African Myths of Origin

by Stephen Belcher

  He died as a consequence of an expedition against Busoga. He appointed his son Lumansi as general to lead the expedition. But Lumansi died of an illness on the way out, and so the army returned. Lumansi’s son Tembo was told that Kimera had caused Lumansi’s death, and so he determined to kill his grandfather to avenge his father. He did not have many opportunities, but one day he found Kimera alone, hunting in the bush, and killed him with blows from a club. Tembo then became king. He ruled with his sister Nattembo. Two of his children committed incest, and he himself died mad.

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  THE KINGDOM OF RWANDA

  The oral traditions of the royal house of Rwanda reach back to the fifteenth century. The kingdom was a highly centralized state in a small, mountainous and fertile area, and the people were divided into two major groups: the Wa-Tutsi, who considered themselves the aristocratic, pastoralist conquerors of the region, and the Hutu (associated with the Pygmy Twa groups) who became the subordinate and agriculturalist class. This social division has persisted into modern times with very tragic results; each group has seized opportunities to massacre numbers of the others, most recently in 1994. The promise of Rwanda, rich in resources and human potential, has been stunted as a result. The oral traditions of Rwanda have been very systematically collected over the years, and constitute one of the treasure-stores of traditional African culture, but the events since independence in 1962 have all but erased their meaning and value. The following narratives retell the story of the establishment of the kingdom (over the reigns of several kings) as narrated by Clement Gakanisha, an official historian of the royal house, recorded in the 1950s, and a more popular version recorded by a missionary at the start of the twentieth century.

  A ROYAL VERSION OF THE ORIGIN OF THE KINGDOM

  King Shyerezo kept diviners who would use his spittle when performing their function; they would give the saliva to the animal who was to be sacrificed, and then they would examine the entrails. He had a wife, Gasani, who for many years had not borne a child, and Gasani had a serving-woman. One day the serving-woman came to Gasani and told her the diviners had sacrificed an auspicious ox. The two women watched for the opportunity, and then stole the heart of the imana (a word for sacrifice; Imana is also the name of the sky-god). Then they placed the heart into a pot and covered it with milk and closed it up. They hid the pot, and the serving-woman told Gasani that in nine months she would show her the reason for these actions. But every day, Gasani should pour fresh milk into the pot.

  At the start of the tenth month, Gasani asked her serving-woman what to expect. The woman waited a few days, and then told her to open the pot. Inside, Gasani found a baby boy. She took him out, washed him off and fed him. She sent a messenger to her husband, who had gone away, to tell him that a son had been born, and to request the customary gifts. But Shyerezo did not believe the child was his: his wife had been so long childless, and they had ceased their relations. Shyerezo told his servants to go and kill the child. But Gasani and the servant prevented them.

  When Shyerezo came home some time later, he went to see the child whom his servants had not killed. He found a beautiful and noble baby, perfectly made by Imana. He realized he could not kill the child. They named the son Sabizeze and raised him with the other royal children. After some years, other children started to call Sabizeze a bastard, claiming he did not know his father, although Shyerezo had acknowledged him. Sabizeze decided to leave home with his older brother Mututsi and their sister, to avoid conflict over his paternity.

  They went off into the region of Umubari, where Kabeeja ruled, taking with them chickens and sheep and cattle and egrets, as well as some tools. They settled there and built homes. After some time the followers of Kabeeja found them there and asked them who they were, and they explained.

  After a while, the two brothers noticed that their pairs of animals had all reproduced. They debated what to do. Sabizeze said they should marry their sister: after all, the animals were brother and sister as well, and they had produced young. But Mututsi refused to marry his own sister. So Sabizeze married the sister and she had many children, boys and girls. Finally, Mututsi asked his brother for a bride. Sabizeze suggested that Mututsi should go across the valley and settle there, building himself a house; then he should return, introducing himself as the Umwega from the other side of the valley. Mututsi did so, and Sabizeze gave him one of his daughters as a bride. Since that time the descendants of Sabizeze and the descendants of Mututsi the Umwega exchange women in marriage.

