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00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,760
The slave trade
is bleeding West Central Africa dry.
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00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,720
Thousands are sent away on ships
destined for foreign shores,
3
00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,920
never to see their home or family again.
4
00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:49,560
Njinga, Queen of Ndongo,
and now, Matamba,
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will fight to her last breath
to defend her kingdom.
6
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Don't let them get away!
7
00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:57,480
That's right.
8
00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:58,880
Keep running.
9
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It's your turn to run.
10
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,040
But victory brings no peace.
11
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After four years, the Portuguese
are still holding her sisters hostage.
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The price of their freedom
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is for Njinga to allow the Portuguese
access to the slave routes.
14
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She refuses to concede.
15
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Looks like you've done well
without us, Sister.
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Kambu?
17
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- Kambu!
18
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He's the governor's envoy.
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They sent him with me
with a message for you.
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I've given you your sister back.
21
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Now, open up our slave markets.
22
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You still have my sister Funji.
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Until she's free,
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there will be no slave markets.
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And there will be no peace
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without my sister.
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Get out!
28
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Heavenly Father...
29
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Funji's held
in the Portuguese stronghold
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Fort Massangano.
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{\an8}But even in captivity,
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{\an8}she's proving to be
a valuable asset to Njinga.
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Go, my child, and sin no more.
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I have my penance to say.
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This is the house of God.
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Allow her to say her penance.
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- Hurry.
38
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Holy Mother, pray for us.
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Holy Mother of God...
40
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pray for us.
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00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:25,959
Holy Mother of Christ...
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pray for us.
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00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,960
{\an8}Funji is effectively a spy for Njinga.
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{\an8}She leaves notes in the chapel
45
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{\an8}which are picked up
by a network of messengers,
46
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and are taken to her sister.
47
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Funji has confirmed what we suspected.
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The Portuguese are in big trouble.
49
00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,200
They have lost Luanda to the Dutch.
50
00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:00,920
This could be good for us.
51
00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:02,280
Or not.
52
00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:04,760
Imbangala warrior, Njinga Mona,
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is the Queen's top general and confidante.
54
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His name means "Son of Njinga",
55
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which is how she sees him.
56
00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,120
The enemy of my enemy could be my friend.
57
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We should at least reach out.
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00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,080
See if there's a possibility
of an alliance.
59
00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,840
If the ancestors will it,
I will use the Dutch
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00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:34,680
to bring the Portuguese
to their knees finally.
61
00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,920
In 1641, the Dutch arrive.
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00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,680
They're really the big power player now
in the Atlantic.
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00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,600
The Portuguese had a monopoly
on the African slave trade
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for over a century.
65
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But now France, Britain,
the Netherlands are in the game
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00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:53,640
and they want their share.
67
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The profits being made here
are unimaginable by today's standards.
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00:05:58,240 --> 00:05:59,960
The slave plantation economy alone
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is driving the fortunes of kingdoms
all across Europe.
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00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:04,480
{\an8}Everyone is coming to Africa
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{\an8}to basically harvest the Black gold,
which is the people
72
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so that they can build the Americas
and other economies with the free labor.
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00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:18,120
Well?
74
00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,000
Have they brought these new foreigners
to fight alongside us or...
75
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,200
do we still have to sleep
with one eye open?
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00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,080
It is only when a woman
has slept with two men
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will she know whom she prefers.
78
00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,040
When you dance with your rival...
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do not shut your eyes.
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You must meet these people
from a place of power...
81
00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:52,600
and authority.
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On my throne.
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As female King.
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Yes.
85
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Then it is done.
86
00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:16,640
Let's leave these new foreigners
in no doubt who I am.
87
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The leader they dare not ignore.
88
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Let them in.
89
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It's a major turning point,
I think, in part,
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{\an8}because Njinga recognizes that
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{\an8}European rivalries
could be beneficial, politically, for her.
92
00:07:58,000 --> 00:07:58,960
Please sit.
