The Human Chair

1. Did you know a governor once refused an African princess a chair?
2. Nzinga of Ndongo came to Luanda in 1622, to make peace with Portugal.
3. He sat in a velvet chair. For her, they laid a mat on the floor.
4. She didn't sit down. One of her men knelt,
5. and she sat on his back, eye to eye with the governor.
6. She won her treaty, became queen, and fought Portugal for thirty years.
7. Would you have sat on the floor?

07): Luanda, 1622. Nzinga Mbande, sister of the king of Ndongo, came down to the Portuguese at Luanda to make peace. The governor, Joao Correia de Sousa, received her sitting in a velvet chair and had a mat laid on the floor for her. She would not sit below him: one of her attendants knelt, and she sat on his back, eye to eye with the governor, and talked. She won her treaty, became queen in 1624, and fought Portugal for thirty years.