The Zappo Zaps were a group of
Songye people
The Songye people, sometimes written Songe, are a Bantu ethnic group from the central Democratic Republic of the Congo. They speak the Songe language. They inhabit a vast territory between the Sankuru/Lulibash river in the west and the Lualaba ...
from the eastern
Kasaï region
The Kasaï region (also referred to as the Greater Kasaï region, Greater Kasaï, Grand Kasaï, or simply Kasaï) is a geographic and cultural region in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a single province, it now comprises the ...
in what today is the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
. They acted as allies of the
Congo Free State
The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...
authorities, while trading in ivory, rubber and slaves.
In 1899 they were sent out by the colonial administration to collect taxes. They massacred many villagers, causing an international outcry.
Traditional lifestyle and customs
According to the missionary
William Henry Sheppard
William Henry Sheppard (March 8, 1865 – November 25, 1927) was one of the earliest African Americans to become a missionary for the Presbyterian Church. He spent 20 years in Africa, primarily in and around the Congo Free State, and is best know ...
, the Zappo Zap people all had tattooed faces and had
filed their teeth to sharp points. They dressed only in two minute pieces of palm fiber cloth.
They were armed with long spears and with poisonous steel arrows. Their iron weapons gave them an advantage in warfare, and when armed with guns the advantage was decisive. They also used
battle axe
A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were designed differently to utility axes, with blades more akin to cleavers than to wood axes. Many were suitable for use in one ha ...
s known as ''
Nzappa zap'' or ''zappozap'', which gave them their name.
The Zappo Zaps worked as mercenaries for whoever was in power. They had been engaged in slave raiding long before the Europeans arrived, burning villages, partly eating the bodies of the killed and selling hundreds of
slaves
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
to
Swahili
Swahili may refer to:
* Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes.
* Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa.
* Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...
-
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
traders each year in exchange for guns, ammunition and other manufactured goods.
Like the Songye in general, the Zappo Zaps did not restrict their
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
to ceremonial occasions, as did some other cultures. Instead they ate human flesh because of its taste, considering it a delicacy. In addition to eating those they had killed in fights, they often slaughtered and consumed some of the slaves they had captured. Commercially they did not suffer much because of this custom since the local value of a slave was less than that of a pig. Except after fights or raids, when there were more bodies than could be eaten, nothing was wasted, and all edible parts of the human body were wholly consumed, including the brain and eyeballs. The meat was roasted, or fried like bacon.
In the Kasaï region, the Songye, and especially the Zappo Zaps, were widely admired for their power, which allowed them to both capture and consume considerable numbers of slaves. Since cannibalism was widespread in the region, and slaves were frequently purchased for the table, early European settlers noted that the usual prices of slaves offered by the Zappo Zaps and other local sellers were "determined by the amount of meat" on a person's body. A six-year-old girl could be bought for the price of a
dwarf goat, while up to four goats were charged for big, fat men. "If there is as much to eat on a man as on three goats, he brings the price of three goats", a settler told the missionary
Samuel Lapsley
Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venerated a ...
.
European contacts

In March 1883
Hermann Wissmann
Hermann Wilhelm Leopold Ludwig Wissmann, after 1890 Hermann von Wissmann (4 September 1853 – 15 June 1905), was a German explorer and administrator in Africa.
Biography
Born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Wissmann was enlisted in the Prussian Arm ...
, the first European traveller in the region, gave the name "Zappo Zap" to a leader known as Nsapu Nsapu who ruled over the town of Mpengie, part of the Ben'Eki kingdom.
This was a settlement with more than a thousand people, many of them slave warriors, to the east of the
Sankuru River
The Sankuru River () is a major river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its approximate length of 1,200 km"Sankuru River" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 10, p. ...
between
Kabinda
Kabinda is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Projected to be the second fastest growing African continent city between 2020 and 2025, with a 6.37% growt ...
and
Lusambo
Lusambo () is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Sankuru province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies north of the confluence of the Sankuru River and the Lubi River. Lusambo is served by Lusambo Airp ...