93
00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,640
We heard you captured Luanda.
94
00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:07,920
Congratulations.
95
00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:09,720
{\an8}Thank you.
96
00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,960
Perhaps some of that wine
you people favor to celebrate.
97
00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,720
The Queen is too kind.
98
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:17,720
Perhaps later.
99
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After we've discussed business.
100
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After work.
101
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The Dutch are very wise, indeed.
102
00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,280
So, you have conquered Luanda.
103
00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:37,159
What next for your formidable army?
104
00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:42,960
- What do you mean?
- With our common enemy,
105
00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:44,400
the Portuguese?
106
00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:48,400
How badly do you want them gone?
107
00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,280
We have heard tales of the great Njinga,
108
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with whom the Portuguese
have never known friendship or peace.
109
00:08:57,560 --> 00:09:00,520
This land has never known
friendship nor peace
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since the Portuguese set foot in it.
111
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We are people born running
from extinction.
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So I want them gone.
113
00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:13,960
Then we want the same thing.
114
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More or less.
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Hmm.
116
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"More or less."
117
00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,800
I mean to say, trade is why we are here,
118
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but everyone knows that Njinga
has valiantly blocked the Portuguese from...
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I would say these...
120
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...important trade routes to key markets.
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Slave markets.
122
00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:49,120
{\an8}I, too, have heard of your conquest
of Portuguese plantations
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from Americas to the Gold Coast.
124
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Lands screaming
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for the bent backs of our people to plow.
126
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Am I right?
127
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The Queen is well-informed.
128
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For me to even consider what you want...
129
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I need to get what I need first.
130
00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:19,920
I've been here too many times
with the Portuguese.
131
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Promises, oaths, broken, worthless...
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We are not the Portuguese.
133
00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,880
And yet, your insatiable thirst
for slaves is the same.
134
00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:34,680
What do you need?
135
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Soldiers and weapons.
136
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And above all...
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recognition.
138
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That if I were to agree to work with you,
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you would acknowledge me
as a female king of royalty.
140
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And not your subject.
141
00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,560
But perhaps, that's too much work...
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for today.
143
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Perhaps some of that wine now.
144
00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:09,520
Yes?
145
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:11,640
Hm.
146
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Njinga never wavers in her disdain
for the Portuguese,
147
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and the Dutch are a convenient way
to contest their power.
148
00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,840
The Dutch are different
from the Portuguese
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because they don't want to conquer
her kingdom of Ndongo.
150
00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:43,760
Are you really planning on letting
the Dutch have their slave markets?
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I need to negotiate with them.
152
00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:50,600
I know what I saw on my way back here.
153
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Whole villages empty.
154
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Stripped bare by the Portuguese.
155
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Not a single living soul.
156
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Like where only bad spirits roam.
157
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Is that what is to become of us all?
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Of course not, Kambu.
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00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:09,960
- Why do you ask me that?
- Then why are you still
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even negotiating with them?
161
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Even now,
162
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when we know without a doubt,
163
00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:19,120
that they want what the Portuguese want.
164
00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,760
Because the Portuguese
are still our biggest enemy!
165
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And the Dutch are the best chance
we have of defeating them!
166
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Of ever seeing Funji again!
167
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The Dutch need us.
168
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That gives us leverage.
169
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And without leverage, there's no hope.
170
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Our best people...
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will continue to get stripped
from our land.
172
00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:52,480
Can you remember a time...
173
00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,440
where you didn't have to sleep
with one eye open?
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No.
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00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,160
We need to do whatever it takes...
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to live to fight another day.
177
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If the Dutch agree to fight with us
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and can recognize me as an equal,
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then together,
we can rid the land of the Portuguese.
180
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:34,760
And then they can't ignore me.
181
00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,240
Njinga continues her attacks
on the Portuguese.
182
00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:00,120
She has a huge impact
on the transatlantic slave trade.
