Kanda (plural makanda; before 1700 the singular was dikanda or likanda) in Kikongo is any social or analytical group, but often applied to lineages or groups of associated people who form a faction, band or other group. In Kongo documents written in Portuguese, or in older Portuguese accounts of Kongo it often is translated by "geração" (family or lineage in Portuguese). In older times, before about 1850, the term probably referred to elite lineages or descent groups (and their clients and slaves) who ruled the country. In modern Kikongo usage, for example in clan histories, or publications such as Nkutama a mvila za makanda (Tumba 1934, 4th edition, Matadi, 1972), it refers to a matrilineal descent group. In this literature, the kanda is often associated with a mvila or clan motto, which