StapleDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Fufu
Cassava and maize flour beaten into a firm dough, the daily food of most of the Congo. Rolled in the fingers, dented with the thumb, and used to scoop.
Serves 6 · 30 minutes
Bira (Babira)
Farmers of the Ituri rainforest's southern edge, long-standing partners of the Mbuti hunter-gatherers in an exchange relationship of meat for cassava that anthropology has studied for a century, and neighbours to the okapi's only home.
Identity
Population: Estimated 200,000 to 300,000
Location: Irumu and Mambasa territories of Ituri province, DR Congo, in and around the Ituri forest
Language: Kibira, with distinct forest and plateau varieties
Language family: Niger-Congo → Bantu (D32)
Traditional governance: Village and lineage authority with chiefdoms recognised under Congolese administration; the patron relationships with Mbuti households operating alongside.
Clans, Sections & Sub-groups (3)
Most African peoples are federations of named sub-groups (clans, sections, chiefdoms or sub-tribes), each with its own dialect, territory and traditions.
Forest Bira
Communities inside the Ituri forest, with the closest Mbuti ties.
Plateau Bira
Communities on the savannah margin toward Bunia.
Bira of the Nduye and Epulu
Villages along the forest rivers and the Kisangani road.
Culture
Clothing: Contemporary dress; barkcloth, historically made and painted by both Bira and Mbuti, in ceremony and for sale; ceremonial regalia at initiations.
Food: Cassava, plantain, rice, palm oil, forest game obtained from Mbuti partners, river fish, caterpillars and mushrooms, and palm wine.
Ceremonies: Nkumbi boys' initiation, into which Mbuti boys are also taken; ancestral offerings; funerals; hunting rites.
Marriage customs: Patrilineal and clan-exogamous; bridewealth in goods and iron; marriage between Bira and Mbuti occurs, usually of Mbuti women into Bira households, and is a long-standing source of asymmetry.
Initiation rites: Nkumbi, the circumcision and instruction of boys in a forest camp, which Mbuti boys attached to a Bira village also undergo — the ritual link that binds the two communities.
Food & Recipes
Every dish the Atlas publishes for Democratic Republic of the Congo, at national rather than community level — 12 in all: the staple a household eats daily, the dish the country names as its own, street food, what is cooked for a wedding or Eid, regional specialities and a drink. Quantities and method are given for every one, so these are recipes rather than descriptions, and each has a photograph from Wikimedia Commons. The Food page carries the whole continent, searchable by country and by ingredient.
StapleDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Madesu
also Congolese beans, Haricots
Red beans stewed with onion, tomato and palm oil until thick, the cheapest and most eaten dish in Kinshasa. Served with fufu or rice and a spoon of chilli.
Serves 6 · 2 hours, plus overnight soaking
National dishDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Poulet à la Moambé
also Moambe chicken, Nsusu na mwambe
Chicken cooked in palm nut pulp with chilli and garlic, the national dish of both Congos. The palm oil rising orange to the surface is the sign it is ready.
Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes
National dishDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Ntaba
also Grilled goat, Chèvre braisée
Goat marinated in mustard, garlic and lemon then grilled slowly over charcoal, the Kinshasa nganda dish, eaten late with plantain and beer.
Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes, plus 4 hours marinating
Street foodDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Mikate
also Beignets
Fried dough balls sold from basins by women at every Kinshasa junction, eaten hot at breakfast or as a snack with sweet coffee.
Serves Makes 24 · 2 hours 15 minutes
Street foodDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Makemba
also Grilled plantain, Banane braisée
Plantain grilled over charcoal until blistered and served with a fierce pili-pili, sold outside every Kinshasa bar and bus stop.
Serves 4 · 25 minutes
Festival & feastDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Liboke ya Mbisi
Fish steamed in a banana leaf parcel with onion, chilli and lime, the Congo river's signature method. Opened at the table so the steam and smell arrive together.
Serves 4 · 1 hour
Festival & feastDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Mbika
also Egusi in leaves, Pumpkin seed parcels
Ground melon seed mixed with fish or meat, wrapped in leaves and steamed until it sets into a savoury cake. A Congolese celebration dish and a market food.
Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes
Regional specialityDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Pondu
also Saka saka
Pounded cassava leaves cooked long with palm oil, smoked fish and aubergine. Eaten across the Congo basin and cooked for hours, since cassava leaves demand it.
Serves 6 · 1 hour 45 minutes
Regional specialityDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Sombe ya Kivu
also Kivu cassava leaves, Sombe
Cassava leaves pounded and cooked long with palm oil and smoked fish, the daily dish of the Kivu hills. Bitter, dark and cooked until it no longer is.
