Katanga Province Research Articles

The carver in Africa: Individually acclaimed artist or anonymous Artisan?

This paper explores a number of issues raised by William Burton's annotated photographs of professional artists (or craft specialists) taken at his mission station in Katanga province in the 1930s. It focuses, in particular, on why Burton recorded the names of two carvers, one a chief, the other a court sculptor attached to the Nkulu chieftainship. The questions raised by this decision leads me to consider the relationship between indigenous consumer attitudes to African artists, and changing perceptions of the identity and status of these artists by foreign buyers and art historians since the early 20th century. In the course of this discussion I draw attention to the fact that it is only in context‐specific studies of patronage that meaningful attempts have been made to address the ways in which artists themselves have responded to the increasingly complex marketplace in which they now work.

The Origins of Language Policy in Zaïre

A popular story made the rounds in the European community in Léopoldville at independence in 1960. It was said that the new Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and President Moïse Tshombe of the dissident Katanga Province could only confer through an interpreter. Whether this colonial tale was true or not, neither French nor Flemish were widely diffused in the Belgian Congo; indeed, no singlelingua francahad emerged during some 80 years of Belgian rule. This article examines the origins of the decisions taken and the attitudes established during the Léopold era, 1879–1908, that continued to influence language policy throughout the entire colonial period, and even thereafter.

Lukasa: A Luba Memory Device

The plastic art of the Luba of northern Shaba region (formerly Katanga Province), Zaire, is well known, and the Luba Shankadi style is one of the most distinguishable in Central Africa (see de Maret, Dery and Murdoch 1973). During the colonial era, collectors acquired artifacts as curiosities and made little attempt to learn about the function of sculpture within the society. As a result, art historians have been forced to draw conclusions about Luba art by correlating objects found in museum collections with the an-

Avian Haemoproteidae. 4. Description of Haemoproteus telfordi sp. nov., and a review of the haemoproteids of the families Gruidae and Otidae.

Haemoproteus telfordi sp. nov. is described from the crane, Lissotis melanogaster (Rüppell), from Katanga Province, Zaire. The haemoproteids of the families Gruidae and Otidae are reviewed and redescribed; Haemoproteus antigonis de Mello, 1935 and Haemoproteus balearicae Peirce, 1973 are compared with H. tendeiroi Travassos Santos Dias, 1953 and H. telfordi sp. nov. The hosts and distribution of the haemoproteids of these families are summarized.

Relation entre le frai du Labeo altivelis Peters et la conductivité des eaux

In nearly all the rivers and streams of the Katanga province (Belgian Congo) several species of fisch migrate every year to their spawning-grounds. In some cases this spawning-run extends over more than 100 Km. Migration and reproduction take place at the time of the first rains or during a flood. In the Luapula-Mweru system, Labeo altivelis Peters took as spawning-ground a place where the water had at that moment a lower conductivity than elsewhere in the neighbourhood.

On two schistosomes of wild rodents of the Belgian Congo: Schistosoma rodhaini ; and Schistosoma mansoni var. RodentorumSchwetz, 1953; and their relationship to S. mansoni of man