.
The group were thriving through slave raiding and trading with caravans from the Arab and Swahili towns on the
Lualaba River
The Lualaba River (, , ) flows entirely within the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the River source, source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi River, Chambeshi ...
to the east and from
Bihe in Angola to the southwest.
In 1883 Zappo Zap felt strong enough to challenge the king of the Ben'Eki, leading to a civil war that drew in all the slavers of the region. In 1886, he was forced to retreat to a location near
Lusambo
Lusambo () is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Sankuru province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies north of the confluence of the Sankuru River and the Lubi River. Lusambo is served by Lusambo Airp ...
, where he built an impressive station. In 1887 he lost a battle on the right bank of the Sankuru and was forced to cross the river with his 3,000 followers. He met the Congo Free State commander
Paul Le Marinel
Paul-Amédée Le Marinel (1858–1912) was an American-born officer in the Belgian army who became an explorer and administrator in the Congo Free State. He was best known for his expedition to Katanga in 1891.
Early years
Paul-Amédée Le Marine ...
near Lusambo, with Chief
Mukenge Kalamba of the
Lulua, both retreating westward from the Lualaba.
When Herman Wissman met Zappo Zap in 1887 he was dressed with a turban, shirt and pants in the Arab fashion. The missionary Lapsley, who met Zappo Zap's son later, said he had a cloth tied about his head and was clothed from shoulder to knee. Lapsley gave Zappo Zap a gift of brass wire and cloth, and received some young slaves in return. Lapsley appreciated the gift, later releasing the slaves and educating them at the
Luebo
Luebo or Lwebo is a town (officially a Communes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, commune) of Kasai Province in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also the seat of the Luebo Territory, territory of the same name. As of 2 ...
mission.
Zappo Zap died in 1888 and was succeeded by his son, who also came to be known as Zappo Zap, and who moved with all his people to settle near the
Luluabourg post in 1889.
The second Zappo Zap died in 1894. His brother succeeded him and took the name Zappo Zap, which had become the title of the leader of the Zappo Zap people.
In some ways, the Zappo Zaps seemed civilized to the missionaries.
They wore Western-style clothing, lived in square houses and could speak both English and French.
On the other hand, with their plucked eyebrows and eyelashes, filed teeth and traditions of slaving and cannibalism they were stereotypes of the Western view of African savages.
Lapsley said the Zappo Zaps were "magnificent men and handsome women, and carry themselves quite as an aristocracy". However, he was disturbed by the way in which small girls danced lasciviously in imitation of older women.
Colonial allies
The Zappo Zap settlement near Luluabourg prospered and the Zappo Zaps became the main allies of King Leopold's forces in Kasai. In 1890 they helped drive Kalamba away from Luluabourg, in 1891 they defeated two Angolan caravans that threatened the post from the south and in April 1895 they again repelled Kalamba from the post. In July 1895 they helped put down a rebellion by the Luluabourg garrison.
The Zappo Zaps provided mistresses to most of the Europeans, gaining further influence in the process.
They became the owners of large commercial plantations operated by slave labour and engaged in the slave trade to a small extent, which the authorities chose to ignore, but their main commercial activity was the ivory and rubber trade, bringing their goods to the trading centers at Lusambo,
Luebo
Luebo or Lwebo is a town (officially a Communes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, commune) of Kasai Province in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also the seat of the Luebo Territory, territory of the same name. As of 2 ...
and
Bena Makima. Even in the employ of the state, they continued their cannibal customs, "raping and eating" the inhabitants of villages that failed to deliver the large amounts of rubber demanded as taxes.
Kuba massacre
In 1899 the commander of Luluabourg, Dufour, decided to demand rubber from the people of the
Kuba Kingdom
The Kuba Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Bakuba or Bushongo, is a traditional kingdom in Central Africa. The Kuba Kingdom flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries in the region bordered by the Sankuru River, Sankuru, Lulua Rive ...
in payment of taxes. He asked Zappo Zap to provide the force needed. Zappo Zap delegated the job to his ally Mulumba (or M'lumba) Nkusu.
