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whether colonialism and its abuses made the people more vulnerable and ultimately accepting of
Mobutu's corrupt and exploitative rule—whether, as journalist Michela Wrong writes, “a frighten-
ingly efficient kleptocratic system effectively softened up a community for a repeat performance.”
Thomas Turner, a professor of political science at the National University of Rwanda, refers
to “the myth of the yoke,” the Congolese's belief that their problems are the result of outsiders.
Whenever Albert, Sally, or Michael speak of working with the people of Kokolopori and of pro-
tecting forests, the question of distrust comes up often. The people are keenly aware of the value
of their land. I often heard numerous variations on the line, “The forest is our supermarket and
pharmacy.” It gives them cassava fields, vines to make ropes, wood and thatch to build houses; it
provides elements for every aspect of their lives, keeping fires burning when the long rains come.
It also provides bushmeat, their primary means of sustenance for thousands of years, an item to ex-
change and one used on many occasions, the social structure itself being traditionally built around
the hunt.
An understanding of all this is essential if conservationists intend to work well with the Con-
golese. They have to see the reactions and fears of the people through the lens of their history. In this
context, Albert was suited to formulate and achieve goals for both conservation and the commu-
nity. The Congo's history is not abstract, but an urgent, often devastating force, obliging the people
to find any possible way to survive. Every aspect of their environment has been crucial, and they
have had little reason to believe that outsiders would understand this and have their best interests in
mind. Only Albert could win their trust. They knew that he was a child of both the village and the
forest, and sensitive to their fear of exploitation.
The nation that Albert grew up in was fractured, uncertain of its identity and of how it would
function cohesively with self-rule. In May 1967, Mobutu announced the Manifesto of N'Sele,
which marked the beginning of le retour à l'authenticité , “the return to authenticity.” All Congolese
were to give up European ways. Men would replace their suits and ties with long, high-collared
jackets called abacosts , from à bas le costume , “down with the suit.” Women were to give up
miniskirts and dresses in favor of the pagne or wrap. Everyone was supposed to replace Christian
names with African ones, and priests were threatened with a five-year prison sentence if they broke
the new law when baptizing children.
In 1971, Mobutu changed the name of the country to the Republic of Zaire, from the Portuguese
rendering of the Kikongo word nzere or nzadi , said to mean “the river that swallows all rivers.”
He even renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga, which meant something
along the lines of “the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to
live, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake,” though the quick-witted Congolese
translated it as “the cock who leaves no hen intact.” With more mercy than his name suggested, he
went by Mobutu Sese Seko for short. This was also the time when Mobutism became the national
ideology, public discourse glorifying his acts and referring to him as “Founder-President,” “Guide
of the Revolution,” “Helmsman,” and “Messiah.”
Perhaps the only positive legacy of this period and its hardships was a shared sense of a Zairian
identity that, for the first time, unified a country artificially mapped out under colonial rule. The
Congo is composed of approximately 250 ethnic and linguistic groups divided among Catholics (50
percent), Protestants (20 percent), the indigenous Kimbanguist Church (10 percent), Muslims (10
percent), and indigenous belief systems (10 percent), though estimates for these groups vary and
the practice of traditional forms of African religion at times overlap with the aforementioned faiths.
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