Finding Aid for the White Fathers Records, 1950-1960 bulk 1951-1952

Processed by Manuscripts Division staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé

UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections

Manuscripts Division

Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library

Box 951575

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575

Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/

Finding Aid for the White Fathers Records, 1950-1960 bulk 1951-1952

Collection number: 246

UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections

Manuscripts Division

Los Angeles, CA

Contact Information

Manuscripts Division
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/

Processed by:: Manuscripts Division staff
Encoded by:: Caroline Cubé
Text converted and initial container list EAD tagging by:: Apex Data Services
Online finding aid edited by:: Josh Fiala, May 2003

Descriptive Summary

Title: White Fathers Records

Records relating to Table d'enquète sur les moeurs et les coutumes indigènes [An Enquiry into the Indigenous Traditions and Customs of Peoples of West and Central Africa],

Date (inclusive): 1950-1960, bulk 1951-1952

Collection number: 246

Creator: White Fathers

Extent: 11 boxes (5.5 linear ft.)

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.

Los Angeles, California 90095-1575

Abstract: The White Fathers (a Catholic society also known as the Society of Missionaries of Africa) was founded in 1868 by Charles M. Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers. The members of the White Fathers are bound by an oath to the establishment of the Catholic Church on the African continent. The collection consists of a typed carbon set of responses to a 1950 inquiry sent by the White Fathers to its missions in West and Central Africa. The inquiry's purpose was to gather ethnographic data from each mission and to increase priests' familiarity with the customs of the indigenous people.

Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Restrictions on Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.

Additional Physical Form Available

A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:

Public Services Division
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

Note

Padri Bianchi / Via Aurelia 269, 00165 / Roma, Italy. Original carbon copy set of manuscripts bound in volumes.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Archives of the White Fathers, 1993.

Another set of carbon copies of these records is in the Archives of the White Fathers (Padri Bianchi) in Rome, Italy. The location of the original typescripts is unknown.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], White Fathers Records (Collection 246). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 3467253

Biography

Founded in 1868 by Charles M. Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers, the White Fathers is a Catholic society also known as the Society of Missionaries of Africa; after Lavigerie died in 1892, Léon Livinhac became superior general of the White Fathers; in 1908, the Holy See approved the society's constitutions; members of the White Fathers are bound by an oath to the establishment of the Catholic Church on the African continent.

Scope and Content

Collection consists of a typed carbon set of responses to a 1950 inquiry sent by the White Fathers to its missions in West and Central Africa. The inquiry's purpose was to gather ethnographic data from each mission and to increase priests' familiarity with the customs of the indigenous people.

Expanded Scope and Content

The purpose of the enquiry was two-fold: first, to gather ethnographic data from each mission or stations; and second, to increase the familiarity of the priests with the traditional customs of the indigenous people of their flock through the process of gathering the data. A sample of a blank enquiry/questionnaire is included (see Box 11, Folder 6)

The enquiry is divided into 6 parts with 12 sub-chapters (see the Questionnaire Outline at the beginning of the container list for further information on the break-down of the enquiry). The responses to the enquiry are filed with the enquiry questions. They comprise the bulk of the records and vary significantly in both length and content from mission to mission. They are mostly dated 1951-1952, the few later dates are indicated in the finding aid.

In a few cases there are papers supplementing the responses, and manuscript notations in ink and pencil to the typed record. The supplemental papers have been noted in the finding aid, as have the minority of instances where the return has been made by a named individual.

Following the arrangement of the bound set in the White Fathers Archives noted above, the records have been arranged generally by area: West Africa, which includes Mali, Burkina Faso, northern Guinea, northern Ghana and a small section of Nigeria; and Central Africa which includes eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, western Tanzania, western Zambia, parts of Malawi and Mozambique. Within the geographical areas, the arrangement follows that of the organizational structure of the White Fathers missions The organizing entities for the White Father's missions are the Apostolic Vicariate (V.A.) and the Apostolic Prefecture(P.A.). The answers to the enquiry are collected by V.A. or P.A. Within each V.A. or P.A. the answers are sorted by ethnicity and then a listing of the parts answered.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:

West Africa.
Central Africa.

