The Buyi are a Bantu group, known also by many other names such Buyu, Babuye, Juba-Hemba, Luba-Hemba and Waruwa, speaking the Buyu language. They have been reported only in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but they are closely related to several neighboring groups, namely the Goma, Kalanga, Kunda, and Lumbu, Baholoho, Bwile, and Hombo. They have also been influenced by the larger Luba group. All these groups have a clan-based social organization, engage in agriculture and fishing as a major part of their economy, and engage in regional trade with neighboring groups. The region where they live has known innumerable shifts in population, with groups of diverse origin living together. In recent years, the Bembe have been expanding into traditionally Buyi territory, resulting in population decline of the group and cultural disintegration. The Buyi are composed of six clans. Three of those are known for ancestral chiefs, male and female, who are venerated because they led migrations, founded villages, or provided exceptional leadership. Lands belong to clans, and inheritance is matrilineal-by mother's brother, then brother, then sister's son. Villages of the paramount chiefs are much larger than others, with ordinary villages compact.
Crops include manioc (the staple crop), beans, peas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, maize, eleusine, sesame, and a little millet. Bananas are not grown in the region. Domestic animals include goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, and pigeons. There is a clear division of labor, with men hunting, fishing, and clearing land, while women catch small fish, forage for wild plants and small animals, and do all the agricultural work after the land is cleared.
The Buyi practice slavery, enslaving war captives and often marrying their women. Freemen are divided into the following classes: Royalty (paramount chiefs), royalty (chiefs), petty aristocracy (village elders), and ordinary commoners. Family units are normally polygynous.
Houses are square with pointed pyramid-shaped roofs. Each village has a bachelor's house where boys live before puberty. The entire area has been unstable and plagued by various complex wars for many years, causing many to flee the area.
The Buyi engage in many traditional rituals involved with hunting. Those who cling to traditional worship venerate nature spirits and ancestors. Divination is practiced to discern the will of the ancestors. Ancestor figures have massive heads, long, cylindrical torsos, square shoulders, and a bulging trunk. The face is triangular, with circular-shaped eyebrows and eyes shaped like coffee beans, big jaws and stylized beards, very similar to those of neighboring ethnic groups. The ancestor figures are kept in small huts in groups of five to seven. Offerings are given to them, and other rituals are performed there. Many Buyi identify with some form of Christianity, including Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Kimbanguist. Evangelicals are a significant minority.
Local strife and instability greatly influence their daily lives. Many live in constant fear. Many quasi-political groups vie for power in the area, and unpredictable attacks disrupt life at every level.
Pray for an end to violence and for peace and stability in the region.
Pray that Christians will find ways to honor their ancestors and their traditions without engaging in occult rituals or other practices inconsistent with Christian faith.
Pray that the Buyi will find their identity in Christ.
Pray that the Buyi church may be strengthened and enabled to find its place in world-wide mission.
References
Scripture Prayers for the Buyi in Congo, Democratic Republic of.
| Profile Source: Joshua Project |
