Heritage Explored: The Baluba Nation, Their Guardians of History and Their Memory Boards Part 2 Dissertation 2024 Irene Ilunga University of Greenwich | UK Few people will know of the existence of Baluba Country, the people and the Nation, the nation of my origins. Fewer people will know that the Baluba people invented history recording machines, which they have used for thousands of years: the Lukasa Memory Boards. This research stemmed from the desire to learn more about these instruments and their ‘design principles.’The reality of me being an English-speaker, studying a topic about the Kiluba-speaking Baluba people, of the Swahili-speaking Bantu region, in the French-speaking country of the Congo DR, was made apparent very early on. The difficulty of translation and interpretation of resources, together with the challenges of secrecy, and the nuances in the concept of mnemonics governing the design and use of the tool, gave rise to an unconventional research method and an unconventional thesis output.My research was predominantly oral; I interviewed lay Baluba people and key historians on the topic, such as Dr. Lukanda Lwa Malale, Dr. Allen F. Roberts, and, importantly, the Mbudye Member and historian, Kabwende Kyenge Kisoke. My parents were also key to the translation process. Video calls, voice notes, written and drawn notes formed the bulk of our correspondence. To reflect the methodology, the outcome of my thesis is a podcast laying out the history of the Baluba Nation, the Origins of the Mbudye Secret Society and the design principles of the Lukasa memory boards, as well as the illustrations of how these principles assisted in the remembering of key Baluba histories. Tutor(s) Caroline Rabourdin