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Northern Zambia

 border. 

In time they intermarried with some of the people groups in the area. As a result 

they developed their own "language"; it is a unique blend of Tabwa and Bemba called the 

Shila dialect. Because of their lack of education the Tabwa used to have a minority complex,

but this is changing. Other tribes interact quite easily with the Tabwa and neighbour relations 

are good. Only 15% of the population live in the urban areas. Farming is their main source of 

income and they trade produce with the Haushi and Bemba speaking people. They are a 

polygamous society and live in groups of 20 people. Shelter consists of little huts made out of 

mud. 

Conflicts are handled by the chiefs or local presidents. An offender either has to pay a fine or 

suffer a couple of lashes with a hippopotamus tail. The chief of the area normally calls upon

PEOPLE PROFILE SUMMARY

14% Believe in the Virgin Mary as mediator between God and man

Status

Unevangelized  (Status of global evangelization)

One of the 100 least reached people groups of Southern Africa

More up to date info:

TAABWA [TAP] 
Ethnologue 14th Edition 
Alt. Name(s): (RUNGU, ICHITAABWA, TABWA) Northwestern Northern Province. Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, M, Bemba (M.40). Dialect: SHILA.. See main entry under DRC. 
Bible Translation Needs additions 
Definite translation need. 
ROPAL 
[TAP00] TAABWA (RUNGU; ICHITAABWA; TABWA).
250,000 in World.
Scripture translation: Definite need.
Translation: Yes; needed.
Survey Need: N.
Radio: N.
Bible: N.
NT: N.
OT: N.
Portions: N.
Selections: N.
Dialects:
[TAP01] SHILA.
IMB Status of Global Evangelization 
66,000 Zambia. 572,000 globally. Unevangelized People. 
Language Mapping Project 
TAP-ZMB Lat.: -8.910860 Lon.: 29.808490
Harvest Information System 
Tabwa, Rungu [ROP3:109677] (PIN / SIL)
Alternate names (source) 
Rungu (HIS/ISPD/PJ/JPL)
Taabwa (HIS/ISPD/PJ/JPL)
Population in Zambia (source)
66,000 (HIS)
79,660 (OW)
60,000 (AMO)
Religious Affiliation
Ancient Wisdom Family (AN): (AMO / WMC)
Christianity (CH): 43% Adherents, 9.8% Committed(AMO / WMC)
Traditional Religion (TR): (SIL)

Democratic Republic of Congo

TAABWA [TAP] 
Ethnologue 14th Edition 
Alt. Name(s): (RUNGU, ICHITAABWA, TABWA) 250,000 in DRC (1972 Barrett). Population total both countries 250,000 or more. Katanga Province, on Lake Tanganyika, south of Moba. Also spoken in Zambia. Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, M, Bemba (M.40). Dialect: SHILA.. Traditional religion, Christian, Muslim. 
Bible Translation Needs additions 
60% Traditional Religion, 39% Christian, 1% Muslim. Definite translation need. 
ROPAL 
[TAP00] TAABWA (RUNGU; ICHITAABWA; TABWA; ).
Hub country
250,000 in Democratic Republic of Congo.
250,000 in World.(250,000 or more.) 
Scripture translation: Definite need.
Translation: Yes; needed.
Survey Need: N.
Radio: N.
Bible: N.
NT: N.
OT: N.
Portions: N.
Selections: N.
Dialects:
[TAP01] SHILA.
IMB Status of Global Evangelization 
506,000 Congo (Zaire). 572,000 globally. Evangelized People (1999 update: ). 
Language Mapping Project 
TAP-COD Lat.: -6.848750 Lon.: 29.222390
Harvest Information System 
Peoples speaking TAABWA [ROL3: TAP] in Democratic Republic of Congo:
Tabwa, Taabwa [ROP3:109677] (PIN / SIL)
Alternate names (source) 
Rungu (HIS/ISPD/PJ/JPL)
Taabwa (HIS/ISPD/PJ/JPL)
Population in Democratic Republic of Congo (source)
250,000 (HIS)
594,940 (OW)
250,000 (PIN / SIL)
Religious Affiliation
Christianity (CH): 39% Adherents(4ROP3ROG3PeopCtry)
Islam (IS): 1% Adherents(SIL)
Traditional Religion (TR): 60% Adherents(SIL)
Gospel Recordings 
(not country specific)
KITABWA (Taabwa)
Status: Provisional
Priority: 1
Religion:
Countries: Congo (Kinshasa)
Recordings:
Content Time Program Tech.Stat. ContStatus
Messages 55 23 F 

 

