The Yaka - a poorly known people by Kristian Mwana Basila Lyrics
The Yaka a poorly known people - An in depth look into history
November 12, 2017
My people perished for lack of knowledge said a wise man ...
The Muyaka, Kongo or Lunda: a glorious history
When Lumumba said that the Congolese should write their history, he hoped, on the part of the Congolese intellectuals, for a re-evaluation of Studies and concepts of colonial and western perspective on the history of the Congo. To do this, this critical review should Take into account the primary sources of precious stories that are transmitted orally from generation to generation.
The text below is an elaboration on the brief historical overview of Bayaka made by Dr. Malonga Miatudila on February 12th.
This story deserves to be known more especially when one perceives the condescending attitude of Mr. Landu Lema on this subject in his message of
8 February 2011.
In his text of 12 February 2011 on the list the "cry of the oppressed", Malonga Miatudila affirmed that the identity "Muyaka" is far from being, a tribe name, it was a warrior title, and that the Bayaka people are Bakongo.
I want to clarify here - that the identity "Bayaka" integrates two nations, the Kongo and the Lunda - that their history is one of the most glorious of the Congo and - that strong of this, - the Bayaka are proud of their origins, Kongo and Lunda. - They are also proud of their history of dignity and exceptional resistance to preservation their space and their culture in the face of Western exploitation. - The stereotypical characteristics that are attached to them are a myth.
The Origin and Exodus
Let us not forget that the Kwango, the fief of Bayaka, still retains its limits of the area of the Yaka kingdom which was erected by the Lunda that arrived from the Lunda Empire, Katanga.
The exodus led by Kasongo towards the end of the 17th century, from the Lunda empire to the Kwango, in Kongo territory,
Justified by the perception, by Lunda notables, of the alienation of the Lunda power, when Ruwej, the heiress of the Lunda crown, married Ilunga Tshibinda, a Luba prince. Indeed, in the 16th century, feeling its near death, King Konde, then the great leader of the Lunda in Katanga, yielded the royal ring "the Rukan" to his daughter Ruwej rather than to one of the sons (1). The latter ended up marrying Ilunga Tshibinda, a prince Luba, son of The Emperor Ilunga Kalala.
In the perception of many notables and princes Lunda, the marriage of Ruwej with Ilunga Tshibinda had to involve the leadership of the Lunda empire by the husband of Ruwej, a stranger. It was then that, faced with the alienation of the Lunda power, the notables and Lunda princes, the patrilineal line, gradually took the road to exodus to different countries, including Kasai, Angola, Kwango, Kwilu (Gungu), Angola, Zambia and others.
Exodus to Kwango Region & the establishment of The Yaka kingdom
King Kasongo led the exodus of the Lunda westward around the 17th century, the most organized expedition towards the conquest of the Kwango region in the kingdom of Kongo. Some Lunda had already preceded this. These Lunda conquerors were endowed with three major qualities: diplomacy, sociability and The organization, which enabled them to found the Yaka kingdom in the seventeenth century, harmoniously integrating the pre-established Kongo nations. The Lunda used this "soft power", more than fighting, to favour the union of the two peoples, Lunda and Kongo, under the kingdom Yaka. Ethnologists and sociologists unanimously agree that, throughout Belgian colonial history, this kingdom was one of the best organized and Especially the most resistant to Western penetration. But where does it come from that the kingdom of Kwango, Lunda, by its essence, is Called Kingdom Yaka?
As Dr. Miatudila says, the name Yaka is a title that the Kongo gave to their warriors. Upon the arrival of Lunda, the kingdom of Kongo was already weakened by Portuguese incursions. Thus, the resistance that the Lunda find in the Kwango region is that of the isolated local tribes Kongo, including the Mbala, Tsamba, Hungana, Pindi, Ngongo, rather than that of a United Kongo kingdom. The Lunda, these "biluwa", or foreigners, which Nothing resisted on their passage, capable of catching bullets and arrows, were also called "Iluwa" (foreigners) or Bayaka (Catchers of the balls and the arrows). Both the Lunda that arrived and the kongo warriors Thad similar traits, hence why the exact titles were given to them.
The Integration
The Lunda, who had an interest in integrating into their political organization the local tribes who had not fled the invasion or who did not want to fight, have in turn adopted the identity "Yaka" which, in addition to conferring on them a title of nobility of the "invincible", integrated them better In their new country.
