant for our analysis, however, is that this major change theoretically created two
distinct offices in the Sakata homeland. Interestingly enough, this separation of powers still
continues to be routinely applied today in the radically altered social and political scene of
the Congo. Over decades it has been grimly reinforced by the initiative strategies that theCongolese State designed in the 1970’s to adapt traditional systems of governance to modern
urban management, and the political opportunities opened by the changes in Sate policy
after the 2006 general elections.
Yet even in this context, analysis has nevertheless shown that the existing office of theland chief (Mbe) in Sakata society continues to effectively preserve the institutional form ofland allocation. There is a further aspect. In practice, with hindsight one can see in the
Sakata homeland that the relationship between the land chief (Mbe) and the traditional
political chief (Mudju) is quite intriguing. As Riddell, Salacuse and Tabachnick correctly
observe:188

『人類学研究所 研究論集』第 3 号（2016）“The relation between the land chiefs and the political chiefs is an interesting one.
The political chief Mudju is not a landowner. His entire lineage borrows land froma land chief. This is echoed in the following Sakata proverb: « Mbe oni be leshaon,ujuu oni be leban», meaning the authority of Mbe is limited to his village, while thatof Mudju extends beyond the village. Each Mudju will have many Mbe in his
chiefdom, one for each landowning lineage. Historically only two or three of theseloaned land to the Mudju and his matrikin.” (Riddell, Salacuse & Tabachnick(1987:43).
It is also important to note that the chef de terre (Mbe) and elders (notables) arerecognized locally but not considered part of the State’s administration hierarchy. The
principal representative of the Congolese government is rather the local chief or chef delocalité (Kapita). Almost all the villages have a local chief appointed by the public
administration. The 2006 Constitution and the Law on Decentralization establish sectors as
basic territorial entities. However, beyond the village level, and apart from sporadic visitsfrom the sector-based authorities, the presence of the State is almost existent. This is
unsurprising perhaps, as it tells us that each land chief (Mbe) is in charge of a territory(imve) and traditionally acts as trustee for his or her kinship group. In this respect, the landchief (Mbe) constitutes the strongest traditional authority in the village and appears to
exercise significant influence over local populations through the control of land distribution
for agriculture and of certain hunting and fishing activities. Additionally, he can, with theaid of the native courts, exercises power of adjudication in land disputes and expropriationfor offences against the community, and regulates internal conflict or issues of immigration
into the village. Immediately after the land chief (Mbe) comes the office of the independent
land chief (Mbianshu). This is practically an additional structural relationship between landchiefs and political ones. This very special kind of land chief (Mbianshu) is the primary
religious functionary in the society of the Sakata. In other words, his office is homologous
with chieftainship, but oriented towards religious practices, including the funeral rites forthe traditional political chief (Mudju).
(iii) Lesser Kin-Based Offices
The bottom of the Sakata political structure, finally, includes the less kin-based offices ofvillage and lineage heads (men or women) whose villages or lineages lie within the limitsof the chiefdom. The privileged status of all these hereditary rulers and their religious
functions are chiefly explained in cosmologic myth and the myths of origins. Throughconversations with various informants, I gained the impression that the authority of thevillage chiefs over their own people is absolute, and the village is the administrative unit.
Each lineage is a political unit having its own head (man or woman) chosen by the adultmen and women of the matrilineage
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The essential feature of the Sakata system is that the local political chief (Mudju) has
supreme authority and power in all executive and administrative matters and is authorized to
specify the duties of all subordinate chiefs and officials selected from the matrilineal line.
Moreover, all these authority figures, as an integral part of the machinery of administration,legally form what becomes the governing body or the council of elders (kebo ke baxime)
with the mandate to assist the traditional political chief (Mudju) to rule. The council ofelders meets on a regular basis in rural villages or towns to discuss topical issues in thecommunity and to adjudicate local disputes, often relating to land use or ownership.
Traditional justice mechanisms also exist in virtually every village in the Sakata homeland.
Informed opinion indicated that the leaders and elders at this level have the longest-standing
authority in customary matters, especially those relating to land. In this respect, they arethought of as being endowed with the power of decision-making for their particular village
communities regarding social, religious, judiciary and political matters. For residents ofisolated areas where a formal court is literally a day away by foot or boat, these councils
provide a forum for communities to seek redress for property theft, land disputes, and otherlegal-level offenses.
In specific events, however, the above-mentioned political structure is supplemented byritual officeholders, including diviners, shamans, herbalists/healers or medicine persons
commonly called Nga, settlement heads, and even contemporary village presidents (Kapita)
whose main role since colonial times has been to represent the political chief (Mudju) and tokeep order. Traditionally the Sakata have subscribed to the belief that all authority figures
constitute a secret religious society, having specific rites of worship and initiation. Thus
they are capable of entering into the visible realm of sorcery and witchcraft. In particular,
spirit healers are often consulted for herbal remedies that can help people with problems or
health issues. There is a further aspect. In all instances Sakata hereditary chiefs may bethought of as unifying influences; and whether taken literally or symbolically they represent
the collective property of the group and add to its cohesiveness and permanence. The
obligation, indeed the mandate, of Sakata leaders, is primarily to make certain that theanswers they give in the public sphere stand within the purview and under the auspices ofancestors’ overall intentions for the families and communities. This recognition createschances that the Sakata’s religious worldview will find coherence and unity in a personal
relationship with ancestral spirits. These patterns appear to illustrate the degree to which therules and enforcement characteristics of social institutions of the Sakata still remain firmly
in place, despite social and personal changes within their specific environments. On thequestion of genealogy, and clan segmentation and its relationship with politics, the two mostsignificant facts concerning the Sakata are their belief in common ancestry which is at theroot of their community solidarity, and their segmentation into lineage groups which holds
one of the keys for the understanding of their politics.
The intriguing realization is that all Sakata hereditary chiefs play the role of mediators
between the living and the dead. This translates into the observation that the matrilineal190

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kinship system has ‘given rise’ to a kind of priesthood which is dedicated to preserving thecultural values and customs of the Sakata. Thus viewed, it gives and preserves the hereditarychiefs’ position in spatial and institutional hierarchies. For all that, our interviewees told us
repetitiously that hereditary chiefs (men and women) are responsible for a variety of tasks
including divination, healing, navigation, weather control, and bringing about propitious
events such as abundant harvests. It is therefore possible to argue perfectly validly, albeit
somewhat simplistically, that frequent religious practice permeates the culture of Sakata
communities. This is true whether people are practicing more localized, folk forms ofspirituality or are affiliated with Catholic or Protestant Churches, which are strongly
implanted in the region since the nineteenth century.
Concretely, our findings have shown that the matrilineal lineage set-up continues to exist
as a strong unifying factor cementing the society of the Sakata as a whole, and passing on
the Sakata religious beliefs and values about solidarity with the invisible world of its
ancestors (Bale e dzia). As has become evident in our discussion so far and will beabundantly clear in the next section, the role of the matrilineal kinship ideology is embeddedin specific social, cultural, and historical contexts, and within these contexts, social
hierarchy represents the finite or defined resources from which individuals carved out theirroles. The evidence would appear to suggest that the interpersonal dynamic of members
within communities reflect the pervasive influence that the matrilineal line exercises upon
members.
Much can be said on the factors accounting for this substantial influence of the matrilineal
line, but for the purposes of the present analysis three factors in particular stand out. The
first to be noted in Sakata society is that ancestors, as social model and collective conscience,
form the basis of interaction through the symbolic power of rituals. A second importantfactor relates to behavioral patterns. The living individuals are united in solidarity inmatrilineal kinship. Gerontocracy, the rule of elders, predominates because elders andancestors are in close proximity. Figure 6 below is quite telling because it provides aconcrete illustration of the way in which this position of elders is constructed in the Sakata
lands. Figure 6 shows that both the relations between parents and the relations between
lineage groups display a kind of pyramid whose bottom corresponds to ancestors while the
top represents the elders. Finally and most importantly, it transpires that the communionwith ancestors and deities of the land is expressed through the hereditary chiefs ofchiefdoms, villages and lineages who are in turn regulated by the precepts of a matrilinealline. Further details of this analysis, and other aspects of the political structure of the Sakata,
may be pursued in Nkiere’s work (1975), which serves as a good preliminary to his more
prolific and insightful scholarship published in 1984. Having already dealt with therelationship between kinship and social institutions, a few words need to be said in the next
point hints to land tenure, inheritance and succession in the Sakata homeland.

