Papels, also known as Moium, Oium, Papei, Pepel or Pelels, are an ethnic group primarily located in Guinea-Bissau, though are also found in Casamance (Senegal) and Guinea. Their population in Guinea-Bissau is about 183,000, with 9,000 living outside of the country. They traditionally engaged in hunting and agriculture.
History
Origins
According to oral history, a man named Mecau, the son of a king from the Kingdom of Quinara on the south of the river Geba, arrived at Bissau on one of his hunting trips. He opted to reside there due to its fertile soil and established a kingdom. From Quinara he brought his pregnant sister Punguenhum and his six wives: Intende, Djokom, Mala, Intsoma, Kliker and Intchipolo. Mecau invited other subjects from his father's kingdom to settle the area of Bissau alongside him. From his sister and six wives seven main Papel clans arose.
The N'nssassun (plural, bossassun) clan comes from the line of Punguenhum. This line inherited commandership roles in the form of kings and nobles (In Kriol, Jagras). They are represented by the Leopard. Surnames tend to be 'Le' and have traditionally lived in the Bissau region. The N'nsso (plural, Bosso) clan from the line of Mala traditionally lived in the Bandim region of Bissau. Due to their historical speciality and dedication to agriculture they represented themselves as the Frog. Their surnames tend to be 'Co'. The N'ndjukomo (plural, Bodjukumo) clan from the line of Intsoma traditionally lived in the Alto Crim region of Bissau. They are the second most important clan behind the Bossassun. This clan saw themselves as fearless warriors and represented themselves as the Hyena. Surnames tend to be 'Ca'. The N'nsafinte (plural, Bosafinte) clan from the line of Djokom traditionally lived in the Safim region of Biombo. They saw themselves as cunning and were represented by the hare. They tend to hold the surname 'Te'. The N'niga (plural, Boiga) clan from the line of Kliker traditionally lived in the Calequir region of Bissau, and they represented themselves as the Goat due to their speed. They tend to hold the surname 'Sa'. The N'nssuzu (plural, Bossuzu) clan from the line of Intende traditionally lived in the Mindara region of Bissau and were represented by the Aardvark. They usually hold the surname 'Dju'. The N'nttat (plural, Bottat) from the line of Intchipolo traditionally lived in the Bissalanca region of Bissau. They were represented by the Monkey because their main occupation was to climb trees and extract palm wine. Their surnames tend to be 'Indi'. The Kingdom of Bissau and the vassal states that belonged to the Papel in the Biombo used a matrilineal line of succession, in which the son of the sovereign's maternal sister was next in line for kingship, or to the nearest male relative in the King's maternal grandparents' line. Individuals would inherit their mother's clan name, although in later times the father's name could and would be taken.
DNA studies
The paternal lineage of the Papels is suggested to be distinct within the Guinean population, with E1-M33 discovered in high frequencies amongst the Papels. L3e2b was more exclusively found in the Papel, this haplogroup resembles haplogroups found in East and Central Africa. These findings conclude that in the Papel history there was a migration from East Africa, and the conservation of this lineage is due to the short amount of time the Papels have been in Guinea-Bissau, further suggesting that Papels have not been in Guinea-Bissau for as long as previously believed.
The presence of U5b1b in the Papel population represented a possible genetic link to the Saami of Scandinavia and North African Berbers, suggested to be due to post-glacial expansion. This U5b1b lineage suggests expansion coming over the strait of Gibraltar, and developing into a local West African cluster.
European contact
1600–1700 AD The earliest contact between the Papel and European is dated to as early as the late 16th century. André Álvares de Almada singled out Bissau as a safe haven for the Portuguese and routinely used it as a refuge for ships under attack from other Europeans. The king of Bissau, Equendé, was said to be a 'best friend' of the Portuguese due to an event in which Barreira encountered a king in Bissau in the year 1605. The relationship as mentioned was pleasant with King Equendé ruling in 1663, relations were so friendly Lemos Coelho encouraged a movement of persons from Cacheu to Bissau due to the excellent treatment of Lançados in the Kingdom of Bissau. In 1680, Papel forces aided in the Portuguese liberation of the Cacheu Fort.
Friendly relations carried on until the reign of King Bacompol Co (1687–1696).Evidenced by the exchanging of gifts between Fr. Francisco de Pinhel and the king, friendly relations were to carry on for another six to seven years. The aware of the benefits of trade allowed all Europeans ships into his ports, an example was the French in which negotiations between the French official De la Courbe, and the king ending in the refusal of the construction of a French fort, construction of a trading factory was permitted, and south of the Gambia the kingdom became the French trading centre. Between 1685 and 1688 the French trading factory exported around 2,800 slaves from the area. The main exports traded between the kingdom and the Europeans were slaves, wax, and ivory. The trade was characteristic of a tax that all traders had to pay to the king of Bissau, all traders were subject to this tax whether they were Portuguese, French, American or English.