The records comprise a typed carbon set of responses to an enquiry sent in 1950 by the White Fathers, a Roman Catholic Church missionary order, to its missions in West and Central Africa, with related materials. The extent of records is estimated at 18,000 pages.

Languages

French, except for one paper and one part (see Cewa, Box 9, Folder 2) in English.

Ethnicity

The ethnicities have been Anglicized and standardized by Dr. Christopher Ehret, UCLA. The standardized ethnicity is followed by the ethnicity indicated in French on the records, put in brackets [], when they differ significantly. In the cases of Bantu-speaking people, the Bantu prefix of Wa, Ba etc. has almost always been omitted, unless necessary for identification. For less well-known ethnicities there are linguistic identification in italics, based on George Murdock's The Peoples of Africa, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1959.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

White Fathers--Archives.

Missionaries--Africa--Archival resources.

Africa, West--Social life and customs.

Africa, Central--Social life and customs.

Questionnaire Outline

Part 1

Chapter 1. Family--Kinship terms, questions 1-34.

Chapter 2. Marriage, questions 35-71.

Chapter 3. Married Life, questions 72-115.

Part 2

Chapter 4. From Conception to Birth, questions 116-161.

Chapter 5. From Birth to the Age of Reason, questions 162-182

Chapter 6. From the Age of Reason to Puberty, questions 183-232.

Part 3

Chapter 7. From Puberty to Marriage, questions 233-302.

Chapter 8. Old Age and Death, questions 303-348.

Part 4

Chapter 9. The Four Necessities of Life, questions 349-490.

Part 5

Chapter 10. Religion and Morals, questions 491-611.

Part 6

Chapter 11. Ancestor Cults, questions 612-672.

Chapter 12. Magic and Sorcery, questions 673-745.

The Records

West Africa

Apostolic Vicariate of Bamako

Box 1, Folder 1

Malinke, Fulani [Puehls, Malinkes]. Part 1, 1951.

Box 1, Folder 1

Bambara. Segu Station, Part 1, 1951.

Box 1, Folder 1

Bambara. Beleko Station, Part 1, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 2

Bambara. Parts 2-4, 1951.

Box 1, Folder 3

Bambara. Part 5.

Box 1, Folder 3

Bambara. Oulossebougou Station, Part 1, 1951.

Box 1, Folder 3

Bambara. Part 2 (Goualala post), n.d.

Box 1, Folder 3

Bambara. Part 2 (Ouolossebougou post), n.d.

Box 1, Folder 4

Bambara. Bougouni Mission, Part 4, n.d. Faladye Station (By Pere Guerin, Abbe David Traore, Catechiste).

Box 1, Folder 4

Bambara. Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.

Apostolic Prefecture of Kayes

Box 1, Folder 5

Bambara. Kayes Station, Part 1, 1951.

Box 1, Folder 5

Khasonke. Upper Senegal, Part 1, 1951.

Box 1, Folder 5

Malinke. Kita Mission, Part 1, 1951; Part 3, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 6

Malinke. Part 4, n.d.

Box 2, Folder 1

Malinke. Parts 5 and 6, n.d.

Box 2, Folder 2

Malinke. Guene-Gore Station, Part 2, n.d.

Apostolic Prefecture of Sikasso

Box 2, Folder 2

Minianke, [Senouf - Pomporon]. Voltaic-Senufo Cluster, Koutiala Mission, Part 1, 1951.

Box 2, Folder 2

Minianke, [Senouf - Pomporon]. Karangasso Mission, Part 4, n.d.

Box 2, Folder 3

Minianke, [Senouf - Pomporon]. No mission stated, Parts 2 and 3, n.d.

Box 2, Folder 3

Senufo. Voltaic-Senufo Cluster, Catholic Misison of Dyou, Le Mariage en Pays [Pagan Marriage], a paper..

Box 2, Folder 3

Bobo-Fing. Voltaic-Habe Cluster, Notes d'Ethnographie sur les Bobo-Fings [Ethnographic notes on the Bobo-Fing] a paper by Monseignur Didier de Mondos.

Apostolic Prefecture of Gao

Box 2, Folder 3

Songay [Arma, Peuls, Songay]. Gao Mission, Part 1, 1951

Box 2, Folder 3

Songay [Arma, Peuls, Songay]. No mission stated, Part 2, n.d.

