The Banda, numbering 1,317,700 are the largest ethnic group in the Central African Republic. They live in hamlets of scattered homes under the leadership of headmen. Men hunt and fish, and women gather wild foods and cultivate crops of maize, cassava, peanuts, sweet potatoes, yams, and tobacco.
The Banda are woodcarvers, crafting both general use and ritual objects. They are best known for their large slit drums. Slit drums, lacking a drum head, are played by striking near the slit and produce a resonance within the drum chamber.
There are eleven Banda subgroups in the Central African Republic, each of which speaks a distinct dialect. Many groups have at least part of the Bible, but the Banda-Banda Ndi speakers, numbering 167,000, are still in need of a translation.
Catholicism was introduced during the French colonization of the late 1800s, and Protestant missionaries arrived in the early 1920s. Islam has grown to 8% through both immigration and conversion. “Christianity” is the dominant religion. However, many Banda also practice their traditional beliefs of animism and sacrifice to ancestral spirits who are believed to have the power to destroy or to save. How can they know the truth without a Bible?
Spring/Summer 2025