The congada is formed by groups called ternos, guardas or companhias, composed predominantly of Blacks.[1] Renata Nogueira da Silva, in her research of congada in the city of Uberlândia in Minas Gerais, states that the congada is a hybrid ritual, which combines the coronation of Black kings, an African cultural tradition, and the cult of Catholic saints, usually Nossa Senhora do Rosário and São Benedito.[2] This mixed expression represents the syncretism of African and Catholic traditions, a consequence of the slave trade in Brazil during the first three centuries of Portuguese colonization. The author also points out that the cult of Catholic saints was a way for enslaved people to use the public and legitimate space of the church for the organization of brotherhoods, with the coronation of Black kings representing the traditions and recreation of community ties destroyed by trafficking and slavery.[3]

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The congada is structured around a myth that accounts for the rescue of an image of Nossa Senhora do Rosário by Black slaves. Glaura Lucas, a researcher who analyzes the musical traditions of the brotherhoods of Contagem and Jatobá in the state of Minas Gerais, summarizes the founding myth:

 

According to its most current version in these Brotherhoods, briefly narrated here, an image of the saint would have appeared in the sea, and, after the frustrated attempt of the whites to remove it with prayers and music bands, the Blacks obtained permission to honor her. First, a group from Congo, formed by the youngest, goes to the beach and dances and sings to the saint, motivated by faster rhythms, causing a slight movement in the image. Then Moçambique, with older Blacks, approaches, playing the Candombes with their slower rhythms and, slowly, attracts the saint to the beach. She then sits on the 3rd largest drum (rum) and is led to the little chapel they built to house her. [4]

 

It is also essential to investigate the first contacts between Portugal and the different kingdoms of West and Central-West Africa to better comprehend the rites that entangle the congada. The historian Marina de Mello e Souza, in her research of the tradition of the coronation of kings of Congo, indicates that these contacts took place during the Portuguese navigation in the Atlantic in 1489. She explains that the Portuguese search for precious metals opened new navigation routes, propelling the spread of the Christian faith to African countries and the consequent use of Christianity as an instrument of power and domination. This process was particularly successful in the Kingdom of Congo, when the Mani Congo king, willing to embrace the Christian religion, sent an embassy to Portugal, formalizing his interest in converting to Christianity and asking the Portuguese king to send clerics to instruct him in the new belief.[5] The Congolese empire's expansion in Africa in the following century strengthened Portugal's power in the region, supported by the influence of the Christian religion and its acceptance by the ruling elite of the dominated countries. In this context, the meeting of African and Iberian cultures propitiated the syncretism of elements of both cultures into a new expression, in which the religious symbols gained new meanings.

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Congada has its regional characteristics in Brazil, acquired through unique social processes in each region. However, many characteristics remain common to all cultural groups. In most regions, there is a royal court, which in general has a name that denotes African kingdoms such as Congo or Moçambique. In addition, the festivities are held annually, usually on the day of their patron saints. Clothing is also part of the events, varying in color and accessories, having a vital importance in visually defining the place of each participant in the structure of the event. Dance and music are vital parts of the culture divided into three aspects: coronation, processions and warrior dances, and this is an essential element that depicts and differentiates each segment of the festivities.[6]

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Notes:

 

[1] Renata Nogueira da Silva, “A festa da Congada: a tradição ressignificada” (paper presented at the 26ª Reunião Brasileira de Antropologia, 2008), 2.

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[2] Ibid., 2.

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[3] Ibid.

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[4] Glaura Lucas, Review of Os Sons do Rosário: Um Estudo Etnomusicológico do Congado Mineiro - Arturos e Jatobá, by Glaura Lucas (PhD diss., Universidade de São Paulo, 1999), 3.

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[5] Marina de Mello e Souza, Reis Negros no Brasil escravista: história da festa de coroação do Rei Congo (Belo Horizone: Editora UFMG, 2014), 51-62.

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[6] Carolina Carteli da Silva, “Festa ou devoção? Heranças imateriais da Congada em diferentes regiões do Brasil” (Bachelor’s thesis, Univerisdade Federal do Paraná, 2012), 30.