According to Great Lakes region oral tradition, who were the first man and first woman ? Who were the first humans ? What are our origins and where do we come from ?

We found different stories about the first man of the first couple in the region, each one specific to each nation or community. Among the most famous, we can cite :

• The myth of the Ibimanuka among Rwandese people :

Kigwa is the son, born through miracle, of the King of the Sky Nkuba abd his wife Gasani. One day, the secret of his birth is exposed, Kigwa then decide to leave the Sky kingdom to establish himself on Earth. He left the Sky with his sister Nyampundu and his brother Mututsi. They land on Earth, in the region of Mubari, Eastern Rwanda, next to the Ikinani rock.

• The myth of Kintu & Nambi among the Baganda and Basoga of Uganda.

Nambi was the daughter of the King of the Sky Ggulu. One day, during a visit on Earth, she met Kintu, who was moving alone with his cow. She fell in love with him, and go back to the Sky to ask her father to marry him. His father agreed to his wish at the condition that Kintu succeed in a series of challenges that Ggulu set. Kintu will succeed the challenges easily. Once their marriage accomplished, Kintu and Nambi came back to Earth in Busoga (Eastern Uganda) to live there.

• The myth of Mundu and Sera among the Bagisu of Kenya/Uganda:

In the heavens, the Supreme Being Nyamuhanga created the first couple, Kisi and Nyabandhu. Kisi and Nyabandhu lived in the heavens, seated upon their thrones in a divine realm. They lived alongside the cow ‘Ente’ and the Great Drum ‘Risingi,’ which the cow carried between its horns.

One day, the cow dropped the Great Drum. Kisi and Nyabandhu, carried inside the Great Drum as though it were a canoe, fell all the way down to Earth. They eventually arrived at the foot of the Ruwenzori Mountains (in present-day Uganda). They settled there, joined together, and had many children who went on to populate the Earth

• The myth of the Great Drum among the Bayira of Eastern DRC :

Mundu and Sera lived in a cave at the top of Mount Masaba (also known as Mount Elgon, in Kenya). They lived by hunting and gathering. One day, they decided to leave their cave and set out to explore the world beyond the mountain. They would have many children, who would become the ancestors of the peoples of the region.

• The myth of Gikuyu and Mumbi among the Agikuyu of Kenya :

Gikuyu was the first man, created by the Supreme Being Murungu at the summit of Mount Kirinyaga (another name for Mount Kenya). Guided by Murungu, he descended from the mountain and encountered a young woman named Mumbi at the foot of a tree called Gikuyu. He married her, and from their union were born nine daughters, the ancestors of the Agikuyu clans.

Across all these myths, which are both distinct and remarkably similar, we find the following themes:

• An initial state of a peaceful but empty world, inhabited by animals and spirits.
• The descent of the first man (or first woman) from Heaven to Earth, or from the mountain down into the valley.
• The meeting of the man and woman on Earth, the interaction between the couple, and the first human social relationship.
• The emergence of the first elements of human society (rituals, practices, institutions, and knowledge).
• The first challenges and the first trials.
• The protection and guidance of Providence, ensuring the survival of the ancestral couple.

These oral traditions appear to resonate with recent genetic and archaeological research into human history. The “mitochondrial Eve” is thought to have lived approximately 200,000 years ago in the African Rift Valley and is considered the genetic mother of humanity. This is also the region from which some of the oldest human haplogroups can be traced (A, B, E, etc. in men, and L0, L1 in women).

Archaeology provides insight into the lives of early humans, with numerous fossils discovered throughout the region. Linguistics, meanwhile, shows that the Great Lakes region is a crossroads of Africa’s major language families: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic, as well as click languages such as Sandawe and Hadza.

Finally, it is important to note the region’s unique geography: a warm and humid climate moderated by altitude; highly diverse flora and fauna; lush forests; fertile volcanic soils; immense lakes and numerous rivers; all within an area relatively spared from major natural disasters. These conditions made it an ideal environment for the emergence of humanity.

A synthesis of oral traditions and our scientific knowledge could therefore give rise to the following reconstructed narrative:

Thousands of generations ago, “Muntu” and “Mumbi,” the first humans—the Abantu—lived in Kitara. The Earth was peaceful and empty. One day, Muntu descended from the summit of his mountain and settled in the valley below. There, he met Mumbi.

They spoke to one another: this was the first speech. They fell in love: this was the first couple. They had children: this was the first family. They began gathering, cultivating, creating, and learning: this was the beginning of the first human culture and the first human society.

They also faced their first challenges and endured their first trials: death, illness, hunger, suffering… Yet they always overcame these trials with the help of divine benevolence.

And so began the human adventure.