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67 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett CHAPTER VIII. NDONGOISM Fetishism and Religion.-The Zinkici. -Putting Life into the Image.-The Mpumbu. -Rites.- Ximbuka and other Zinkici. -Amulets. -Nail Fetishes. - How they are made. IT is commonly assumed by writers on Africa that fetishism (the worship of tutelary images) is the religion of the African. It is true that images (so-called gods of Africa) of this description are very common in the Kongo, and if religion be defined as the relation conceived to exist between man and an invisible world, the term religion may perhaps be applied without inaccuracy to this cult, which is essentially not unlike the occultism of more civilised regions with its familiar bottle imps and witches' sabbaths. Whether this fetishism (or NDONGOISM) is, properly speaking, religion or not is of small importance. There is at any rate side by side with this cult what few observers appear to have noticed, a higher religion, which I call NKICI-ISM, connected with NZAMBI and the powers which as his attributes symbolise him under the name of BAKICI BACI. The ZINKICI are of two classes, ZINKICI ZINZO or ZINKONDI (home-protecting figures, charms, and talismans), and ZINKICI ZIMBOWU (figures into which nails are driven). Specimens of both kinds are to be found in the British Museum and also in the Museum in Exeter, and illustrations of some of these can be seen in Plates V and VII from an article in theQuiver entitled "The Gods of Africa," 35 by Mr. F. M. Holmes. In this article there is an interesting passage referring to the late Rev. Thomas Comber, a missionary in the Congo, whom all loved very much, which, if correct, points to a difference in the way these fetishes are supposed to act in the Congo and in Luango. "Could this image hurt me?" asked Mr. Comber. "Oh, yes; it would strike you dead." Mr. Comber took it in his hand, and turned it about and looked at it meditatively. It was a funny little object, an image of wood, with a large protuberance on its back and a similar protuberance on its chest, looking as though it were both hump-backed and pigeon-breasted at the same time. "What would happen if I were to cut it?" asked Mr. Comber. "Oh, it would strike you dead!" they exclaimed in alarm. "May I try?" he asked. "Oh, it will kill white man," they asserted. 35 Many people talk of the gods of the BAVILI, as they call the "powers" and fetishes, but the BAVILI themselves say NZAMBI U VANGA BANTU I U VANGA BAKICI BACI, or God made man and he made the "powers" on earth also www.globalgrey.co.uk
68 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett But as he pressed for permission, they at last agreed. So in breathless silence Mr. Comber drew his knife from his pocket and slowly cut off the pigeon-breast of the little figure. Scrap after scrap fell from the image, but still it made no sign. At length he desisted; the operation was complete. "Behold," he exclaimed in triumph, "your god has no power. See what I have done, and yet I am not hurt. It is but a senseless piece of carved wood." Then he proceeded to point the moral of his action by showing the difference between such "gods" and the God of the Christian. From the description of the fetish given, it was one into which nails might be driven, and was perhaps the NKAWCI (two-hearted figure) NTIMA WALI and of the ZINKICI ZIMBOWU class; their names are legion. Whatever its name, and if of the ZINKICI ZIMBOWU the figure had been named, it had cost the life of one person. When any injury has been done to one of these fetishes in Luango, its "KULU," or spirit, goes back to the owner of the fetish, and keeps on afflicting him until he has given it a new figure, but it has no power in itself to injure the person who has damaged it. If a native has done the damage he must pay for the renewal of the figure; if a white man-well, he is only a white man after all, and may be forgiven for his ignorance. Many figures are sold to Europeans that are simply figures. A fetish that is sold has had its "KULU" withdrawn. The only genuine fetishes owned by strangers are those taken by force, but even in this case the "KULU" comes back to the NGANGA, or owner. The Luango boy might be very much alarmed and annoyed at such an action as that of Mr. Comber's, but he might, if he were a rich man, laugh and enjoy the joke, concluding that it was no use trying to frighten a white man by telling him that his fetish, as a figure, had powers which he knows it has not. Natives forgive much in a white man, especially if he chances to be beloved, as the late Mr. Comber certainly was, but if he wished to be revenged for the damage done, his course would be to have the figure renewed, and then to have a nail driven into it with the express purpose of injuring his enemy. Then the "KULU" would set about its duty. On one occasion the Writer asked a native if the BAVILI made no images of NZAMBI. "Who would be such a fool?" the man promptly answered, and the writer said no more. I will now proceed to deal with the Zinkici, and with some of the more important amulets of the Bavili. We have seen that one class of images is called ZINKICI ZINKONDI. The ZINKONDI or fetishes brought by the winds, are also known as BANKONDI in LUANGO. The only images of this class seem to be the MPUMBU. These are wooden figures of a man and a woman standing about eighteen inches in height. When these figures have been carved, it is necessary to enroll them among the ZINKICI of the www.globalgrey.co.uk
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