183
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,960
Whereas once at the peak,
184
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the Portuguese had been exporting
185
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,480
about 10,000 to 13,000
enslaved individuals annually,
186
00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,480
it drops to almost zero.
187
00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:12,920
And finally,
the Portuguese King is so enraged
188
00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:14,360
at how much money he's losing,
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that he sends a new governor
to deal with her.
190
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,040
His name is Souto-Maior.
191
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,240
He gathers together a huge force in 1646,
192
00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,560
the biggest that Njinga has ever faced.
193
00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:32,720
The Portuguese head straight
for Njinga's war camp
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{\an8}in the Dembos region.
195
00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:54,320
There are more coming, My Queen!
196
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:55,720
They're surrounding us!
197
00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:57,240
Retreat to the forest!
198
00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:58,360
Go!
199
00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:07,200
Njinga is having to flee
and to leave behind
200
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:11,160
{\an8}many of her people
including, again, her sister Kambu.
201
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,800
This is not how you enter
a royal household.
202
00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:22,880
How dare you?
203
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,880
You do not belong here! No!
204
00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,360
I... I...
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00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,440
No! No!
206
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,600
When the Portuguese find out
207
00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:48,600
that Funji was spying all along,
208
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,680
they are really angered.
209
00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,840
So they decide to really show Njinga
210
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,360
that "you're not going to win on this one.
211
00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,320
We're going to crush you."
212
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,920
{\an8} Njinga's armies
are on the move again,
213
00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,320
{\an8}as news reaches them of Kambu's abduction
214
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:47,720
{\an8}and Funji's murder.
215
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,960
How can we say goodbye
without a body?
216
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,960
Can she even come back without a body?
217
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,720
She is an ancestor now.
218
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:16,200
We have another spirit...
219
00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:21,720
of a royal brave warrior watching over us.
220
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:27,520
Take heart.
221
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,560
Nothing happens
that isn't the will of the gods, Njinga.
222
00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,160
What if they do the same thing to Kambu?
223
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,040
I can't lose her too. I can't.
224
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,080
I can't.
225
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,360
I know...
226
00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:50,240
that it hurts.
227
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,440
I can't lose her too.
228
00:17:58,080 --> 00:17:59,640
This is her baby sister
229
00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:04,120
who she was responsible
for protecting all of their lives.
230
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:06,360
{\an8}I imagine that she feels
a great deal of guilt
231
00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:10,320
{\an8}about her inability
to keep her safe and to protect her.
232
00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,000
Watch over us, Funji.
233
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,000
Your sacrifice will not be in vain.
234
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:40,920
With Funji dead,
235
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,160
Njinga now needs the Dutch
more than ever to save Kambu,
236
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,480
and now needs them to sign the treaty.
237
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,680
The Portuguese are holding Kambu
at Fort Massangano.
238
00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,400
Njinga doesn't have the firepower
to attempt a rescue alone.
239
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,200
As part of the treaty,
I want Fort Massangano,
240
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:09,640
which means I need Dutch soldiers,
ammunition, and guns.
241
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,480
Why is this fort so important to you?
242
00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,600
Why is this fort so important?
243
00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:21,640
Massangano is the Portuguese's
last stronghold,
244
00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:23,680
if not their strongest.
245
00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,440
In fact, it is so strategically important,
246
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,560
that were it to fall today,
247
00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,520
the Portuguese would be finished,
they'd be on their last legs.
248
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,480
Why is it so important to me?
249
00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:36,040
Oh, no, sir.
250
00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,840
It should be of paramount importance
to you too, shouldn't it?
251
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:41,960
Yes, I see.
252
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,000
But still, a treaty of this kind with a...
253
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,040
Female King of Ndongo.
254
00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,880
Let's just say it is complicated, hm?
255
00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:55,200
It has never been done.
256
00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:58,440
I'm sorry,
but I'm just not sure it's possible.
257
00:19:58,440 --> 00:19:59,680
Meaning, it's not impossible.
