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So'o Masks and Hemba Funerary FestivalAuthor(s): Thomas D. Blakely and Pamela A. R. BlakelySource: African Arts, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Nov., 1987), pp. 30-86Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies CenterStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3336497Accessed: 29/09/2008 11:12

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So'o Masks and Hemba Funerary Festival

THOMAS D. BLAKELY * PAMELA A. R. BLAKELY

Rural Bahemba,1 who are primarily agriculturalists living in eastern

Zaire just south of the great equatorial rain forest and about 150 kilometers west of Lake Tanganyika, have in recent years come to the attention of the African art world through their wood statuary, referred to by the Belgian art historian Fran:ois Neyt as grande statuaire for its unusual size and relatively classical style. In the publications on Hemba sculpture to date, the Hemba so'o ("chimpanzee-human") mask has re- ceived only cursory mention (Neyt & de Strycker 1975; Neyt 1977; see also I.M.N.Z. 1973a, 1973b; Cornet 1975). It sometimes is referred to as a masque singe, or "monkey mask." When the Kiswahili term sokomutu is also noted, the translation gloss used (if any) is "chimpanzee," without further com- ment on the connotations of this term for Bahemba.2 The limited treatment has been misleading, moreover, in asserting that these masks are never danced (Neyt 1977:498 following Cornet 1975:123).

1. SO'O "CHIMPANZEE-HUMAN" MASK. HEMBA, ZAIRE. WOOD, 19.3cm. INSTITUT DES MUSEES NATIONAUX DU ZAIRE, KINSHASA. COLLECTED BY C. E. HENAULT. HOLES AROUND THE EDGE INDICATE IT WAS PROBABLY WORN AS A DANCE MASK. INTERVIEWS WITH BAHEMBA, USING PHOTOGRAPHS OF THIS AND OTHER SO'O MASKS, WERE ONE SOURCE OF THE ETHNOAESTHETIC INFORMATION IN THIS STUDY

In recent years, leading scholars have endeavored to enlarge our understanding of African art by doing and encourag- ing field research in Africa concerning the production, uses, and ethnoaesthetics of African art in its social and cultural setting. Increasingly we see in print kinds of contextualizing material on Af- rican art that are comparable (and sometimes even superior) to analyses of art from areas of the world that have much longer literate traditions to rely upon for general background, for exploring specific historical and contemporaneous re- ferents, and for suggesting sign do- mains3 in the surrounding culture that are potentially related to the art in question (e.g., Biebuyck 1973).

Along with greater knowledge of Afri- can peoples and their everyday and ritual lives has come a somewhat greater ex- pertise in understanding the iconogra- phy of African sculpture from more cultural-insider points of view. More rarely, attempts have been made to expli- cate a sculpture's visual signs with specific reference to postures, gestures, or facial expressions found in face-to-face interaction in the African society that produced and utilized the particular piece, as is done, for example, in Robert Farris Thompson and Joseph Cornet's book The Four Moments of the Sun (1981), which focuses on the Kongo ethnic groups in Lower Zaire and Angola. We would like to take this approach a bit further here than has previously been done, to our knowledge, at least for sub-Saharan African processes of sig- nification, by examining the Hemba so'o mask, its ethnoaesthetic dimensions, and its performance in Hemba funerary festivals.

A central concern of our visual semiotic research (supported by other linguistic, historical, folkloristic, and sociocul- tural investigations), as exemplified by the discussion of Hemba masks to follow, has been to discover and elucidate which visual phenomena count as visual communication forms, messages, acts, events, and texts for members of the community under study. One objective is to work toward making clear which visual communication resources are utilized by these Central African people in constructing what might be loosely

called their system of visually com- municative events. This ethnographic approach puts a primary emphasis on various forms of indigenous knowledge, and involves a rigorous effort not only to find answers to questions from an out- sider's perspective, but also to find the appropriate questions to ask, and appropriate ways to look and perceive and interpret, within that particular African culture. There is a substantial literature in anthropology and related fields concerning methodologies for conducting this general type of inquiry that are here extended and elaborated to deal explicitly with visual sign processes, or "semiosis."4

An important question to ask when considering the so'o mask is: What do the Bahemba themselves make of it? What in these masks counts, for the people who produced and used them, as a sign or a complex of signs, and how do Bahemba relate these signs to other signs of their acquaintance, to situation-specific or multisituational designata, and to the habits of the beings, living and dead, who inhabit the world in and around their villages? When Bahemba look at this object (Fig. 1) they see what they call a horrible and terrifying "mouth": an enormous and grotesque curvature, an inappropri- ately stretching, gaping opening on an otherwise fairly reasonable visage. If you as a Muhemba5 saw anything like this frightening combination of forms coming out of the bush or on a path, in your panic you would not pause, but would run full blast in the opposite direction. We witnessed this kind of panic among a number of Bahemba attending a funeral. A reliable female research assistant also tells of seeing a usually very calm and dignified thirty-year-old pregnant woman running headlong down the path essentially stark naked, her cloth wrap streaming out behind her (an extraordinary event in the very modest everyday adult Hemba world): it turns out she had seen a so'o "chimpanzee- human." This wild-eyed flight is the an- tithesis of the calm, unhurried Hemba gaze and all the forthrightly polite in- teractional subtleties that accompany it.

2. SO'O "CHIMPANZEE-HUMAN," SHOWING THE WOODEN MASK (MWISI GWA SO'O), BARKCLOTH CAPE, AND HAIR AND BEARD OF COLOBUS MONKEY HAIR.

30

Steady and unabashed gazing is a common eye-contact routine, and though its occurrence varies with respect to concur- rent activities, who does the gazing, and who and what are gazed upon in what settings, it does not have the implica- tions of discourtesy found in Northern- European American culture, for example. Gazing is expected in many Hemba situations; omitting this gaze or cutting it short can easily have negative connotations, whereas calm and unhurried gazing is interpreted as friendly and courte- ous attentiveness. (For an analysis of this and other semiotic and proxemic6 aspects of visual communication in Hemba villages, see T. Blakely 1982, 1987.)

Under persistent questioning, Bahemba maintain that the wide curved form on the so'o mask quite clearly denotes for them just a "mouth," an "open mouth," kwanwa hululu - and definitely not a "smile," usea solo. For Bahemba, it is a strange and horrible mouth, perverted from its usual aspect: a thing to be star- tled by, amazed at, feared, and (in a society where fearful flight is no disgrace) to run from at first encounter. A grimacing "open mouth," moreover, is not part of the standard calm and proper Hemba greeting, nor is it part of the usual stead- ily gazing and quietly friendly observation of an approaching visitor. Keeping one's mouth closed and lips over the teeth is the commonly followed Hemba rule and consistent pattern. One even hears adults instructing younger children on how to keep one's lips closed in this manner. It is part of the seemingly impassive African "cool" that Thompson has written about (1973).