They had also gradually adopted the Kongo language (hence why the the Kiyaka language is spoken amongst them, an offshoot of Kikongo). Much more, Lunda chiefs married Kongo women. The offspring identified themselves as Yaka rather than Lunda. Thus, the Yaka appellation had established itself as a generic identity Of the Lunda and Kongo inhabiting territories area under the authority of the Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda, namely the territories of Kasongo-Lunda, Kenge and Popokabaka.
The Lunda of Nzofu later came in the territory of Kahemba retain the Lunda identity and language. As for the territory of Feshi, they emigrated there in the middle of the 18th century from the Basuku, a group of Kongo, who disassociated themselves from the power of Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda and whose leader "Meni Kongo" refused to submit to the authority of the latter. Some other Kongo groups: the Mbala, Tsamba, Hungana, Pindi and Ngongo, etc. Had already emigrated to the Kwilu, leaving behind them, brothers and sisters who, together with the Lunda, composed the Yaka kingdom. The five territories that make up Kwango are therefore a binational space, Kongo and Lunda.
The reconciliation is thus the end of the wars of conquest between Kongo ethnic groups and the Lunda in Kwango was sealed by a ceremony and a particular ceremony in which the chief Meni Kongo representing Of the original Tsamba clans of Feshi and the Lunda chiefs were to share the parrot, dog and cat raw meat. At the end of this ceremony, the representatives of two nations buried their war weapons and promised peaceful coexistence forever. The Kongo and the Lunda of Kwango have lived in perfect harmony since the beginning of the 19th century.
Contact with the Europeans powers
When the administration of Leopold II arrived in Kwango after their establishment in Bas-Congo, Kwango Was an organized kingdom; The power of Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda was legitimized and respected by all the peoples, Kongo and Lunda. It was also well represented on the whole kingdom that stretched from Kasongo-Lunda to Popokabaka through the present territory of Kenge. Peace between the Bayaka (Kongo and Lunda under the power of the Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda), their brothers, the Basuku of Meni Kongo in the Feshi and the Lunda of Nzofu in Kahemba.
It was therefore not by default of hospitality that the agents of the Belgian administration came up against a refusal in Kwango. They represented a power that could not coexist easily with the existing political power.
According to Crawford Young, the Lunda empires in Kwango and Katanga had understood that colonial occupation was an aggression to repel and fight. The other groups, apart from a few scattered revolts including that of Bapendé, had behaved as if the exploration and occupation of their spaces by strangers were normal. (C. Young, 1965: 295-6).
The resistance Of Kiamvu against the European power
By the year 1890, a skilled administrator named Dhanis came to negotiate his acceptance with King "Kiamvu" Tsiimba Nkumbi. It was not even with his replacement of the name of Dussart who sought to impose the Leopold administration on Kwango even by force. It was then that in 1892 and 1893 there were two wars ranked between the two armies, that of the Kiamvu Tsiimba Nkumbi and that of the Leopoldian administration in which there were considerable losses on both sides. If the principal Belgian agent perished in the first war of 1892, the one which followed in 1893 with a greater reinforcement of soldiers of the public force saw the assassination of the Kiamvu Tsiimba Nkumbi. It was also the beginning of the destabilization of the kings, but not that of the kingdom or the resistance. In fact, the kings who were enthroned after this revolting event showed themselves more intransigent with respect to submission to the power of whites. Thus, faced with repression, they had the choice either to go into exile with their brothers, the Lunda of Angola, or to undergo forced relegation to Banningville or elsewhere. Mulombo kings Désiré Nkulu and Chief Munene Nkenzi were deported respectively, while the Kiamvu Muana Koko Kodia Puanga found refuge in Angola in 1915. After the two bloody wars of 1892 and 1893, when the Kwango was militarily armed, the resistance assumed passive form. This took many forms, ranging from the subtle violence by leopard men "Masiona" to civil disobedience and the refusal to serve any power of oppression, to participate in any enterprise or to obey any colonial injunction. It was this passive resistance that continued throughout the colonial era until independence. When in 1908, Leopold II ceded the Congo to Belgium, the colonial administration, to whom the narrative of the resistance Yaka had already been made, tried to occupy the Kwango by force, but she stumbled upon the civil resistance whose main manifestation was the refusal of cooperation with the colonial agents. Even after the assassination in 1893 of the Kiamvu Tsiimba Nkumbi, under which open resistance was waged, the Bayaka continued civic resistance. Because of the unfortunate incidents of the conflict, and after 2 years of colonial military siege, the colonial mission in Kwango was abandoned. By way of punishment and fear
That the Kwango hindered the colonial work and wished to overthrows the sovereignty of the Congo, in the hands of the colonial administration, which in turn forced to administration to put the Kwango on hold; Which meant that no development project could be undertaken. This did not prevent the Bayaka associating themselves with nationalists message of Lumumba, due to their strong presence in Kinshasa, only a century later, they heavily precipitate in the movement of independence, especially as the party that brought them together "LUKA "(The Kwangolese Union for Freedom and Independence) which had as its main objective the independence. The Bayaka, by their strong mobilization in Kinshasa, contributed strongly to the events that precipitated the independence of the Congo in 1959 - 1960.
