The Holoholo also known as Kalanga (''Wakalanga'' in
Swahili) are a
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
ethnic group that inhabit the shores of central
lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
. The majority of them live near
Kalemie
Kalemie, formerly Albertville or Albertstad, is a town on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is next to the outflow of the Lukuga River from Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River.
History
From 18 ...
city on Lake Tanganyika in
Tanganyika Province
Tanganyika is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Tanganyika, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami and Lualaba provinces are the result of the splitting up of the former Katanga provinc ...
of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, and on the opposite shore of the lake in
Uvinza District of
Kigoma Region
Kigoma Region (''Mkoa wa Kigoma'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Kigoma. Kigoma Region borders Kagera Region, Geita Region, Katavi Region, Tabora Region, DRC and Burundi According ...
in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
.
Language
As of 2002, there were about 15,500 speakers of the
Holoholo language.
The name "Holoholo" was given to them by the Belgians. It comes from the sound of their greeting, which outsiders found comical. The alternative name "Kalanga" simply means people who were there before the current population.
History
The Holoholo are a
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
people.
They are descendants of
Baguha people who fled from the
Luba Empire
The Kingdom of Luba or Luba Empire (1585–1889) was a pre-colonial Central African state that arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Origins and foundation
Archaeologic ...
when it was expanding eastward in the 18th century, settling around
Kalemie
Kalemie, formerly Albertville or Albertstad, is a town on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is next to the outflow of the Lukuga River from Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River.
History
From 18 ...
where the
Lukuga River
The Lukuga River is a tributary of the Lualaba River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that drains Lake Tanganyika. It is unusual in that its flow varies not just seasonally but also due to longer term climate fluctuations.
Location
...
leaves the lake.
During the period of Luba dominance that followed the eastward expansion under Luba king
Ilunga Sungu around 1800, ''bambudye'' secret societies were introduced among the Holoholo and other peoples, propagating oral traditions of the Luba royal family.
The Holoholo adopted and adapted the Luba genesis myth, in which they believed there was a mountain called Ilunga Sungu on the west side of the Lualaba towards the Luba heartland,
This refers to the location of the court of Ilunga Sungu at
Katende.
The 1935 book ''Les peuplades du Congo belge'' shows the Holoholo living on both sides of the Lukuga.
They became middlemen in the Arab and African slave trade. With the suppression of this trade, the economy collapsed and disease and local warfare decimated the population. Today the economy is mostly agricultural-based on sorghum, maize, peanuts, and beans.
Fish are caught with nets, dried and sold locally, the main source of cash in the area. Sorghum is used to make beer.
The Holoholo who live in Tanzania around Kungwe Mountain has a tradition that their ancestors came from the Congo side by means of a long island that continued Kungwe Mountain into the lake.
The lake level is highly variable, so it is conceivable that they crossed at a time when it was much lower than today when part of the ridge separating the northern and southern basins of the lake would have been exposed.
Thousands of Holoholo had settled along the Tanganyikan side of the lake by 1915, having sailed over in canoes. A census in 1948 counted 4,410 Holoholo in Tanganyika.
In 1987 the Holoholo people had an estimated population of 12,500 in Tanzania. They traditionally lived in the
Mahale Mountains on the east shore of the lake opposite Kalemie. However, they were expelled from this area after 1979 to make way for the
Mahale Mountains National Park created in 1985.
References
Sources
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{{authority control
Bantu peoples
Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethnic groups in Tanzania
Lake Tanganyika
Kalemie
Tanganyika Province