Location:	Southeastern Congo (Zaire)
Population:	200,000
Language:	Kitabwa (Bantu)
Neighboring Peoples:	Luba, Bemba, Lunda
Types of Art:	Tabwa carvers produce many beautiful utilitarian objects such as combs, drums, and bellows, but also produce sculpted figures representing ancestors and twin figures. Although a few masks exist in collections, very little is known about them.
History:	The peoples who currently identify themselves as Tabwa were once a series of smaller villages with different histories. Tabwa identity today is largely an artifact of colonial administration. Most Tabwa migrated to this area from east central Africa looking for fertile land or to escape warfare. They settled along the shores of Lake Tanganyika and incorporated many of the customs they encountered from their new neighbors, the Luba, into their own way of life.
Economy:	Before colonial times, salt, iron, and smoked river fish were important items that could be traded on the regional markets. Cash crops, such as potatoes, wheat, and onions were produced for the colonial market. The 1970s brought about the collapse of the infrastructure of roads which had allowed the Tabwa to supply food to the copper mines throughout the region. Farmers grow cassava, beans, and maize for local consumption, and Tabwa fishermen compete with the industrial fishing companies on Lakes Tanganyika and Mweru, using traditional lines and nets. Hunting was at one time very important to the Tabwa, but as game resources decrease, there are fewer people who hunt as a way of life.
Political Systems:	In the past individual Tabwa villages often acted autonomously. The villages are headed by chiefs who inherit their positions matrilinearly, and who justify their power by tracing their descent back to the original founders of Tabwa society. This is often done through the collection and display of ancestor figures which represent the chief's familial lines. Within Tabwa communities, the chiefs symbolically represent the continuity of the universe, and at the same time illustrate the position of man within the universe. Leaders often wield staffs or batons which identify them as chiefs.
Religion:	The Tabwa have developed a system of religion honoring the ancestors. Similarly to the Luba, the Tabwa have utilized this system in a way which benefits the traditional leaders, who use the remembered power of their ancestors to explain their current power. Ancestors are embodied in figural sculptures known as mikisi, which are carved by religious specialists, anointed with clay, and given offerings of food during the new moon, a time which is of great importance to the Tabwa. The new moon is represented by the triangle in Tabwa iconography and symbolizes rebirth and the continuity of life.

The history of the Tabwa people, like their mythology, is closely linked to that of the Luba, their western neighbours.

Belgian Lieutenant Emile Storms led the fourth expedition of the International African Association, which brought back a rich collection of artifacts and animal specimens to the Tervuren Museum. Storms had frequent dealings with the regional chiefs Lusinga and Kasambala. The former had lived among the western Luba, and both men, like many chiefs in the region, were deeply influenced by the Luba's hierarchical political system. In December 1884, Storms brought back from the villages of these regional chiefs a representation of one ancestor and two ritual ancestral figures.

The realism with which Tabwa artists crafted their buffalo masks contrasts sharply with the imagination seen in Luba sculpture. Distinctly zoomorphic and masculine, the Tabwa buffalo masks, called kiyunde, have an exclusively anthropomorphic female pendant. Among the Tumbwe of the Kalemie region, buffalo masks of this type are still remembered in association with male initiation rites.

Female figure. Tabwa. East Shaba, Zaïre. Wood, fibre, bushbuck horn, resin, pigments.

TABWA

Location:

• In the Rep.Democratica of the Congo: In the Region of Shaba, next to the Tanganyika Lake, to the south of Moba
• In Zambia: In the north of the Province of the Northwest

Neighboring towns: Luba , Bemba , Lunda

History: The people who at the moment compose the Tabwa town come from diverse groups pertaining to different ethnic groups that they emigrated several centuries ago from the Eastern part of Central Africa, in search of fecund earth or to escape of the wars. They settled down throughout the borders of the Tanganyika Lake and adopted many of the customs that found in their new neighbors, the Luba. During the colonial time they constituted of the best allies of the colonial administration.

Economy: Before the colonial times, they were dedicated mainly to the commerce of the fishing that extraín of the lake and that once sold salty or smoky the fish, in all the markets of the region and, through the carabanas, in very distant markets of its territory. With the invasion of the European, they created two new sources of income: the agricultural product production like potatoes, wheat and onions for the colonial market, and the access to the mine set off by the European. The Seventies caused the collapse of the infrastructure of highways that had allowed the Tabwa town to provide nutritional products to the copper mines of the region, and the agriculture of yucca, string beans and maize was restricted for its local consumption. This situation caused the return to the fishing activity like important element of its economy and, today, their fishermen compete with the industrial companies of fishing of the Lakes Tanganyika and Mweru. Formerly, the hunting was an important activity, but with the diminution of the cinegetic resources, there are already few people who dedicate themselves to the hunting like life means.

Society : Each Tabwa population administers itself of independent form. The towns are headed by heads who accede to the power of hereditary way through the maternal line, justifying their power to be descending of the original founders of Tabwa society. The heads represent the continuity of the universe symbolically, and at the same time she illustrates the position of the people within the universe. The leaders often use canes that identify them like heads.

Religion: The Tabwa has developed a religion system that renders cultured to the ancestors. Like the Luba, the Tabwa has used east system like guarantee of continuity of the traditional leaders. The ancestors are represented by means of known clay sculptures like mikisi, to which becomes offerings of food during the New Moon, a time that is of great religious importance for the Tabwa. The new moon is represented by a triangle in the Tabwa iconography and symbolizes the Renaissance and the continuity of the life.

For more info on the "Tarbwa" people do a search with the name Tabwa at http://www.google.com/ 

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Last modified: February 01, 2002