Country: Angola

Group: Ovimbundu / Umbundu

Date Finalized: September 22, 2022

Team: Erin Fagan (lead), Hannah Lux

Content Warning: Lethal Violence, Ethnic Cleansing

Approximate Time Period: 20th Century

The Ovimbundu/Umbundu group reside in the central highlands of Angola and were mostly autonomous until the 19th century. In the 19th century while the Portuguese took over many ethnic groups in other areas of the country, the Ovimbundu maintained their autonomy and were slave traders in the trans atlantic slave trade (U.S Library of Congress, 1991). After their role in the slave trade, other ethnic groups were integrated into the Ovimbundu culture (SAHA, 2017). Eventually during the late 19th and early 20th century, the Portuguese colonized the Ovimbundu kingdoms. There is inherent lethal violence in these conquests. As of the 20th century, the Ovimbundu people are localized to urban areas of the country. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) was made up of mostly Ovimbundu people, while the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) had opposing views. The Angolan Civil war was a product of conflict between these political parties (SAHO, 2017). In 1992 during the “Three Day War”, there was an estimate of 10,000 bodies found, many of which were Ovimbundu. There was also a period of ethnic cleansing in which military and national police massacred between 4000-6000 civilians, including Ovimbundu civilians; this event is known as “Bloody Friday” (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2004).

Data Quality: Data quality for the lethal violence against the Ovimbundu people in Angola is rated a 2 out of 3 as there are multiple sources, but none of them have a large amount of information about the Ovimbundu population specifically.

Sources

  1. SAHO. (2017). Angola. Angola | South African History Online. Retrieved September 2022, from https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/angola
  2. U.S Library of Congress. (1991). Ovimbundu. Angola – Ovimbundu. Retrieved September 2022, from http://countrystudies.us/angola/59.htm
  3. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2004). The leader in Refugee Decision Support. Refworld. Retrieved September 2022, from https://www.refworld.org/docid/469f384c.html
  4. Minority Rights Group. (2021, January 20). Ovimbundu. Retrieved September 2022, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/ovimbundu/