  They lived in the land of Kabeeja, and Kabeeja was the one who assigned portions of land for cattle-pens and homesteads. Kabeeja died under unusual circumstances. His diviners, the Ubukara, had foretold his death in various ways: one said he would break his neck while getting a drink, another that he would be burned in a house, a third that he would die from a maiden’s spear, and a fourth that he would fall in a river. But he died in all these ways; none of the diviners was better than another at consulting the spirits.

  Kabeeja went hunting one day during a drought. On the way home, a torrential rain caught them and they sought shelter. They saw a homestead and rushed towards it. A maiden was there, weaving baskets; seeing the men approach, she withdrew to the back of the shelter, leaving her awl fixed in the ground. Kabeeja stepped on it and it pierced his foot. They pulled it out, but he felt cold, and it was raining. So he asked his men to make a fire. They did so, using grass for tinder, but the fire spread and the whole house began to burn. This happened after Kabeeja had asked a Hutu in a nearby field for some beer; he had given the beer to his hunters and then the rain had started and they had gone to the house for shelter. After the house caught fire, the others ran out, but Kabeeja was caught inside it and burned to death.

  After the fire went out, they collected the remains of Kabeeja and put them in the river. This is how he died in all the ways that had been predicted.

  Gihanga was a descendant of Sabizeze, in the land of Kabeeja, and he became the master of skills. He learned woodworking and pottery and how to work gourds to make containers to hold milk or butter. He lived with the Ubukara, the spirit-mediums, and they performed divination for him. One day they told him he should leave that land and move to another, and he questioned them. He did not believe them. They repeated their prophecy, and promised they would leave with him; it was at this time that they made their prophecies concerning the death of Kabeeja, as evidence of the truth of their words.

  After the death of Kabeeja, Gihanga and the Ubukara left. They travelled into Burundi and offered their services to the king of Burundi. Gihanga would offer him the fruits of all his skills: finished leather, pottery, bracelets, spears. The king was pleased with him and gave him a woman as a wife. After three years, however, the diviners were dissatisfied and told him he should leave that country. His wife decided to come with him. So the group travelled north, and on the way they started an animal called an ingabe. The Ubukara told Gihanga he should follow that animal to the land of his destiny, that it would lead him to a place where he would find a woman; she would bear sons who would found a lineage of kings. So Gihanga followed the animal through the day, resting at night when it slept, accompanied throughout by the Ubukara and by his wife.

  Finally, the ingabe came into the land ruled by Jeni, and there it took shelter in a cattle-pen. The people of Jeni told Gihanga he could not have the animal, that the refuge of the pen was inviolable. So Gihanga and his followers settled there, and once again he engaged in his skills. He became a blacksmith and made all sorts of things for the people: spears and bracelets and rings and tools.

  After he had served Jeni well for some time, he asked the king, and the king agreed to release the ingabe. Gihanga killed and skinned it, and made a beautiful offering for the king. Jeni had a daughter, Nyamususa, whom he had not allowed to marry; his brother had warned him that the daughter’s marriage would mean the end of his kingship. So Jeni never let the maiden go free; he had her watched at all times. The maiden, how
ever, heard of the skills and the work of Gihanga, and devised a plan to bring him to her. Her servants told the king that his daughter was sick, and they took her to a secluded house. There, Gihanga was brought to her at night. Gihanga was served some beer. After a time he decided that he would spend the night there, and Nyamususa agreed. Gihanga slept in the same bed as Nyamususa, and that night she became pregnant. He left her in the morning, having given her also a small knife and fire contained in a little box.

  The Ubukara told Gihanga he should move on, and so he did; he left the land of Jeni and came to another country where the people lived in poverty. He made tools for them, and they were able to live much better. He settled there.