Box 2, Folder 4

Songay [Arma, Peuls, Songay]. Goundam Mission, Part 1, 1951; Enterment [Burial], a paper, n.d.

Box 2, Folder 4

Dogon. Voltaic-Habe Cluster, Segue Mission, Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.

Diocese of Wa

Box 2, Folder 5

Isala, Lobas [Lolas, Issalas]. Part 1 by Pere Julien Chantereau, Kinship and marriage sections only.

Diocese of Navronogo

Box 2, Folder 5

Gurusi-Frafra. Voltaic-Grusi Cluster, Bolgatanga Mission,

Box 2, Folder 5

Gurusi-Frafra. Part 1, Kinship only; Part 2 by R.P. LaFrance; Part 3 (Farafara Nankanni).

Box 2, Folder 6

Gurusi-Frafra. Part 4, all n.d.

Box 2, Folder 6

Kusase. Voltaic-Moel Cluster, Binduri Mission, Part 1, n.d.

Box 3, Folder 1

Kasene. Voltaic-Grusi Cluster, Navrongo Mission, Part 1, n.d.

Box 3, Folder 1

Kasene. Waigha Mission, Part 1 by G. Gagnon, 1956; Part 2 by G. Gagnon, n.d..

Box 3, Folder 2

Kasene. Waigha Mission, Parts 4-6 by G. Gagnon.

Diocese of Koudougou

Box 3, Folder 3

Mossi. Mission not stated, Parts 2-4, n.d.

Apostolic Prefecture of Oyo

Box 3, Folder 4

Yoruba. Ibadan, Parts 1-4, n.d.

Apostolic Prefecture in N'Zerekore

Box 3, Folder 5

Kpele, Toma [Guerze]. Part 1, 1951; Parts 2-3, n.d.

Box 3, Folder 5

Malinke. Part 1, 1951.

Apostolic Vicariate of Nouna

Box 3, Folder 6

Marka. Nuclear Mande--Subgroup Soninke, Zaba Mission, Part 1 by R.P. Larregain Marcel, 1951; Part 2 by R.P. Larregain, n.d.

Box 3, Folder 6

Samo. Voltaic-Intrusive People, Toma Mission, Part 1, 1951.

Box 4, Folder 1

Samo. Voltaic-Intrusive People, Toma Mission, Part 4, n.d.

Box 4, Folder 1

Bobo-Oulee. French Sudan, Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.

Box 4, Folder 1

Bobo-Oulee. Dedougou Mission, Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.; Part 3 by Joseph Cuenot, 1955.

Box 4, Folder 1

Bobo-Oulee. Mandyakuy Station, Part 4.

Box 4, Folder 2

Bobo-Fing. Tansilla Station, Part 1, 1951; Parts 2-5, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Ouagadougou

Box 4, Folder 3

Mossi. Manga Region, Part 1, 1951; Part 2, 1952; Parts 3-4.

Apostolic Vicariate of Ouahigouya

Box 4, Folder 4

Mossi. No mission stated, Part 2, n.d.

Box 4, Folder 4

Lyela. Voltaic-Grusi Cluster, Reo Mission, Part 1, 1951; Part 2.

Apostolic Vicariate of Bobo-Dioulasso

Box 4, Folder 4

Bobo-Fing. Part 1 by P. Emmanuel of Montjoye, 1952; Part 2, n.d.

Box 5, Folder 1

Bobo-Fing. Tounouma Mission, Parts 3-4, n.d.

Box 5, Folder 1

Lobi. Voltaic-Lobi Cluster, Part 1, 1951.

Box 5, Folder 1

Tusyan [Toussian]. Voltaic-Lobi Cluster, Le Mariage Toussian [The Marriage Tusyan] by Pere Herbert, n.d.

Central Africa

Apostolic Vicariate of Costermansville

Box 5, Folder 2

Bashi. Intralacustrine Bantu, Part 1, 1951.

Apostolic Vicariate of Bukavu

Box 5, Folder 2

Bashi. Parts 2-4, n.d.