258
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,200
Meaning that if it were possible,
I'm not promising anything,
259
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:03,560
but if it were...
260
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,320
Naturally, the price will be high.
261
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:09,480
How high?
262
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,400
We want more slaves.
263
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:13,280
What did I tell you?
264
00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,400
Snakes. All of them.
265
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,240
You have already taken
countless numbers of my people.
266
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,000
We want access
to Portuguese slave markets,
267
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,920
without Portuguese interference.
268
00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:41,160
The Dutch want Njinga
to allow them to exploit
269
00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,680
the Portuguese system of enslavement
from trade routes to market.
270
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,240
She's shown she can easily shut them down.
271
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,320
So now, they need her cooperation.
272
00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,480
I want it in writing,
273
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:57,480
which means
you officially acknowledge my position...
274
00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,360
as independent and legitimate ruler
of Ndongo and Matamba.
275
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,720
Your royal equal and partner...
276
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:13,480
in this fight against the Portuguese
and in this land.
277
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,040
Like I said,
278
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:19,640
it's a big ask.
279
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,440
To match your big price...
280
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:25,120
like you said.
281
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,360
Njinga signs
a formal treaty with the Dutch.
282
00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:44,880
She agrees to give them half
of all the captives she takes in war,
283
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,640
which they can then enslave
and use in their plantations.
284
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,680
In return,
the Dutch agree to support Njinga,
285
00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,400
both militarily and politically.
286
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:55,760
It's a trade-off.
287
00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:01,400
How do you protect people
in an era of omnipresent slaving,
288
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,800
where slavery and slaving is everywhere?
289
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,400
Where the violence of colonization
290
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,600
produces either enslaved people
291
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,040
or those who are able
to successfully resist
292
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,400
by their alliances
293
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,640
with European powers who were slaving.
294
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,080
{\an8} Njinga,
with the help of Dutch soldiers,
295
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,720
{\an8}begins planning an assault
on Fort Massangano to rescue Kambu.
296
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:23,960
Two weeks later,
297
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,240
they are one day away
from moving on the fort.
298
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:35,720
- Long live our Queen.
299
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,960
Live long. What brings you here?
300
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,240
Would you excuse us?
301
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,680
They sent a large contingent from Lisbon
302
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:56,360
to fight the Dutch,
303
00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:58,440
so our Dutch friends
need their soldiers back.
304
00:22:58,440 --> 00:22:59,600
What do you mean?
305
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:02,280
Even these ones here?
306
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,440
Every single last one of them
to defend Luanda.
307
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:09,680
Can't it wait?
308
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,120
We're literally one day
from taking the Fort
309
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:14,400
and freeing Kambu, they...
310
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:16,000
They cannot do this!
311
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:18,720
I don't think there's any other choice.
312
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:21,920
By all accounts,
313
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:23,880
there are far too many Portuguese...
314
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:25,840
- ...landing in Luanda.
315
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:28,920
No.
316
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,080
Summon the Nganga.
317
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,640
The ancestors must have a different way.
318
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,400
We cannot just come so close again
319
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,040
just to let go.
320
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:39,160
She is too far away.
321
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,320
- There is no time to summon her.
322
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:46,360
Then tell them to give me one more day.
323
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:48,840
Just one more.
324
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,880
And I will... I will personally come down
325
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,040
with our soldiers and theirs
to fight them.
326
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,640
But we promised to help them.
327
00:23:57,640 --> 00:23:59,520
Yes. But not today.
328
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:01,480
Tomorrow.
329
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,920
I don't think they have
until tomorrow, My Queen.
330
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,320
If they lose Luanda,
331
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,400
then everything
we have achieved today is lost!
332
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,440
They need their soldiers back now.
333
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:22,920
We have to choose.
334
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:41,880
Tell the troops to move out.
335
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,640
But the minute this is over...
336
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,000
we return, as promised, to rescue Kambu.
337
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,560
When Njinga finally
gets back to Luanda,
338
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,040
she sees the last Dutch ships
disappearing over the horizon.