About 500 warriors armed with guns went to the
Pyang region of the Kuba Kingdom where they built a stockade. They summoned the local chiefs and demanded sixty slaves as well as herds of goats, baskets of food and 2,500 balls of rubber. When the chiefs refused to pay this huge tribute the stockade gate was closed and the chiefs were massacred. The Zappo Zaps then killed, looted and burned villages throughout the Pyang country. At least fourteen villages were destroyed, and many people fled to the bush in the middle of the rainy season.

The Reverend
William Henry Sheppard
William Henry Sheppard (March 8, 1865 – November 25, 1927) was one of the earliest African Americans to become a missionary for the Presbyterian Church. He spent 20 years in Africa, primarily in and around the Congo Free State, and is best know ...
was sent from the Southern Presbyterian mission at Luebo to investigate. Sheppard's journal of 14–15 September 1899 describes how he pretended to be friendly and through asking casual questions of Mulumba Nkusu, whom he knew, obtained the story of what had happened and was shown the remains.
Walking through the camp with Mulumba, Sheppard saw evidence of cannibalism. There were more than forty corpses, some hanging from trees, others lying on the ground. Many of the bodies had been partially or completely defleshed. Three naked corpses had been completely stripped of flesh from the waist down, and all the flesh had been removed from the arms and legs of a dead woman. Asked what had become of the flesh, Mulumba unhesitatingly replied that it had been eaten. He added that there had been more dead enemies, but the bones of those eaten completely had already been discarded.
Sheppard counted eighty-one right hands that had been cut off and were being dried before being taken to show the state officers what the Zappo Zaps had achieved. He also saw sixty women confined in a pen, being kept as hostages and as
sex slaves
Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor that results in sexual ...
. Sheppard used a camera to take pictures of a trio of young men and one of the captive women.
The missionaries protested, and to their surprise the Free State officials responded, ordering the release of the women prisoners and the arrest of Mulumba. Mulumba was puzzled at being arrested, saying he had only done what was asked of him.
In January 1900 a member of the Executive Committee for Foreign Missions acknowledged receiving reports and letters about the Zappo Zap atrocities from the missionaries, but reminded the mission of "the necessity of the utmost caution, in making representations regarding these matters to those in authority, or in publishing them to the world, to observe all proper deference to 'the powers that be,' and to avoid anything that might give any color to a charge of doing or saying things inconsistent with its purely spiritual and non-political character".
However, in January 1900, the ''New York Times'' published a report giving Sheppard's findings. It detailed the atrocities in the
Bena Kamba country and said that the Zappo Zaps were acting for the
Congo Free State
The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...
.
It went on "They are sent out to collect rubber, ivory, slaves and goats as tribute from the people, and can then plunder, burn and kill for their own amusement and gain".
The massacre caused an uproar against Dufour and the Congo Free State.
When
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
published his ''
King Leopold's Soliloquy
''King Leopold's Soliloquy'' is a 1905 pamphlet by American author Mark Twain. Its subject is Leopold II's rule over the Congo Free State. A work of political satire harshly condemnatory of his actions, it ostensibly recounts a fictional monolog ...
'' five years later, he mentioned Sheppard by name and referred to his account of the massacre.
Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
mentioned the Zappo Zaps in his 1909 book ''
The Crime of the Congo'', but said they were forced to extract rubber for King Leopold's forces or they would in turn suffer punishment.
Despite the help the Zappo Zaps had given, it was not until 1910 that Leopold's successors, the colonial authorities of the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...
, had brought the Kuba Kingdom under control and established a state post in the royal capital.
The state stopped using the Zappo Zaps as auxiliaries and they lost their special position, particularly after the Belgian state took over the colony in 1908.
The Songye today are known for metallic decoration on wooden statuary. The Zappo Zaps are considered to be the most skillful smiths of the Songye, the most skillful in the DRC and perhaps in Africa.
References
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Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cannibalism in Africa
Belgian Congo
Perpetrators of atrocities in the Congo Free State