Another feature of this dignified and "cool" facial presentation, among the Bahemba, is an attenuation of the raising of eyebrows during their greeting or gaz-

ing routines. This is not to say that one cannot at all find in Hemba interaction the quick flash of the eyebrow that Iranaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt and Wulf Schiefenhovel propose as a biological universal in human facial expression, but it does seem suppressed or shor- tened in many Hemba situations.7 Bahemba verbally deny using any eyebrow movement in greetings, and their brows do appear to be kept more stable than in some other cultures. Their faces at these times seem to be much farther along the continuum toward where the Japanese are, for example.

Interestingly enough, Bahemba re- serve a slightly slower raising of the eyebrow for the kind of named gesture that Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen have called an "emblem" (Ekman & Friesen 1969). In Hemba facial-visual communication this emblem means yes and is substituted freely in the place of a verbal yes, especially when the listener who uses it does not want to interrupt the speaker, or in quiet or secret discussions where all are trying to keep sound to a minimum. This "yes" facial emblem re- calls what Eibl-Eibesfeldt found in Samoa, but without the Samoan readiness to use the eyebrow in many other situations.8

Bahemba also use a relatively quick raising of the eyebrow (sometimes in combination with a rapid sideways glance or a fast tongue-thrust to the side) to signal to a confederate that the time has come to implement a previously agreed-upon plan, such as leaving a group to go and privately drink some palm wine. This avoids the vocal-audial channel, which would be monitored by all. Even if someone else sees the eyebrow raising, etiquette requires that he not say anything to call others' attention

3, 4. SO'O SOCIETY MEMBER'S MASK(?) (FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS). WOOD, 16.2cm. MUSEE ROYAL DE L'AFRIQUE CENTRALE, TERVUREN.

to it. Here again, it is a silent sign used in the interests of interpersonal discretion.

Raised eyebrows held for a longer time are associated by Bahemba with "wild- ness," "drunken anger," some kinds of "craziness," or with "having just seen an apparition." Bahemba see this longer- held kind of raised eyebrows in so'o masks (Figs. 1-4)9 and view the so'o, in part, as embodying and expressing these disturbed and unsettled emotional states.

Especially, however, Bahemba focus upon the grotesque mouth and contrast it with what they otherwise see as a regu- lar, well-proportioned face. It is typically noted that the carver did a fine job in rendering this transformation of human facial signs - the features, expression, and facial gestures - except that the mouth is not at all human. The mouth is clearly said to resemble that of the ape that also bears the name so'o, the chimpanzee that lives in the bush (more particularly the forest). The African bush is called the great lusuhu, the untamed, wild part of the universe - the polar opposite of the cleared, swept, wide-open hanza (or 'unza) expanse outdoors in Hemba villages that is the locus of com- munal civilized life, visually and otherwise. 10

Bahemba greatly avoid the undomes- ticated animal chimpanzee, or "so'o of the bush." It is said to be a fierce, highly agonistic, and even predatory animal in relation to human beings, and people dread going through (and totally cir- cumvent if possible) forest areas known to be frequented by these animals, just as they would for known leopard areas, places where cobras have been sighted, and graveyards or sites thought to be hangouts for sorcerers.

Bahemba, it should also be em- phasized, do not keep animals as pets and do not have the emotional attach- ments to animals that go with the love of pets. They matter-of-factly note that nyama ni nyama ("an animal is meat"), an understandable sentiment where the food quest is problematic during part of the year. For the members of this culture, the so'o is in no sense friendly, cuddly, or cute - nor is any animal. And what may at first appear to us to be a smile or a smile-like grimace is something Bahemba do not consider to be positive, pleasant, or welcoming - in fact, quite the opposite.

There is a corpus of lore about the so'o that apparently is variably believed, depending on one's age, gender, credulity, and abilities as a hunter: hunters have a very keen knowledge of the local fauna, just as healers have an expert acquaintance with plants. The so'o is said by some, for example, to covet human women and also the opposed thumb on the human hand, and, if presented the opportunity, will aggressively try to ap-

32

I

5. TWO SO'O MASQUERADERS, JOINED BY A WOMAN SPECTATOR, PERFORM FOR A CIRCLE OF RESIDENTS AND FUNERAL GUESTS GATHERED IN THE OPEN SPACE (LAGALA) IN THE CENTER OF THE VILLAGE.

propriate either one. Women and the young, especially girls, are admonished not to travel through dense forest without males, and preferably adult male relatives, as support. Regardless of the usefulness of this convoying procedure in these days of increased farm expan- sion, deforestation, and state-enforced intervillage peace, there was probably serious survival value to it in the days (not so long ago) of more-plentiful large animal predators and frequent human welfare, since men had and continue to have the knowledge and responsibility for hunting, war, and the relevant weaponry.

This technique of topical and psychological misdirection, by the way, is standard in Hemba child training and people management. The real reason for avoidance is not explained, and instead attention is directed to a more frightening and obeyable substitute. Otherwise, those being instructed might not have the experience and practical knowledge to follow the rule as scrupulously as re- quired. This technique works both for truly life-threatening situations and for more mundane everyday interaction. The forest convoying procedure is an example of the former, while an example of the latter is the way that the masked "so'o of the village" is held up to children as a frightening bogeyman who will come to get them if they do not stop crying or do not do this and that. The truth and

wisdom here are in the human be- havioral imperative, rather than in the accuracy of the overt statement as a lit- eral observation of animal behavior. Awareness of this kind of verbal misdirection provides all the more reason in fieldwork concerning African art to closely observe and record what people do and the way they do it in naturally occurring situations, in addition to recording what they say they do, the reasons they claim to do it, and the symbols and ideology said to justify and explain it.

We are beginning here to come to an appreciation of how Bahemba look at these masks, how these carvings do or do not contain elements of recognizable "faces" in their visual world, and some of what these facial and other sign complexes denote in the Hemba communica- tional universe. This understanding can be enhanced by considering the other visual texts or sign complexes that appropriately accompany this mask; for the chimpanzee-human masquerade figure also possesses other markers of category-ambiguity, of liminality, or of anomaly in the perceptual, social, and natural order.1

Things of the forest and things of the village adorn the so'o. Black and White Colobus monkey hair makes up a sort of "hair" and "beard" (Fig. 2).12 Several pelts from both domestic and wild animals hang front and rear, particularly ac- centuating its rump (Fig. 6). 13 The so'o is

draped in a red-dyed barkcloth cape (a forest-derived fabric not worn in village life in living memory, but not ruled out for the distant past), and has natural- colored barkcloth leggings (Fig. 5).14 The so'o also wears some iron, a thing of the village and of civilization, but very special bits of iron. They are small bells (buzwege), whose distinctive high-pitched sound heralds the exciting presence of liminal creatures such as these "chimpanzee-humans" and certain "ghost-humans" - costumed members of the Balubwilo semisecret society.