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Elder
Practical Solidarity

Living

Kinship

MungabeSolidarity

Mythical Solidarity
Dead

Ancestor

Figure 6 Diagrammatic Representation of the Kinship Order among the Sakata
Source: Nkiere 1984:78

2.3 Social Control of Land Distribution
The value of land is embedded in social structure and social history of the Sakata
matrilineally related kin. This is because of a special relationship to their deceased
predecessors and ancestors who are buried in their homeland. My sense from the field isthat land tenure, social organization, political structure and history are all facets of the same
reality as viewed from the perspective of unwritten customary law procedures.
Traditionally the Sakata are organized into matrilineal lineages and clans that share rights
to land. In other words, their unilineal system is based on the corporate property ownershipand economic interdependence of lineage members. Indeed participants in focus groups
demonstrate a strong attachment to the land and its resources, referring to the limits whentalking about hunting and, in some cases, fishing zones.
It is generally considered in all Sakata chiefdoms (Idju) that legal and customary rights
and obligations govern land tenure, such as rules and expectations that structure access toand transmission of use rights to land. According to local chiefs of my sample, the rights touse of the land (usufruct) as opposed to ownership are determined by a designatedindividual or group within the lineage (land chiefs―Bambe) with several goals in mind: (1)each family should have enough land for subsistence purposes; (2) the allocation should be
equitable so that differences in quality are compensated for by adjustments of quantity; and(3) the land is not allowed to deteriorate but is instead allowed to life follow whenever
there is a need to restore soil structure of fertility. More usually land chiefs (Bambe) havethe right to receive gifts in exchange for their services that can include the promise of
allocations from the annual harvests. Observations during fieldwork confirm that the right192

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to obligatory gifts from land users is one of the most important prerogatives of being a landchief in Sakata society. Usually the land chief (Mbe) regulates social control of land
distribution. However, in a small number of cases, as Riddell, Salacuse and Tabachnick(1987:43) reported, this duty can be temporary entrusted to his assistant.
The land chief (Mbe) can assign his role to an assistant (mami), but in no way canthis assistant be considered a real land chief nor does he have the power associatedwith the ancestors or the soil. A false land chief will be rejected by the ancestors whowill withhold the fertility of the soil. Cases were related to us of plants not growing,droughts, and sickness all being visited upon villagers who had followed false
claimants. Of course, it should be added that these stories were told to us by landchiefs.
There are also clear indications that in every chiefdom the ideology of the ancestors
affects rights to land, and historical instances demonstrating that conquered people retained
rights to land. It is nevertheless true that recent political and demographic factors have been
affecting Sakata land tenure, including demographic expansion and dispersion of powerover land among small social groups. Many observers conclude that the maintenance oftraditional tenure may actually be one of the most important ways to ensure the survival of
the Sakata rural population for the near future.
2.4 Inheritance and Succession
The regulation of property inheritance and status succession is a primary function ofkinship structures in the society of the Sakata. Family property is mainly transmitted
through the female line. Customs governing the inheritance of land, corporeal property, andcertain skills or lore are owned by a corporate descent group, and usufruct rights are
inherited upon birth or adoption into a matrilineal lineage. The succession of power follows
the matrilineal line. On this point, however, Riddell, Salacuse and Tabachnick (1987:43)
made some observations which still stand today.
[In case] it is impossible for a new line of land chiefs to be founded [in a particularchiefdom], it is often the eldest son of the eldest sister who becomes the next landchief (Mbe). If he declines or for some reason is incapacitated, it is his next-in-line
brother who takes over. Women can and do become land chiefs but under whatcircumstances was never made clear. Even the frequency of this happening was
impossible to determine.
It would be incorrect to infer that there has been no dispute over succession between thematrilineal lineages and clans. At any time a group may be divided among factions
supporting specific claimants to the chiefdom (Idju). Most oral accounts I recorded in the
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Mabie chiefdom, for example, report cases which show that disputes between those claiming
individual ownership and those claiming usufruct rights through descent are not uncommon
given the competing forms of ownership. Usually, serious “land disputes are taken to the
Mudju [traditional political chief] of the chiefdom who then calls together the land chiefs in
the disputed area” (Riddell, Salacuse& Tabachnick 1987:44). Again, it is on the basis of thematrilineal kinship ideology that Sakata customary formal legal codes and courts often
handle these disputes and govern the disposal of property in cases of succession. The
matrilineal kinship ideology requires vertical integration of the social hierarchy within
matrilineal groupings. Many cultural forms and institutions developed by the Sakata bear
little resemblance to the prototypes of their neighboring ethnic groups. This is not surprising,
given the considerable heterogeneity of the populations of Mai-Ndombe Province and theconditions under which they had to survive from their pre-colonial settlement to the present.
3. Religious Beliefs, Practices and Experiences
The organizing principles of religious beliefs, practices, and experiences among the
Sakata constitute an area that equally proves informative in regard to their relationship to thematrilineal kinship ideology. My specific focus here is limited to highlighting some of thevaried ways in which religious commitments are experienced, organized and transmitted,
and yet politicized in the Sakata lands. Issues related to the practice and meaning oftraditional medicine or traditional health beliefs and practices, of which Bekaert (2000) has
given an innovative semantic analysis, were not particularly prominent in the interview data.
My argument is that daily strict respect in religious matters aims not only to maintain social
cohesion, but also to define Sakata cultural identity.11
3.1 The Hierarchical Triangular Structure of Sakata Traditional Beliefs
The ethnic religion of the Sakata is based on a system of spiritual beliefs, religious
practices and faith communities that includes two interpenetrating worlds: the visible worldof human experience and the invisible world of various spirits. Traditionally, the havesubscribed to the belief that the invisible world enfolds a hierarchical triangular structure of
spiritual order (Figure 7), with the Supreme Being (Nzaw or Nzame) at the apex, thedivinities or spiritual forces (nkyira, mekere), the founding ancestor (Ngalela), remote andclose ancestors (Bale e dzia), and the “living-dead” (Bakapfa) at the side. The latter
concept denotes those who died recently and are still regarded as closer to the living andnot yet assimilated into the rank of the ancestors. In addition to the above invisible‘population’ are the clan protective deities (Mungabe), magic, sorcery and witchcraft
11

Unless specifically referenced, this section includes information gleaned from Sakata communities inrural and urban areas. As I earlier mentioned, most of the interviews were conducted during summer vacation
between 2003 and 2007; 2010 and 2015. It should be noted that, while one might be able to obtain anunderstanding of the traditional religious beliefs of the Sakata today, it is not possible to understand what
those beliefs were generations ago or how they have been influenced by Christianism, Western oppression
and favoritism exercised by colonially selected local leaders.

194『人類学研究所 研究論集』第 3 号（2016）(commonly called by the single term ilua)), charms, amulets, and other personified forcesat the base. Statements and references made in the immediately foregoing paragraphs
indicate how the Sakata have traditionally subscribed to the belief that ancestors, spirits,
deities, and genies of the earth permeate and cover every aspect of human activities andtheir impact is significant for orderly human behavior.

Figure 7 Diagrammatic Representation of the Hierarchical Triangular
Structure of Sakata Traditional Beliefs
Source: Author’s field notes 2003; 2015.

