The Mongo people consist of many different groups in the African equatorial forest region, south of the Congo River and north of the Kasai and Sankuru rivers. While those peoples have existed for centuries, the Mongo weren’t formally acknowledged as an ethnic group until 1938. Much of their true history remains mysterious, but it is suspected that their ancestors settled in the humid river valleys of the Congo in the first few hundred years of the first millennium.

This type of slit drum is referred to as a “mondo,” “kyondo,” or “mbudikidi,” among other names depending on the specific community. It can be found throughout the Congo, especially in the southern regions. The mondo is typically used for sending signals and judicial hearings. When sending signals, drummers will pass on rhythmic messages throughout the entirety of a chief’s territory. Since the Mongo speak a tone-based language, Bantu, these rhythms work in sync with their language for conveying messages. Drummers, almost always male, don’t usually have special statuses, but their craft does require skill and training that is passed down generationally. Mondo can also be used for other community events, such as ceremonies for births or chief-appoitment, and sometimes it can be used musically. Music was often viewed as a means of communing with the dead.