Aniota (secret society)

Aniotas or anioto or anyoto and say also man-leopards are a Secret society African criminal with a base of religiosity animist, considered to recruit his frameworks among the village wizards without to cover the hierarchical structure of a Secte, credits formerly with the Belgian Congo, in the area of Babali of High Aruwimi and practitioner the ritual assassination by simulating an attack of Léopard or Panthère whose motivation first would be the Vengeance.

History

Anyoto would come from a verb nyoto which means to scratch, but the popular tradition also speaks about Aniota which would have been an instigator of the sect.

During their initiation, at the time of a ceremony Mambela, the young recruits, to show their determination, were to kill one of their close relation, man, woman or child, while making simulate a death by the leopard, it did not enter the brotherhood deliberately but were indicated by the old ones and could not withdraw itself from their order. Their initiation started just after the Circoncision. They were then to give up their family and to go in an isolated place, forest or small island. There, during long months, the Néophyte was subjected to very painful tests and put its life concerned. If the candidate were wounded or killed, no one was not concerned with it, that proved simply that it was not worthy to become a man-leopard. If the candidate made a success of all the tests, one then learned how to him to imitate perfectly the cries of cat-like and with its serving as his weapons from assassin.

Aniotas were also famous Anthropophage S and, on a higher level, to be able to project to them Conscience in the body of a leopard, which it could thus radio-control to go to kill somebody on the principle of the Loup-garou but without body transformation.

Anyotos were known population which they terrorized but which however often called upon their services to act as dispensers of justice.

Known since the end of the XIXè century, it is in 1919 only that the colonial administration suspected the movement aniota of being the assassins of so many apparent victims of leopards.

The general belief were initially that the man-leopards followers of the sect, had as a target only the hostile with the tradition and independence, or too inclined blacks to cooperate with the colonists. Among the victims, one forever listed a white.

The Belgian colonial administration fought against this brotherhood which was likely to destabilize the system set up of the Chefferie S.

As of 1921, police reports had been written on mysterious murders perpetrated by the man-leopards. After months of investigation, suspects were stopped and hung in public place.

Of 1933 with 1934, the colonial administration of the Belgian Congo inquired into an impressive series of suspect deaths. The corpses, at least those which one found because there were also disappearances, presented all deep wounds to the throat and, on the remainder of the body, of bloody furrows. These wounds gave rise to think that the murder was the work of a deer. The prints located on the ground, around the victims, tended to corroborate this assumption. But, a thorough examination revealed soon that all these crimes had been perpetrated by cat-like forgeries: man-leopards. During these two years, they reached in this area of great proportions. Several hundreds of lacerated and atrociously mutilated bodies were found. The local populations refused in majority to collaborate with the colonial authorities of fear of reprisals. These massacres would have been related to the competition between two populations: Bapakombe and Wanande, first reproaching the seconds for invading to them Territory.

In the months which preceded the Indépendance decided country the movement included an unexpected scope, the aniotas assassinated important national leaders ritually.

The movement would not have any more made speak about him since or would be in a latent state.

One can see a costume of aniota to the royal Musée of central Africa with Tervueren close to Brussels.

One also speaks about man-leopards, under other names with the Liberia and in Sierra Leone. Various worships similar animists can be met through the Africa. The animals of totem are different: man-lions with the Tanganyika, man-hyenas in Coast-in Ivoire as well as man-chimpanzees and man-alligators in some areas. The criminal and vengeuse structure of fraternity would be on the other hand identical. One can then speak about an initiatory brotherhood existing in a great number of tribes living between the Congo and the Guinea.

Analyzes and Assumptions

The man-leopards were closely related to the initiatory association of the mambela. The religious leaders or wizards chose among them the future man-leopards or anioto, which they formed with the murder. The total secrecy and absolute solidarity between initiates of the same group supported certainly the birth of the aniotism within the mambela. But the installation of the colonial structures exhausted the religious, political and legal capacities of the large initiates holders of these capacities. This can have led the chiefs to set up in system the murder ritual, alone average to restore by fear the wavering capacity their traditional leaders. What would explain why at the time of independence, these same capacities attacked the African leaders who were going to take the place of the colonial Administration, others evoke that their members had ends up collaborating with the Belgian Colonialisme, and even drew from this mode a guarantee of perenniality to be able to them.

Aniotas in the popular culture

the Band-drawn Tintin in Congo made known with the general public and perennialized the topic of the brotherhood.

the brotherhood is evoked in the series Tarzan in the news: Tarzan and the man-leopards (Tarzan and the Men Leopard), 1932,1933.

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