Lulendo: the recovery of a Kongo nkisi

Lulendo was a kind of chiefship intended to control markets. It was developed during the 1880s by BaKongo in the area near modern Luozi in Lower Zaire, in an attempt to resist increasing European pressure on local trade. The central act of Lulendo was the ritualised execution of a criminal in the marketplace. KiKongo texts in the Swedish National Archives enable us to reconstruct and interpret the ritual, and also cast light on the occupation of the area by the forces of the Congo Free State.