Other data from the above Figure 7 does require brief explanation here. The right andleft sides reflect the duality of good and evil. The available insights of Sakata myths on
death and the hereafter suggest that deceased persons always go through examination by ajudge seating either near a river or near a large wood. Good people are sent to the right side(of the hierarchical triangular structure of traditional beliefs) to be welcomed into the abodeof the living-dead and ancestors, while bad people are sent to the left side and become badspirits, animals and birds. This ethical detail later becomes important for individual Sakata
households and communities. The inclusion of Mbiti’s concept of “living-dead” in the
diagram underscores that traditionally the Sakata have subscribed to the belief that death is
not the end, but a means of transiting from the inner world to the outer world. Mbiti(1991:32) says: “While the departed person is remembered by name, he is not really dead:he is alive, and such a person I would call the living-dead. The living-dead is a person who
is physically dead but alive in the memory of those who knew him [or her] in his [or her]life…so long as the living-dead is thus remembered, he [or she] is in the state of personal
immortality”. This subject is interesting for several reasons. Most notable is that it helps us
understand the wider African sense of community that includes the deceased persons who
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are still regarded as members of their respective families, lineages and clans due to thecontinuing influence upon the living.
I have spent much time looking deeply into the Sakata religiosity, and more generally
into the hierarchical triangular structure given above. This structure is internalized
individually and communally, and applied in many experiences and institutions. It also
operates as a subtle, implicit way to relate to the invisible world. The Sakata believe thatsocial interaction occurs not only among the living but also between the living and thespirits of the dead. Thus viewed, no semantic distinction is made within the matrilineage
lineages between the living and the dead. Instead the apparent significance of thisreligiosity is reflected in the many collective socio-political and religious endeavorsorganized at the family, village or inter-village community levels, as Sakata practitioners
strive to fulfill the sacred purposes suggested by their ancestral religion. It goes without
saying that their ability to accommodate and adapt to secular society and cognitive
constraints of modernity has to some extent allowed the development of their sub-cultural
identity that in turn fuels their religious vitality.
The concept mate—the plural of ote—denotes personified forces made by human
production. These are especially objects or ceramic vessels regarded as repositories forvarious genies. Mate are usually identified by the roles they play for individual families
and communities (Munsi 2004). As reservoirs of spirits’ powers, these vessels can be
manipulated through human effort, ritual and sacrifice towards benevolent or malevolent
intervention in the event of conflicting or diseased situations. The society must thus givealways accounts to the spirits, guarantees of the proper identity and the historicalconstruction of the group. The practice of mate as a recognized form depends on thepreservation of the vessels. The very fact that there are so many different types of, andterms for, mate is an index of how widespread and important the religious phenomenon is.
However, it should be noted that the use of these ceramic-vessels is not merely a religious
practice limited to the Sakata and other people inhabiting the present-day Mai-Ndombe
Province. It can also be found among the Take living around Bandundu city in the Kwilu
Province and the Kongo in the present-day Central Congo Province (Bwakasa 1973) andamong many other Sub-Sahara African ethnic groups.
Despite the adoption of Christianity, it is readily apparent that the majority of the
Sakata still rely much on the above traditional religious patterns, including beliefs in magic,
sorcery and witchcraft (ilua) that give a spiritual dimension to their daily lives. Ilua entails
that certain people, including witches, sorcerers, shamans and witchdoctor persons have theability to cast spells or harm others through indirect, spiritual means. These people use arange of strategies, including special methods of healing, rituals or ceremonies, and gift
offerings to placate these potentially destructive forces. Yet the Sakata shamans have noroom to rule over the social or even the religious life of the community. In this they are
similar to the Turkish shamans described by Gungor (2002:777). Hence it is not possible to196

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call Shamanism a religion: it is rather a summation of ecstatic and therapeutic methods
from the archaic ages on.
Early literature by missionaries, merchants, and ethnographers who had lived andtraveled in the Sakata lands has supplied the most helpful references to the religious
foundations of the Sakata, although their broader cultural context is for the most part
scantily described. To date, a comprehensive survey of these beliefs and practices can befound in Mave (1975), Nkiere (1984), Bekaert (2000) and Colldén (1971a; 1971b). One of
the more consistent findings is that the traditional religion in the Congo in general and in
Sakata society in particular is characterized by six integrated and interrelated elements: thehuman as a spiritual being, the ancestors, nature spirits, the spirits of historic figures,practitioners of supernatural powers and the Creator, which have received separately acareful and thick description in Mukenge’s work (2002:36-43). In the following analysis,
however, I draw mainly on my own in-depth interview results and long-term field
experiences to highlight some instrumental and expressive aspects of these religious forms
in the particular case of the Sakata.
3.2 The Notion of the Supreme Being
Traditional beliefs and practices in the Sakata lands recognize a higher being or Sublime
God (Nzaw or Nzame), viewed as the creator and the Absolute power. The sun, moon/s,
wind, fire, water, vegetation and all other things which exist are His witnesses. Moreover,Nzaw is beyond birth and death. He is both merciful and compassionate. He is beyond fearand enmity. He is self illuminated. He is the Master of all the treasures. All our possessions
are a result of His grace. Nzaw is referred to in myths and folklore that articulate cultural
idioms of the Sakata (For further details, see Colldén 1979). One item demonstrates the
structural role of religious practices in Sakata lands: Having created the world, the Sakata
hold, Nzaw (God) no longer intervenes; he entrusts such intervention to the original humanbeings he created, who became the ancestors (Bale e dzia) of the present-day Sakata
communities. The Sakata thus ascribe good fortune and power to the ancestors, on whom theorganization of society and the destiny of their individual communities and families depend.
The following field report expresses one aspect of this religious ethos extremely well.
Everywhere they travelled in the Congo State, Europeans were to find a belief inthe existence of a Supreme Being who had created the universe. He was not of greatpractical importance in daily life, since having once created the world he left it verymuch to itself, and lived far away in a celestial village in much the same style as thatof a Bantu chief on earth. According to the Basakata, he [God/Nzaw] had created a
man and a woman, fixed a climbing plant between his village and the earth, and said
to them: “Now go down to earth by this creeper and stay there. So far as I am
concerned, my work is over.” So it was not the Creator but rather the intermediary
powers between God and man who were of immense practical importance for daily
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Research Papers of the Anthropological Institute Vol.3 (2016)living; that is, the ancestors, the spirits, the King, who to some extent participated in
the life-giving force of the Creator, and who could increase or decrease at will the
life-force of men living on the earth. Both the individual and the group had to placate
these intermediaries, so that their influence would be beneficent, so that they would
remember to nourish the life-force of man and of society, and would not allow it todecrease or disappear. There were two attitudes possible in face of this situation, theone religious, when men implored the higher powers for their assistance by prayers or
rites, and the other magical, when the rites in themselves were thought to beefficacious. Of course the two attitudes could exist together in the same person; they
were not considered to be mutually exclusive. Religion and magic played a very largepart in Bantu life. Calamities which Europeans would have put down to natural causes
were attributed to the intervention of spirits; thus there was a constant need to placate
them, and to invoke benevolent ancestors or the divine authority of a chief as acounterbalance against these forces of evil. The sowing and the gathering of the crops,
the initiation of a boy to adult life or the preparation of a girl for marriage, the making
of a contract, all had to be surrounded with suitable rites which were the affair of thecommunity rather than of the individual (Federation of the Free States of Africa2007).
The upshot is that Sakata families and communities place ancestors in a position ofgreater importance than Nzaw (God). This invites us to consider the rather striking religious
ideas of, first the nature of the concept of ancestors, and secondly, the nature of thecommunion with the ancestral spirits as needs demand.
3.3 Ancestor Ideology and Its Implications
The common belief among the Sakata is that God is best accessed through ancestors
rather than by direct prayer. In particular, the veneration of these ancestors and living-deadcontinues to play a great role in the ethnic religion of the Sakata. Much speculation andsymbolism focus on the belief that the founding ancestor (Ngalela) and the ancestors (Bal edzia) intervene in the world of the living. The Sakata believe in the existence of spirits andspirit possession, and in the power of ancestral spirits to influence events. The ancestors
manifest themselves in dreams and oracles and are responsible for good and evil in one’s
life experience. Interview results confirmed the importance of ancestor veneration for the
Sakata and their sense of being duty-bound to conform their lives to the will of ancestors,
whose help is prayed for in circumstances such as childbirth and illness.
Families and local communities often organize rituals to ensure good socio-spiritual
relations with ancestral spirits. The lineage headman (mfra-maa) or village headman (Mbene keyum) is the one who traditionally performs rituals and offers prayers and sacrifices tointercede with ‘living-ancestors’. The relationship with ancestors is perceived as a‘communion’ with them rather than ‘worship’ of them—an observation that provides a198

