RELIGION, HISTORY AND SOCIETY IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION

The chapter retraces the most important steps in the history of religion of the Great Lakes region. The religious landscape evolved here together with social and cultural processes that need to be observed in a regional scale, because single ethnic groups appear to be changing realities emerging and disappearing, overlapping and mixing together in a continuous flux of exchange. The emergence of kingdoms in some parts of the region, from the 14th century onward, provoked a fundamental shift from a social situation previously based on patrilineal descent groups to centralized political organizations. Before this event, religious life was devoted to local natural entities – called misambwa in many of the interlacustine languages and to the ancestral spirits denominated bazimu. When kingdoms and chiefdoms appeared, spirit possession – regionally known as kubandwa - became the centre of the religious experience. The main characters of this tradition are the spirits of deceased kings, heroes and heroines, who can penetrate in the bodies of certain individuals thus entitled to become their mediums. The institution of spirit mediumship, regulated by an initiation, gave rise to a class of religious specialists who gained an important mystical power all around the region, used to counterbalance the political power of kings and chiefs. Islam and Evangelization, that reached the region from the mid-19th century, changed dramatically the religious situation as well as the political one, introducing new spiritual entities, practices and leaders. This renovated religious landscape characterized the colonies, where missionaries of different congregations became a very important factor in the new administrative organisation. After Independence, fractions built along diverse religious denominations continued to inform the political life, giving rise to a complex, fragmented situation crossed by conflicts. As a result, post-colonial societies present diversified and often conflictual religious realities, deeply affecting the political situation. At the same time, a vast revival movement is rediscovering the ancient cults, giving back dignities to the spirits of the past.