1. (1) Two schistosomes were discovered in wild rodents in the south-east of the Belgian Congo (Province of Katanga): S. rodhaini Brumpt, 1931; and S. mansoni var. rodentorum Schwetz, 1953. Both belong to the group of S. mansoni, by virtue of their anatomy as well as by the identity of their intermediate hosts ( Planorbis). 2. (2) S. rodhaini differs from S. mansoni in the structure of its eggs and in its definitive host. Instead of a lateral spine, the eggs of S. rodhaini have a subterminal spine directed sideways, and a narrow appendix-like opposite extremity, turned in the opposite direction. S. rodhaini has as yet been found only in divers wild rodents, never in human beings. S. rodhaini foci were discovered in Elisabethville, Albertville and Sakania, and it is most likely that it exists elsewhere too. In Elisabethville and Sakania, the transmitters of S. rodhaini were the river Planorbis ( P. pfeifferi), while in Albertville the transmission of S. rodhaini was effected by P. tanganikanus.Experimentally, other African ( P. boissyi = P. alexandrina) and American ( P. glabratus) planorbids were found to be able to transmit this schistosome. In Sakania, the only river present in this locality, was found to contain a mixed focus of S. rodhaini and S. mansoni. Mice infected with the local cercariae were found to pass eggs of S. rodhaini 30 days after their exposure to infection, and after the 50th day eggs of S. mansoni also. In Albertville, on the other hand, the foci of these two schistosomes are as a rule well distinct and separate. 3. (3) While searching for S. rodhaini in the wild rodents, we also found in these animals some very rare eggs with a lateral spine. We found these eggs associated with those of S. rodhaini in Sakania; and alone, in Albertville. Since this was an entirely new discovery, we devoted several months of research to it at the end of 1952, chiefly in Albertville, and, briefly, have arrived at the following conclusions We are dealing with an infection that is both rare and distinct. Out of 480 rodents coming from 15 rivers (rivers containing P. pfeifferi), we found only 18 infected specimens— i.e. an incidence of 4 per cent. As we have already pointed out, this is a very light and inconspicuous infection, usually signified by the finding of several broken or empty eggs in the liver. Only in very few cases did we discover living eggs, and as for the adult worms, they were also a rarity. Although these eggs, too, had a lateral spine, they appeared to us from the very first time we saw them, rather different from the normal eggs of S. mansoni—both in the form of the egg (elongated, with a narrow extremity), and in the form of the spine (a solid spine with a wide insertion, separated from the rest of the egg by a notch). 4. (4) In view of this particular structure and especially of the hitherto unknown definitive host, we have decided to call this schistosome— S. mansoni var. rodentorum. This new schistosome is of great practical interest, especially from the epidemiological and prophylactic viewpoint. Being adapted to definitive hosts which dwell in the same rivers that are frequented by the natives, the question arises whether this is not in reality the same parasite as S. mansoni, modified in its morphology and biology by its adaptation to different hosts—to the wild rodents first, and to human beings thereafter.

A Luba Tribe in Katanga. Customs and Folklore

One of the three major divisions of the Luba-speaking people in the Katanga Province in the Southern part of Central Belgian Congo is under the chief Kabongo, in a country well watered, fertile, at an elevation of about 4,000 feet, 8.5° south of the equator.Game is plentiful, hunted for the most part seasonally, with bow and arrow, after burning the forest to drive out the game.An agricultural people, without cattle, being cut off from the cattle region by the tsetse-fly belt, they have goats and chickens; though these are not used for food. They are in physique a tall, well-built, vigorous people, alert and intelligent, showing certain distinctions in physiognomy which indicate tribal mixture, although the traditions are unified. Contact with foreigners is occasional, foreign currency is viewed with suspicion, and the unit of exchange for local trade is the woven square of grass-cloth, made in the tribe, barter being still common.

Transportation Developments in Central Africa

THAT interior part of Central Africa comprising Katanga Province, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland possesses in its natural resources a vast wealth whose development has scarcely begun. A mineralized belt containing tremendous tonnages of high grade copper ore lies on both sides of the Katanga-Northern Rhodesia boundary. The holdings of the Union Miniere de Haut-Katanga, a Belgo-British concern, which include most of the known deposits in Katanga, consist of separate ore bodies scattered over an area approximately 200 miles long and 20 to 70 miles wide extending from Chilongo to Elisabethville. It seems likely that Katanga is really the greatest copper field ever opened.' North of the Katanga copper zone lies a second mineralized area containing tin and gold. Katanga, moreover, possesses sufficient radium to supply the markets of the world and by agreement with Canada divides equally with that country in the annual production of cobalt. Across the border in Northern Rhodesia recent prospecting has given good results, and it is now an accepted fact that a copper field of great significance exists along the Northern Border, extending at least 150 miles in a north-west and south-east direction and having a breadth of not less than 50 miles.2 A healthful climate, timber suitable for most purposes, and potential water power encourage commercial development.3 The labor situation is improving as an increasing number of natives become resident in the district. With the completion of the construction work on the railroads and at the mines a large number of natives will become available for productive labor. It is estimated that the substitution of coal for wood in some of the mines will release 4000 wood cutters.4 Exploitation of these minerals has been retarded in the past by the difficulties involved in transporting them to tidewater. Although the region lies within the watersheds of the Congo and Zambezi Rivers, communication is impeded by rapids, irregularity of flow, or shoals.6 This remote area was finally opened to world markets through the medium of the railway. A line by way of Broken Hill and Elisabethville reached Bukama, head of navigation on the Congo, in I918. The products of this interior region now reach the coast at several South African ports or at Beira in Mozambique. Freight for export can also be shipped by water from Bukama to Kabalo, by rail to Albertville, by ferry across Lake Tanganyika, and thence by rail to Dar es Salaam. In 1926, the Katanga Railway routed 64,500,00o kilograms of copper via Beira and I6,300,000 kilograms by Dar es Salaam.6 Thus, although its markets are in western Europe this region is forced to a costly export via the east coast of Africa.