The root cause of the Bayaka’s denigration
If the Bayaka have a history so glorious, where are the disparagement they are subjected to? The denigration of the Bayaka was originally the work of the colonial agents. The latter, after having abandoned the Kwango, were to create the division to better establish their authority in neighbouring Bas-Congo and Kwilu. Which Then opened the propaganda of Bayaka, warriors and savages, as they did not accept western civilization. This became the means of dividing and reigning. This is how, from a colonial propaganda, stereotypes stick to the identity of Yaka, especially in Kinshasa, the capital, where all the tribes of the Congo eventually meet. Nevertheless, as can be seen in the writings of sociologists And Belgian ethnologists, the colonial administration recognized the organization and dynamism of the Bayaka. As all slanderous statements are made away from Kwango, or whispering, the Bayaka have imperturbably pursued their traditional activities in all areas: art, craftsmanship, construction, hunting, fishing and agriculture.
The Bayaka fell victim to their exceptional resistance to colonial oppression and exploitation. Those of the Kwango, have among other things, resisted fiercely efforts of "pacification" of the Force Publique and Leopold II’s administration.
The Bayaka people and their Culture
Yaka art is one of the best known in the Congo; One finds pieces in great museums of the world. At the habitat level, the Bayaka are builders of large villages with well-tended houses, separated by streets lined with fruit trees (mango trees, orange trees, banana trees, banana trees, papayas etc.). In Kinshasa, during the colonial era, they built autonomous neighbourhoods in which they continued to live in solidarity. They are generally found in trades independent of petty trade, "masonry", carpentry, etc., rarely in domestic work attributed to them by tribal stereotypes. But all those who find themselves in domestic work, we want to identify them as Bayaka according to stereotypes. On the physical plane, the Bayaka are neither native nor naughty; They are among the most beautiful creatures in the world. In the educational field, two secondary schools, the Kasongo-Lunda College and the Imbela Normal School, were able to train, Especially since 1962, when these two schools had a complete secondary cycle, young people who have continued their university studies in Kinshasa or abroad. It is certainly not easy to catch up by several years because of the Deprivation of national resources. However, thanks to local initiatives, the efforts of a few missionaries and the government, Kwango now has secondary schools and some higher institutes in all areas from Kahemba to Kenge via Feshi, Kasongo-Lunda and Popokabaka. Considering that, independence, the whole of the Congo had only 17 academics and 130 graduates of the complete secondary cycle, it must be admitted that the Belgian educational work is not praiseworthy, even in the regions which were soon opened to their administration.
The Yaka kingdom was a democratic monarchy, where the king, chosen from among legitimate pretenders, was enthroned by a council of notables. He had a central government and an army in Kasongo-Lunda, the capital of the kingdom. Its power was represented in the corners of Kwango by biloloos whose power structure copied the central structure. The Bilolo or chiefs of groups, by their side, enthroned village chiefs. If the Lunda had political and military power in the structure, the religious prerogatives were left to the Kongo. This organization has contributed to the harmonious social integration and coexistence of the Lunda and Kongo under the Kiyamvu Kasongo-Lunda. The fusion of two nations under the generic common identity of "Yaka", rather than assimilation, gave more chance to successful integration. The Bayaka are a dynamic and honest people. They are proud of both their origins and their culture. The influence of Kiamvu is still strong in the region. He enthroned great leaders who, in turn, enthroned other chiefs of the Lunda rites. While the Meni Kongo in Feshi enthrones Suku chiefs following Kongo rites. Besides, the strategic & comtemporary location of Kwango is still linked by cultural ties with the Bakongo of Bas-Congo and Kwilu (Masi-Manimba) as well as with the Lunda of Katanga, not to mention those of Angola. From a national perspective, the history of the Bayaka is a history of political organization characterized by the decentralization of power and extraordinary social integration. It is in this context that one must understand the fierce resistance to foreign occupation in the 19th century. It is therefore a story of glory that deserves to be taught to future generations.
