Ngalifourou

Ngalifourou (1864 – 8 June 1956) was a queen of the Tio Kingdom in what is today the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). As a ruler she was close to French colonial authorities. Jan Vansina wrote that Ngalifourou "succeeded in providing a new rallying point for Tio pride", but that she "represented a typical colonial force".

Biography Ngalifourou was born in 1864 in Ngabé on the Congo River. A member of the Tio people (Eastern Teke), who are a Bantu community living between the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, Ngalifourou was married at the age of 15 to King Iloo I (also known as Iloo Makoko), who was much older than her. Oral traditions suggest they married in 1880.

After their marriage, Ngalifourou upheld the king's authority and gained respect for her intelligence, including from Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who was a French colonial army officer who collaborated with her husband. In 1944, de Brazza's daughter, Marthe de Brazza, visited Ngalifourou, who showed her the sword and discussed her father with de Brazza. This 'collaboration' between de Brazza, Iloo Makoko and, indeed, Ngalifouroou, was in fact a treaty signed by Iloo Makoko in 1880, which ceded Teke territory to France, thus establishing French Congo.

At the death of King Iloo I in 1892, Ngalifourou ascended to the throne as Man Ounko (Queen Mother) of the Mbé Kingdom.

Spiritual life Ngalifourou was a spiritual leader as well. Due to her supposed spiritual power, many people made pilgrimages to visit her at Ngabé where she would receive visitors on her likouba royal stool.