Kongo culture

Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, music, and spirituality.

Gumbo () is a stew that is popular among the U.S. Gulf Coast community, the New Orleans stew variation being the official state cuisine of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or sometimes both), a thickener, and the Creole "holy trinity": celery, bell peppers, and onions. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used, whether okra or filé powder (dried and ground sassafras leaves). Gumbo can be made with or without okra or filé powder.

pagan water spirit

traditional medical practices in Africa

group of closely related religions or denominations

thumb|Power Figure: Male (Nkisi). Created circa 1800-1950, DRC, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 ' or ' (plural varies: , , , or ) are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa, especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to contain spiritual powers or spirits. The term and its concept have passed with the Atlantic slave trade to the Americas.

Nkondi (plural varies minkondi, zinkondi, or ninkondi) are mystical statuettes made by the Kongo people of the Congo region. Nkondi are a subclass of minkisi that are considered aggressive.

Kikongo term for high creator god

traditional beliefs from the KiKongo speaking peoples

Calinda (also spelled kalinda or kalenda) is a martial art, as well as a kind of folk music and war dance in the Caribbean which arose in the 1720s. It was brought to the Caribbean by Africans In the transatlantic slave trade and is based on native African combat dances.

thumbnail|Nganga mask, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum A nganga (pl. banganga or kimbanda) is a spiritual healer, diviner, and ritual specialist in traditional Kongo religion. These experts also exist across the African diaspora in countries where Kongo and Mbundu people were transported during the Atlantic slave trade, such as Brazil, the southern United States, Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba.

A Simbi (also spelled Cymbee and '''Sim'bi, pl. Bisimbi or Basimbi''') is a Central African guardian spirit of the water and nature in traditional Bakongo religion, as well as in African diaspora spiritual traditions, such as Hoodoo in the southern United States and Palo in Cuba. Simbi have been historically identified as water people, or mermaids, pottery, snakes, gourds, and fire. Due to the forced removal of Bantu peoples from Africa to the Americas, the veneration of simbi exists today in countries, such as the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti.

Kumina is a branch of the Myal religion, dance and music form. Kumina has practices that include secular ceremonies, dance and music that developed from the beliefs and traditions brought to the island by Kongo enslaved people and indentured labourers, from the Congo region of West Central Africa, during the post-emancipation era. It is mostly associated with eastern Jamaica particularly the parish of St. Thomas Portland, St. Mary and St. Catherine, and the city of Kingston.

mother and child sculptures

Nyambe is the name used in various Bantu-speaking cultures to refer to the Supreme Being, the Creator of the universe, the Sky Father, god of the Sun and the source of all life. He is often described as all-powerful, all-knowing, and above all.

fabrics from the fronds of the raffia palm leaves

dance