As the so'o jingles noisily and disrup- tively, marching or running into a village, it makes a strange sight indeed: un- like humans and chimps, it has no arms. It not only has no gift of language (even the "ghost-humans" and "pygmy- humans"15 have that), it has no ears to hear and utters no sound from its mouth, only from its bells. And often, if one looks closely, the terrifying so'o does not really even see from its eyes but through its mouth! People scatter in fright and consternation.

If a pregnant woman is gazed upon too long by so'o, some say she risks harm to her unborn baby. In any case, if a baby is born with its eyes closed, the mother must join the so'o semisecret society. The so'o is further linked with fecundity and fertility: the failure of one's crops in a time of general crop success may be interpreted as a sign that one must be in-

33

..- ....-' ". . . . .A .

itiated into the so'o society. The so'o itself, a creature of the bush and the village, will never enter a cultivated field. In fact, Bahemba offer the advice that one can escape the so'o by running into such a field, though someone who repeatedly dreams that a so'o is chasing him is well counseled to join the so'o ciety.16

So'o masquerade figures may appear in Hemba funerary festivals. Such a festival (ubuzha malilo) can occur weeks, months, or even years after the burial, depending on the category of person who died, the complexity of his or her social relationship networks, the extent of his or her semisecret society memberships, the economic resources of those who must host the event, and the social commitments, work schedules, and health of a number of key participants. The festival is an important milestone in a lengthy series of funeral-related activities that together constitute a major Hemba cultural focus, providing the prime impetus for numerous social gatherings and substantially affecting temporal sequencing in daily and ritual life.

At the sorrowful news of death, the closest relatives and friends drop what they are doing and, without so much as changing out of the clothes they happen to be wearing, immediately converge on one of what may be several sites of mourning: the village where the person died, the deceased's natal village or

other village where the corpse will be buried, or the principal residence of a key relative some distance away. Relatives and friends who are less closely involved, as well as people otherwise related to the mourners though not as di- rectly to the deceased, come along to the funeral a bit later, though just as soon as they practicably can. Some of these guests arrive in time to participate fully in the complex of events leading up to the burial and immediately following it, such as the first women's musuusa, "mourning dance." Other guests come during the subsequent week of continued intensive mourning and mutual comforting as groups remain at the funeral site day and night. Other visitors come for the first time to the special gathering (uangazha baandu hanza), held a week or so after the death, that marks the finish of people "sleeping outside" at the funeral in solidarity with and support of those closest to the deceased. A few who were away on journeys or otherwise un- avoidably detained visit the funeral site in the succeeding weeks and months.

During this long period, wailing and other expressively sorrowful actions are continued, especially on the occasion of new arrivals to the funeral and in the early mornings and the evenings. A variety of funeral-related events also takes place at this time, and other events in the village often are either postponed or are integrated spatially and thematically into the ongoing funeral. As the weeks go by, the wailing, the spending time together in conversation and mutual support at the funeral site, the ritual offerings, and the other funerary activities do diminish in intensity and frequency, though they never disappear entirely. The pace then picks up again as group decision-making meetings, palavers to announce dates and assign roles, the amassing of food and drink, and other preparatory activities progressively lead up to the large re-

quiem funeral festival that marks the end of the formal mourning period.

The ubuzha malilo festival is considered a crucial step in the process of reconcilia- tion with the living and the dead, helping repair and ensure social and individual health while signaling the beginning of the reestablishment of normal social life for the most severely bereaved. It is a time when ceremonial events can occur, such as a formal musuusa ("mourning dance") and the playing of the trapezoid talking drum (mulimba), whose artfully coded messages can be heard for many kilometers. It is also an occasion when diverse issues of social relationship, schism and alliance, and leadership come to the surface and are negotiated - sometimes quietly or tacitly, and sometimes explicitly, color- fully, or even explosively. It is the most important kind of large group gathering in an area where traditionally there were no wedding festivals and no regularly occurring major holidays. Great numbers of people come from the surrounding area, including many who had only a marginal connection, or none at all, to the earlier stages of the funeral. Various kinds of entertainment groups are invited, gifts of palm wine are brought by almost everyone, and quan- tities of food are provided. Numerous kinds of interaction take place, and many kinds of business are transacted.

Near the end of the festival, or following soon after, are jural oratory and formal legal discussion (mwanda) concerning who was responsible for the death, for in the very human-centered Bantu universe, all deaths ultimately are seen to have human causality. Inheritance issues are also negotiated, sometimes protractedly, at the end of the festival or in the days following, or at a later date if there are great difficulties coming to a consensus among the inheritors or others closely involved. Usually after the

6. A SO'O POSTURES IN ITS DANCE PERFORMANCE

PHASE. RIGHT: 7. A SO'O IN ITS "WILD" PHASE RUNS THROUGH A VILLAGE AS CHILDREN SCATTER AND KEEP THEIR DISTANCE.

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8. A SO'O DANCES RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DRUMMERS, LAMPOONING OTHER FUNERAL FESTIVAL DANCERS WHO SOMETIMES PERFORM CLOSE TO THE DRUMS.

festival, though sometimes partially or wholly before, the sequence of funerary activities also includes separate special ceremonies and gatherings of members of each of the semisecret societies to which the deceased belonged. At this time, the deceased's membership status and control of healing substances are of- ficially ended, while social renewal and continuity are also assured through the admission of new members and through the instruction of initiates (and continu- ing members) in the esoteric knowledge of the particular society.

The appearance of the so'o in a funerary festival has two phases, one being what we might call the "wild" phase. All younger people run from it at this time, as do pregnant women, and it chases them enthusiastically (Fig. 7). You are safe running away in the cleared expanse outdoors, but you dare not run inside a house: it will follow you inside, catch you, lift its mask, and you will have to undergo the initiation into the so'o society - a fate those who run from the so'o seem desperately to want to avoid. Older people, especially senior men, interestingly enough, rarely run from the so'o, but they avert their gaze when it looks in their direction. One does not - invert- ing the usual open-faced gazing habit -

exchange gazes with a so'o in its "wild" phase.

