Interlacustrine Bantu Religions
INTERLACUSTRINE BANTU RELIGIONS. The term interlacustrine Bantu, as used here, encompasses a variety of peoples who live between the Great Lakes of east-central Africa and speak closely related Bantu languages. Their territory includes some of the most densely populated regions of Africa, consisting of all of Uganda south of the Victoria Nile, the states of Rwanda and Burundi, and a substantial portion of northwest Tanzania. Before independence, most of the area was divided into a number of traditional kingdoms, the largest of these being Rwanda and Burundi in the south and the four Uganda monarchies of Buganda, Bunyoro, Toro, and Ankole in the north. There were also about a dozen smaller but structurally similar units in the Tanzanian sector. The mass of the people are agriculturalists, but in many areas a cattle-owning minority, called Huma, or Hima, in the north and Tutsi in the south, formed a dominant and hereditary upper class.
Today most of the people of the region are at least nominally Christians; there is also a substantial minority of Muslims. But the indigenous cults are still widespread and are remarkably similar throughout the area.
The Spirit Powers
All the peoples of the area have the idea of a supreme being, known as Imana in the south, Ruhanga in the Nyoro-speaking north, and Katonda in Uganda; the last two names mean "creator." In some myths the hierarchical class structure mentioned above is ascribed to him, which to a certain degree may have sanctioned its acceptance by the less privileged.
This page contains 201 words.
Interlacustrine Bantu Religions article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 2,663 words
(approx. 9 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Bantu Article