339
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,560
The Portuguese
are back in control of the city.
340
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:31,160
Being let down by the Dutch
is devastating for Njinga.
341
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,680
She realizes
that without their military support,
342
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,360
she's going to find it much harder
to beat the Portuguese.
343
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,200
Fighting is not the issue
with or without the Dutch.
344
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,480
I am still a thorn in their sides
and yet, we still don't have Kambu.
345
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,600
It's like they're determined
to hold on to her no matter what we do.
346
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,160
So we keep fighting
until they have no choice.
347
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,520
You are as strong as the day
you took the throne.
348
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,480
Well, I'm yet not immortal,
349
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:01,840
and neither is Kambu.
350
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,280
And I need her
to replace me when I'm gone.
351
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,360
We found them hiding in the chapel.
352
00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:13,280
Hmm.
353
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,880
You, I know you, don't I?
354
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,080
What were you doing in Wandu, old friend?
355
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:24,000
Friend?
356
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:25,800
Are you with the Jesuits now?
357
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,440
They are not Jesuits.
They... they are with the Capuchins.
358
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,200
What is the difference?
They are all serving the Portuguese.
359
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,080
We have no friends
with the Portuguese.
360
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:34,640
They... they answer to Rome.
361
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:35,880
- Rome?
- Not Lisbon.
362
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:37,720
- Hmm.
- Yes.
363
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:38,840
To the Pope.
364
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:40,480
All Catholics answer to the Pope.
365
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,360
Even the King of Portugal.
366
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,120
You see, I've not forgotten everything
you taught me at my baptism, have I?
367
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:50,640
Praise God, you have not, Queen Njinga.
368
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,640
All Catholics must indeed
answer to the Pope.
369
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:57,200
Then why don't we behead the Pope
instead of you?
370
00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:58,880
Hmm? Hmm?
371
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,400
Since you are obviously
just the serpent's tail,
372
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,200
and he is the head.
373
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,400
Njinga Mona, stop terrifying our guests.
374
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,160
There'll be no beheadings today.
375
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:12,480
Make our guests comfortable.
376
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:14,480
Now.
377
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:29,640
What?
378
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,600
Maybe we've been chasing
the tail too long.
379
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,760
For once, I think Njinga Mona is right.
380
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,640
Hmm.
381
00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:00,480
In these difficult times,
I need your help,
382
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,200
I need your guidance.
383
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,080
Amen.
384
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:08,920
I hope I've not disturbed you,
old friend.
385
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,400
No. No, you have not.
386
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:15,480
Seeing you...
387
00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,200
reminds me of my baptism many moons ago.
388
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,520
It was a blessed, memorable day.
389
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,000
Eh... It was mostly business.
390
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:27,640
I'm joking.
391
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:30,120
It was indeed memorable.
392
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:32,720
I'll come straight to the point.
393
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:39,960
I need the Pope's recognition of me
as the legitimate ruler of Ndongo.
394
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,320
If he recognizes me,
395
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,680
the Portuguese will have to do the same.
396
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,320
To do otherwise
would be to disobey the Pope.
397
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:52,960
Which they can't.
398
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,320
I need you and your Capuchin friends' help
399
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:58,360
to win his validation.
400
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,000
- It is not that simple.
- I know.
401
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:02,880
How do we make it so?
402
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:05,400
Proof of conversion.
403
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:08,000
Not just you.
404
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,600
All of Ndongo.
405
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,920
- Your ways--
- And our culture.
406
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:15,160
I need the Pope.
407
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,960
And I need your help
to get him to my side.
408
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:23,120
Will you...
409
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,000
and your Capuchin friends help me?
410
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:33,960
Father Zelotes agrees to help her.
411
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,640
So Njinga starts sending letters
to the Pope.
412
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:40,080
She says that she's willing
to return to Christianity.
