Daily Activities and Social Association of the Bongando in Central Zaire

Abstract

Daily activities and association patterns of the Bongando, a Bantu speaking people in central Zaire, were studied, using a systematic "self-focal sampling" method. The time spent on the subsistence activities was unexpectedly short, whereas leisure time was abundant. The Bongando are engaged more frequently in non-agricultural activities such as hunting, fishing, and gathering than in agriculture. So they can be described as a "multi-subsistence people" rather than just "farmers." Men tended to concentrate their work on one activity at a time, and women tended to perform two or more activities simultaneously. In the social associations, men and wome rarely associated with each other. Men associated infrequently but evenly with many persons, while women associated more frequently but with only a few specific persons. Although the Bongando have a patrilineal lineage system, they do not clearly segregate the members of their own lineage from the non-members in the association behavior. In daliy life, they do not need to rely on the lineage coalition, probably because their subsistence activities tend to be conducted individually.