 Tetela woman with ritual scarification, c.1905 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Tetela language, Lingala | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mongo, Kusu [ de; fr ] Anamongo |
The Tetela people (or Batetela in the plural) are an ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most of whom speak the Tetela language.
The Batetela live in the region between Lusambo and the Upper Congo River, in the provinces of Sankuru and Maniema. [1] They live by hunting-gathering, fishing, farming, and raising cassava, bananas, and kola nuts. They are related to the Kusu people, only separating from them in the late 1800s after the arrival of Arabs and Belgians in the region. [2] Both the Batetela and the Kusu are subgroups of the larger Mongo group. [1] The name Motetela comes from a god named Motetela, meaning either "he who laughs not" or "he at whom one may not laugh." [3]
Like congolese Bantu groups, the Tetela have a large and colorful set of proverbs that are used for a wide variety of purposes, from rebuking to encouraging, usually by adults. [4]
According to Emil Torday (who studied the tribes of the Congo between 1908 and 1909), [5] the Batetela originated on the right bank of the Lomami River and migrated to their present territory at some unknown date. [6] In 1869–70, some Tetela groups came into contact with Tippu Tip, an Arab slave trader from Zanzibar. [7] Following this, the chieftain Gongo Lutete began working with Tip and the Arabs to lead the Batetela in slave raids against the Luba people in Kasai. [8] In the Congo Arab war of 1892–1894, the Batetela fought for the Arabs, but later defected to the Belgians. [9] Gongo Lutete was executed by the Belgians in 1893, however, and this caused the Batetela to revolt in 1895 in the first of the Batetela Rebellions. Successive uprisings followed, lasting until 1908. [10]
During the period immediately following independence, Patrice Lumumba, a Tetela, was a prominent politician and the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo before his assassination in 1961. In 1975, many Batetela were purged from the military. [1]
"Three types of drum are used by the Batetela, a tribe situated between the Lomami River and the Sankuru River in the Kasai Province of central Belgian Congo. The ngomo skin drum is used for dancing, usually accompanying the lukumbi, the six-toned slit drum. The ekuli, a small cylindrical two-toned drum, formerly used to signal victory in battle, is now used to call people to church and classes. The lukumbi is the most interesting and intricate of the three, and constitutes a highly developed poetic and musical art form as well as a means of communication". [11]
Kasaï-Oriental was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the new, smaller Kasai-Oriental province, the Lomami and the Sankuru provinces.
A slit drum or slit gong is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of the name, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more slits in the top. Most slit drums have one slit, though two and three slits occur. If the resultant tongues are different width or thicknesses, the drum will produce two different pitches. It is used throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. In Africa such drums, strategically situated for optimal acoustic transmission, have been used for long-distance communication.
Kasaï-Oriental is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Kasaï-Oriental, Lomami, and Sankuru provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Kasaï-Oriental province. Kasaï-Oriental was formed from the Tshilenge district and the independently administered city of Mbuji-Mayi which retained its status as a provincial capital.
Articles related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo include:
The Mongo people are an ethnic group who live in the equatorial forest of Central Africa. They are the largest ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, highly influential in its north region. The Mongo people are a diverse collection of sub-ethnic groups who are referred to as AnaMongo. The Mongo (Anamongo) subgroups include the Mongo, Batetela, Bakusu, Ekonda, Bolia, Nkundo, Bashilele, Lokele, Topoke, Iyadjima, Ngole, Ngando, Ndengese, Babembe, Bakuba, Sengele, Sakata, Mpama, Ngengele, Tomba, Mbole, Wongo. 33% of the Congolese population are mainly made up of the Anamongo who occupy 31% of the area of the DRC. The Mongo (Anamongo) occupy 14 provinces particularly the province of Equateur,Tshopo, Tshuapa, Mongala, Kwilu, in Maï Ndombe, in Kasai, in Sankuru, Maniema, North Kivu and South Kivu, Katanga and Ituri province. Their highest presence is in the province of Équateur and the northern parts of the Bandundu Province(Maï Ndombe).
Ngongo Lutete was a Congolese leader and chieftain during the late 19th century.
The Congo–Arab War was fought in Central Africa between the forces of Belgian King Leopold II's Congo Free State and various Zanzibari Arab slave traders led by Sefu bin Hamid, Tippu Tip's son. It was a proxy war in eastern Congo from 1892 to 1894, with most of the fighting being done by native Congolese, who aligned themselves with either side and sometimes switched sides.
The Batetela rebellion was a series of three military mutinies and a subsequent low-level insurgency which was attributed to members of the Tetela ethnic group in the Congo Free State between 1895 and 1908. Beginning in a mutiny among the troops the Force Publique of Luluabourg in January 1895, the revolt sparked an prolonged insurgency and two further mutinies elsewhere in the Congo. The rebellion was one of the most important anti-colonial rebellions in the history of the Congo and the last Tetela rebels were only defeated in 1901.
Kabinda District was a district of the Belgian Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2015 it was merged with the independently administered city of Mwene-Ditu to form Lomami Province.
Louis-Napoléon Chaltin (1857–1933) was a Belgian career soldier and colonial official notable for his service in the Congo Free State during the late 19th century.
Sankuru District was a district of the Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It went through various changes in extent, but roughly corresponded to the modern Sankuru Province.
Sefu bin Hamid was an Arab Zanzibari slave trader and administrative official. The son of Tippu Tip, he was killed while fighting in the Congo–Arab War.
Joseph François Lippens was a Lieutenant in the Force Publique of the Congo Free State during the Congo Arab War. He was killed by the soldiers of Sefu bin Hamid.
Henri De Bruyne was a sergeant in the Force Publique of the Congo Free State that was sent to Kasongo, Congo Free State, in 1890. He was killed by the soldiers of Sefu bin Hamid.
Joseph Bonaventure Lutula La Puku Pene Omasumbu was a Congolese politician who served as Minister of Agriculture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1960. He reassumed the post in 1961 and held it until April 1963, when he was appointed Minister of Middle Classes and Community Development. He resigned from the government that September. He died in 2008.
Congo-Kasaï was one of the four large provinces of the Belgian Congo defined in 1914. It was formally established in 1919, and in 1933 was divided into the new provinces of Léopoldville and Lusambo.
Kasaï was a province of the Belgian Congo and the successor Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville).
The Districts of the Belgian Congo were the primary administrative divisions when Belgium annexed the Congo Free State in 1908, each administered by a district commissioner. In 1914 they were distributed among four large provinces, with some boundary changes. In 1933 the provinces were restructured into six, again with boundary changes. The number of districts fluctuated between 12 and 26 through splits and consolidations, first rising, then falling, then rising again.
Stanley Falls District was a district of the Congo Free State. It covered most of the eastern part of the colony along the Congo River south from Stanleyville.
Louis-AIbert-Marie-Joseph Haneuse was a Belgian soldier and colonial administrator.
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