  Five months later, the guardians of Nyamususa noticed that she was pregnant and told her father. He ordered his Twa servants to take her to the forest and kill her. Her servant-girl followed her, bringing the gifts Gihanga had left. The Twa led her far into the forest to strangle her, and they came into an area where the Ubukara had been hunting. The Ubukara had just killed a buffalo, and when they saw the Twa they enquired what they were doing. The king’s servants replied that they had orders to kill the woman, who had become pregnant by an unknown man. The Ubukara offered to give them the buffalo if they would leave them the woman, and the Twa agreed. So the Twa threw Nyamususa down on the path, took the buffalo and went off.

  The Ubukara went off, and the two women followed, realizing that they had been saved. On the way they had to pass the night in the forest; they opened Gihanga’s gift and found the fire packed in the box. They blew on the coals and brought the fire to life, and so they were able to stay warm and safe in spite of the dangerous animals. The next day they finished walking through the forest and came into Gihanga’s territory. Gihanga at first pretended not to recognize them, and continued to work at his forge. Then he laid aside his hammer and told his servants to give the women some beer, for he could see they were exhausted by their adventures. And the Ubukara told him that this was the woman they had foreseen. So he married Nyamususa that day, despite her pregnancy.

  Nyamususa had a daughter, Nyirarucyaba, and then a son, Kanyarwanda, who would found the dynasty of the kings of Rwanda, and other children. After some time, the other woman who had come with Gihanga from Burundi also became pregnant. As her time came near, Gihanga went hunting and killed a fine animal. He dressed its skin, and the two wives began arguing over it. Words proceeded to blows, and then Nyamususa, helped by her daughter, struck the other woman with a stake and pierced her body. The woman died, but her child, a son, lived. He was named Gashubi.

  The daughter, Nyirarucyaba, fled into the forest where she took shelter with a man named Kazigaba. He lived entirely from hunting; game was all his food. He took the maiden in, and she stayed with him a week. Then they married, and she bore him a number of children.

  One day, Nyirarucyaba saw cows coming out of the water, and one of them stayed behind: she had a calf, and it was stuck in the vines near their home. She prevented her husband from killing the cow, as he wished to do; instead, she tamed the animal. She was able eventually to take pots she had made and milk the cow, and when she tasted the milk she found it divine. So she and her husband lived enjoying this gift.

  Time had passed. Gihanga had forgotten his daughter’s part in the death of his other wife, and he wished to see her. He had fallen sick. The word was sent out and reached Nyirarucyaba, and she determined to visit her father. She took a small pot of milk with her, and she gave it to her mother, saying it was a cure she had brought from the forest for her father Gihanga. Gihanga tasted it and found it delicious, and asked for his daughter; after she had brought him milk a few more times he called her and she came to him and told him the milk came from an animal that she had found with her husband. He asked her to send him her husband, and Kazigaba came to visit him. Gihanga demanded that Kazigaba give him the cow, and Kazigaba refused. So Gihanga had him bound in chains. On hearing this Nyirarucyaba tied a rope to the cow and brought her to Gihanga; her husband meant more to her than the animal. And so Kazigaba was freed, and the two of them went home.

  Some time later, Gihanga sent men to the water where the cattle emerged, and they began catching them as they came out and leading them away. Gashubi, who had been born from a dead mother, followed and watched them from a tree. Eventually a huge bull came from the waters, and Gashubi cried out in alarm; immediately all the cattle withdrew into the waters, and that was the end of their arrival in Rwanda.

  Later, Gihanga summoned his children to tell them how he was dividing his heritage. Kanyarwanda would be king over Rwanda, and there were territories for the other sons as well. Then his daughter Nyirarucyaba asked what her share would be, and he told her she would receive the festival milk. Every man who became king would have to make her a great offering of milk, and if he did not she would have the power to curse him and refuse him prosperity. This was the division of the heritage of Gihanga.