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deeper understanding of the fact that in Sakata society, like in many other African
small-scale societies, ancestors are not worshiped, but rather looked upon as spirits that
continue to live in the world of the living. 12 Association with particular ancestors connectswith the Sakata respect for the eldest in the community, and is a way for the community torespond to the traditional obligation to interact with the spiritual realm.
This communion with ancestors has psychological, sociological, functional andeschatological dimensions, still significant for the Sakata, varying only in degree according
to the cultural context in which it takes place. Its psychological significance is that it
focuses attention on the ancestor spirits and induces a contemplative response from them.
The link to ancestors is perceived as a projection of the relation between father and son.
The sociological aspect of this perception appears in the sense that communion withancestors expresses, legitimates and consecrates the relationship between the living and thedeceased parents of the lineage. It thus strengthens the vertical relationship between thedescendants and the dead, and the horizontal relationship, such as friendship, rights andmutual duties of members. At the functional level, communion with ancestors both creates
the unity of the whole family or community and encourages correspondence between theliving and the dead, in order to perpetuate the unity of the Sakata ethnic group. Finally, in
its eschatological aspect, communion with ancestors denotes a ceremony of collective
consciousness directed against death in all its forms. From being the end of life, deathbecomes seen as a transition to the abode of the ancestors.
The places of veneration are varied: at the foot of a tree, a corner of a forest, a stone or in
the clan worship house, at the graves or at the crossing of paths. What is evident, however,is that whatever the Sakata endure, they strive to maintain a loving experience of place andan understanding that guiding spiritual forces abide in all of these places. Respect for one’s
ancestors is part of daily life, and people hold a continual dialogue with their ancestors. The
common idea in the region is that ancestors often bestow favors on the family. People
prayerfully ask the ancestors to bring them good harvests, and ceremonies are held
specifically for that purpose. However, if ancestors are displeased by offences such as lackof respect to elder, improper use of another stratum’s status markers, incest and adultery,
they may impose punishments such as mishaps or illness for people, or death for animals.
Angry ancestral spirits looming around villages are offered sacrifices (of chicken or goat)and gifts to placate them. The guilty person must then prepare sacrificial offerings to beg
forgiveness. Ancestor spirits are believed to punish ‘sins’ left unpunished by Sakata
individuals in the interests of group solidarity.
12This notion of communion with ancestors also exits in many African societies. Kenyatha (1938:265-8), forexample, neatly pointed it out when he discussed ancestors from the vantage point of Kikuyu culture. “In thisaccount, I shall not use that them [worship], because from practical experience I do not believe that the
Gikuyu worship their ancestors…I shall therefore use the term ‘communion with ancestors’ ”. Thus viewed, I
amply agree with Kopytoff (2010:320) that “the selection by anthropologists of the phrases “ancestor cult”
and “ancestor worship,” in dealing with African cultures, is ‘semantically inappropriate, analyticallymisleading, and theoretically unproductive”.

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Rituals and ceremonies—which usually involve the Sakata matrilineage as a unit—are
carried out to cure sickness and avert misfortune and to conserve the old age-old
communion between the living and the ancestral spirits. Sacrifices meant to annul thesocial and cosmic disturbance brought about by a transgression may be viewed as therestoration of social distance or kinship. This religiosity is deeply entrenched among the
Sakata and to some extent defies obliteration by modern social forces. When I asked
informants the raison d’être of this deep and abiding commitment to promoting communionwith the invisible world, some respondents said that “religious beliefs and practices give us
a guide to what we must do to live a meaningful life in a senseless world, and to leave it
better than we found it.” The majority of interviewees specifically indicated that “We must
identify ourselves with others in the community, and do what we can to relieve theirburdens ―whether by passive means such as prayers and mourning (in case of funerals), or
by active means of nonviolent protest and the sharing of our goods. They then reasoned: If
the ancestral spirits and deities of the land are not calling out to us for justice, then towhom are they calling? If they are not sending us to bring peace, harmony and hence toshow a strong sense of solidarity, then who are they sending?” In contrast, only a slightnumber of respondents said that they live without feeling such a strong social solidarity
permeated by religious beliefs and rituals, though they often utter scathing criticisms of the‘empty formalism’ of religious practices. The strong ancestor ideology (including
shamanism—part of their religion) still pervades nearly every aspect of life, even forchurchgoing Sakata Christians.
3.4 Matrilineal kin-Leaders as Ritual Specialists
The lines of Sakata community activity reflect historical links between politicalpower—primarily embodied in kinship—and spiritual authority as represented by the landchiefs, namely Mbe and Mbianshu. Deputized in accord with rules of matrilineal line, these
local leaders have heavily ritualized functions, and are vested with the power and authority
to regulate the religious life in Sakata society. The source of authoritative religious
knowledge, they are ritual agents even in situations where there are priestly guardians ofcommunal shrines.
Matrilineal kinship ideology can be said to have ‘given birth’ to priest-like intercessors
between the visible and invisible worlds. Evidence from the field is accruing that among
the Sakata the matrilineal kinship ideology links village communities across establishedchiefdoms and reinforces ritual bonds. These features furnish prestige and stability to thesociety and personal status to the hereditary leaders. By performing religious activities, thematrilineal kin-ritual specialists serve as privileged intermediaries between the profane
world of the living people and the world of ancestral spirits. On some occasions they fall
into a state of trance in which the ancestors speak through their persona. In so far as they
communicate with the world of ancestral spirits, they are supposed to have knowledge ofthe past, present and future. Unless some very special conditions apply, “their role is also to200

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find lost or misplaced objects, discern the causes of evils inflicted by an energy spirit andexorcise them.” They can handle such tasks partly because they are believed to have‘magical power’ to control the evil spirits, a belief that holds also for other ritual power
nodes—diviners, seers, herbalists/healers, and medicine persons—who frequently provide
protective enhancement and destructive medicine, charms, and amulets. These patterns,
which are similar to those of Põibo and Gyãmi (Kiranti-Kõits words for 'male and female
shamans) described by Rapacha (2009:18), give rise to the persistent phenomenon ofsorcery (the use of medicine for evil ends—a conscious art that anyone can learn) andwitchcraft (a psychic power, often hereditary, which may be unconscious).
Analysis of interviews shows that the primary position and the overall effectiveness of
local prominent chiefs are prominent in people’s mindset and their expectations about
chiefly authority and its responsibilities, since the chiefs are believed to be endowed withsupra-human abilities and initiated into practices of sorcery and witchcraft (both called by
the single term ilu’a) necessary for the responsibility entrusted to them (see Nkiere(1984:123-129) These ‘mystical activities’ or practices offer a clue to the Sakata’s systemsof thought and related aspects of their social and political life. A ‘magical substratum’
influences positively the social, political, religious and ritual life of Sakata hereditary chiefs,
who are to undergo certain occult initiations for attaining chieftaincy titles and membershipin the ‘secret network’ of chiefs, sorcerers and witches.
At the bedrock of Sakata ancient culture is found the investiture of a chief (Figure 8)
which is still conceived today as a secret, occult initiation performed for about nine weeks
by a group of sorcerers and witches who maintain absolute secrecy. Powers of witchcraft
are thought to be infused into the chief when he was in his mother’s womb. The initiation
ceremony confirms these powers and renders the newly invested chief conscious of them.
The ceremony, through miming, marks a sacred moment in his life and enables him tounderstand, experience, and embody the new way of life. The secrecy inherent in suchspecific rituals reinforced his dynamism and competence as a leader. Local communities
really need active matrilineal traditional chiefs who are capable of invoking the founding
ancestor (Ngalela), common ancestors (Bale e dzia), earth spirits (Nkyira), clan deities(Mungabe), and personified forces (mate) to meet needs and resolve problems of the family,
lineage, clan, and community.