November 12, 2017
My people perished for lack of knowledge said a wise man ...
The Muyaka, Kongo or Lunda: a glorious history
When Lumumba said that the Congolese should write their history, he hoped, on the part of the Congolese intellectuals, for a re-evaluation of Studies and concepts of colonial and western perspective on the history of the Congo. To do this, this critical review should Take into account the primary sources of precious stories that are transmitted orally from generation to generation.
The text below is an elaboration on the brief historical overview of Bayaka made by Dr. Malonga Miatudila on February 12th.
This story deserves to be known more especially when one perceives the condescending attitude of Mr. Landu Lema on this subject in his message of
8 February 2011.
In his text of 12 February 2011 on the list the "cry of the oppressed", Malonga Miatudila affirmed that the identity "Muyaka" is far from being, a tribe name, it was a warrior title, and that the Bayaka people are Bakongo.
I want to clarify here - that the identity "Bayaka" integrates two nations, the Kongo and the Lunda - that their history is one of the most glorious of the Congo and - that strong of this, - the Bayaka are proud of their origins, Kongo and Lunda. - They are also proud of their history of dignity and exceptional resistance to preservation their space and their culture in the face of Western exploitation. - The stereotypical characteristics that are attached to them are a myth.
The Origin and Exodus
Let us not forget that the Kwango, the fief of Bayaka, still retains its limits of the area of the Yaka kingdom which was erected by the Lunda that arrived from the Lunda Empire, Katanga.
The exodus led by Kasongo towards the end of the 17th century, from the Lunda empire to the Kwango, in Kongo territory,
Justified by the perception, by Lunda notables, of the alienation of the Lunda power, when Ruwej, the heiress of the Lunda crown, married Ilunga Tshibinda, a Luba prince. Indeed, in the 16th century, feeling its near death, King Konde, then the great leader of the Lunda in Katanga, yielded the royal ring "the Rukan" to his daughter Ruwej rather than to one of the sons (1). The latter ended up marrying Ilunga Tshibinda, a prince Luba, son of The Emperor Ilunga Kalala.
In the perception of many notables and princes Lunda, the marriage of Ruwej with Ilunga Tshibinda had to involve the leadership of the Lunda empire by the husband of Ruwej, a stranger. It was then that, faced with the alienation of the Lunda power, the notables and Lunda princes, the patrilineal line, gradually took the road to exodus to different countries, including Kasai, Angola, Kwango, Kwilu (Gungu), Angola, Zambia and others.
Exodus to Kwango Region & the establishment of The Yaka kingdom
King Kasongo led the exodus of the Lunda westward around the 17th century, the most organized expedition towards the conquest of the Kwango region in the kingdom of Kongo. Some Lunda had already preceded this. These Lunda conquerors were endowed with three major qualities: diplomacy, sociability and The organization, which enabled them to found the Yaka kingdom in the seventeenth century, harmoniously integrating the pre-established Kongo nations. The Lunda used this "soft power", more than fighting, to favour the union of the two peoples, Lunda and Kongo, under the kingdom Yaka. Ethnologists and sociologists unanimously agree that, throughout Belgian colonial history, this kingdom was one of the best organized and Especially the most resistant to Western penetration. But where does it come from that the kingdom of Kwango, Lunda, by its essence, is Called Kingdom Yaka?
As Dr. Miatudila says, the name Yaka is a title that the Kongo gave to their warriors. Upon the arrival of Lunda, the kingdom of Kongo was already weakened by Portuguese incursions. Thus, the resistance that the Lunda find in the Kwango region is that of the isolated local tribes Kongo, including the Mbala, Tsamba, Hungana, Pindi, Ngongo, rather than that of a United Kongo kingdom. The Lunda, these "biluwa", or foreigners, which Nothing resisted on their passage, capable of catching bullets and arrows, were also called "Iluwa" (foreigners) or Bayaka (Catchers of the balls and the arrows). Both the Lunda that arrived and the kongo warriors Thad similar traits, hence why the exact titles were given to them.
The Integration
The Lunda, who had an interest in integrating into their political organization the local tribes who had not fled the invasion or who did not want to fight, have in turn adopted the identity "Yaka" which, in addition to conferring on them a title of nobility of the "invincible", integrated them better In their new country.
