Angolan monarch of Bailundo visits Brazil's oldest quilombo

[get these nets]

Spoiler: In Portuguese

Angola king bridges an ocean, visits slavery diaspora in Brazil​

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Nov 16, 2023

KING TCHONGOLOLA TCHONGONGA EKUIKUI VI: Visits country’s oldest "quilombo," or community descended from escaped slaves, where nearly 100 people maintain their traditional religion and medicinal plants.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Residents danced and chanted Wednesday in a community descended from runaway slaves in Rio de Janeiro as they welcomed the visiting monarch of the Bailundo kingdom in Angola where many of the residents trace their ancestry.
King Tchongolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI visited the community of Camorim as part of a trip to Brazil that began three weeks ago. Camorim dates back to 1614 when it would have been forested land and is Rio`s oldest "quilombo," or community descended from escaped slaves. Nearly 100 people live there today, maintaining their traditional religion and medicinal plants.
"This visit has been on the agenda for a long time," the king told the crowd. “Our presence here is to say to Afro-descendents, to our brothers, here in Brazil and especially in this quilombo, that we are here as roots that are alive, roots that keep this ancestry, roots that maintain our habits and customs," he later told the Associated Press.

…WE ARE HERE AS ROOTS THAT ARE ALIVE, ROOTS THAT KEEP THIS ANCESTRY, ROOTS THAT MAINTAIN OUR HABITS AND CUSTOMS…

King Ekuikui VI arrived in a traditional black-and-white robe and hat, both featuring his kingdom’s emblematic eagle. He is his nation’s most important king, representing the largest Angolan ethnic group. While Bailundo is a non-sovereign kingdom, he holds political importance and is regularly consulted by Angolan authorities.
Residents of Camorim received him with traditional drums, singing and dancing, and they served him feijoada, a typical Brazilian dish made of black beans, pork and rice that some say slaves created.
"The people here in this quilombo are from Angola," said resident Rosilane Almeida, 36. "It’s a bit like if we were celebrating to welcome a relative that came from afar."
On Tuesday, the king visited Rio`s Valongo Wharf, a UNESCO world heritage site where as many as 900,000 slaves made landfall after crossing the Atantic Ocean, and which the international organization considers "the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent."
Of the 10.5 million Africans who were captured, more than a third disembarked in Brazil, according to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database. Some experts place that number higher, saying as many as 5 million Africans landed in the country.
And Brazil was the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery in 1888. The communities of formerly enslaved people persisted, but it was not until a century later that a new constitution recognized their right to the lands they occupied.
Brazil’s most-recent census of 2022 found quilombos in almost 1,700 municipalities; they are home to 1.3 million people, or about 0.6% of the country’s population.
Almeida, the Camorim resident, said she was looking to hearing how her community`s culture compares to that of their root country. She and others showed King Ekuikui VI the quilombo’s archeological site, where centuries-old ceramics are still being excavated, and its garden of medicinal plants.
"I look to the south, I look to the north, and at the end of the day we are not lost," he told them. "We are here, and there are a lot of people who look majestic."

 

[Yehuda]

United by the Umbundu language, residents of Quilombo Cafundó receive a visit from Angolan king: 'Historically connected'

Tchongolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI is king of the Bailundo Kingdom, in Angola. The monarch speaks the Umbundu language, which is also spoken by Quilombolas who live in Salto de Pirapora. An event will be this Saturday (28).

By Larissa Pandori, g1 Sorocaba and Jundiaí
October 27, 2023 06h45 | Updated 11 months ago

Regina Pereira, leader of the Cafundó quilombo, and King Tchongolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI, during Regina's visit to Angola — Photo: Personal Archive

The residents of Quilombo Cafundó, located in Salto de Pirapora, São Paulo, will receive, this Saturday (28), an illustrious visit: Tchongolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI, from the subnational kingdom of Bailundo, located in Angola.

The importance of this meeting goes beyond the ceremony, as it unites two historically connected peoples who share not only a language but also a rich and lasting cultural legacy. This is the first time that the king of the Ovimbundu people has come to Brazil.

The meeting was made possible thanks to an invitation made by the leader of the quilombo, Regina Pereira, directly to the king, during a visit to Angola. The trip took place in June 2023, through the "Connection and Ancestry" project, promoted by the Casa de Angola Cultural Center, which is located in São Paulo.

On that occasion, Regina was able to talk to the king and discovered a similarity: the Umbundu language, also spoken by the residents of Quilombo Cafundó.

