The U.S. branch of the Bloody Tongue was founded in 1917 by a small group of Kenyan immigrants to support M’Weru during her time in New York. In the years since its founding, it grew steadily, and its membership eventually encompassed people of a wide variety of ethnicities and backgrounds. The majority of the members were from working-class backgrounds, with recruitment particularly active amongst dockworkers, sailors, and the city’s indigent population.
Many of those drawn into the cult were vulnerable people, seeking easy answers or material support, which Mukunga M’Dari was only too happy to provide. Some used the cult’s activities as an outlet for their natural bloodlust, while others had been driven to madness by the horrors they had seen and perpetrated. This psychological damage caused many to cut off contact with their family and friends, retreating fully into cult activities.
The cult headquarters were in a Harlem shop that retailed African tribal paraphernalia called Ju-Ju House. However, it was moved to Fat Maybelle’s, a Harlem speakeasy, after Ju-Ju House burned down. Silas N’Kwane ran Ju-Ju House, but Mukunga M’Dari was the high priest of the cult.
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