413
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,360
And she also asks for people to come,
414
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:43,600
missionaries to come,
415
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,400
and to baptize her people,
416
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,120
and she introduced Christianity,
417
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:48,560
um, into her kingdom.
418
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,160
While she's waiting
for a reply from the Pope,
419
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,640
the Portuguese
exploit Njinga's desperate need
420
00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,200
to get her sister Kambu back.
421
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,040
They send a religious envoy
to negotiate her release.
422
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:09,040
The Portuguese demand
that you cease your warlike practices,
423
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,200
if you ever want to see your sister again.
424
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,080
"Warlike practices."
425
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:16,440
Look who's talking.
426
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,320
All I ask...
427
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,120
is that you return my sister,
428
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,360
my rightful successor,
429
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:27,280
and leave us alone.
430
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,880
If you did that,
there would be no more war.
431
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,960
We need to see an end to your pagan ways.
432
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:42,160
We need complete proof
of your conversion to Christianity.
433
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,120
The complete conversion
of your people too.
434
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:50,280
How dare you?
435
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:51,720
Let him finish.
436
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:01,960
And...
437
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:05,880
And what?
438
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,280
Governor Chichorro
also demands 200 slaves...
439
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:13,200
...as a tribute of goodwill.
440
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,240
The Catholic Church is very much complicit
within the slave trade.
441
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,520
I don't think that we have had
442
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:24,920
full nuanced conversations
about how much the church
443
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:26,920
plays a role within the slave trade
444
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,920
and how much the wealth of the slave trade
is building up the Catholic Church.
445
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:44,440
Just so I'm clear.
446
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,440
You are asking us...
447
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,080
to turn our backs on our ancestors,
448
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,200
throw away our culture,
449
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:01,880
what we have known since birth,
450
00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:04,880
and for what?
451
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:07,600
A God...
452
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,720
whose name we cannot pronounce,
453
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,920
whose language we cannot speak?
454
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,760
And in addition to all of that,
455
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:22,600
you ask...
456
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:29,120
for 200 more slaves
on top of the thousands...
457
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:32,680
thousands...
458
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,320
...you have already taken?
459
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:42,760
Is that it?
460
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:44,600
Hmm?
461
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,040
{\an8}Will that be enough?
462
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:54,800
Your Christ speaks of love and compassion.
463
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:55,920
Where is yours?
464
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:06,280
I will not give 200 more slaves.
465
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:07,600
I...
466
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,840
We have given enough.
467
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,440
To get Kambu back, Njinga agrees
to some of the Portuguese terms,
468
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,000
but she refuses to comply
with their demand for 200 slaves
469
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:33,400
which is like denying them
470
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,000
almost half a million dollars
in today's money.
471
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:43,760
To convince the Pope
to recognize her,
472
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,240
Njinga has built churches
across her kingdom,
473
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,960
and organized mass baptisms of her people.
474
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:50,120
Where is she?
475
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,240
With some of the terms agreed,
the Portuguese release her sister Kambu,
476
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:02,000
but the Pope has still not recognized her
as a sovereign Christian monarch.
477
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,520
There she is.
478
00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:33,520
Kambu!
479
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:37,560
- Kambu!
480
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,520
Kambu!
481
00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,600
Ooh, thank you, my ancestors.
482
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:55,880
Look at you.
483
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:01,520
My little sister.
484
00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:04,400
Who are you calling little?
485
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,440
Kambu! Kambu!
486
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:13,240
- Kambu!
487
00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:15,240
Thank you.
488
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:18,440
Thank you.
489
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,240
Ongoyo dancing fine.
490
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,720
I wish Funji were here to see this.
491
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:53,280
Father too.
492
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:55,680
They are.
493
00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:59,560
Our ancestors always walk with us.
494
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,160
I know it wasn't easy...
495
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:08,640
allowing all these...
496
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:13,360
Catholic customs amongst our people.
497
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:15,360
To convince the Pope.
498
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:16,800
To secure peace.
499
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:20,160
To ensure your succession...
