2013 Fieldwork on Nsong

 In the months of March and April 2013, JKM carried out fieldwork in the villages of Kabamba (5.35°S, 18.90°E), Kisala (5.37°S, 18.91°E) and Kafumba (5.39°S, 18.91°E). He was assisted by Prof. Jacques Nkiene and Crispin Ngulu, both affiliated with the ISP in Kikwit. They documented various speech events in Nsong, the endangered Bantu language spoken in these villages.

 

1.  Inaugural speech by Nestor Kambembo Muluwa, chief of the Nsong of Mangungu

 On the 21st of March, our team was welcomed at Kabamba village, seat of the traditional authority. We were received by Chief Nestor Kambembo Muluwa and several village elders. Chief Kambembo performed an inaugural speech of about one hour. The speech was followed by a questions-and-answers session on on various historical and cultural Nsong issues. The whole event was recorded, transcribed and translated.

                    

Chief Kambembo wearing a chief's hat and bracelet, traditional insignia of power                                                                              

Crispin Ngulu (left) and Jacques Nkiene (right) recording Kambembo's inaugural speech

 

2.  Ekye-Ekye: the folk band of Kabamba village

On the 21st of March, after the session with chief Kambembo, we assisted in the evening the general rehearsal of Ekye-Ekye, the local folk band of Kabamba village. Ekye-ekye is the Nsong equivalent of pole pole in Kiswahili or malembe malembe in Kikongo and Lingala meaning 'easy does it'. The band consists of about 30 village women conducted by two male conductors. They have repertoire of several dozens of Nsong songs which they sing accompanied by rattles (esang) and two types of drums (ngom), a big one (mbwind) an a small one (ntur). On the 22nd of March, they performed a concert with songs and dances. The whole event was filmed and recorded. In the evening, the whole concert was replayed on DVD, a cinema happening which the entire village was very pleased to attend.

 

                    

Folk band Ekye-Ekye assembling for a concert

Folk band Ekye-Ekye busy dancing during the concert

 

3. Nsong folktales

On Sunday the 24th of March, the headmaster of Kabamba primary school assembled a small group of pupils to whom he told traditional folktales. The children participated by answering the narrative formulae which the storyteller launched. On the 2nd of April, we recorded more folktalkes told by an old woman from Kabamba village. All folktales have been recorded, transcribed and translated.

 

                  

Headmaster Timothée Malongo Mabansa telling traditional Nsong folktales to his pupils.

Pupils attentively listening to Nsong folktales which they understand, but cannot reproduce themselves in Nsong.

 

4.  Nsong twin songs

 In Central-Africa, twins are considered peculiar and they require special treatment. Such is the case amongst the Nsong who see twins (bambu or mayas) as chiefs (bamwil). The day twins are born, all work in the village is suspended. When the umbilical cord falls off and after circumcision, in the case of a boy, a ceremonial fishing (women) and hunting (men) event  is organised. This twin ceremony is called etiil. The fish and game are offered to the old woman taking care of the mother of twins. After this offering (ecil), the twins are presented to the village and a celebration follows. On the 24th of March, we recorded all songs which are usually sung during this twin ceremony and filmed the dances which accompany them. A part of the twin songs have been transcribed and translated. On the 4th of April, the team also met with several other people in Kabamba village who gave us more explications on twin rituals which we recorded.

 

                   

Mother and grandmother with twins in Kafumba village. Kaolin is  smeared on their heads to protect them from evil brought by strangers visiting the village.

A mother with twins and several mothers who lost their twins in Kabamba village.

 

5. Nsong lullabies

On the 24th of March, in the evening, we also recorded Nsong lullabies performed by a group of three women from Kabamba village. All lullabies have been transcribed and translated.

  

6. Collective hunting

On the 24th of March, in the evening, the dean of the village hunters of Kabamba village gave a statement, as he usually does, to announce that there would be a collective hunting the next day early in the morning. The participating hunters were particularly asked not to share the bed with their wifes that night. This announcement was recorded. On the 25th of March, early in the morning, our team accompanied a collective hunting party including two dogs. The hunting especially targeted antelopes and cane rats. Such a hunting event involves the use of non-daily discourse, such as the shoutings with which the master of dogs (ngang a mbwa) commands his dogs or the formulae which the leader of the hunting band adresses to his hunters. The entire event was recorded and a DVD of the event was projected in the evening to the great joy of the whole village.

 

                  

The dean of hunters followed by the master of dogs and the other members of the hunting party.

A mother with twins and several mothers who lost their twins in Kabamba village.

    

7. Nsong mushrooms names

On the 27th of March, the team met in Kabamba village with a group of women to collect Nsong names for edible mushrooms. They talked about mushrooms, their uses and the way they are recognized in their natural environment. The whole discussion was recorded, transcribed  and translated.

 

                  

Nsong women discussing mushrooms by means of  the field guidebook Champignons comestibles des forêts denses d'Afrique centrale.

Nsong women discussing mushrooms by means of  the field guidebook Champignons comestibles des forêts denses d'Afrique centrale.

 

8. Nsong oral traditions

On the 29th of March, the team met in the village of Kisala with an elder well-known for his eloquence and wisdom. Etienne Mvala thought us on the oral history of the Nsong people in the presence of several elders and the village chief. The whole speech event was recorded. 

                 

Elder Etienne Mvala teaching on the history and customs of the Nsong people.

Traditional chief Bula Mabuku wearing a cap of genet hide and the administrative village chief attending the discours of Etienne Mvala.

  

9. Nsong circumcision

On the 3rd of April, the team returned to Kisala village to interview a grandmother and a mother of a baby boy who had just undergone circumcision to acquire more information about this event. The circumcision itself could not be recorded.

  

                

Palm leaves at the house entrance signaling a baby boy was recently circumcised.