There are not many other times when Bahemba move quickly in the daytime

4':4'

9. A SO'O, PELTS FLYING, FINISHES A RUNNING, SPINNING JUMP

35

tropical heat. They move quickly for war, for extreme medical emergency, when going to fetch a corpse or carrying it back to its natal village, after encounters with leopards or with ghosts, or when carrying a dead leopard in a noisy group. Bahemba do also chase and run this way as part of the grandparent-grandchild joking relationship called bwiyulu, itself a turning inside out of the solemn and re- spectful parent-child relationship. This roughhouse play across generations is outside certain legal constraints, too: if a child should fall and die while running from a grandparent, there is no legal re- course, just as there is none for death during the raucous struggles that de- velop around corpse-carrying or leopard-carrying. 17

In its "wild," chasing phase at a funerary festival the so'o respects none of the ordinary constraints of inhabited village space, but sails with abandon through all markers of lineage segment, family compound, activity area, and even through house doorways. But during the semidomestication of the so'o in its dance performance phase, spatial order is again restored. People no longer run and scatter. They form a semicircle or oval (Fig. 5), as is usual for watching performers and for many other activities in Hemba society, and they use the ordinary Hemba spectating gaze to delight in the mimicry of the former horror that has now turned into an amusing clown-like figure. Here we have a semiotic shift in basic emotional tenor, at the level of cultural performance, from fright to joy and laughter, paralleling similar directional- ity in individual shifts of emotion during

everyday interaction, but sustained over a much longer time period.

In its dance performance, now accom- panied by expert human drummers (Fig. 8), the so'o as clown or trickster still mocks the normal semiotic order, but it does so more benignly and less disturb- ingly, sometimes as a herky-jerky but nimble dancer (Fig. 9), sometimes as a side-splittingly funny mimic of other kinds of dancers present (Figs. 10,11,12), and sometimes as almost a bumbling fool.18 The so'o contributes to both the musangu, "happiness," and the yuuya, "heat" (or "energetic confusion"), of this very African funerary festival. For Bahemba, "energetic confusion" and "happiness" are both considered very important in counterpoint to the more expectable funerary nzuba ("sorrowful sadness") and inyonga ("coldness") in helping the living work through their feelings of malilo ("wailing grief"), as well as in satisfying the desires of the dead to be remembered, celebrated, and appropriately sent off to their new abode.19

The members of the audience infuse additional energy into the performance by joining in and dancing with the so'o, to the delight of the other onlookers. They may also enter the performance arena to dance with costumed "magical healers" of the Bambuli and Balubwilo semisecret societies when they perform at funerary events and other celebrations, or to express pleasure at other musical and dance performances.

The appearance of the so'o in a funerary festival might further be seen as a metacommunicative commentary on the

10. A SO'O MIMICS YOUNG PERFORMERS WEARING RAFFIA-STRAND SKIRTS AT A FUNERAL FESTIVAL.

liminal state of the deceased as he or she makes a transition to the afterworld and takes up residence in the spirit abode (kukesi). More broadly, the so'o "chimpanzee human" appears to be an allegorical figure of death. It is important to be clear here that Bahemba have not con- cisely articulated the explication of this allegory but rather it is consonant with a whole constellation of interpretative and explanatory commentary they have provided. Like death, the so'o is a disturber of the order of the system. Anomalous, category-confusing characteristics of the so'o parallel Hemba conceptions of the afterworld, where categories of things that are clearly distinct in the world of the living become muddled and mixed. For example, the phrase incorporated into a women's mourning song, "magonde ga meba" ("thorny plantains" or "thorny plantain plants"), is a metaphor for kukesi, "the spirit abode." In the Hemba world of the living, thorns are not associated with food plants or any other plant with positive value. The image of "thorny plantains" incorporates aspects of both "domesticated" and "wild" plants in a way that living Bahemba have not seen on this earth, but suppose that its awful anomaly must be akin to the unknown and equally awful reality of death. The horror associated with the mask's grotesquely open mouth on an otherwise normal face also resonates with this interpretation. It is further interesting in this regard that the jaws of Hemba corpses are always tied closed, as they are in many other societies, which in the Hemba case is said to keep the dead from talking and the chuuli, "soul- essence," from prematurely leaving the body.

From this appreciation of the so'o as an allegorical figure of death, further light is shed on other actions and outcomes that are associated with it. If a so'o should enter a planted field the crops will die. If someone caught by a so'o refuses to be initiated he is supposed to become a mufu, "dead person." To flee from this anomalous creature is to flee in fear of death personified. In the performance phase the so'o lampoons and mocks the entertainment groups and their youth- ful, often sensual expressions of life by mimicking and exaggerating their movements. When audience members join in with theso'o they engage in a danse macabre, and through this dance gain some mastery over their fear of death.

In this brief examination of Hemba art and funerary festival, we have considered the ethnoaesthetics of the so'o mask and masquerade. Relationships of the Hemba-identified signs in the so'o mask to facial expression and gesture in everyday Hemba interaction, and to other domains in the Hemba communi- cational universe, have been elucidated. We have indicated ways in which the so'o

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11. YOUNG BAMUSOYE DANCERS AT A FESTIVAL WHERE A SO'O MASQUERADE IS ALSO BEING PERFORMED.

"chimpanzee-human" is for the Bahemba a frightening, anomalous creature that has elements from, yet falls outside, the orderly cultural categories of "animal" and "human," "bush" and "village," "wild" and "domesticated." Fur- thermore, we have sought to avert prob- lems inherent in assuming cross-cultural intelligibility of apparently simple and straightforward terms and labels. For example, for Bahemba the visual and verbal significance of the animal "chimpanzee of the bush" is distinctly different from what many people in other cultures think about chimpanzees and what the image and the term "chimpanzee" evoke. We have also underscored the importance, for a more complete understanding of African art, of examining the performance context.

Crucial facets of "the meaning" of the so'o masquerade, it should be em- phasized, are to be found not only in Hemba identification of significant visual elements of mask and costume codes20 and in Hemba verbal interpretations of what these designate, but also in the situational performance of the so'o at Hemba funeral festivals. In semiotic terms, there are not only important in- terrelations between the syntactic and the semantic dimensions, between how signs are associated with and differ- entiated from each other and how they come to stand for something (or for many things). Signs also stand for some-

thing to someone (or groups of some- ones), quite often in a particular situation or range of situations: the pragmatic dimension is crucially important and in- timately involved with "meaning."

We have only begun to explore here the semiosis of some aspects of visual communication and masks among the Bahemba. Nonetheless this case study can serve as a cautionary tale for those who would rely on direct-viewing methods of analysis and interpretation alone, or in combination with minimalist identification of local terms or "symbols." Certainly many museum visitors are left to these methods, since docu- mentation for many African pieces in museum displays is nonexistent or ex- ceedingly scant. One's interpretation may be further aided, of course, if the piece is displayed with numerous other visual forms from the same region or ethnic group, which has been done in some outstanding special exhibits and books. More usually, however, perma- nent exhibitions and books on African visual art present a medley of pieces from many cultures by way of broad comparison. What has been presented here is by no means exhaustive, but serves to indicate the complex task we must undertake if we would begin systematically to understand visual signifi- cation and communication in an African culture. C

Notes, page 84 12. A SO'O GLEEFULLY PARODIES THE SENSUOUS

MOVEMENTS OF THE YOUNG DANCERS.