Furthermore, the leader says that she discovered many other similarities between the way of life of the Quilombolas and the Angolan people. According to her, the preservation of culture is very strong in both peoples.

"Our greatest bond is our language, which is a way of continuing our culture. I was able to see and attest that we descend from Angola", she said.

Regina Pereira, alongside King Tchongolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI, during a visit to Angola in June this year — Photo: Personal Archive

Visit and expectations

The event will be free and open to the public. The Angolan king will be welcomed by a tunnel of Saint George's swords, which symbolize the soldiers who are guardians of the Quilombola culture, according to Regina.

"The first stop will be at the quilombo chapel. Throughout the day, we will have music and dance presentations and we will talk a little about the history of the Umbundu language", she says.

Regina says that Tchongolola Tchongonga is looking forward to the visit. "He can't wait to get here. He told me he wants to know more about the agriculture we practice in the quilombo".

"We always heard our elders saying that we couldn't stop speaking the language, as it was the only heritage they had brought from Africa. We joked that one day we would see a King coming down the Cafundó road and now that will come true", she says.

Regina Pereira, leader of the Quilombo Cafundó — Photo: Fabio Tito / g1

Brazil–Angola link

According to Isidro Sanene, director of the Casa de Angola Cultural Center in São Paulo, the event will be attended by the black movement and other Quilombola communities that exist in the state.

"The objective of the event is to discuss projects to defend the appreciation of African culture in Brazil. We want to strengthen the link between these two cultures, which are historically connected", he explains.

The director comments that 60% of the enslaved people who came to Brazil came from Angola. Therefore, the connection between the two countries is very strong.

"The cultural formation and national identity of Brazil have a significant contribution from Bantu peoples. The linguistic legacy is the greatest, but there is a presence of the Angolan people in the arts, cuisine, and music, such as samba, capoeira, and maracatu", he says.

The official language of Angola is Portuguese, but Umbundu, the official language of the Kingdom of Bailundo, is among the most spoken in the country, being considered by some experts as the second most spoken.

King Tchongolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI and Isidro Sanene, director of the Casa de Angola Cultural Center in São Paulo — Photo: Social Networks/Reproduction

King Tchogolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI

At 40 years old, King Tchongolola Tchongonga Ekuikui VI is the 37th ruler of the subnational kingdom of Bailundo, which is located in the central region of Angola, originating from the Ovimbundu people.

The monarch assumed the throne at the age of 37 and belongs to the Ekuikui lineage, being the first legitimate grandson descended through the maternal line from the late King Augusto Katchitiopololo (King Ekuikui IV).

Tchongolola Tchongonga has a degree in Customary Law and speaks four languages, one of which is Umbundu, the official language of the Kingdom of Mbailundo, as well as French, Portuguese and English.

Kingdom of Bailundo

An image of Luanda, capital of Angola — Photo: Saul Loeb/Reuters

The Kingdom of Bailundo emerged around 1700 and was an African national state of the Ovimbundu people, with political and economic authority. Currently, the Kingdom is located in the Bié, also known as the Central Plateau of Angola, and covers the provinces of Huambo, Benguela, Kwanza Sul, Bié and a part of Huíla.

In addition to the royal palace, the kingdom has 35 residences for members of the court and jangos, gloriettes that serve for traditional trials that help resolve social problems that occur in the village.

Despite the figure of the king and the existence of the Kingdom of Bailundo, the political system in Angola is presidential and multi-party. Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is located on the west coast of Africa and became independent from Portugal in 1975. The first Angolan multiparty elections took place in 1992.

The current president of Angola is João Lourenço, from the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola. He was democratically elected in 2017 and has been in office since.

Cafundó Quilombo

A family strolling through Cafundó — Photo: Fabio Tito / g1

The fight for recognition of the land donated to the enslaved ancestor marks the history of the Cafundó quilombo, in Salto de Pirapora. The community has existed for 150 years, producing fruit and vegetables. Part of what is produced is consumed by the community itself and part is commercialized.

Craftmanship is also present in the daily lives of the Quilombolas. One of the most traditional products is the abayomi doll. According to the community, the rag doll was made by enslaved mothers to be given to their children who would later be separated from them. The story goes that the mother would take a piece of fabric from her own skirt and make the doll.

United by the Umbundu language, residents of Quilombo Cafundó receive a visit from Angolan king: 'Historically connected'