SCHEBESTA1933-001 - primary ethnography

Bakango (Bafwaguda clan / Mbuti)

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Asunguda-Apare river district - Ituri Forest near Avakubi - Central Africa

Restricted

A masked ndiki, dressed in grass and embodying the primordial ancestor endekoru, swung the maduali while frightened novices watched from a distance - the first secret shown to Bakango boys after nearly a year secluded in the forest, where women could not follow. The word carried a whole cosmology: among the Babali and Bakango, maduali meant both the bullroarer and the primordial father, and its drone was said to be one with thunder - the same thunder Schebesta watched silence entire Bakango camps, everyone lying still around the fires until the storm passed. The larger rite belonged to a serpent: boys who had passed Mambela without ever seeing a python were marched in procession to view one killed nearby, whipped with rods along the way - Schebesta saw it happen on the Apare - for the python is the symbol of ambelema, the rainbow serpent somehow behind the initiation itself. The instrument he never saw: the Bakango said the objects had vanished with the last ndiki to die.

Maduali heisst bei den Babali und Bakango das Schwirrholz, aber auch der Urvater. Dieses Sausen sei mit dem Donner identisch.

Among the Babali and Bakango, maduali means the bullroarer, but also the primordial father. This roaring was said to be identical with thunder.

Schebesta 1950:15

Object

Not seen by Schebesta; explicitly identified as a bullroarer and swung. Do not infer blade material, dimensions, or cord construction.

Function

First secret revealed in boys' Mambela initiation; masked leader embodied the primordial ancestor endekoru. Among Babali and Bakango, maduali named both the bullroarer and the primordial father, and its hum was said to be one with thunder.

Map confidence

medium - Avakubi regional anchor for the named Asunguda-Apare field district; not the exact camp or performance site.

Source location

printed pp. 115-116; PDF pp. 123-124

• Initiation rite
• Forbidden to women

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