37

Ndala to the pure abstraction of Henry Mud- zengerere's Shoe-horn Head.

ZAIRE Masken Figuren Bernhard Gardi Museum fur Volkerkunde, Basel, 1986. Text in German. 126 pp., 11 blw photos, 3 maps, bibliography. $15. This catalogue illustrates all the pieces that were on display at an exhibition at the Mu- seum fur Volkerkunde, Basel. The book is highly organized. Introductory maps define the style areas, which are based on geography and ethnicity: Lower Zaire; Kwango-Kwilu; Kasai; Kasai-Sankuru; Luba, Salampasu, and Songye; and Chokwe. Each of these sections is introduced with a formal detailed description followed by excellent photographs taken by Peter Horner of representative pieces. There are also field shots showing the masks and figures in their local habitat - one by Hans Himmelheber, another a postcard dated 1902, surely pretourist era for Zaire. A Chokwe chair seen in full and in detail is a gem of witty elegance. This would make a serious reference work and forms a stylistic atlas of the major forms of Zaire.

TEXTEIS Tecnologia e Simbolismo Benjamin Pereira Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical, Museu de Etnologia, Lisbon, 1985. Text in Por- tuguese. 100 pp., 39 blw photos, 20 drawings, catalogue, bibliography. This study is connected with an exhibition of textile forms and the processes of their production at the Museu de Etnologia. The subti- tle of the book, "technology and symbolism," indicates its dual thrust. Its geographic focus is worldwide but is generally linked by a Por- tuguese connection, so that examples are taken from Guinea Bissau, the Comoros, Cape Verde Islands, Angola, Timor and some other Indonesian islands, and Portugal itself. The photos of weavers at work are linked to drawings that expose the precise workings of the various equipment that brings the raw material from harvest to useful readiness. The processes of production are also illustrated by examples of actual tools and machinery in use. The revealing illustrations alone may make this book worth considering.
















NEW PUBLICATIONS

Art of Sub-Saharan Africa: The Fred and Rita Richman Collection, by Christine Mullen Kreamer. The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1986. 96 pp, 98 b/w & 15 color photos, 5 maps, bibliography. $16.95 paper.

Visual Variations: African Sculpture from the Jus- tin and Elisabeth Lang Collection by Jacqueline Fry. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 1987. 64 pp., 63 b/w & 3 color photos. Text in French and Eng- lish.

From South Africa: New Writing, Photographs, and Art, edited by David Bunn and Jane

NEW PUBLICATIONS




NEW PUBLICATIONS




NEW PUBLICATIONS




NEW PUBLICATIONS




NEW PUBLICATIONS




Taylor. A special issue of Triquarterly magazine. Northwestern University, Evanston, 1987. 496 pp., 104 b/w illustrations, map, bibliography. $13.50 paper.

L'art africain dans les collections publiques de Poitou-Charentes, edited by Etienne Feau. Pre- face by Louis Perrois. Les Presses d'A.R.C., Angoulbme, 1987. 140 pp., 1 color & 97 b/w photos, map, bibliography. Text in French. Examples from the collections at Angouleme, Chatellerault, Ile d'Aix, Poitiers, Niort, Rochefort, La Rochelle, Saint-Martin-de Re, and other museums in Poitou-Charentes.

Fiumi di Pietra: Archivo della Preisoria Sahariana, by Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni and Gian- carlo Negro. Edizioni Lativa, 1986. 368 pp., 518 b/w & 84 color photos, two maps, bibliography, chronology of antiquities. Text in Ita- lian. 50,000 lira cloth.

L'art rupestre prehistorique des massifs centraux sahariens, by Alfred Muzzolini. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 16, BAR International, Oxford, 1986. 356 pp., 71 b/w illustrations, 6 maps, 6 tables, bibliography, index. Text in French. ?22 paper.

Entedeckungen: Neue Kulturen aus Komaland, Republik Ghana. Essay by Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler. Galerie Walu, Zurich, 1987. 34 pp., 75 b/w & 18 color photos, price list, map. Text in German, French, and English.

Patterns of Life, Patterns of Art: The Rahr Collec- tion of Native American Art. Essay by Barbara A. Hail, catalogue by Gregory C. Schwartz. University Press of New England, Hanover, and the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 1987. 80 pp., 31 color plates, bibliography. $30 cloth, $17.95 paper.

The False Faces of the Iroquois, by William N. Fenton. The University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1987. xxi + 522 pp., 325 b/w & 24 color illustrations, 2 maps, bibliography. $75 cloth.

Aleut and Eskimo Art: Tradition and Innovation in South Alaska, by Norma Jean Ray. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1987. Cloth edition, 1981. 252 pp., 210 b/w illustrations, bibliography, map, index. $24.95 paper.

Artefacts from the Solomon Islands in the Julius L. Brenchley Collection, by Deborah B. Waite. British Museum Publications, London, 1987. 114 pp., 70 b/w photos, appendix, bibliography, map. ?40 cloth.














































SMITH INTRODUCTION, notes, from page 29 1. It is interesting to read in an account of nineteenth-century America that "for the bereaved, black was considered the color most suitable for the trappings of woe. Its sombre effect was reflected not only in the mourning garb, but in dress of the functionaries, the shroud, the hearse and its plumes, the

pall spread over the casket and even the horses used in the funeral cortege" (Habenstein & Lamers 1977:92). Bibliography Bloch, Maurice and J. Parry. 1982. Death and the Regeneration of

Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brain, Robert and Adam Pollock. 1971. Bangwa Funerary Sculp- ture. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Cole, Herbert and Doran Ross. 1977. The Arts of Ghana. Los

Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, UCLA.

Glaze, Anita. 1981. Art and Death in a Senufo Village.




































Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Goody, Jack. 1962. Death, Property and the Ancestors. A Study of the Mortuary Customs of the LoDagaa of West Africa. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Habenstein, Robert and William Lamers. 1977. "The Pattern of Late Nineteenth Century Funerals," in Passing, ed. Charles Jackson. Westport: Greenwood Press.

Hertz, Robert. 1909. "A Contribution to the Study of the Col- lective Representation of Death" in Death and the Right Hand, eds. R. & C. Needham. London: Cohent West.