  A POPULAR VERSION

  Imana the creator made two worlds, one above and one below. The people in the world above enjoyed a blissful life, with all sorts of comforts and food easy to hand. They lived happily. But one couple was childless, and eventually the mother assembled gifts for Imana – honey and hides, milk and banana-beer – and went before him. There she clapped three times, the greeting of royalty, and addressed him, praising him for his creation and his bounty. And then she explained why she had come: everything that Imana had created produced offspring, except her. She was sterile, and she begged Imana to grant her a child.

  Imana agreed to grant her wish, but he made her promise that she would keep the secret. She promised. Imana fashioned a tiny human figure from clay moistened with his saliva, and gave it to the woman with instructions. She was to place it in a pot filled with milk, which she should freshen every day, morning and night. After nine months she should take it from the pot.

  The woman took the figure away and followed Imana’s instructions faithfully. Twice a day she filled the pot with milk. The child took shape, and finally when she heard it moan she withdrew it from the pot and presented it to her husband. The couple rejoiced. When the boy was old enough to be weaned, the woman went back to Imana with other gifts, praying for a second child. Imana granted her wish as before, and eventually she produced a second son. A third time she went back, and Imana gave her a third child, this time a daughter. All three children were extraordinarily good-looking, intelligent and skilful. The boys were great hunters; the girl was an incomparable artisan.

  But the woman had a sister who was also childless. The sister had endured this so long as the other remained childless, but when the other had produced three children her condition became intolerable. She could guess that something unusual had happened, for her sister had shown no signs of pregnancy before the births of her offspring. The childless sister watched and wondered. And one day, the two sisters sat drinking pombe, the banana-beer, and the mother became tipsy and indiscreet. Her sister seized the opportunity, and asked her how she had come by her children, and the mother revealed Imana’s secret.

  The next morning, the childless sister assembled gifts and went to see Imana. The mother woke up, realized what she had done, and cried, fearing she had brought death to her children. She found her sister and begged her not to go, but the other insisted: the secret had been broken, the damage was done. She could go to Imana later, if she wished, and so she did. But when she came to Imana, she found him angry. He told her that he would send her children into the lower world, and that they would no longer enjoy an easy life.

  So it was. The two brothers and the sister came down to earth. The elder brother was named Kigwa because he came from heaven; the younger Lututsi, and the sister Nyinabatutsi. They found on earth that they got tired and their hunting was not always successful. The plants they found to eat were bitter and tough. But they showed courage: they made themselves a shelter out of branches, to keep off the cold and to ward off the wild beasts. After some days, a bolt of
lightning struck near them, setting fire to a tree, and so they acquired fire. This was because of the intercession of their mother and aunt, who had gone to Imana to pray for them. Imana had been touched, and promised that he would ease the life of the exiles. After the fire, he gave them food-plants: it rained seeds and the siblings then had beans and bananas and millet and all sorts of other crops. Later they found a bellows and a hammer, and so learned about forging iron, and after that they acquired tools as a blessing from Imana. The brothers cleared fields and the sister planted them with all the seeds; the food grew wondrously fast, and a few days later they had their first harvest.

  There were already other people in Rwanda, whose ancestors had been sent down from heaven for some fault. But they had not begged pardon, and Imana had not shown pity on them; he had left them in their miserable condition, eating grasses and gnawing bark. One day, one of these people saw the smoke rising from the home of the three siblings, and came closer, thinking it was a cloud. Around the hut he saw neatly arranged fields and full of plants such as he had never seen before. Then he saw the children of Imana, and asked them who they were and where they had come from. Kigwa told him who they were, and how Imana had given them the plants. The stranger stayed to eat with them, and they showed him their tools. Afterwards, he went back to his people, taking a bit of the food with him as proof of his visit, and they all decided they should visit Kigwa.

  Kigwa welcomed them, but did not have enough food stored up to feed all of them. So he offered them seeds and said he would show them how to grow their own food, and he also gave them the tools to work the fields. The people were delighted, because they were now protected from hunger and had far better meals to eat than before, and word spread of Kigwa’s generosity. So the people selected him as their king.