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The Kongo (meaning 'hunter') people settled along the Atlantic coast in Africa from Pointe-Noire, Congo to Luanda, Angola.
In 1482, the Portuguese arrived and at some point, the Bakongo people traded enslaved people, ivory and copper to the Europeans.
What do you hope to share with your audience?
We hope to share with our audience, the cultural aspects of the Bakongo Kingdom.
Where does your culture come from and what are the characteristics of that place?
The founding of Kongo is a time of myths, and many speak of Ntuinu Lukeni who was the founding king from the
Kingdom of Vungu, located North of the Congo river. The Portuguese list six Kongo kings that ruled before their arrival,
but another source claims that the King who ruled when the missionaires arrived was the grandson of Lukeni himself. The date
of the founding of Kongo is in conflict as well, the date varys from the early 15th century to as much as half a millennium
earlier.
What outside culture intrudes and what are their motives?
The Portuguese originally landed on the west coast to trade with the Bakongo people and to convert them to their respective
religions (the most prevalent was Catholicism and Christianity). In 1865, William Sheppard travelled to Congo for missionary
work.
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