Huntington, Richard and Peter Metcalf. 1979. Celebrations of Death: the Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jackson, Charles. 1977. Passing. The Vision of Death in America.

Westport: Greenwood Press. MacAloon, John, ed. 1984. Rite, Drama, Festival, Spectacle.

Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues.

Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1953 edition). New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.

Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. 1948. The Andaman Islanders (1964 edi-

tion). New York: Free Press. Turner, Victor. 1984. "Liminality and the Performative

Genres" in Rite, Drama, Festival, Spectacle, ed. John MacA- loon. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Is- sues.

Turner, Victor. 1982a. Celebration. A World of Art and Ritual.

Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. Turner, Victor, ed. 1982b. Celebration. Studies in Festivity and

Ritual. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. Van Gennep, Arnold. 1909. The Rites of Passage (1960 transla-

tion). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

BLAKELY & BLAKELY, notes, from page 37 We regret that it is not possible to acknowledge by name all who in Africa, Europe, and the U.S. have provided kind assistance to this study. We wish, nonetheless, to express our

gratitude particularly to Lema Gwete, Shaje 'A Tshiluila, Nestor Seeuws, Joseph Cornet, Benoit Quersin, Guy de

Plaen, and Kawende Fina Nkindi of the Institut des Musees Nationaux du Zaire, Kinshasa and Lubumbashi; to Mwabila Malela of the Universite Nationale du Zaire, Campus de

Lubumbashi; and to Huguette Van Geluwe, Albert Maesen, and Pierre de Maret of the Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, for their valuable support, encouragement, and technical assistance. We also appreciate the generous hospi- tality and help of many Bahemba throughout our field study. Bataata, banayu, bamweetu, na banwebose balitukwasha: wafwako. We have chosen not to name them individually here, nor to

identify their villages, in order to maintain confidentiality and in light of a continuingly difficult situation regarding the

misappropriation of art in this part of Africa. This paper is based on five years of intensive, live-in re-

search in Hemba villages in northern Shaba Region in eastern Zaire during the last thirteen years. The ongoing longitudinal study has included extended participant observation of

speech and visual communication in a wide range of Hemba

situations, informed by ethnosemantic and other kinds of

eliciting in interviews in Kihemba and Kiswahili, and

supplemented by the collection and analysis of linguistic and visual texts. The resulting archive now includes over 60,000 still photographs and hundreds of hours of audiotape, super-8 film, and videotape, closely cross-referenced to

ethnographic fieldnotes, transcriptions, analyses, and

informant-guided interpretations. 1. African Arts does not typeset tones in African languages. Unfortunately, not marking the tones in Kihemba is akin to

leaving out the vowels in English, and there is no Kihemba

dictionary where a reader can look up the tones. Tones are the

only way some words are distinguished from other words that have the same consonants and vowels. For example mwisi (descending tone, high tone) denotes "smoke," mwisi

(high tone, rising tone) denotes "pestle," and mwisi (low tone, high tone) denotes "spirit-invested object."

The Kihemba words in this article are listed below, with the tones indicated by a capital letter sequence in parentheses following the word. (In our usual Kihemba orthography the tone is marked over each vowel.) For a phrase, the capital letter sequence for each word is separated from the others by a hyphen. The symbols used here are as follows: H=high tone (usually a French accent aigu); L=low tone (usually no

diacritic); D=descending tone, high-low (usually a cir-

cumflex); and R=rising tone, low-high (usually a hacek, an inverted circumflex). In alphabetical order: 'abezha 'a makuwa

(HLH-L-HHH), baandu (HHH), Bahemba (HDH), Balubwilo


























































































































































































(HHHH), Bambuli (HHR), baso'o (HHH), Bamusoye (HHLH), batembo (HLH), bazhungu (HDH), biloongo (HHHH), buhemba

(HDH), buzwege (HHH), chuuli (LLH), bwiyulu (HLH), fumu (LH), hanza (DH), hemba (DH), 'ibelo (HLH), 'ihuna (HLH),











84 84 84 84 84 84

'iliba (HHH), ilongo (HDH), 'inyonga (HDH), 'ivumongunga (HHHHH), 'izhungwe (HDH), kihemba (HDH), kimasala (HHLH), kukesi (HLH), kwanwa hululu (HH-HHH), lagala (HHH), lubenga (HLH), lusingiti (HHLH), lusuhu (HHH), Iwanda Iwa yoogo (HH-L-HHH), magonde ga meba (HHH-L- DH), malilo (HHH), miisi (LLH), misu'u (HLH), mufu (HH), muhemba (HDH), mulimba (HDH), musangu (HLH), musuusa (HHHH), muvumo (HHH), muyombwe (HHH), muzogoma (HLHH), mwanda (DH), mwisi (LH), mwisi gwa so'o (LH-L- HH), nyama ni nyama (HH-L-HH), nzuba (HHH), so'o (HH), soko (HH), uangazha baandu hanza (HLHH-HHH-DH), ubuzha malilo (HRH-HHH), ulumba (LLH), 'unza (DH), usea solo (HHH-LL), vuvu (LH), yuuya (HHH). 2. This term has also been rendered as soko-mutu or soko mutu. Lenselaer (1983) reports two forms, sokomtu and sokomutu, for the Kingwana dialect of Kiswahili spoken in the forests of Maniema in Kivu Region (just to the north of the Hemba ethnic area, or including the northern part of it, de-

pending on how close to 5 degrees south one considers the ethnic boundary to be). Lenselaer also notes that the "Stan- dard Swahili" word for chimpanzee is sokwe, and the recent official dictionary published in Tanzania agrees (Taasisi 1981). Another spelling is sokomuntu, recording a pronunciation most used in everyday North Shaba Kiswahili speech outside some government, church, and school situations. The cor-

responding Kihemba word is so'o or soko, depending on which Kihemba dialect is being spoken. "So'o" is employed in this article because it is the term commonly used in the areas where the majority of these kinds of masks have been found.