From 1683 to 1686 three Catholic missionaries oversaw a church in the kingdom in an attempt to Christianise the Papel population, due to conflicting interests and overlap between missionary work and trading this put them at odds with the Portuguese who in later years constituted the majority of the missionaries in Bissau. The Papel referred to the Portuguese as brancos ('whites') and others as estrangeiros ('strangers'). Relations with non-Portuguese Europeans varied; for example, the Papel held a grudge against the French after a French frigate opened fire on the kingdom. The Portuguese and Papel relations became solidified in April 1694 with the conversion of King Bacompol Co to Catholicism, making him the first Christian king of Bissau. This conversion allowed for even closer relations between the Portuguese and Papels with the Portuguese request of a fort being accepted, and the king being willing to keep out other Europeans from his ports in favour of sole Portuguese trade. The concession of the Portuguese fort was significant as earlier in 1687 the fort was attempted but overthrown by the king of Bissau's troops. Soon after, Bacompol Co wrote to King Peter II of Portugal informing him of his conversion and requesting from the Portuguese more weapons, missionaries, footstools, a bed, a sun hat and a gown. He gave eight of his sons to the Cape Verdean Bishop to be educated. The eldest son, Batonto, was sent to Lisbon for his baptism, where the king of Portugal was named his godfather, and he was given the new name of 'Manuel'.
In 1696 in consequence of the kings decision to allow the construction of the Fort of Bissau, Bissau was elevated to the status of captaincy, as prior the overseer of the trade was lieutenant-captain but even this seemed to be purely nominal with no weight behind it, the title was before given to the influential Afro-Portuguese trader Barnabé Lopez who was related to the ruling house of Bissau but it was just 'honorary'. The title of captaincy and Portuguese authority was given to Jose Pinheiro, who at the time was also captain of Cacheu.
The year 1696 was marked by King Bacompol Co's death, and with it the good relations between the Portuguese Empire and Kingdom of Bissau. On 5 May 1696, the kingdom and throne were split between two noblemen: Incinha Te and Toro Co. Toro Co was Bacompol Co's maternal brother, while Incinha Te, through a different maternal line, was by Papel standards the rightful heir to the throne. The Portuguese refrained from outwardly siding with either camp, though both Jose Pinheiro and bishop of Cape Verde Fr Victoriano Portuense favoured Toro Co since he had converted to Christianity. Furthermore, the ecclesiastics of Bissau believed Toro Co more likely to uphold the nine-point policies that the king Bacompol Co had previously agreed to:
To build a fort on the previously chosen site To treat Christians with love and courtesy The king was to be a Christian and allow conversion freely Permission to remove Xina (Animist images) from Christian settlements Christians were subject to Portuguese laws, rather than local laws Segregation between Christians and non-Christians Non-Christians were unable to inherit goods of Christians No commerce should be done with other Europeans, and the king should defend the ports against them No Christian should be punished by local law, and only by Portuguese law
A nobleman named Antoma had the right of crowning the king, and crowned Toro Co, making him the rightful king of Bissau. However the issue was not solved, as the king of Guinala also had rights to the throne of Bissau. It was customary after two to three years of ruling for the king of Bissau to request a crown from the king of Guinala. However, Bacompol Co ruled for nine years without doing so, using the crown of his predecessors instead. Incinha Te with his troops requested the crown from the king of Guinala, who acquiesced, and he found another noble to perform the coronation for him. Incinha Te marched to Bissau and seized its port, boycotting trade with Toro Co. After gaining support from Barnabé Lopez and a large amount of the Afro-Portuguese community, he was able to oust Toro Co as the king and make himself the sole ruler of Bissau.
In contrast to Portuguese fears, Incinha Te did support the nine-point policy to an extent. He converted to Christianity and permitted the construction of a fort. But issues arose when Incinha Te complained about the sacrilege of the Xina's by Jose Pinheiro to the king of Portugal. Incinha Te and the bishop had a contentious relationship, unlike his predecessor. Incinha Te accused the bishop of enslaving his relatives, who were sent to Lisbon years prior. It did not help that the bishop supported Toro Co instead of him. Relations were also sour between Jose Pinheiro and the bishop, which culminated in November 1696, when escaped slaves from the fort fled into Balanta territory under the pursuit of four Portuguese and several indigenous soldiers. Two soldiers drowned and the rest were captured by the Balanta. The bishop went to Balanta territory to ransom the soldiers, and on his return an assassination was attempted, speculated to be authorised by both Pinheiro and Incinha Te. In response the bishop had five Papels (two related to the king) seized and sent to Geba. In response, Incinha Te had a church, priests living quarters, and another house within the fort burnt to the ground. The rift between Pinheiro and Incinha Te grew larger, due to Pinheiro placing the blame for the assassination attempt on Incinha Te.