The myth of the big drum The myth of the Great Drum begins with the story of the couple and the human family. He says that: “Up there, on the hill of creation, higher than the clouds of
Rwenzori, God Nyamuhanga the Creator gave each creature a mission. The Ende (cow) carried between its horns a large Risingi (drum). God Nyamuhanga had placed two human beings there: Kisi the Great Sun and Nyabhandu, the mother of men. Each was seated in his royal E'ndeve (chair) and inhaled the scent of O'Bhukwa incense; to see each other in this darkness God Nyamuhanga had given Kisi and Nyabhandu an o'bhulhengekania (consciousness) and bio-efflorescent hair that shone like the firefly (e'ngununu). This great Drum was the land of great peace O'bhuthekane. One day, the cow wanted to relieve herself. She looked down and dropped the great Drum. She ran to God Nyamuhanga to be forgiven for losing her royal office. God Nyamuhanga sent him to reconcile with those who were seated in the great Drum which became a canoe when it crashed on Lake Mutsyamiria (
Lake Edward today). While the great Drum swooped down, Kisi the Great Sun jostled Nyabhandu the mother of men. This one emitted the first word of the men which is a questioning: “what are you doing Ukayira uthi? Hence the ethnonym Yira given to the Nande to designate the people of those who were born after the first word of our Ancestors Nyabhandu and Kisi. The village they founded is called Bhuhikira, the place where they landed; the child born there is called Mukira, the ancestor of the Bakira clan; they had many children, who are the founding Ancestors of all the YIRA
clans with all its ramifications”.
Crossing on the Dragon's Back (Omughongo we ndioka) Thus, according to the mythology transmitted from father to son, the nande crossed the
Semliki river, on the back of the dragon to reach the other bank in the
Congo. To tell the truth, the passage was made at the ford of Kapanza. At times of drought, the stones emerge from the water so that one can easily cross the river. It is these stone points that have been compared to the scaly back of the dragon that the narrative tradition conveys from father to son as a mythology, with an underlying religious idea. This mysterious crossing was made possible thanks to the intervention of the spirit Katulikanzira, who preceded the convoy of immigrants and settled them in the place of his choice. Nevertheless, during the crossing, part of the Nande remained in
Uganda on the east coast of the
Ruwenzori mountains and the
Semliki river which separate the
Congo from
Uganda. These are currently called
Konzo. They were geographically and administratively separated from their Nande brothers during the
division of Africa between the great European powers in 1885. They keep, however, the same habits and customs as the Nande apart from the linguistic nuances in
Lhukonzo. === The cosmogonic myth of
Ruwenzori === The Yira tradition relates that one day on the hill of creation, the Creator God O'Muhangitshi answered the prayer of the Nande who were threatened with famine due to a very incendiary drought. He summoned all the heavenly Bhalhimu deities found in the world to protect him. He ordered them to transport the
Ruwenzori mountain to plant it in the middle of the Nande country which was terribly short of water. Hangi the Spirit of Providence and Luck was in the front row followed by Mbolu the protector of female youth and Lusenge the protector of male youth. The Kapipi Spirit, the Master of the forest and of the initiation to wisdom, was in the last row surrounded by his pack of seventy-seven sacred dogs of the hunt. The convoy also included all the goddesses in charge of gifts to be offered as gifts to God Nyamuhanga the Supreme Being as soon as they arrived in the land of the Nande. As the Providence Hangi was walking very fast, the Spirit Muhima the Great Celestial Seer, claimed that he alone carried the
Ruwenzori Mountain. The other deities got angry and let go of the
Ruwenzori mountain to make the Great Seer Muhima understand that he alone was unable to accomplish this heavy task of transporting a mountain. To calm their anger, the Spirit of Providence Hangi caused rain to fall on the whole country where the drought was raging. He reconciled all the members of the procession by inviting them to dialogue where everyone was given the floor by the Spirit Mulhekya the Peacemaker, happy to have been refreshed by the celestial shower. When it was the turn of the animals to speak, the smallest of the dogs of the last pack of the deity Kapipi addressed this famous word to the Great Seer Muhima: "you have to know how to count on others". This is why the
Ruwenzori massif is still where the gods left it. He has not moved, he continues to make the fresh water of Providence Hangi flow there. This is the reason why all the rites of reconciliation between the clans begin with the gestures of sprinkling the shoulders and ablution of the feet and the hand with water drawn from the
Ruwenzori glacier or Tsithwa -tsya-Nzururu which means the big hill with eternal snow in the local language Kinande. == Proverbs ==