Ngangela

Religion: Christianity and African Tradition Religion

Population: 240,000 (Angola 1996), 54,000 (Zambia 1986), 20,000 (Namibia 1996)

Status:: 50% Christian

Location: The Ngangela are native to Angola. However, they have been in a state of flux for many years. Problems with the Portuguese during colonial times led to movement of many Ngangelas across the borders into Zambia and Southwest Africa (now Namibia). Later, during the civil war that engulfed Angola, many more followed. Even when the border between Angola and Namibia is officially closed, many still cross illegally because of the lack of food, clothing, and medical care in southern Angola. Financial conditions are difficult at this time in Zambia and many have joined family members in Namibia.

Identity: The Ngangela are a Bantu people, with cultural and linguistic similarities to other Bantu peoples. The Ngangela group themselves in a circular living area called a kuimbo. In older times, the houses were built in the traditional circular style of Southern Africa, though now they favor a square or rectangular house. Within a kuimbo lives a family group of between 20 and 40 people, under the leadership of one man who is father or grandfather to the majority of those who live there. In addition, a number of nephews might have attached themselves to a particular uncle. This leader of the family has many responsibilities to his extended family. For example, he would be the one to pass along important information that affects the entire family.

The Ngangela are refugees in Namibia; they have left their home for a place where there is peace. This has changed their culture, merging it with other refugee peoples (such as the Chokwes) as well as national people groups (like the Kwangali). They cannot participate in the political processes in their new countries and are financially disadvantaged. Most have come from rural Angola without any education and cannot compete for jobs with the more educated Namibian people groups. Their children cannot understand the Kwangali or Afrikaans that is now used in the initial grades and will be unable to use the English that is coming to the classroom.

Language: The Ngangela speak a southwestern Bantu language. (SIL classifies it: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, K, Chokwe-Luchazi). While Luchazi seems to be the primary language of the Ngangela peoples, other languages are: Mbunda, Nkangala, Yauma, Mbuela, Nyemba, Ngangela, Ngonzelo and Luimbi. Their movements in recent years have caused many changes, especially linguistic changes. Some of the Ngangela have lost their language. In Zambia, many have begun to speak Luvale instead of Luchazi; in Namibia, some moved to Gcrico-speaking areas and have forgotten Luchazi . Those who speak Luchazi in Namibia speak a hybrid form with vocabulary from Afrikaans, Portuguese and English and other Bantu languages, such as Kwangali and Chokwe.

Political Situation: Independence brought civil war to Angola. Some of the Ngangela remain in Angola, attempting to survive in the bush or in cities like Menongue and Cuito Cunivale. Others fled to Zambia where they met the economic problems of that country. A great number have fled to northern Namibia. Those who arrived in 1975-1977, prior to Namibian independence, are more secure than later arrivals, since they were granted Namibian documents at independence. In recurrent droughts, the Namibian government extends feeding programs only to those holding Namibian documents. Many of the Ngangela fled Angola after Namibian independence to live with their family members who had already migrated. Thousands of these people, all subsistence farmers, will have no governmental recourse if a drought develops. The Angolan war has diminished food production there. Many who had been in Namibia illegally have recently been deported as a result of the instability caused by the proximity of the Angolan conflict. Information about the conditions in northern Namibia can be accessed by searching for the word Rundu at http://www.namibian.com.na/. Political and military fortunes since independence have not favored the poorly-educated Ngangelas.

The Ngangela have no political influence in either Angola, Zambia or Namibia. Though great in number in Kavango Province (Namibia) the Ngangela have little authority since few of them are Namibian citizens. Some of the youth have gained a good education and are receiving some jobs in government, but they are in the minority compared to the native Kwangali.

Customs: The Ngangelas are primarily agricultural though some families are honey-gatherers, fishermen and hunters. Highest among the professions were the blacksmiths who made the spears and knives for the tribe. Many Western ways of making a living have now also been adopted. Traditional clothing for the Ngangela was made of tree bark. Western clothing was adopted generations ago, through missionary and Portuguese influences, and there is no movement to revive the past.

Family: Family has an important place in Ngangela culture. The individual derives his identity from his relationship to an extended family group. The central figure in the Ngangela family is the man, whose decisions are final.

In the past, a man of 30 would marry a girl of 14-15, who was either a cousin or a niece. Intermarriage with other tribes was prohibited. Young people today marry at 19 or 20, though the girl can be as young as 15. Young people may marry from any tribe or race, though in the countryside the older practices are maintained.

Typically a young man talks to his father and mother about the girl that interests him. The mother then talks with the mother of the girl to arrange the bride-price. If the woman has never been married and has no children, the family would expect to receive 2 cows as the bride-price. A woman who has a child would be worth only 1 cow while a woman who has more than one child would be worth only 1/2 of a cow.

Polygamy is still practiced by the Ngangela though it is outlawed by the church. Divorce is easy, though it must be negotiated between the families, as the marriage was. The children may choose which parent they go with. There are strong family and community sanctions against mistreatment of the wife or children. Children are disciplined by both parents, but the responsibility is assigned to the father. Because cerebral malaria leads to a high incidence of mental incompetence, a pattern has developed in the culture for determining who cares for each member of the family if stricken.

