The Ngendelengo are a minority ethnic group (3,000 members) who live in isolated mountainous areas of the Serra da Chela, in southwestern Angola. They are semi-nomadic subsistence herders, hunters and farmers.
Forest in Serra da Chela
Ecosystem and social organization of the Ngendelengo of Angola
Living in a forested environment has allowed them to develop a rudimentary charcoal business.
Ngendelengo people live under a clan-based tribal structure led by the eldest male.
Young Ngendelengo with traditional crest and machete
Art
Machetes are an essential part of their attire, which is complemented by large crests as a hairstyle for unmarried boys and multiple topknots for women. The rest of their traditional culture includes two-storey barns and bull worship rituals.
Girl carrying her doll on her back
The Ngendelengo are good wood craftsmen. Men make ritual dolls out of logs and women decorate them with fur, leather ribbons, and colored beads. Small ceremonial wooden totems are a characteristic element of Ngendelengo art as well as clay pipes.
Woman smoking her wooden and clay pipe
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Discover the culture of the Ngendelengo people on our upcoming trips to Angola. Click here to see our scheduled trips to Angola.
Architecture
The art of woodworking has its greatest example in architecture. These are houses on tree trunks embed into the ground with a room at the bottom for older generations and pregnant women, and a chamber-warehouse at the top for the younger ones.
Example of a Ngendelengo house
Aesthetics of the Ngendelengo of Angola
Ngendelengo people of Angola typically wear little clothing, and carry machetes or spears. Women wear a string around their breast, which is used as a bra. They smoke tobacco in wooden pipes.
Example of string around the breast as a bra
What is unique about Ngendelengo culture is the way women decorate their hairs with “geisha-style” top knots. This practice is most common in younger women with small children.
Young woman with traditional bows
Religion
The Ngendelengo of Angola have been not much affected by the Portuguese colonization and missionary activity, therefore, they still practice their African religion related to bull worship.
Protective amulet
Challenges of the Ngendelengo of Angola
Deforestation due to the charcoal business could represent a long-term problem. The Ngendelengo of Angola depend on the forest and its resources to survive. Another challenge is the arrival of farmers to their lands, in search of a better future. This migration could trigger conflicts. In addition, being a minority in the area, they run the risk of falling into inbreeding.
Discover the tribes of Angola with the book 'Last Tribes of Angola'
If you want to know more about the tribes of Angola, you have the book 'Last tribes of Angola' available for sale, the result of the joint work of the anthropologist Joan Riera and the ethno-photographer Aníbal Bueno. Written in both English and Spanish (bilingual edition), and enriched with a wealth of photographs, illustrations, and maps, the book is a unique visual guide to the most remote tribes of southwestern Angola. Click here if you are interested in buying it.
You can learn more about the Ngendelengo of Angola at www.101lasttribes.com.
© Photographs by Aníbal Bueno taken during a trip to Angola.
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