Angola: Ethnicity of the children of a Bakongo (Bacongo) mother and a non-Bakongo father; whether, in Bakongo culture, a child's ethnicity is determined by the ethnicity of its mother

During a 23 January 2002 telephone interview, a Congolese student in Canon law (Doctorate level) at Saint Paul University in Ottawa provided the following information. This interview was conducted in French.

Located in Angola, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) and in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Bakongo (Kongo) people comprise many sub-groups.

According to Bakongo culture, children are traced on the mother's side. This means that if a marriage is contracted between two members belonging to sub-groups of the Bakongo family, children automatically inherit the ethnicity [the sub-group] of their mother. This practice is common for all Bakongo in above-mentioned countries.

However, the ethnicity of the children resulting from a marriage between a Bakongo mother and a non-Bakongo father may be subject of conflict between parents, particularly when the father is from a patrilineal ethnic group and not familiar with the Bakongo culture.

A non-Bakongo man who is already familiar with the Bakongo culture and decides to marry with a Bakongo woman is generally more prepared to agree with the fact that children will be of the Bakongo ethnic group.

The student in Canon law noted that, at the present time and especially in towns where mixed marriages (Bakongo with members of other ethnic groups or races) are frequent, people are more identified according to their citizenship than to their ethnicity.

Describing the early history of Angola, an essay published on the Revolt website noted that "Ovimbundu kinship during the rubber trade was reckoned dual-lineally, prior to that it is unknown, after that is reckoned matrilineally like the Bakongo and Mbundu of this period. Matrilineally means that descent is traced on the mother side ... " (Revolt [2185] 11 Apr. 2001).

Describing "funeral markets and ancestors figures" among African cultures, a Birmingham Museum of Art website noted the following:

One highlight is Bakongo soapstone funerary stele of a mother and child, a timeless subject matter known to denote the matrilineal order of Kongo society (14 Oct- 16 Dec. 2001).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Birmingham Museum of Art. 14 October-16 December 2001. "In the Presence of Spirits: African Art from the National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon. [Accessed 21 Jan. 20020

Revolt [2185]. 11 April 2001. "Angola Survey." [Accessed 21 Jan. 2002]

Saint Paul University, Ottawa. 23 January 2002. Telephone interview with a student in Canon Law, Doctorate level.

Additional Sources Consulted

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 1992. 12th Ed. Edited by Barbara F. Crimes. Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1992. 4th ed. Vol. l. Edited by George Kurian. New York: Facts on File, p.41.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 1992. 12th Ed. Edited by Barbara F. Crimes. Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

LEXIS/NEXIS.

Office Française de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides (OFPRA). October 1996. Angola. Paris: OFPRA.

Resource Centre country file. Angola.

Web sites, including:

Angola: A Country Study.

Minorities at Risk Project.