Recording the oral history of the Bakuba - I: Methods

The peoples who occupy the region between the rivers Sankuru, Kasai and Lulua are called Kuba by their neighbours. They form a congeries of eighteen different tribes subdivided in numerous chiefdoms. These enjoy an internal autonomy but they form a single kingdom ruled by a central tribe, the Bushong, whose chief is king. He exacts tribute from the other chiefdoms and used to control, more or less, their external policy.