Figure 8 Illustration of theInvestiture of a Traditional Chief
Source: CEEBA 1975

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As intercessors between the living and the ancestral spirits, the matrilineal kin-religious
specialists are usually entitled to labor services from commoners as well as food shares.
Such intercession is significant in that it aims to gain their blessing not only on key
economic activities, such as cultivation, harvesting, hunting and fishing, but also on social
events, such as birth, marriage and funeral ceremonies. In particular, the land chief (Mbe) is
the representative of the clan of landowners, an indispensable personality for theaccomplishment of rites associated with fishing and the fertility of the land and good
harvest. One of the examples seems, appropriately, to be the fishing ritual related to women.
At the opening of the women’s fishing season in summer, as Figure 9 illustrates, the landchief (Mbe) used to perform a ritual which consisted of offering a goat to the genies of theearth. He mixed goat’s blood with water from the river in a pot of calabash and sprinkled iton the faces and feet of the women by way of ablution. The belief was that this ensured thesuccess of the fishing was assured, since the genies of earth now controlled this economic
activity.

Figure 9 Illustration of a Ritual for the success of fishing
Source: CEEBA 1993:77

The above example may seem simple, but in fact it indicates how the seasonal rituals
serve as reminders of the continuing ability of religious leaders to make their voices heard
in the public square. Riddell, Salacuse and Tabachnick (1987:43), for instance, reported
that the traditional political chiefs (Badju) of the Batere “were recognized as leaders by thepeople because they could perform the miracle of making cooked manioc produce a
growing plant”. Specifically with respect to religious practices, the expectation is that
hereditary chiefs with a name in the Sakata lands makes decisions about the disposition offishing sites and hunting territories, but they also draw upon personal spiritual power tobalance human relations to the natural world.
One aspect of hereditary chiefs’ religious life that is even more veiled from theobserver’s eye than the rituals held on specific occasions is the relationship between the202

『人類学研究所 研究論集』第 3 号（2016）‘services’ provided by the priest-like intercessors and the way in which they satisfy the‘demands’ of the populations. It must further be remarked that hereditary chiefs have
employed rituals to give themselves the best chance of success. Thus, no activity of any
importance is undertaken without offering supplications for spiritual blessings. It is entirely
possible, and likely, that the chief’s possession of ‘mystical powers’ and his better
performance of the ceremony are seen by Sakata merely as functional prerequisites for
successful economic activities.
During interviews with elderly men from the ruling class (Badju), it frequently transpiredthat hereditary chiefs have to be endowed with ‘magical powers’ and hence be able torespond to such social and religious demands if they are to maintain their standing within
the structures of the Sakata. As far as these demands of power are concerned, research
participants indicated that the tight interdependence of economic and social patterns in the
Sakata lands is created by the way in which the history of the Sakata is remembered,narrated, and passed on. These traditions are regarded as crucial, given that religious
practices in this context are intended both to achieve a higher standard of living and toensure moral regeneration of Sakata communities.13 In what follows I outline concrete datathat illustrate people’s perceptions and attitudes to religious ceremonies and rites as they
now exist.
Through interviews I tried to gauge the extent of relief felt by people after religious
practices, though some practices were unfamiliar and seemed odd to me. When asked why
they attend religious activities (funeral rites, rites of blessing, rites of redress, dancing,
ceremonies for the opening of the agriculture year), the overwhelming majority of
respondents said, ‘religious activities meet our requirements and aspirations’, or ‘they
enable us to fit into the society, since if we ignore these religious assumptions and practices,
we may find it difficult to cope with issues of social life and structure’. Only a slightly
higher percentage of respondents said that ‘we do not receive any striking input in thesesocio-religious activities’. Compared with previous informal interviews I conducted in
2003, I got the impression that in most villages and cities the proportion of the Sakata whoshow interest in socio-religious activities was increasing, while the number of those who
dismiss them was declining.
It is illuminating that ceremonies and rites performed by local chiefs in particular appear
to spur participants to break the border between the visible and invisible worlds. Charged
since time immemorial with organizing religious ceremonies, hereditary chiefs continue toprovide the means for the Sakata to conform to the conservative customs of Christianity
while privately preserving their own religion, traditions, and worldview.

13

Among the offences that will warrant the destoolment of a chief in the Sakata homelands and surrounding
regions are a chief that is mentally deranged, a chief that is found in an act of fraud and, as a result, arraigned
before a court of competent jurisdiction and a chief that has amorous affairs with a married woman who is not
his wife.

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3.5 Religion in Public Sphere: Implications for Informal Education
Years of fieldwork among the Sakata impressed upon me the intriguing consideration that
religious beliefs and practices have direct consequences for informal education in rural andurban settings. Two areas in particular stand out. First, religious support for education of themasses occurs in the aforementioned rites of intensification, which not only teachparticipants respectful, reciprocal relations that must be maintained between the living andthe dead, but also affirm their kinship with the multiple forms of their homeland. Second,
religious support for education is found in folk dance and music, performed in various
circumstances such as the investiture of the chief, the birth of twins, weddings, mourning,
funerals, and burial ceremony.
In the public sphere, however, Sakata folk bands generally perform the dance commonly
known as Moyene. They sing various songs, both from the traditional Sakata repertory andpopular songs inspired by the changing social conditions in their environments. All thesesongs convey significant messages for mass education. The tremendous contribution of the
Bana Nzoyi folk band (see Munsi 2014) shows how folk bands provide Sakata households
and individuals with a broad picture of the Sakata worldview (ceremonies, protocols,
teachings and knowledge of history) while ensuring the continued existence of their originalidentity in rural and urban settings. Substantial evidence has accrued that some of the Sakata
songs pay tribute to or belittle people they know, characters who have lived among them andultimately joined the collectivity. In that way, positive memories and connections are evoked
and passed on through generations in eulogies or panegyric forms. The role of this music
bears out the observation that, “although we normally think of tradition as something being
handled forward from the past to the present, the appeal to the authority of tradition,
something that is socially much more central, involves being handed back from the present
toward an indeterminable past destination” (Bloch, 2005, 131).
Sakata religious patterns can also be experienced and learned as prominent dancers
enthusiastically integrate into the dance performance the use of supernatural powers. The
following excerpt from personal direct field observations gives striking examples of this.
In the initial summer of fieldwork (2003) in Bandundu city I also had theopportunity of witnessing the facets of the Sakata folk dance called Moyene. On
two occasions, 4 April (Sunday afternoon) and 5 April (Monday afternoon)
respectively in Bonkuku and Salaminta (the remote areas of Bandundu city), on awarm sunny day with puffy white clouds floating across the high blue sky, hardly
one hundred people gathered in a large circle for the Sakata dance and music
Moyene. The audience was composed of Sakata families and other urban dwellers
from different ethnic households found in Bandundu city, as well as outside
spectators. This well-known folk dance and music of the region was, in the guise of
personified spirits, skillfully performed from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. by a young
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Sakata chief, healer, soothsayer and dancer (one of my key informants) named
Joseph Monsengwo, alias ‘Mongankolo’ (a nickname inspired from Elima Ngando
Mongankolo, a Sakata siren for protection), accompanied with other experienced
folk dancers (seven men and three women) and three managers (two men and one
woman).
Dancers first appeared in a queue before the congregation coming from aparticular house chosen in advance where they had gathered for a short preparatory
recollection. Following the tradition of the Sakata, they wore raffia cloth and theskin of wild animals, with hats of bird’s feathers, and waists girded with loincloths.
Their forehead was painted with black powder mixed with kaolin (ngula) andgirdled with a disc of copper intricately tied with a heavy copper wire. Unlike inrural localities, their dancing style was then interspersed by circles, some songs
from a tape recorder, spontaneous shouts and phrases, with jumping steps in accord
with the rhythm of the drum and music, and the launching of spears at a shortdistance, as well as the invocation of supernatural powers.
In the third phase, direct observations showed that the Sakata folk dance Moyene
came to be articulated under specific spiritual principles and criteria that elude
ordinary understanding, and it climaxed in invocation and body shaking. It included
many actions performed by the prominent dancer or the central figure, including
climbing a particular tree (ute) and stepping on fire while dancing. Shaking his
body in the rhythm of Sakata folk music, Mungankolo stepped forward from themain circle and took the direction of the chosen tree. At that specific time, as heexplained to us, that particular tree became symbolically a ‘mystical tree” in theforest and was surrounded by the protector spirits. As Mungankolo was dancing on
the branches of the tree, suddenly a branch of it was cut off and he fell down with iton his shoulders. That this caused no injury he saw as confirmation that the dance
was successful, and that the spirits had collaborated with him. After a brief momentof silent prayer, Mungankolo started dancing while carrying on his shoulders thesame branch with green leaves that he had brought down from the tree. When hearrived in the middle of the wide dancing circle, he stepped son the branch several
times.
Gathered in this space, other members of the dancing group stood in a widecircle surrounding some pieces of firewood. Three men stepped forward from thecongregation and set fire to it while the manager of Mungankolo observed themcarefully to ensure the spiritual security of his chief. Soon, a bonfire was blazing.
Following the signal of his manager, Mungankolo then made a move toward thefire. After a brief moment of silent contemplation, he started dancing and steeping
on the fire, without being burned, while holding a bell for invocation in his righthand and improvising shouts. At the end, some members of the dance groupcollected the burned pieces of firewood and stored them in a place that had been205

