The Kuba, also called Bakuba, are a union of more than twenty ethnic groups Bantu-speaking in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), living between the Kasai and Sankuru rivers east of their confluence.
Together these ethnic groups are known as the Kuba. This name was given to them by their southern neighbors, the Luba, and has been used since by Europeans. Traditionally, members of the Kuba Kingdom had no single ñame for themselves or their kingdom, but called themselves the "people of the king."
The many ethnic groups that make up the Kuba share some cultural values that set them apart from other neighboring peoples. For example, they all trace family relationships through the mother's side rather than the father's. A Kuba boy is considered to be more closely related to his mother's brother than to his own father. Traditionally, he lives with his mother and father until his father's death. Then he joins the village of his mother's brother.
But there are many differences between the various Kuba groups. In the past each Kuba group existed as a separate people. The dominant ethnic group in the región was the Bushongo.
Photo © Jordi Zaragozà Anglès