Mongo

/mong"goh/, n.

1. a member of any of various agricultural peoples of the central Democratic Republic of the Congo.

2. the Bantu language of the Mongo peoples.

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Any of several peoples living in the African equatorial forest.

They speak a dialect of a common language, Mongo or Nkundo, which belongs to the Niger-Congo language family. The Mongo traditionally cultivated cassava and bananas in addition to hunting, fishing, and gathering. Mongo religion emphasizes ancestor worship and nature spirits; it also features magic and witchcraft. Their art has been mainly oral, and they have a rich talking-drum and song literature. They number some five million.

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▪ people

      any of several peoples living in the African equatorial forest, south of the main Congo River bend and north of the Kasai and Sankuru rivers in Congo (Kinshasa). They include such ethnic groups as the Bokote, Ekonda, Bolia, Sengele, Ntomba, Ndengese, Songomeno, Mbole, Bongandu, Boyela, Nkutu, and Tetela-Kusu. They speak dialects of a common language, Mongo or Nkundo, a member of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo languages. Many groups are disappearing because of falling birth rate.

      The Mongo traditionally cultivated cassava and bananas but also relied on wild-plant gathering, fishing, and hunting. Their material culture was generally simple, though some hunting and fishing techniques were well developed. Descent was patrilineal, and communities were grouped in lineages stemming from a single ancestor. Lineage elders were invested with authority that derived partly from religious sources. Because there was no organization other than the lineage, feuds, covenants between lineages, and marriage payments were means of solving issues that arose between lineages. Only among some southern groups did there exist a true chieftainship, based upon divine right.

      Mongo religion placed strong emphasis on ancestor worship and on beliefs in nature spirits responsible for fertility, as well as on magic, sorcery, and witchcraft. Witch-finding cults were prominent, and divination played an important role in them. Mongo art was mainly oral, and their talking-drum literature and songs showed a rich artistic content.

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