Bandi in Guinea

Introduction / History

The Bandi, or Gbandi, are located in the forest region of southern Guinea, between Liberia and Ivory Coast. They live just south of the Kissi people, and the two tribes have similar lifestyles. The Bandi speak Bandi, a Mandingo language that belongs to the Niger-Congo language family.

The Bandi are a hardworking people, and it is important for them to do what they believe is right. They follow the customs and traditions established by their ancestors long ago.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Like most of the tribes in this part of Africa, the Bandi are primarily farmers. They grow rice, their staple crop, both in the swamps and on hillsides. A plot of land can only be used for one or two years before it must be left fallow to restore the soil's nutrients. This means that every year or so a farmer and his family must move and begin cultivating a new plot of land. Besides rice, the Bandi also raise corn, bananas, beans, potatoes, peppers, cotton and tomatoes. Most families also have small house gardens, which provide them with fruits and nuts.

The Bandi men are responsible for clearing the land and planting the crops, while the women harvest the crops and do other jobs like weeding and hoeing. Both men and women fish, usually with nets, and women trade in the local markets. Boys tend to the family's cattle, goats and sheep. The cows are not milked and are sometimes used as sacrifices.

Among the Bandi, girls are usually betrothed for marriage during infancy. Before the wedding takes place, a man is required to pay a bride price to the girl's parents. Men sometimes have more than one wife, and a widow usually marries her brother-in-law.

Bandi villages are small and compact and are generally tucked inside groves of trees. The people live in round houses that are usually raised slightly above the ground. Most of the homes are built with mud walls, cone-shaped thatch roofs, and verandahs. In the center of each village is a square. The village headman and his family live in the square in a family compound. The headman offers sacrifices to ancestral spirits and acts as a judge over the village.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Like many other tribes in the forest region, most of the Bandi practice traditional ethnic religions. They are primarily animists, believing that non-living objects have spirits. The Bandi also worship ancestral spirits. They believe that when a family member dies, his spirit remains, acting as a mediator between the family and the creator god. The village headman regularly makes sacrifices to the spirits on behalf of the villagers.

Many of the Bandi fear the witches and sorcerers who live among them and practice witchcraft. The villagers often wear charms and carry medicines to ward off the evil that the witches may bring to the tribe.

What Are Their Needs?

Though some of the Bandi have heard the gospel and a small percentage have accepted Christ, there has been little impact on the Bandi tribe as a whole.

Prayer Points

Pray that gospel broadcasts and evangelistic literature will become widely available in the Bandi language.
Ask God to give Bandi believers opportunities to disciple others in the ways of Christ.
Pray for Bandi people to have the spiritual hunger it takes to put Christ first in their lives.

Text Source:   Joshua Project