Chibinda Ilunga, the deified hunter-hero and founder of sacred kingship

Chibinda Ilunga (Tshibinda Ilunga) is the great civilizing hero and founder-ancestor of Lunda-Chokwe tradition. Oral history makes him a Luba hunter-prince, son of a Luba ruler, who left his homeland and travelled west to the Lunda court, where the princess Lweji, captivated by his hunting prowess and courtly bearing, married him and conferred upon him the royal authority she had inherited. Their union is remembered as the foundation of the Lunda dynasty of the Mwata Yamvo, from which the Chokwe derive their own chiefly line. Tradition credits Chibinda Ilunga with introducing the institution of sacred kingship and teaching the art of hunting, and he became the archetypal model of the Chokwe chief who secures the well-being of his people. His memory is honoured in the most prestigious genre of Chokwe figural sculpture, the standing hunter-chief, a subject first documented by Marie-Louise Bastin from an example collected about 1880. He is a historicised legendary figure, venerated as an ancestor rather than worshipped as a creator.

Domains

• hunting
• kingship and sovereignty

Powers

• to bestow the institution of sacred kingship upon the people
• to hunt with unmatched skill and teach the art of hunting

Epithets

• héros civilisateurMarie-Louise Bastin, Tshibinda Ilunga: héros civilisateur (Brussels, 1966). (secondary)

Relations

• spouse: Lweji, the Lunda ancestress-queen and consort of the hunter-heroChibinda Ilunga married the Lunda princess Lweji, who conferred on him the royal authority she had inherited; their union is remembered as the foundation of the Lunda (Mwata Yamvo) dynasty from which Chokwe chiefs trace descent.Jan Vansina, Kingdoms of the Savanna (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966). (secondary); Marie-Louise Bastin, Tshibinda Ilunga: héros civilisateur (Brussels, 1966). (secondary)

Sources

• Chibinda Ilunga is the Luba hunter-prince of Lunda-Chokwe oral tradition who married the princess Lweji and is venerated as the civilizing hero who founded sacred kingship and serves as the archetypal model of Chokwe chiefs.: Marie-Louise Bastin, 'Tshibinda Ilunga: A propos d'une statuette de chasseur ramenée par Otto H. Schütt en 1880,' Baessler-Archiv, n.F. 13 (1965): 501-537. (secondary); Jan Vansina, Kingdoms of the Savanna (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966). (secondary)