Box 5, Folder 3

Bashi. Parts 5-6, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Kasongo

Box 5, Folder 3

Zimba [Wazimba]. Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster, Mingana Mission, Part 1; Part 2, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Baudouinville

Box 5, Folder 3

Zimba [Wazimba]. Mingana Mission, Part 1, 1951.

Box 5, Folder 4

Zimba [Wazimba]. Mingana Mission, Part 2, n.d.

Box 5, Folder 4

Tabwa [Batabwa]. No mission stated (but near Lake Tanganyika), Part 1, 1951; Les Notes de L'Abbe Stefano Kaoze [The Notes of Abbe Stefano Kaoze], Parts 2-4.

Box 5, Folder 5

Tabwa [Batabwa]. No mission stated (but near Lake Tanganyika), Part 5 by P. Weghsteen; Part 6 by P. Vlengels, 1959-1960.

Apostolic Vicariate of Urundi (Kitega and Ngozi)

Box 5, Folder 5

Barundi, Batwa, Hutu, Tutsi [Bahutu, Batutsi], Part 1, n.d.; Part 2 (2).

Box 6, Folder 1

Barundi, Batwa, Hutu, Tutsi [Bahutu, Batutsi], Parts 3-6, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Ruanda (Kabgayi and Nuyndo)

Box 6, Folder 1

Batwa, Hutu, Tutsi, Nyarwanda [Bahutu, Batutsi, Banyarwanda], Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Lac-Albert

Box 6, Folder 2

Lendu [Balendu] Central Sudanic-Madi Cluster. Fataki Mission, Part 1, 1951.; Part 2, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 2

Lendu [Balendu]. Geti Mission, Part 1, 1951.

Box 6, Folder 2

Combined Okebo and Lendu. Logo station, Part 1, 1951.

Box 6, Folder 2

Combined Juganda and Okebo Alur. Luma mission, Part 1, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 2

Ndo-Okebo, Part 2, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 2

Babira, Equatorial Bantu. Bunia mission, Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 3

Babira, Part 3, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 3

Mambisa, Lendu-Central Sudanic-Madi Cluster. Kilomines Mission, Part 1, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 3

Panduru. Section of Alur, Luga mission, Part 2, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 3

Combined Alur, Pandoro, Padea. Luga mission, Part 3, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 3

Alur. Nyarambe mission, Part 1, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 3

Alur. Luga mission, Part 1, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 3

Combined Logo, Central Sudanic-Madi Cluster and Kakwa, Nilotes-Bari Cluster, Aba station, Part 1, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 4

Logo. No mission stated, Part 2, n.d.

Box 6, Folder 4

Logo. Aba mission, Parts 3-5, n.d.; Part 6.

Archdiocese of Rugaga

Box 6, Folder 5

Ganda [Baganda] Interlacutrine Bantu-Uganda. Mission not stated, Part 1, 1951; Part 2 by Pere Lefebre, n.d.

Box 7, Folder 1

Ganda [Baganda]. Part 3, n.d.; Part 4 by Pere Modeste Raux; Part 5 by Pere Ressouche, Part 6 by Pere Modeste Raux, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Rwenzori

Box 7, Folder 1

Bunyoro, Toro. Interlacustrine Bantu-Uganda, Diocese of Mbarara, Part 1, 1953; Part 2 by Pere H. Blanc, n.d.

Box 7, Folder 2

Bunyoro, Toro. Part 3, Religion Payenne [Pagan Religion] by P.H. Blanc, n.d.

Box 7, Folder 2

Hima [Abahima] Iru [Abairu]. Ankole District, Part 1, 1951; Part 2 by R.P.J. Nicolet, 1952; Part 3, n.d.; Part 4 by Mgr. Jean-Marie Ogez, n.d.

Diocese of Karema

Box 7, Folder 3

Fipa [Wafipa], Tanganyika Bantu-Rukwa Cluster. Kirando Mission, Parts 1-6, n.d.

Box 7, Folder 3

Mambwe [Wamambwe], Part 2 by Pere Jean-Marie Robert, n.d.

Diocese of Bukoba

Box 7, Folder 4

Haya [Bahaya]. Interlacustrine Bantu-Uganda, Part 1; Part 3, n.d.; Part 4 by R.P.J.B. Lapioche, 1956.