The mask in the Kihemba language is called, most correctly and explicitly, mwisi gwa so'o, a phrase that can be glossed in

English as "spirit-invested object of the chimpanzee- human." The semantic range of the term mwisi encompasses a number of "spirit-invested objects," including wood statues such as the lusingiti, 'abezha 'a makuwa, 'ihuna, and

lagala, other wood carving on some drums and walking canes, iron and pottery pieces such as the kimasala and lwanda lwa yoogo, mud sculpture such as the 'iliba of the Bambuli and the muyombwe, sacred rocks from ancestors' former settle- ments kept in the 'ibelo ("courtyard"), and certain springs, pools of water, and other specially designated sites of the lusuhu ("bush") such as caves and large rocks. Many miisi (pl.), including each mwisi gwa so'o, are invested with the "soul-essence" (chuuli) of a particular ancestor and bear his or her name. Other miisi, particularly some sites in the bush, do have a name, but no one seems to know, or particularly care, whose ancestral "soul-essence" is involved. 3. The term sign is used here in its most general sense of

"something that stands for something to someone." A sign domain is a set of complex of signs related to each other in some manner. Any individual sign may have many meanings and may have many connections to other signs and be part of

many sign domains. In this formulation, a symbol is one kind of sign. Semiotics is, succinctly said, the study of signs. 4. This study utilizes, and refines for new purposes, methods of ethnosemantic analysis that are explored, for

example, in Conklin (1955), Metzger and Williams (1963), Spradley (1979), Frake (1980), and Werner and Schoepfle (1987). Our research is also framed by advances in semiotics, pursuing ancient lines of inquiry that have been rekindled and developed in modern times by such scholars as Peirce

(1931-1958), Morris (1938), Sebeok (1968-1976), Jakobson (1972), Eco (1976), and Deely (1985). We also owe significant debts to articulate pioneers in the ethnography of communication (Hymes 1962, 1964, 1974; Bauman & Sherzer 1974; see also Philipsen & Carbaugh 1986) and performance theory (e.g., Ben-Amos & Goldstein 1975; Bauman 1977). 5. Since Bantu concordial prefixes are part of the insiders'

usage, we have chosen to include important ones. Mu- is used for one person. Ba- refers to two or more people or a whole group, andKi- is a common prefix for languages in this area. Hembaland, the area where rural Bahemba live, is called Buhemba. 6. Proxemics is the study of interpersonal space and the way it is constructed, utilized, perceived, and interpreted. Pro- xemicists include in their subject matter, for example, the

"sensory bubbles" that surround humans and other sentient

beings, interaction zones created by the placement of furni-

ture, how "we shape our buildings and they shape us," and the impact of various kinds of community layout on the qual- ity of the inhabitants' lives. Edward T. Hall, a pioneer in this kind of research, coined the term proxemics and has published widely on this subject (e.g., Hall 1966, 1974). 7. Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1975) and elaborated in lectures by Wulf Schiefenhovel at the International Summer Institute for Semiotic and Structural Studies (ISISSS), Toronto, Canada, June 1984. 8. Eibl-Eibesfeldt at ISISSS 1984 in Toronto.

9. An individual Muhemba, commenting on a particular mask, may alternate between seeing the "wild," "crazy" (etc.) eyebrows and, at another moment, seeing nothing unusual except perhaps a carver's or patron's style preference. He or she affirms seeing both, but not at the same time, perhaps because the denotations of the "wild" and "crazy" eyebrows and an upper face with "nothing unusual" are so

very different. This phenomenon may be similar to looking at

figures where the viewer alternates between seeing two kinds of images, but usually only one kind at a time: the cup and the faces, the woman and the rabbit, the ducks and the fish, and so forth. A number of so'o masks in museum collections have the raised eyebrows. Some other so'o masks do not. More information is needed on provenance, authenti-

city, uses, and users' interpretations of these latter masks. 10. Blakely (1987) systematically examines ways in which various aspects of settings for face-to-face interaction (and the use of space, particularly visual space) are closely involved in the semiosis of Hemba gaze and mutual gaze. Cer- tain facial-visual communication implies, and is appropriate for, certain kinds of spaces and settings, while these settings can, in their turn, be utilized to provide screening and chan-

neling constraints as well as to serve some of the metacommunicative clues as to what kind of facial communication the

particular facial communication is. The bush-versus-village opposition is treated in detail in Chapter 3. 11. Douglas (e.g., 1970) has written engagingly on similar issues. 12. The Angolan Black and White Colobus, Colobus angolensis (PL. Sclater), is called ulumba in Kihemba. It is interesting to note that, in Linnaen classification, Colobus monkeys are dis-

tinguished by having only four fingers and no opposing thumb on each hand. This fact resonates with the so'o lore mentioned earlier that the wild animal "so'o of the bush

(forest)" has only four fingers and covets human thumbs. The

chimpanzee in this area is Pan troglodytes (Blumenbach), most

likely of the subspecies schwienfurthi, and does have five fin-

gers on each hand. It is also interesting that the Angolan Black and White Colobus, when seen from the front, has long white hair around the face as does the so'o "chimpanzee- human." 13. Various animal pelts are used, including Guenon mon-

keys (Cercopithicae), genets (Genetta), and the domestic goat. 14. The so'o mask is carved from one of three kinds of tree:

'ilongo (Cordea millenii Borrag.), also used for the trapezoid slit drum and the membranophone drum, in roof beams, and in

upright roof supports; 'izhungzoe (Erythrina abyssinica), also used for the small membranophone drum; and a tree called

muzogoma in Kihemba, for which we do not yet have an identification using a Linnaen classification. The barkcloth, termed vuvu in Kihemba, is made from various varieties of Ficus including Ficus dekdekena Morac. ('ivutmongunga in

Kihemba) and Ficus thoningii Morac. (muvumo). The cloth is

dyed red with red berry (lubenga) juice from the Acacia

polycantha subsp. campylacantha Leg. M. We are grateful to R.

Dechamps of the Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervu- ren, for his identification of these and many other plant substances. 15. The Kihemba word for the local hunter-gatherers ("pygmies" in English, Bambote in North Shaba Kiswahili) is

batembo, or "pygmies of the bush," considered by Bahemba to be a category of humanoid distinct from black African agricul- turists, baandu. (The third large humanoid category is

bazhungu, which includes everyone else in the world, and it is not strictly a biological category but rather a cultural/political one. Black Europeans and Americans, and Zairian adminis-

trators, can be referred to as bazhungu, for example.) Cos- tumed women members of a semisecret society specializing in certain healing ceremonies also are called batembo in another sense: they are "pygmy-humans" or "pygmies of the village," their curative powers heightened by being pos- sessed by ancestral souls of the "pygmies of the bush." 16. In addition to those who join the so'o society for agricul- tural, health, and disaster-prevention reasons, there are also those who join when they are not facing a crisis. As with

most, if not all, Hemba semisecret societies, membership in the so'o society provides social ties crosscutting the very strong bonds of lineages. Localized segments of exogamous patrilineages (misu'u) are complemented throughout much of the Buhemba area by strong, exogamous matrilineages

