|
Tribe Snapshots Tabwa |
| Location: |
Southeastern Congo
(Zaire) |
| Population: |
200,000 |
| Language: |
Kitabwa (Bantu) |
| Neighboring
Peoples: |
Luba, Bemba,
Lunda |
| Types
of Art: |
Tabwa carvers produce many beautiful utilitarian
objects such as combs, drums, and bellows, but
also produce sculpted figures representing ancestors
and twin figures. Although a few masks exist in
collections, very little is known about them.
|
| History: |
The peoples who currently identify themselves
as Tabwa were once a series of smaller villages
with different histories. Tabwa identity today
is largely an artifact of colonial administration.
Most Tabwa migrated to this area from east central
Africa looking for fertile land or to escape warfare.
They settled along the shores of Lake Tanganyika
and incorporated many of the customs they encountered
from their new neighbors, the Luba, into their
own way of life. |
| Economy: |
Before colonial times, salt, iron, and smoked
river fish were important items that could be
traded on the regional markets. Cash crops, such
as potatoes, wheat, and onions were produced for
the colonial market. The 1970s brought about the
collapse of the infrastructure of roads which
had allowed the Tabwa to supply food to the copper
mines throughout the region. Farmers grow cassava,
beans, and maize for local consumption, and Tabwa
fishermen compete with the industrial fishing
companies on Lakes Tanganyika and Mweru, using
traditional lines and nets. Hunting was at one
time very important to the Tabwa, but as game
resources decrease, there are fewer people who
hunt as a way of life. |
| Political
Systems: |
In the past individual Tabwa villages often
acted autonomously. The villages are headed by
chiefs who inherit their positions matrilinearly,
and who justify their power by tracing their descent
back to the original founders of Tabwa society.
This is often done through the collection and
display of ancestor figures which represent the
chief's familial lines. Within Tabwa communities,
the chiefs symbolically represent the continuity
of the universe, and at the same time illustrate
the position of man within the universe. Leaders
often wield staffs or batons which identify them
as chiefs. |
| Religion: |
The Tabwa have developed a system of religion
honoring the ancestors. Similarly to the Luba,
the Tabwa have utilized this system in a way which
benefits the traditional leaders, who use the
remembered power of their ancestors to explain
their current power. Ancestors are embodied in
figural sculptures known as mikisi, which are
carved by religious specialists, anointed with
clay, and given offerings of food during the new
moon, a time which is of great importance to the
Tabwa. The new moon is represented by the triangle
in Tabwa iconography and symbolizes rebirth and
the continuity of life. |
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