The Bakongo people were people of the Kongo empire. They were located in modern Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They migrated there during the 13th century under the leadership of Wene. In 1485, they began a relationship with Portugal, but in 1526, they expelled the Portuguese. Soon after they were attacked by another tribe named Jagar, so they asked the Portuguese for help. After that, the Kongo empire spent a lot of their time fighting for and against the Portugese (). Before colonization, the Kongo empire spoke their own language and practice their own religion, until 1885, when the Belgians successfully changed the religious belief of the natives, but allowed the natives to keep their major language. When the Belgians colonized Belgian Congo in 1885 they successful changed the beliefs of the Bakongo tribe. Before the Belgians colonized Belgian Congo, the Bakongo, native people in that area, believed in their own monotheistic religion. They believed in a god named Nzambi, whose only living …show more content…
When the Belgians came to the Kongo empire the Bakongo people believed in a god named Nzambi. Soon after, European religious missionary groups came to the newly founded Belgian Congo and successfully converted many of the natives. A 2011 census shows that about 80% of people living in the DRC are some form of Christian. The main language spoke in the Kongo empire was Kikongo. It is now one of the four national languages of the DRC. Therefore, it must have remained during the Belgian Congo era because languages typically don’t die out then get revived. The Bakongo people’s indigenous language, Kikongo, was able to remain through imperialism and independence, although their native religion couldn’t survive