Munanzo Kota Lima is a lineage of Nkisi Malongo. Nkisi Malongo is an African Traditional Religion that was brought to Cuba via the slave trade. The earliest known and recorded date of this traditional religion existing in Cuba is when “Cabildo Rey Mago San Melchor”, a mutual-aid religious council was officially formed in 1792. This council would pool their finances in order to purchase the freedom of other enslaved Bakongo people as well as provide religious services to those in need. Due to persecution, the religious beliefs of the enslaved Bakongo people would be disallowed but this did not deter them in the least. The religious council was likely named “Mage King Saint Melchior” in Spanish to evade persecution as well as to shine a beacon of hope to all those who would hear of the name. In Christian beliefs, Saint Melchior was the oldest of the three Magi who visited baby Jesus and offered him a gift of gold, symbolizing his sovereign kingship over the world. Enslaved Bakongo people who would learn of the religious council would likely disregard portions of the naming in favor of the meaning behind it. We are not alone, we can band together and leave our inheritance to future generations. Except our inheritance is not to be gold, it is this religious tradition. This religious tradition was inherited by the descendants of those enslaved Bakongo people and has since risen to heights the likes of which haven’t been fully studied or understood. There were many lineages that originated from this religious tradition, most of which were tribal and ancestral lineages. Kota Lima is just one of many in this regard. It is often misunderstood and the name spelled incorrectly due to the Spanish language being more dominant in those times than the native Kikongo that the enslaved Bakongo spoke.

Kota Lima or “Corta Lima” as some would write it out, has origins dating as far back as the early 1800’s when Bakongo Shamanism arrived in Cuba via Slave Trade. The lineage itself is highly revered by many as one of the most highly decorated, oldest and most populated lineages within the traditional religion with membership easily into the hundreds of thousands. To clarify, the traditional religion itself does not date back to the 1800’s, this specific lineage does. The traditional religion dates back upwards 150,000 years being the continuation of foundational shamanism in what is known as Mana Kongo or Mani Kongo by the Mbenga, Mbuti and Twa people which then led to the more recent Bakongo people also practicing this shamanism. In short, this is not a new traditional religion that was born from slavery, it is an old traditional religion that was updated to survive slavery in the new world but few people have real meaningful access to.

We are taking the necessary legal steps to have the IRS formally recognize Munanzo Kota Lima Temple of Nkisi Malongo as a tax-exempt, non-profit religious organization. In the meantime, we do not legally require said recognition to operate as a non-profit religious organization because churches are considered tax-exempt automatically. The difference is that with the formal recognition the status is put in writing and guarantees that the status is observed by the IRS. That being said, it is beneficial for all parties to have the 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt recognition as it allows all supporters of our Temple the ability to make tax deductions for donations to the organization.