Mbuti (Bambuti) mythology is the

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

of the African

Mbuti The Mbuti people, or Bambuti, are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages are Central Sudanic languages and Bantu languages. Subgroups Bambuti are pygmy hunter-gatherers, and are one of the old ...

(also known as Bambuti) Pygmies of Congo. The most important god of the Bambuti pantheon is

Khonvoum Khonvoum is the supreme god and creator in the mythology of the Bambuti Pygmy people of central Africa. He is the "great hunter", god of the hunt, and carries a bow made of two snakes which appears to mortals as a rainbow. He rules the heavens and ...

(also Khonuum, Kmvoum, Chorum), a god of the hunt who wields a bow made from two

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

s that together appear to

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

s as a

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

. After sunset every day, Khonvoum gathers fragments of the stars and throws them into the sun to revitalize it for the next day. He occasionally contacts mortals through Gor (a thunder god who is also an elephant) or a chameleon (similar to the divine messenger used by Orish-nla of

Yoruba mythology The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitu ...

). Khonvoum created mankind from

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

. Black people were made from black clay, white people came from white clay, and the Pygmies themselves came from red clay. He also creates the animals that are needed by hunters.

Arebati Arebati is known as the god of creation or supreme god in the mythology of the Efé people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The deity is also worshipped by the Mbuti people, but under a different name, which is Baatsi. In other African Pyg ...

is a

lunar deity A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be found ...

and Sky Father. In some sources, he was said to have created humanity from clay, instead of Khonvoum. Tore is a god of the

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s who supplies animals to hunters. He is also a thunder god who appears as a storm and hides in

s. Most importantly, Tore appears as a leopard in the initiation rites. The first Pygmies stole fire from Tore; he chased them but could not catch them, and when he returned home, his mother had died. As punishment, he decreed that humans would also die, and he thus became the death god. Negoogunogumbar is a child-eating

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

. Obrigwabibikwa is a dwarf who can change himself into a reptile. A Mbuti

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

is called a megbe. When a man dies, his son places his mouth over his to draw in part of the ''megbe''. Another part inhabits the man's totem animal. If the son does not inhale the megbe or the totem animal is later killed, it may escape into the forest, where it becomes a semi-visible being called a Lodi and lives forever with others like it."Children of the Forest: Africa’s Mbuti Pygmies", page 120, by Kevin Duffy
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References

External links

African Pygmies
Culture and mythology of Pygmies, with photos and ethnographic notes

Pygmy mythology {{africa-myth-stub