Box 7, Folder 4

Hindi, Hima [Bahindi, Bahima], Part 2 by P. Betbeder, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Fort-Jameson

Box 7, Folder 5

Ngoni [Angoni], Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.; Part 3, 1951.

Box 8, Folder 1

Ngoni [Angoni], Parts 4-6, n.d.

Box 8, Folder 2

Kunda [Akunda], Central Bantu-Bemba. Cikowa Mission, Part 1, 1951; Part 2, n.d.

Box 8, Folder 2

Cewa [Achewa]. Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster, Part 1; 2, n.d.

Box 8, Folder 3

Nsenga [Ansenga]. Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster, Parts 1-4, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Mbeya

Box 8, Folder 4

Songwe [Wasongwe], Tanganyika Bantu-Rukwa Cluster. Galula Mission, Part 1, 1951; Part 2 by R.P.A. Van der Hout, n.d.; Part 3.

Box 8, Folder 4

Combined Songwe and Bungu, Tanganyika Bantu-Rufiji Cluster. Calula Mission, Part 4.

Box 8, Folder 4

Safwa, Irambo [Asafwa]. Irambo Mission, Part 1, n.d.

Box 8, Folder 4

Bungu [Wabungu]. Gua Mission, Part 1, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Likuni

Box 8, Folder 5

Cewa, Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster, Ngoni, Nguni-Ngoni Cluster, Yao, Central Bantu-Yao Cluster, Part 1 special papers: Mariage & Divorce Chez Les Protestants, Project de Loi Sur Le Mariage des Indigenes, Ordonnance Stipulant sur le Mariage, Rapt & Union Libre, and Levirat. Part 2 is divided into two parts: Achewa and Angoni, and Angoni, Achewa, Ayao, n.d.

Box 9, Folder 1

Cewa, Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster, Ngoni, Nguni-Ngoni Cluster, Yao, Central Bantu-Yao Cluster, Parts 3-4, n.d.; Native Customs in Nyasaland by Father Nixon; Part 5 in English, n.d.; Part 6 in French, n.d.

Diocese of Kigoma

Box 9, Folder 2

Ha [Baha], Interclustrine Bantu-Ruanda Cluster and Nyaheru, Parts 1-4; Ha only, n.d.

Box 9, Folder 3

Ha [Baha], Parts 5-6, only Ha, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Mwanza and Maswa

Box 9, Folder 4

Sukuma (Basukuma), Tanganyika Bantu-Nyamwezi Cluster ajoins the Ha & the Zinza, Parts 1-3 by R.P.J. Hendriks, n.d.; Part 4, n.d.

Box 9, Folder 5

Sukuma (Basukuma), Parts 5-6, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Tabora

Box 10, Folder 1

Nyamwezi, Part 1, 1951; Parts 2-3, n.d.

Box 10, Folder 2

Nyamwezi, Part 4, n.d.

Box 10, Folder 2

Sumbwa, Tangnyika Bantu-Nyamwezi Cluster, Part 1; Part 2 by Pere Victor Martin; Part 4, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Abercorn

Box 10, Folder 3

Bemba [Babemba] Central Bantu-Bemba Cluster, Bisa, Part 1; 2; 3; 4, n.d.; Parts 5; 6, Bemba only, n.d.

Apostolic Prefecture of Nyassa Nord

Box 10, Folder 4

Tumbuka, [Watumbuka] Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster, Part 1, 1951; Part 2-3, n.d.

Box 11, Folder 1

Tumbuka, [Watumbuka], Parts 4-6, n.d.

Mission to Mozambique

Box 11, Folder 2

Sena, [Asena] Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster, Part 1, 1951; Parts 2-3, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Kasama

Box 11, Folder 3

Bemba [Babemba], Parts 1-4, n.d.

Box 11, Folder 4

Bemba [Babemba], Parts 5-6, n.d.

Apostolic Vicariate of Nyassa

Box 11, Folder 5

Cewa, Central Bantu-Maravi Cluster Part 1, 1951.

Box 11, Folder 6

Questionaire.

Box 11, Folder 7

Duplicate Apostolic Vicariate of Fort Jameson, Acewa, Part 2.