Serves 6 · 2 hours
Drink & sweetDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Malafu ya Ngasi
also Palm wine
Palm wine tapped from the oil palm and drunk the same day, sweet in the morning and sharp by evening. Poured for the ancestors before anyone else drinks.
Serves Varies · Tapped daily
Drink & sweetDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Lotoko
also Congolese maize spirit
Distilled maize or cassava spirit, made in the villages and drunk everywhere. Clear, strong and entirely unregulated — this is a description of a tradition rather than a recommendation.
Serves Varies · 5 to 7 days fermenting, plus distilling
Stories & Oral Literature
Meat for CassavaEconomic relationship
Bira villages and Mbuti bands have exchanged forest meat and honey for cassava, iron and cloth for centuries, in relationships that pass between specific families across generations. Whether the arrangement is a partnership, a patronage or something closer to serfdom has been argued over since Schebesta in the 1920s and Turnbull in the 1960s, who took markedly different views. The one thing not in dispute is that neither community's economy makes sense without the other.
The Nkumbi BondRitual institution
Mbuti boys are initiated in the Bira nkumbi alongside Bira boys, which formally incorporates them into the village's ritual order. Turnbull argued that the Mbuti participated without accepting the theology, treating the ceremony as something owed to the villagers rather than something believed. The disagreement about what nkumbi means to each side is a compressed version of the whole question of the relationship.
Epulu and the OkapiConservation history
The Okapi Wildlife Reserve, inscribed by UNESCO in 1996, covers a fifth of the Ituri forest and holds the world's largest okapi population, along with Bira and Mbuti communities. In June 2012 the Mai-Mai Simba militia of Paul Sadala, an elephant poacher and gold miner, attacked the reserve's headquarters at Epulu, killed several people and slaughtered the captive okapi. The reserve has been on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 1997; the communities inside it are caught between militias, miners and rangers.
Proverbs
“The village eats what the forest sends.”
On the exchange relationship.
“A boy cut in the same camp is a brother in one thing only.”
A wry Bira-Mbuti observation about nkumbi.
“The okapi is seen by those who do not look for it.”
On the animal's elusiveness, and on patience.
Mythology & Spiritual Beliefs
Creation: A creator god; ancestral spirits at lineage sites; the forest as a power in its own right, addressed differently by Bira and by their Mbuti partners.
Beliefs: Ancestral offerings; nkumbi as the central ritual institution; divination and healing; Catholic and Protestant Christianity widespread.
Ancestors: The dead are buried near the village; the inherited exchange partnerships with particular Mbuti families are themselves treated as an ancestral obligation.
Gods, Goddesses & Spirits
The creator
The remote high god
Ancestral spirits
Addressed at lineage sites for health, hunting and harvest
Forest powers
Presences of the Ituri, approached with prohibition
Architecture
Traditional settlements: Villages of rectangular mud-and-pole houses strung along the forest roads, with Mbuti camps of leaf huts nearby during the exchange seasons.
Building techniques: Pole and mud walling with leaf and thatch roofing; barkcloth beating and painting; iron working for tools traded to Mbuti partners; dugout canoes on the forest rivers.
Village layout: Houses in a line along the road with gardens behind; Mbuti camps at the village's edge or a short walk into the forest.
Artifacts
Painted barkcloth
Textile
Beaten and painted bark, a craft shared between Bira and Mbuti and made for sale.
Nkumbi initiation camp
Ritual structure
The forest camp in which Bira and Mbuti boys are initiated together.
Okapi Wildlife Reserve
Natural heritage
UNESCO site covering a fifth of the Ituri forest, on the danger list since 1997.
Traded iron tools
Metalwork
Knives, spearheads and arrowheads made by Bira smiths for Mbuti hunters.
Historical Timeline
Pre-1800
Bantu-speaking farmers settle the Ituri forest margin and establish exchange relations with Mbuti bands.
1880s–1908
Free State rubber and ivory exactions reach the Ituri; the region is severely disrupted.
1920s–1960s
Schebesta and then Turnbull study the Bira-Mbuti relationship, reaching different conclusions.
1992–1996
The Okapi Wildlife Reserve is created and inscribed by UNESCO; it is placed on the danger list in 1997.
2012–present
The Epulu attack destroys the reserve headquarters; militia and mining pressure on the forest continues.
Sources & Further Reading
Open sources
- UNESCO — Okapi Wildlife ReserveUNESCO World Heritage Centre
Premium & scholarly sources
- Turnbull, Wayward Servants: The Two Worlds of the African PygmiesJSTOR
- Ethnologue: BiraSIL International