When the father of a family dies, the Ngangela now practice western patterns of inheritance. The wife and children share the wealth he leaves. In older times the inheritance went to his nephews when the man died. Nephews are the sons of a sister, since the sons of a brother were also considered sons.

A group of kuimbos would be led by a mwene or king. In the past the mwene position was somewhat hereditary, being chosen from a particular family. But a mwene might be removed, usually by killing. A wise woman might be chosen as the mwene.

The mwene administers the land of the group, assigns plots of land and dispenses justice. He resolves disputes and decides the penalty for sin--sin being the physical or relationship violation of the group or any member. A person who injured or killed another would be disciplined in kind. The mwene would decide the penalty for theft. If a wife left her husband the mwene decided how her family would compensate the family of the husband. The mwene would receive a proportionate share of such a judgment.

Ngangela society is held together by the general principle of good behavior. For the Ngangela, a good person is one who respects others, is willing to resolve problems, is a friend to all others in the tribe, and who doesn't cause confusion or problems. A child who reached his majority without learning proper respect was liable to be put to death by the tribe.

Ritual: Ngangela ritual traditions have almost died out. In the past, however, the Ngangela had a rich tradition celebrating the rites of passage. In the munda, a young girl was given a feast by the women of the kuimbo. During the days of the feast she was taught the things that a woman needs to know, then she was eligible for marriage. For a boy, his father would choose a time between 6 and 8 years of age to take him into the bush to be circumcised in a ceremony called the mudanda. A day of feasting and dancing followed, called the mungongi. Some time later a second day of celebration called the mandumbu was held. During these sessions tribal regulations were taught.

If rain had not come when it was expected, the elders of the tribe would gather the men for an all night dance to appeal to the ancestor spirits for help.

Artistic Forms: The Ngangelas are very artistic, though their art is used mainly for commerce today. Carvers apparently have always been valued among the Ngangela. Singing, playing drums, dancing and basket-weaving are honored arts.

Education: Education is greatly valued. As a people the Ngangela are very poorly educated. Under the Portuguese, education past grade four was available only in the cities, leaving out most Ngangelas.

Religion: The religion of the Ngangela was typical of Bantu animistic religions. Ancestral spirits were the predominant force, though Kalunga (God) was the great force behind everything. He was incredibly powerful, but could not be known. Worship was directed toward sticks or animal heads on sticks. The cimbundu (traditional healers, pronounced cimbundu) would practice their medicine with herbs and a white powder. The head of religious instruction was the mwene, not the cimbundu. He would rule in the affairs of the spirit, just as he ruled in the day to day affairs of the physical world. This harmony of leadership reflected the harmony of Ngangela society, who saw all things linked to the spiritual world. As a result, spiritual truth was passed down verbally from generation to generation and permeated everything related to life.

As with other Bantu groups, medicine was linked to Ngangela religion. The cimbundu practiced a form of herbal healing mixed with spells and incantations. However, traditional medicine is not practiced much anymore. Some link this with the reception of the gospel; others link it to Portuguese persecution of traditional religion. If the Portuguese heard that witchcraft was being practiced in a village, many times they would enter to kill everyone in the village. As a result traditional religion began to wane and finally to die in many areas.

Christianity: The Ngangela have been responsive to the gospel. The membership of churches in Angola, Zambia, and Namibia connected with Africa Evangelical Fellowship is large. In Namibia the majority of the 3200 Baptists are primarily Ngangela. This responsiveness seems to be continuing, perhaps as a result of the effects of the instability caused by the war in Angola and their refugee status in Namibia.

The instability that has affected them makes them open to a message of hope and salvation. Every effort should be made to continue to preach the gospel and establish churches among the Ngangela.

Bibliography

What else can we read?

Froise, Marjorie, ed. Southern Africa: A Factual Portrait of the Christian Church in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. California: Missions Advanced Research and Communication Center, 1989.

Jenny, Hans. South West Africa: Land of Extremes. Windhoek, Namibia: South West African Scientific Society, 1976.

Pearson, Emil. People of the Aurora, 1977.

Pearson, Emil. Tales from the Aurora.

van der Post, Laurens. The Lost World of The Kalahari. Aylesbury, Great Britain: Hazell Watson and Viney Ltd., 1978.

Yaron, Gil, Gertie Janssen and Usutuaije Maamberua. Rural Development in the Okavango Region of Namibia: Assessment of Needs, Opportunities and Constraints. Windhoek, Namibia: Gamsberg McMillam Publishers, 1992.

Article by Dr. Don Minshew, Ngangela Team, International Mission Board, SBC

 

 

These people live in Angola and Namibia

Pray that the Ngangela will begin to hear with spiritual ears the message of the gospel.

Pray for the salvation of Ngangela young people who can act as evangelists to their people.

Ask that Christians from other people groups who live among the Ngangela will be burdened for their neighbors.

Pray that God would protect His people during the incredible instability caused by the continued fighting in the Angolan civil war.