Once the Bakongo had a vast kingdom Long ago, the Bakongo lived in a great kingdom. Bakongo kings ruled over a vast stretch of land and hundreds of thousands of people. The people lived in the shadow of the lush forests and they traveled on the currents of the mightly Congo river. The Bakongo people were farmers. The forests, the river and the land were their greatest resources. The Bakongo lived in large extended families called clans. Each kind of clan had two kinds of members: the living and the ancestors. The ancesors were dead of course, but they still came to the people's aid when ever the Bakongo had trouble.