They had also gradually adopted the Kongo language (hence why the the Kiyaka language is spoken amongst them, an offshoot of Kikongo). Much more, Lunda chiefs married Kongo women. The offspring identified themselves as Yaka rather than Lunda. Thus, the Yaka appellation had established itself as a generic identity Of the Lunda and Kongo inhabiting territories area under the authority of the Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda, namely the territories of Kasongo-Lunda, Kenge and Popokabaka.
The Lunda of Nzofu later came in the territory of Kahemba retain the Lunda identity and language. As for the territory of Feshi, they emigrated there in the middle of the 18th century from the Basuku, a group of Kongo, who disassociated themselves from the power of Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda and whose leader "Meni Kongo" refused to submit to the authority of the latter. Some other Kongo groups: the Mbala, Tsamba, Hungana, Pindi and Ngongo, etc. Had already emigrated to the Kwilu, leaving behind them, brothers and sisters who, together with the Lunda, composed the Yaka kingdom. The five territories that make up Kwango are therefore a binational space, Kongo and Lunda.
The reconciliation is thus the end of the wars of conquest between Kongo ethnic groups and the Lunda in Kwango was sealed by a ceremony and a particular ceremony in which the chief Meni Kongo representing Of the original Tsamba clans of Feshi and the Lunda chiefs were to share the parrot, dog and cat raw meat. At the end of this ceremony, the representatives of two nations buried their war weapons and promised peaceful coexistence forever. The Kongo and the Lunda of Kwango have lived in perfect harmony since the beginning of the 19th century.
Contact with the Europeans powers
When the administration of Leopold II arrived in Kwango after their establishment in Bas-Congo, Kwango Was an organized kingdom; The power of Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda was legitimized and respected by all the peoples, Kongo and Lunda. It was also well represented on the whole kingdom that stretched from Kasongo-Lunda to Popokabaka through the present territory of Kenge. Peace between the Bayaka (Kongo and Lunda under the power of the Kiamvu Kasongo-Lunda), their brothers, the Basuku of Meni Kongo in the Feshi and the Lunda of Nzofu in Kahemba.
It was therefore not by default of hospitality that the agents of the Belgian administration came up against a refusal in Kwango. They represented a power that could not coexist easily with the existing political power.
According to Crawford Young, the Lunda empires in Kwango and Katanga had understood that colonial occupation was an aggression to repel and fight. The other groups, apart from a few scattered revolts including that of Bapendé, had behaved as if the exploration and occupation of their spaces by strangers were normal. (C. Young, 1965: 295-6).
The resistance Of Kiamvu against the European power
By the year 1890, a skilled administrator named Dhanis came to negotiate his acceptance with King "Kiamvu" Tsiimba Nkumbi. It was not even with his replacement of the name of Dussart who sought to impose the Leopold administration on Kwango even by force. It was then that in 1892 and 1893 there were two wars ranked between the two armies, that of the Kiamvu Tsiimba Nkumbi and that of the Leopoldian administration in which there were considerable losses on both sides. If the principal Belgian agent perished in the first war of 1892, the one which followed in 1893 with a greater reinforcement of soldiers of the public force saw the assassination of the Kiamvu Tsiimba Nkumbi. It was also the beginning of the destabilization of the kings, but not that of the kingdom or the resistance. In fact, the kings who were enthroned after this revolting event showed themselves more intransigent with respect to submission to the power of whites. Thus, faced with repression, they had the choice either to go into exile with their brothers, the Lunda of Angola, or to undergo forced relegation to Banningville or elsewhere. Mulombo kings Désiré Nkulu and Chief Munene Nkenzi were deported respectively, while the Kiamvu Muana Koko Kodia Puanga found refuge in Angola in 1915. After the two bloody wars of 1892 and 1893, when the Kwango was militarily armed, the resistance assumed passive form. This took many forms, ranging from the subtle violence by leopard men "Masiona" to civil disobedience and the refusal to serve any power of oppression, to participate in any enterprise or to obey any colonial injunction. It was this passive resistance that continued throughout the colonial era until independence. When in 1908, Leopold II ceded the Congo to Belgium, the colonial administration, to whom the narrative of the resistance Yaka had already been made, tried to occupy the Kwango by force, but she stumbled upon the civil resistance whose main manifestation was the refusal of cooperation with the colonial agents. Even after the assassination in 1893 of the Kiamvu Tsiimba Nkumbi, under which open resistance was waged, the Bayaka continued civic resistance. Because of the unfortunate incidents of the conflict, and after 2 years of colonial military siege, the colonial mission in Kwango was abandoned. By way of punishment and fear
That the Kwango hindered the colonial work and wished to overthrows the sovereignty of the Congo, in the hands of the colonial administration, which in turn forced to administration to put the Kwango on hold; Which meant that no development project could be undertaken. This did not prevent the Bayaka associating themselves with nationalists message of Lumumba, due to their strong presence in Kinshasa, only a century later, they heavily precipitate in the movement of independence, especially as the party that brought them together "LUKA "(The Kwangolese Union for Freedom and Independence) which had as its main objective the independence. The Bayaka, by their strong mobilization in Kinshasa, contributed strongly to the events that precipitated the independence of the Congo in 1959 - 1960.
