First published in 1952 by the International African Institute.
This edition first published in 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
1952 International African Institute
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-138-23217-4 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-315-30463-2 (Set) (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-23520-5 (Volume 28) (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-23521-2 (Volume 28) (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-30503-5 (Volume 28) (ebk)
Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.
Publishers note
Due to modern production methods, it has not been possible to reproduce all the charts which appeared in the original book. Please go to www.routledge.com/Ethnographic-Survey-of-Africa/Forde/p/book/9781138232174 to view them.
ETHNOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF AFRICA
The preparation of a comprehensive survey of the tribal societies of Africa was discussed by the Executive Council of the Institute as far back as 1937, but the interruption and restricting of its activities caused by the war resulted in the postponement of the project. Events and developments during recent years, however, have led to a wider recognition of the need for collating and making more generally available the wealth of existing but uncoordinated material on the ethnic groupings and social conditions of African peoples, particularly in connection with plans for economic and social development. Moreover, it appeared that the International African Institute, as an international body which has received support from and performed services for the different Colonial governments, was in a very favourable situation for undertaking such a task.
The Institute, therefore, in 1944, applied to the recently established British Colonial Social Science Research Council for a grant from the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund to finance the preparation of an Ethnographic Survey of Africa, and a grant was allocated for a period of five years from 1945, and was subsequently extended for a further period of three years. A committee, under the Chairmanship of Professor Radcliffe-Brown, was appointed to consider the scope and form of the survey, and collaboration was established with research institutions in South Africa, Rhodesia, East Africa, French West Africa, Belgium and the Belgian Congo.
The aim of the Ethnographic Survey is to present a concise, critical, and accurate account of our present knowledge of the tribal groupings, distribution, physical environment, social conditions, political and economic structure, religious beliefs and cult practices, technology and art of the African peoples. The material is presented as briefly and on as consistent a plan as possible, and the texts are supplemented by maps and comprehensive bibliographies.
The Ethnographic Survey is being published as a series of separate, self-contained studies, each devoted to one particular people or cluster of peoples. It is hoped that publication in this form will make the results more quickly and readily available to those interested in specific areas or groups. A list of the sections which have already appeared is given on the cover of this volume.
Since the unequal value and the generally unsystematic nature of the available information constituted a chief reason for undertaking this survey, it will be obvious that the material here presented can make no claim to be complete or definitive. Every effort has been made, however, to scrutinise all available literature and to check it by reference to unpublished sources and to workers actually in the field; thus it is intended to present a clear picture of our existing knowledge and to point out the directions in which the need for further studies is most pressing. Any assistance from those who are in a position to remedy deficiencies and correct inaccuracies by providing supplementary material will be greatly appreciated.
The International African Institute expresses its thanks to the Colonial Social Science Research Council, for recommending the grant which has made possible the initiation of the work, and also to the many scholars, research workers, administrative officers and missionaries in Europe, South Africa and the various African territories who have so generously responded to our appeals for information and who have spared time to correct and add to the drafts.
We are especially grateful for help given in the preparation of the present volume to the Rev. Dr. G.M. Childs, Principal of the Currie Institute, Angola, who read and checked the text in manuscript; to Mr. C.M.N. White, for providing a linguistic note; and to Mr. J.A. Barnes, for assistance with the kinship section.
DARYLL FORDE,
Director .
The Ovimbundu of Angola
The name Ovimbundu, which possibly derives from the same root as muntu, seems to have been adopted as a tribal name in fairly recent times, the various groups being formerly known separately as Bailundu, Ciyaka, Viye etc. Correct rendering in native usage is Ovimbundu (singular Ocimbundu );
The terms Vakuanano ( Vakonano, Vanano, or Munano ) and Ovimbali ( Mbari, Mambari, Mbali ) are sometimes used in the literature as alternative names for the Ovimbundu. Nano means up-country, Vakuanano people of the north.
Mbali , or more correctly Ovimbali , is correctly an Umbundu term for those who imitate Europeans, or who live near European towns, which are collectively called lupali. to refer to the Ovimbundu of the trading caravans.
The Ovimbundu do not have a centralised political organisation, but are divided into a number of chiefdoms, each traditionally under the control of a paramount chief. The following list of chiefdoms is quoted from Childs monograph,
