Kinga people

The Kinga are an ethnic and linguistic group from Njombe Region, Tanzania, in the great Kipengere Range (formerly known as Livingstone Mountains) northeast of Lake Malawi. In 2003 the Kinga population was estimated to number 140,000.

Background

The Kinga were primarily agriculturists with millet, beans, some bananas, cultivating bamboo for a strong good beer, and finally in 1905, growing wheat and potatoes. They inhabited the Livingstone Mountains to a height of 10,000 feet and maintained a moderate amount of cattle but mostly sheep and goats. Even though related, the Nyakyusa neighbors considered the Kinga to be distinct and different. According to them the Kinga were dirty, fawning, and submissive in their habits and manners, (not a marriage prospect but good enough to fight with in the Konde Revolt against the Germans), but were eager to acquire Kinga implements in exchange for food.

Metalwork

The Nyakyusa considered iron a scarce and precious commodity normally needing the secret skills of the Kinga smiths. With the invasion of the Ngoni the Nyakyusa found their wood-tipped spears to be ineffective against tough shields and went to the Kinga for well-made iron-tipped spears. Iron, melting at about 2,804 °F, was heated to about 2,200 °F and then layered in charcoal until the slag drained off. The remainder was a solid spongy mass called bloom, which was then reheated and hammered in a forge with no guarantee of success. Each operation required the building of a new furnace with demands on charcoal, labor, and skills. The production of only three hoes or spears may have needed a ton of charcoal and a long apprenticeship. It also required a vast amount of wood. The Nyakyusa contributed by making the shields.