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prepared beforehand. People were strictly forbidden to use them lest misfortune
occur in the near future. The congregation remained there for a while, observing theway in which members of the Sakata folk band started resuming their procession
back into the house. To the whole congregation (with youths outnumbered adults),
it was one of the most solemn social and religious occasions for learning byobservation and practice.
More is going on here than simply the idea of setting a good example. The apparent
significance of this narrative for social life is that specific cultural and religious techniques
are used to highlight the facets of the Moyene dance, such as communicating with thesupernatural forces by invocation, hymns, incense, copper bell, prescribed movements ofhands, arms and legs, as well as climbing a tree and dancing on its branches, and dancing on
the fire. Given the symbolic nature of this performance, every word, gesture and object here
is important for both the performers and their respective congregation. Such embodied
cultural performance, whether consciously learned or unconsciously absorbed, is a crucial
means of instilling ideologies, beliefs, and values systems in the bodies of subjects.
Although local activities of a spiritual and religious nature are practiced all over the Kutu
and Bandundu regions, the vibrant practice of the folk dance Moyene is quite distinctive inthat it emerged over the past decades as an event that expresses key elements of Sakata
identity. Informal education through ceremonies and dance is also a factor in the relationshipbetween the matrilineal kinship system and religious forms. This sequence implies that thematrilineal kinship ideology has an impact on people’s informal education which in turn has
implications for the kinds of things that members of different households do in the publicsphere.
3.6 Individual Psycho-Religious Representations
Our surveys included particularly questions on the reasons and purposes for which the
Sakata continue to maintain their contact and communion with the invisible world ofancestral spirits. As noted above, religious culture and values are lived individually or as agroup, and the two realities are implemented in the pattern of religious understanding andinterpretation in the Sakata homeland. The strength of these findings is partly marked by
the individual analysis pattern or the practitioner’s overlapping religious motivation,
validation and self-consciousness. Consider the following quantitative data.
As shown in Figure 10 below, when asked about attitudes towards communion with thespiritual realm, a surprising 65.4 % of youth, and 86.4% of adults, indicated that such
communion was not only important but a traditional obligation for them. On the other hand,
34.6% of youth and 13.6 % of adults indicated that they paid only slight attention to thespiritual realm.

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100
Adult

50

Youth
0
ObligationNonobligation

Figure 10 Characteristics of Ancestor Veneration among the Sakata

Moreover, when asked why communion with the invisible world of Nzaw (God) andancestral spirits (Bale e dzia) was so strong in the local setting, multiple reasons were
offered. Fully 83% of rural respondents and 80% of city residents indicated that they
communicated with the spiritual realm to guarantee security of life. 78% of rural
respondents and 66% of people in cities indicated that the intercession of ancestors, spirits
and deities was the reason for the prosperity of their family, clan, territory or land (Figure
11).
100
80
60

Urban

40

Rural

20
0
Security

Reconciliation

Figure 11 Reasons for communion with the Invisible World

However, these results should be balanced with consideration of whether security andprosperity were enough to justify ancestor veneration. To a large number of interviewees,
the achievement of a sincere reconciliation between the world of the living and the spiritual
realm stood as an important justification for these religious rites. Further investigation
revealed that while religious practices had a greater following in rural areas than in urban
areas, some urban household members still hold strongly to traditional beliefs andpractices.
One further example should suffice. Findings outlined in Figure 12 below illustrate thatthe rate of religious practice was increasing steadily in 2003 and this trend has been
maintained through to 2010. An analysis by household in rural areas and cities reveals thatthe increase is underpinned by the quest for security and purification. This communionwith the invisible world through rituals is not simply one option among many. Rather it
expresses and makes present the core reality of the religious and cultural identity of the
Sakata in my research communities.

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60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Invocation

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Figure 12 Rate of Religious Beliefs and practices between 2003 and 2010