500
00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:23,760
and the future of our people.
501
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,040
I didn't do anything
the ancestors didn't guide me to.
502
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:34,560
And I certainly didn't do it
for any white man,
503
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,920
however powerful he may think he is.
504
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,280
I know.
505
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:47,880
Because I won't always be here.
506
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:51,360
Don't talk like that, Njinga.
507
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:54,960
When I'm gone...
508
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:00,760
remember everything it took to get here.
509
00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:04,040
Strive to protect it.
510
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,840
What if I'm not enough?
511
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:19,760
{\an8}As long as we walk with the ancestors,
512
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:22,800
we are always more than enough.
513
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:28,880
We are never alone.
514
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,000
Njinga pursues the Pope
515
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,080
with letters after letters for years,
really a decade.
516
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,480
Until she finally gets a letter
that seals the deal for her,
517
00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:30,200
that recognizes that, yes,
you are in fact an African-Christian state
518
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,600
and that the Portuguese
have to acknowledge them.
519
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:40,720
I believe it's peace.
520
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:43,960
Peace at last.
521
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,400
Because even the greatest warriors
522
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:49,640
have the day where they have
to put their weapons down,
523
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:54,120
either on the battlefield,
which is a glorious death of the warrior,
524
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:55,400
or in her case,
525
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:57,200
on her throne,
526
00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:00,040
where she will die.
527
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,200
By the time
528
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:05,440
Njinga's at the end of her life,
529
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,560
the slave trade has exploded.
530
00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,160
There is basically not a country,
531
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,160
very few countries,
that are not involved in the slave trade,
532
00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:17,360
that are not plundering
the African continent
533
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,440
from millions of enslaved Africans.
534
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:21,680
She can't fight against that.
535
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:23,600
She can't fight against the whole world.
536
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:36,760
Njinga was the only African leader
to be recognized
537
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,800
by European rulers in power
as a female king.
538
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:43,080
Njinga was a mother of a nation.
539
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:45,160
But she loved her country,
540
00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:47,680
and for that, she made great sacrifices.
541
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:50,800
But those sacrifices ensured
542
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:53,360
the independence of her kingdom
543
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:56,840
while the rest of Africa
was swallowed by Imperialism.
544
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,680
Our stories still have to be told,
545
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:05,000
because most of the time,
they haven't been told by us.
546
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,200
They have been told by others for us.
547
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:10,880
As an Angolan woman myself
548
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:15,080
{\an8}connected to the Archives,
549
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:16,760
I found Njinga's story,
550
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,600
and to this day, it has never left me.
551
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,840
It's emotional.
552
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:30,840
It's important...
553
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,160
and in Angola...
554
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:36,160
and the world...
555
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:39,200
Njinga lives on.
556
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:47,160
I think of her
as probably one of the greatest
557
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:51,440
women warriors and women leaders
this world has ever seen.
558
00:40:57,600 --> 00:40:59,440
By the end of Njinga's life,
559
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:02,480
everything she'd fought for came to be.
560
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:06,360
She secured a safe, independent kingdom
for her people.
561
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:11,760
The royal line she sacrificed
so much to preserve did continue,
562
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,320
with first, her sister Kambu,
563
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:18,440
then three more female kings
continuing to rule in Matamba.
564
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:21,120
Like in much of Africa,
565
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:24,840
European forces eventually
overwhelm the continent.
566
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:29,880
Ndongo, too, fell to the Portuguese
and became known as Angola.
567
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:34,360
And like most tales of hunting
told solely by the hunter,
568
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:38,160
Njinga's prowess was diminished,
her story buried.
569
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:39,960
Then in the 1960s,
570
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:43,400
a new generation of Angolans
fighting for independence
571
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,960
reclaimed Njinga as their own,
572
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:51,240
an icon of resistance,
of hope, a revolutionary.
573
00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:54,760
A powerful warrior, and African queen,
574
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:57,600
whose story deserves to be told.