The Sundi (also Sundis, Nsundi, Basundi, Kongo-Sundi, Suundi and Manyanga) are a Central African people established in three countries:
They are considered to be the largest subgroup of the Kongo people. Early in the nineteenth century there were wars between Sundi and Teke when Teke moved southwest into the Niari valley.
The Basundi (Basoundi, Bassoundi, Manyanga, Nsundi, Sundi), with whom are included the Bwende (Babouende, Babouendi, Babuende, Babwende), Dondo (Badondo), Gangala (Bagangala, a Sundi subtribe), and Kamba (Bakamba), are a Bantu nation.
The Dondo and Kamba are closely akin and culturally similar but differ somewhat from the Basundi proper to the southwest of them.
Basic Economy. Primarily agricultural, with bananas as the staple. Also grown are peanuts, beans (three varieties), earth peas, "Indian peas," maize, sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkins (different kinds"), manioc, peppers, and tobacco. Goats, pigs, dogs (for hunting), and chickens are kept, as well as a very few sheep and ducks, but no cattle. Hunting and fishing apparently are fairly important, and there is considerable gathering of oil-palm nuts, wild fruits, fungi, and termites. Trade is important, and regular markets are held every four days in most villages.
Sex Division of Labor. Men clear land, hunt, fish, and trade (but women do some market trading). Both sexes gather. Men cultivate bananas, but women perform most of the tasks in agriculture.
Property. Valuables include goats, slaves, cloth, brass rods, and beads. Women have equal property rights with men.
Inheritance is matrilineal. The heirs in order of priority are: siblings, mother, maternal aunts and uncles, sisters' nephews and nieces.
Family. The avunculocal extended family is the basic social group. It consists of the head, his wives, his young children, his sisters' sons, his slaves, and his male clients.
Settlement Pattern.
The villages are small, often with only 5 to 15 huts, and are planlessly arranged. Palisades formerly were common. Each village has a sizable "guesthouse," where judicial cases are tried. Some villages have scattered houses, but most villages have the houses aligned on two or three straight streets. Houses are rectangular. The walls are covered with split palm laths or bamboo laths, and roofs are thatched with palm laths covered with grass or leaves.
Community Organization. One source says that villages are of miscellaneous composition, with each family head essentially independent, but other sources suggest avunculocal clan-communities. Circumcision is practiced.
Local Government. Each village has a headman with little authority (fetish priests have more). Succession is matrilineal -- by younger brother, then by sister's son. Family heads form a village council.
State. One source implies that there is no true political authority above the local level, but other sources mention chiefs in contract to local headmen.
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