From the above quantitative findings, one can garner some interesting information. We
learn, for example, that over the past decades, the number of the Sakata who have interest
in socio-religious realities or find it difficult to live without some form of religious support
has increased significantly, while the number of those who remain inattentive to them has
increased only incrementally. Beyond that, we notice that Sakata households’ attachment toreligious traditions is an essential part of the daily regimen. This spiritual experience, at thevery least, has a force and effect on the psychology of the participants. It is a vital elementin their lives; it heavily influences their thought and behavior. It is passed on fromgeneration to generation. This point requires some elaboration.
Two realities or forces ensure the passing on of this belief as a unity comprised of theworld of the living and the spiritual realm. The first force, which guarantees that Sakata
tradition is preserved, is the matrilineal line. It continues to exist as a social set up which
gives responsibility―a responsibility taken seriously ―to certain of its members. A second
important force is chiefly dependent on three factors: (1) cohesion of Sakata households;(2) solidarity and maintenance of the extended family; and (3) hierarchy, security andprosperity. True healing is intimately linked to these processes of interaction with theinvisible world, which must be actively sought after. We have emphasized that in Bandundu
city, for instance, various manifestations of all these rural-derived forms of life and beliefs
in migrated Sakata groups demonstrate not only the retention of rural-based ethnic identity,
but also how religious ideas basically determine their attitudes towards the social and thecultural sphere in urban localities.
Taken together, these findings provide a clear understanding of how precisely it is thatsocio-political and religious systems are instrumental within Sakata society. This is partly
because these traditional institutions, more than anything else, continue to make matrilineal
kin-leaders and local social institutions appear to be so much more relevant and meaningful
to the lives of the Sakata. The intriguing reasons for this are varied. One of the mostimportant is the peculiar fact that these social and religious forms are seen as a very
conservative force because they are directed particularly to those ancestors—who areresponsible for setting up the social structures of the Sakata—and to their demands andtaboos. It is germane to suggest, in the words of Hendry (2008:144) that “[…] moral values
and the ideas that [are] termed religious pervade social life so completely that neither can
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be clearly separated from the rest of social interaction”. A more detailed consideration ofthese social rules and the various mechanisms for their enforcement can be found in
Nkiere’s seminal work (1984:130-146). Remember, finally, that the kinship ideology andreligious foundations of the Sakata are not independent areas of social life, but are closely
related and both are indispensable to understanding the working of Sakata society as awhole.
4. Discussion
This ethnographic study presents a first step to understanding patterns of socio-politicaland religious organization of the Sakata. The first striking finding is that the matrilineal
kinship rules of the Sakata continue to be the catalyst which enables the Sakata to further
their social relations and to preserve structures that have existed since time immemorial.
One can observe the continued effort of the Sakata to further locate themselves in social
relations of kinship both with human and, through dream encounters, with the interactive
spirits of their environment. In this kinship formation, solidarity and its reciprocal
obligations constitute a real social imperative. The key to understanding this lies in the factthat solidarity—which is expressed in various circumstances, such as marriage, death,
important decision-making—implies the threefold representative relation of three spheres:the world of the living, the symbolic domain or ritual, and the spiritual realm. Not
surprisingly, the present-day Sakata tend to have a deep awareness of these social andspiritual experiences and on some occasions speculate about their significance andmeaning.
The credit of having been the first to fully recognize the social significance andimplications of this solidarity belongs to Nkiere Bokuna Mpa-Osu. In his seminal book,entitled La parenté comme système idéologique chez les Basakata (1984), he suggested thatthe ideological aspect of the Sakata kinship lies in the sentiment of solidarity whichanimates parents. Solidarity among the Sakata is also a system of prohibitions that has a
twofold precondition: (1) social reproduction of people and perpetuity of clans, and (2)hierarchy of individualities, which finds its meaning through the preeminence of ancestors
in relation to descendents, elders in relation to the young persons, and group in relation toindividual (Nkiere 1984:15; for further details, see Nkiere 1984:78-103).
The kinship norms of exogamy are apparently more extended among the Sakata thanamong their immediate neighboring linguistic groups (Nkiere 1984:73). Still following
Nkiere, we must add to this discussion the peculiar fact that these kinship norms of
exogamy continue to determine patterns of settlement among the Sakata, without of course
threatening the unity of matrilineal groups in their present localities. This evidence supports
research undertaken by Holy (1996:105) who highlighted that empirically “[…] thematrilineal groups can remain vital and manage to remain localized in spite of residence
rule which ostensibly hinders their localization…the coherence of the matricentric family
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Research Papers of the Anthropological Institute Vol.3 (2016)of a woman and her children, brittle marriage and high individual mobility thus makepossible the drift of lineage members back to the village which is regarded as the traditional
centre of their matrilineage and their concentration there in spite of the centrifugal effect ofvirilocal residence”.
Equally crucial to this discussion is the hereditary patterns of political organization.
Structurally, if not socially or psychologically, speaking, the society of the Sakata
continues to function, in large measure, according to its customary laws. I earlier referred
to Sakata leadership offices as being hereditary, according to the matrilineal line. The
matrilineal kinship system also gave birth to a kind of priesthood dedicated to preserving
the way of life embedded in the matrilineal-based Sakata ethnic group. I have emphasized
kinship strategies and relations of solidarity above. It is important to add here that thepolitical dimension of the Sakata kinship is in fact the privileged instance of the logicalarticulation of the mechanism of the solidarity. Despite the hierarchical order found among
the Sakata, our research reveals that in its complexity, the social organization of the Sakata
can be grasped on the basis of its horizontal aspect marked by some differentiations andoppositions between spouses, fathers and sons, people and chiefs, between ruling clan andclan of the landowners. In this regard, the Sakata history records several factual causes ofconflicts which give credence to the assumption that in many societies “individual chiefs
compete with each other to secure followers and optimize their positions” (Hann
2004:117).
A further and important point has been the influence of the matrilineal kinship system of
the Sakata in shaping their consciousness and helping them to cultivate a sense of individualand collective identity, or of “social membership and identity as individual configuration’(Moore 1994:30). Such patterns of biological, social connection and psychological binding
are seen as potent means for the Sakata to maintain their ethnic identity in the face ofmodern changes. This empirical observation amply confirms Nkiere’s (1984) core assertion
that the matrilineal descent system of the Sakata continues to exist within the process ofmodernization as a “guiding ideological system”. Yet the tradition of political organizing
within chiefdoms (Idju) and village communities (ibue) has to be recognized as a living
intangible heritage that is, I suggest, inextricable from the Sub-Sahara African perspective
which to some extents houses the tradition of the present-day Sakata. Of course, such avitality of the cultural specificity in a given Congolese ethnic group is not only found among
the Sakata. Ethnographic data, mainly from other matrilineally organized societies in thehinterland of the Congo, have also shown this. Along with the work of Kopytoff (1964;1965) among the Suku, the empirical study of the Buma carried out by Hochegger (1975) isa case in point. Theoretically, the above evidence for the role of social institutions of the
Sakata is in line with ethnographers who forcefully argue that social institutions of every
ethnic group possessed a remarkable internal dynamism and progressive potential whichenabled them to cope with entirely new situations (For ethnographic examples, see Futurs
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Africains 2003; Lewellen 2002; Shorter 2001; Van Binsbergen 1998; Magesa 2006; Mbiti
1991).
The second important result that emerged from this study is that religious beliefs andpractices serve to preserve social relations and structures in Sakata society. Equally theydictate the arrangements of relations between the Sakata, the natural environment and theinvisible world of God (Nzaw), ancestral spirits (Bale e dzia). The interactivity of those
three is such that the Sakata also act upon the world they inhabit with nature and ancestral
spirits. Preventing the natural world from devolving into a state of chaos is the goal ofcertain religious activities. Discretion towards nature and the ancestral spirits is essential,
since they nurture human life. This finding reflects the conviction, to use Birago Diop’s
expression, that, “the dead are not dead” (Healey and Syberts 1996:212) and so remain inconstant relationship with the living. Thus different rituals (especially rites ofintensifications) and practices (more usually with ancient roots) that accompany andhighlight religious experience are instrumental here in restructuring and revitalizing thesociety of the Sakata. This reflects the acknowledgment that “[in] establishing the society ofthe dead, the society of the living regularly recreates itself” (Hertz 1960:71-72) and “thatsingle statement illuminates much about the nature and meaning of the processes andprocedures which link the living and the dead” (Prior 1989:111).
Nevertheless, these sorts of religious concepts, ideas, experiences, and practices are notconfined to the Sakata alone, but are extremely widespread. For instance, they can be foundin many other ethnic-linguistic groups within the Congo, namely among the Zela
(Boulanger 1974; 1982) and the Yanzi (Thiel 1972) and in many parts of the world.
Another important example of a broad comparative synthesis comes from Gungor’s(2002:777) recent evaluation of the traditional Turkish religion.
The tradition of honoring and presenting sacrifices to ancestors is one of themost important elements of the traditional Turkish religion. It is the sense ofgratitude felt for the ancestors, which makes up the foundation of the cult of theancestors. Not all ancestral spirits or graves become the subject of the cult but
only the most respected reach that level. Because of this, it becomes necessary todifferentiate “the cult of the dead” from “the cult of the ancestors”.
How does then the triangle God, nature, man account for the present-day Sakata? In
response to this question, Okolo (1978:2; 1996:177) makes a remark which I find confirmedin this particular case of the Sakata: The traditional sub-Saharan African is a religious
person. “Religion is the main principle that dominates his life and sets a define tone in his
relationship with nature and his fellow man. The triangle of God, nature, and man is
inseparable because these supreme beings form one same reality. Religion is not, therefore,
something extraneous to the African, a beyond in his experience”. Indeed, the instrumentalrole of religious patterns as essential elements of social experience and their implications in
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people’s modes of life and social institutions has long been recognized (Durkheim 1976;
Monaghn & Just 2000; Knighton 2005; Womack 2005).
The notion of communion with ancestors is the point to which would be surprising if thatwere not the case. Looking at interview results and direct observations, we realize thatmemory of the deceased predecessors is also at the core of their religion. This is partly
because they Sakata pray to their dead and memorize them as if still closely attached to theliving within matrilineal kinship networks. Memory and its ritual enactment transcend theseparation between the living and the dead. Theologically, there is no divide between thedead and the living among the Sakata. This is an aspect of religious behavior that fits both
the African worldview (Nkafu 1998:116-121) and African theological and ethicalperspectives (Bujo 1998:17). Actually the meaning of such a communion with ancestors
does not essentially differ from that of the communion of saints in Roman Catholicism. Thisis a conclusion recently drawn by Mpongo (2001:4, 6), who shows that the communion ofsaints in Roman Catholicism is the “transposition of the pagan funeral practices from theMediterranean milieu into Roman Catholicism”. Viewed in that light, considerable efforts
have been made by the Catholic Church in the Congo (the dominant Church in the area since
the nineteenth century) to integrate the communion with ancestors and saints into Christian
worship. The first evidence we have of deliberate efforts to achieve a genuine inculturationof Christianity is the Congolese Rite for Eucharistic celebration which was officiallyapproved by Vatican in 1989 (see Uzukwu 1985; Egbulem 1996; Moneley 1988 and Munsi
2007, Conference Episcopale du Zaïre 1989). This striking pastoral outcome no doubt
highlights the responsibility of the Congolese Church to carry on a dialogue with thetraditional African beliefs and values of the people. So it would be absurd to consider as‘superficial’ or as complete superstition all these basic religious ideas and symbols.
Our study introduces into this discussion the notion of the eschatological aspect of thecommunion with ancestors as a ceremony of collective consciousness against death in all its
forms. Viewing this notion of eschatology from the vantage point of African ethics, Benezet
Bujo observes that the cult of ancestors in Africa contains both eschatological and salvation
dimensions. He defines salvation as the “concern of both the living and the dead members of
the community” and argues that the “eschatological dimension involves a participation inthat other world where the dead live and where is to be found the key of the fate of theliving” (Bujo 1992:24). Apart from the idea of present gain (pleas for safety of family andhome, for success business, for freedom from illness and natural disasters, abundant life andharvest and catches of fishes and wild animals) found in the prayers of the Sakata and manyother small-scale societies found in Congo and elsewhere in Africa, there is also a striving
for salvation in the afterlife. This does not contradict Christian teaching, which stresses
fulfillment in the next life but which also strives after happiness in the present world.
Closer reading and analysis of the social phenomena pertaining to mass education
outlined in this study can also raise a crucial question. What really remains or survives inthe transmission of knowledge and values from one generation to another, even if the212

