The Nyabingi spirit tradition in southwestern Uganda and Rwanda

Record summary

Nyabingi refers both to a spirit or female power in Great Lakes religious traditions and to movements associated with spirit mediums, anti-colonial resistance, and later Rastafari reinterpretation. Scholarship and cultural discussion during 1990–2009 examined how the name moved among oral traditions, political histories, healing practices, and transnational religious identities. It offers a strong comparison case for the overlap of legend, possession, historical memory, and resistance. Sources disagree over chronology, the identity of Nyabingi, and the relationship between regional traditions, so no single standardized biography should be assumed.