Central Africans who arrived in Brazil were almost all speakers of Bantu languages. These languages originated in the region of the same name, which included four predominant regional cultures: Kongo (speakers of Kikongo), Mbundu (speakers of Kimbundu), Ovimbundu (speakers of Umbundu) and  
Lunda-Chokwe (speakers of Chokwe) (Karash, 2000, p. 58). These cultures were interrelated and had sustained interaction with each other. They thus shared strong similarities, both linguistic and cultural, with grammar demonstrating shared parentage and centred on the concept of lineage and a religious world vision based on the paradox of fortunate misfortune (De Craemer et al., 1976; Thornton, 1998). This world vision considered the natural order of the universe to be essentially benevolent, with misfortune generated by the evil actions carried out by spirits or people through witchcraft. Although external rituals, beliefs and symbols may be added according to the circumstances, they must always fit this cultural complex (De Craemer et al., 1976; Karash, 2000). Slenes (1991-92, pp. 48-67) suggests that such affinities may have paved the way for a process of transculturation among Central Africans in the south-east, producing a new Bantu identity in the nineteenth century imposed on the original ethnic identities. In Brazil, these groups were divided - as were other Africans - into 'nations' alluding to regions or ports such as Benguela and Loango, or to wider geographical areas such as Angola and Congo, and specific ethnicities such as Ngangela.