『人類学研究所 研究論集』第 3 号（2016）absolute is considered inessential? Elements are transformed and reactualized in different
contexts, responding to circumstances, so that they appear to restructure themselves in thesocial regulation process. This kind of identity ‘constructs’ itself over time and from thevagaries of public space. This provides researchers with an exceptional opportunity torevisit the vibrant urban practices of Sakata folk dance and music. Usually, anthropologists
describe, explain and interpret such practices in terms of human behavior, not as single raw‘facts’ or ‘stereotyped’ behaviors but rather as social phenomena. It is possible, according
to Legrain (2014), to argue –perfectly validly, if not somewhat simplistically– that thesesocial phenomena serve as holders of expressed or latent intentions and values prized by ahistorical community according to certain standards of conduct promoting certain attitudes
or execrating other different attitudes. Given that communities and individuals constituteall these values, it is important for researchers to acquire an accurate grasp of the ways inwhich the subjects being studied try to communicate themselves verbally and symbolicallyby organizing intelligible signs in their social world. In the case of the Sakata folk dance
and music, the best recording methods would also include not only photographs of theperformers, but also individual in situ visual observations, recording and photographs.
These findings from interviews, which revealed the depth of Sakata religiosity, were
reinforced by quantitative data. Just as significant, from the psychological standpoint, is thefact that religious ideas and symbols are imprinted in the minds of the Sakata collectively by
their material environment and social interaction. It is also evident from the contents of thispaper that the fusion of religion and economic and political activities is seen in all aspect of
the Sakata’s experiences and struggles. Many Sakata of my sample appear to be prepared tosacrifice themselves for their religious ideals. It is generally understood that conformity withthe will of ancestors is shown by the observance of social mores that have been practiced
from the distant past. Thus “the religious patterns of the Sakata significantly regulatedsocio-cultural values and generated conformity in order to direct their real impact upon thesocial model” (Nkiere 1984:19). Theoretically, these findings also reflect the psycho-social
functions of religious beliefs and practices that have been acknowledged in anthropologicalliterature (West 2007; Bowie 2003; Havilland 2002; Bennett 1996; Mathews 1994;
Rappaport 1979; Middleton 1960). In general, therefore, it seems likely that the utilizationof behavioral methods (Graves 2004; Bloch 2005; Greenwood 2005) in future investigations
may help the researcher to depict the great variations inherent in the social andpsycho-religious representations of the Sakata.
The last important point for consideration, which I have made several times in this paper,
concerns with the continued existence and vitality of religious activity and beliefs among the
Sakata. This interpretation subscribes to the view that religious practices and thought havenot suffered severe decline in modern societies. Rather they “have continued to perform
important functions for individuals and society as a whole” (Bilton et al. 2002:425; forfurther details, see Magesa 1998:16-40). I am fundamentally in agreement with Davie(2007:77) that “[…] religion is not something that disappears in modern societies, but
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something which ebbs and flows in all societies over the long term”. The religious traditionsof the Sakata continue to be deeply entrenched and to defy obliteration by modern social
forces.
Bergson (2003 [1932]) thought of religion as being both a static and a dynamic reality.
His view was that people can either preserve a system of beliefs, so that their religion willremain static, or they can abandon it. However, there is a third way, which allows thepreservation and continuity of the external expression of their religion and rituals, but also
allows a gradual transformation of the content of the beliefs. This evolution of religious
thought is something dynamic. While their basic ideas of their relationship with God and theancestors can change, for example with the adoption of Christianity, they can still retain
mystical or magical elements from the traditional beliefs they have inherited. In conformity
with this Bergsonian view, which applies to the Sakata, “scholars have argued for aperspective that recognizes the uneven quality of modernization and the ability of traditional
values and institutions to coexist with modern ones” (Kilbria 1999:319).
Our study has found that matrilineal priest-like individuals/intercessors play a significant
role in carrying out religious activities, which in turn allow Sakata individuals to preserve
the age-old communion between the living and the dead (Bakapfa). This reflects
Middleton’s (1960: v) empirical evidence gleaned from Lugbara communities in Uganda,
whereby “[the] cult of the dead is intimately connected with the maintenance of the lineage
authority. The exercise and acknowledgment of this authority are bound up with the cycle oflineage development”. It also matches the assertion that black African communities know
“no distinction between individual, social and political life; but life can be enjoyed in its
fullness when ancestors are remembered and honored” (Bujo 1992:23).
Conclusion
This article has proposed an understanding of the most salient socio-cultural and religious
traditions that enable the Sakata of the Congo to retain their original ethnic identity inchanging social environments. The study yields two important results: first, despite thesocial forces of modernization, the matrilineal kinship ideology and the religious
determinants continue to form the centre of cultural life and identity for the Sakata. The
second important result is that a significant positive correlation exists between thematrilineal kinship ideology and the religious forms. It is quite clear that suchinterrelationship is historically contingent and culturally determined, and hence holds oneof the keys for the understanding of Sakata society as a whole. The matrilineal descentpatterns of the Sakata play a decisive role in ordering and shaping their religious beliefs
and practices. Conversely, their religious beliefs and activities can be said to ‘ensure’ thecontinuance of their matrilineal kinship ties that have existed from time immemorial. In
general, therefore, the present study provides a refined interpretative tool for demonstrating
how these two areas of social life function as a conservative force that enable the214『人類学研究所 研究論集』第 3 号（2016）

matrilineal Sakata ethnic group to keep to this day its identity and coherence.

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