The root cause of the Bayaka’s denigration
If the Bayaka have a history so glorious, where are the disparagement they are subjected to? The denigration of the Bayaka was originally the work of the colonial agents. The latter, after having abandoned the Kwango, were to create the division to better establish their authority in neighbouring Bas-Congo and Kwilu. Which Then opened the propaganda of Bayaka, warriors and savages, as they did not accept western civilization. This became the means of dividing and reigning. This is how, from a colonial propaganda, stereotypes stick to the identity of Yaka, especially in Kinshasa, the capital, where all the tribes of the Congo eventually meet. Nevertheless, as can be seen in the writings of sociologists And Belgian ethnologists, the colonial administration recognized the organization and dynamism of the Bayaka. As all slanderous statements are made away from Kwango, or whispering, the Bayaka have imperturbably pursued their traditional activities in all areas: art, craftsmanship, construction, hunting, fishing and agriculture.
The Bayaka fell victim to their exceptional resistance to colonial oppression and exploitation. Those of the Kwango, have among other things, resisted fiercely efforts of "pacification" of the Force Publique and Leopold II’s administration.
The Bayaka people and their Culture
Yaka art is one of the best known in the Congo; One finds pieces in great museums of the world. At the habitat level, the Bayaka are builders of large villages with well-tended houses, separated by streets lined with fruit trees (mango trees, orange trees, banana trees, banana trees, papayas etc.). In Kinshasa, during the colonial era, they built autonomous neighbourhoods in which they continued to live in solidarity. They are generally found in trades independent of petty trade, "masonry", carpentry, etc., rarely in domestic work attributed to them by tribal stereotypes. But all those who find themselves in domestic work, we want to identify them as Bayaka according to stereotypes. On the physical plane, the Bayaka are neither native nor naughty; They are among the most beautiful creatures in the world. In the educational field, two secondary schools, the Kasongo-Lunda College and the Imbela Normal School, were able to train, Especially since 1962, when these two schools had a complete secondary cycle, young people who have continued their university studies in Kinshasa or abroad. It is certainly not easy to catch up by several years because of the Deprivation of national resources. However, thanks to local initiatives, the efforts of a few missionaries and the government, Kwango now has secondary schools and some higher institutes in all areas from Kahemba to Kenge via Feshi, Kasongo-Lunda and Popokabaka. Considering that, independence, the whole of the Congo had only 17 academics and 130 graduates of the complete secondary cycle, it must be admitted that the Belgian educational work is not praiseworthy, even in the regions which were soon opened to their administration.
The Yaka kingdom was a democratic monarchy, where the king, chosen from among legitimate pretenders, was enthroned by a council of notables. He had a central government and an army in Kasongo-Lunda, the capital of the kingdom. Its power was represented in the corners of Kwango by biloloos whose power structure copied the central structure. The Bilolo or chiefs of groups, by their side, enthroned village chiefs. If the Lunda had political and military power in the structure, the religious prerogatives were left to the Kongo. This organization has contributed to the harmonious social integration and coexistence of the Lunda and Kongo under the Kiyamvu Kasongo-Lunda. The fusion of two nations under the generic common identity of "Yaka", rather than assimilation, gave more chance to successful integration. The Bayaka are a dynamic and honest people. They are proud of both their origins and their culture. The influence of Kiamvu is still strong in the region. He enthroned great leaders who, in turn, enthroned other chiefs of the Lunda rites. While the Meni Kongo in Feshi enthrones Suku chiefs following Kongo rites. Besides, the strategic & comtemporary location of Kwango is still linked by cultural ties with the Bakongo of Bas-Congo and Kwilu (Masi-Manimba) as well as with the Lunda of Katanga, not to mention those of Angola. From a national perspective, the history of the Bayaka is a history of political organization characterized by the decentralization of power and extraordinary social integration. It is in this context that one must understand the fierce resistance to foreign occupation in the 19th century. It is therefore a story of glory that deserves to be taught to future generations.