The Rwandan Mythology 1
From the demise of heroes to the ascent of new kings, myths and legends are as intricate as they are alluring; each society has a unique tale to tell and a unique method of telling it. A legend is based on some truths that are then exaggerated to the point where actual people or events seem "larger than life." A myth, on the other hand, is symbolic storytelling that is not grounded in reality.
The creator Imana, the creator deity in the traditional Banyarwanda and Burundi religions practiced in Rwanda, Burundi, and other related ethnic groups like the Baha in Tanzania and the Banyamulenge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was the sole God of the ancient Banyarwanda and Burundi.
Imana, according to their mythology, was the creator and protector of all Banyarwanda and Burundian people. Imana was revered as being all-powerful and kind. In one of the legends, she broke up a fight with a man who routinely avoided paying back debts by borrowing beans from different people.
Imana was the ruler of all living things, and she granted them immortality by slaying the Death Hunter. Death was a ferocious animal that stood in for death. Everyone was instructed to remain hidden while Imana was hunting so that Death would have no one to kill or seek refuge with. But one day, as he was out hunting, an elderly woman snuck into her vegetable garden and took some food. Death scurried under her skirt and followed her into the house.
She passed away due to death. Three days after the old woman's funeral, her hated daughter-in-law noticed cracks where she had been buried as if the old woman would awaken and come to life. She poured dirt into the crevices, pounded the ground with a large pestle, and yelled, "Stay dead!" She repeated the action when she noticed additional grave cracks two days later. Three days later, she could no longer pound dirt into the cracks. This signalled that there would be no more opportunities for men to live again. Death was now endemic or always present. According to a different legend, Imana punished the woman by allowing Death to cohabitate with a man. "Interfering in the normal course of material nature" is not something Imana does.
The Story of Man's Fall
The good Imana is opposed by the dreaded and lethal Ryangombe. This myth relates to the fall of man. Imana made the heavens and the earth when he was all by himself in the beginning. But unlike the heavens, which were a reflection of it, the earth was not the same and was marked by human suffering. But when Imana first created all living things, including people, animals, and plants, they all remained with him in the heavens, and at first, humans coexisted with Imana and consumed Imana's vegetation. And if someone passed away, Imana would revive them in three days. In those early days, humans were mating, life was prosperous, and nobody died.
The fall's narrative starts with a woman by the name of Nyinakigwa. She and her husband were childless, which made her sad. She went to Imana and asked him to help her have a child after giving her situation a lot of thought. He listened to her pleas and decided to give her a child. But there was a catch: in exchange for him giving her a child, she was required to keep the child's origin a secret. As a result, Imana gave birth to three children for her: Nyinabatutsi was a daughter, and Kigwa and Lututsi were sons. Nyinakigwa was content right now, and she and her family were all getting along. She did, however, have a sister who shared the same condition and was unable to conceive. She became envious when she learned that her sister was a parent. She begged her sister to tell her where those kids came from and how she could have kids, and she eventually persuaded Nyinakigwa to divulge the kids' ancestry. She then went to Imana to request that he also give her children. Imana was now enraged with him because he had disobeyed.
Knowing she had broken her promise to Imana, Nyinakigwa turned on her kids and killed them. The sky dramatically opened after she had done this and her children had been destroyed, allowing the children to fall to the earth below, where they lived in great hardship and agony. Nyinakigwa was now overcome with sorrow as she realised that her choice had caused her children to live in a place of extreme suffering. The two women ultimately went to Imana and begged for his pardon. Imana thought about their request and agreed that the children would eventually have gone through enough suffering. He then promised that they would return to him in the heavens at that time.
In a different myth, God and a man, one of his creations, had ongoing conversations. Then, one day, God instructed the man that he was not to sleep on a particular night because God would grant him a long life during that time. The man was unaware that a snake had heard what Imana had said. And despite God's warning, the man did fall asleep that fateful night. The snake spoke in the man's place when Imana approached him with his good word and his promise of a new lease on life. Because God mistook the snake for the man, he informed him that he would die but then come back to life and that he would grow old but still shed his skin. All of his descendants would experience the same thing.
The man awoke and kept waiting for God to speak, but nothing happened. Then he turned to God and questioned him about it. Imana realized at that point that the snake had replaced the man. He acknowledged that what had been done was irreversible but noted that men would now kill snakes. However, both the man and his children would pass away. The snake, however, would lose its skin and reappear.