(biloongo) in a system of double unilineal descent. Residence is predominantly patrilocal/virilocal. (Wives usually live in their husband's village along with his fathers, brothers, other

patrilineal kin, and their families.) In many villages and some

larger political units there is patrilineal succession of each titled headmanship (fumu). In some villages, however, where there is a tradition of matrilineal inheritance of a titled head-

manship, not surprisingly there is also some avunculocal and matrilocal/uxorilocal residence. In any case, semisecret soci-

ety memberships provide individuals with the opportunity to enjoyably and interestingly associate with people from outside their usual networks of lineal and affinal kin and provide a counterbalancing set of relationships, information channels, and sources of solace and support. 17. Such matters are not just idle legal speculation. One day during our stay, a child in a nearby village fell hard while

being chased during bwiyulu joking with his paternal grand- father. He died soon after and was sorrowfully mourned, but there was no legal payment demanded or paid, as would otherwise be done. Similar incidents are cited by our principal informants involving both leopards and corpses. The matter is complex; in brief, groups of men struggling to carry a dead leopard or a human corpse can become extremely emotionally intense, and varying degrees of physical vio- lence occur, though no legal reparations can subsequently be

sought. All that will happen is, at most, someone may call

together a mwanda ("formal discussion") group to hear what

happened; the issue is then declared moot and the case dis- missed when it is stated that the person died or was injured "at the leopard," "at the corpse," or "in grandparent- grandchild joking." 18. Interesting comparisons might be made with anomalous clown figures in other societies. See especially Stoeltje (1981) and Peacock (1978). 19. These issues are explored further in Blakely and Blakely, forthcoming. 20. Stoeltje (1983) uses this term in semiotic research and

analysis of festival.

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Thompson, Robert Farris. 1973. "An Aesthetic of the Cool," African Arts 7,1.

Werner, Oswald and G. Mark Schoepfle. 1987. Systematic Fieldzvork, 2 vols. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

DALY, notes, from page 61 This article is an extension of a paper presented at the Sixth Triennial Symposium on African Art, Norman, Oklahoma, 1983. 1. Traditional Kalabari female appearance is represented by the bite sara stage of iria, or cloth tied to the ankle. It is mainly characterized by an outer wrapper ensemble of named cloth types, consisting of a wrapper worn "up" over a longer, ankle-length, "down" wrapper. Both are tied ebre style, the common method for ordinary occasions. 2. A Kalabari woman's undergarments are the foundation of her appearance. If she chooses the traditional underskirt or private cloth (similar to Western briefs), it is usually of akwete (a handwoven cloth from the Igbo-speaking village of Ak- wete in southern Nigeria), acraa (handwoven cloth similar to Ghanaian kente), or "some really good material." On ritual occasions such as a funeral, an iria bo may even wear a softer and more costly type of raffia cloth (bite okuru). If European undergarments are worn, these usually consist of briefs and a brassiere.


























DALY, notes, from page 61 This article is an extension of a paper presented at the Sixth Triennial Symposium on African Art, Norman, Oklahoma, 1983. 1. Traditional Kalabari female appearance is represented by the bite sara stage of iria, or cloth tied to the ankle. It is mainly characterized by an outer wrapper ensemble of named cloth types, consisting of a wrapper worn "up" over a longer, ankle-length, "down" wrapper. Both are tied ebre style, the common method for ordinary occasions. 2. A Kalabari woman's undergarments are the foundation of her appearance. If she chooses the traditional underskirt or private cloth (similar to Western briefs), it is usually of akwete (a handwoven cloth from the Igbo-speaking village of Ak- wete in southern Nigeria), acraa (handwoven cloth similar to Ghanaian kente), or "some really good material." On ritual occasions such as a funeral, an iria bo may even wear a softer and more costly type of raffia cloth (bite okuru). If European undergarments are worn, these usually consist of briefs and a brassiere.


























DALY, notes, from page 61 This article is an extension of a paper presented at the Sixth Triennial Symposium on African Art, Norman, Oklahoma, 1983. 1. Traditional Kalabari female appearance is represented by the bite sara stage of iria, or cloth tied to the ankle. It is mainly characterized by an outer wrapper ensemble of named cloth types, consisting of a wrapper worn "up" over a longer, ankle-length, "down" wrapper. Both are tied ebre style, the common method for ordinary occasions. 2. A Kalabari woman's undergarments are the foundation of her appearance. If she chooses the traditional underskirt or private cloth (similar to Western briefs), it is usually of akwete (a handwoven cloth from the Igbo-speaking village of Ak- wete in southern Nigeria), acraa (handwoven cloth similar to Ghanaian kente), or "some really good material." On ritual occasions such as a funeral, an iria bo may even wear a softer and more costly type of raffia cloth (bite okuru). If European undergarments are worn, these usually consist of briefs and a brassiere. 3. The iiinjiri iria bo composite consists of: traditional or

Western-style undergarments; one or more injiri underwrap-

3. The iiinjiri iria bo composite consists of: traditional or


3. The iiinjiri iria bo composite consists of: traditional or


pers worn bite kpuluma and tied sengi; an injiri outerwrapper worn bite kpuluma and tied sengi; an injiri draped upper body covering worn over the left shoulder; coral or glass-bead kneebands; coral or gold pendant or coral or glass necklet; a

large single coral-bead bracelet or coral or glass-bead bracelets; native or English gold rings, one on each ring finger; and coral-bead or gold drop pierced earrings.

The india or loko iria bo composite consists of: traditional or Western-style undergarments, one or more injiri under- wrappers worn bite kpuluma and tied sengi; an india or loko

outerwrapper worn bite kpuluma and tied sengi; bare breasts, lace blouse, or blouse decorated with beads or sequins; coral-bead kneebands (sometimes ankle bracelets); one to three large single coral-bead necklets, multiple coral-bead necklaces of varied lengths, gold necklaces; large single coral-bead bracelets, coral-bead bracelets, watches; coral- bead heart or circular motif on coral-bed upper armbands; two rings on each hand on index and ring fingers or four rings on each hand on all fingers; native or English gold; coral-bead or gold drop pierced earrings; coral-bead, india, or mirror- decorated hat; coral-bead, brass, or wooden cane in right hand, clear or white saucer and folded white handkerchief in left hand, folded and draped india over left forearm; sometimes waist beads over india. 4. Ideally, the mourner's dress draws from the limited heir- loom items, so the iria bo ensembles are likely to be similar rather than identical. The latter results when the same cloth is purchased for all the participants. 5. One woman said: "For those women who don't have it (property), the only way is to borrow from others. They then show others they have it (property) by being photographed as opposed to wearing it for the occasion."

Bibliography Daly, M. Catherine. 1983. "Dressing for Respect: Com-

municating Wealth, Status, and Prestige at Kalabari Funer- als." Paper presented at the Sixth Triennial Symposium on African Art, Norman, Oklahoma.

Daly, M. Catherine, Joanne B. Eicher, and Tonye V. Erekosima. 1986. "Male and Female Artistry in Kalabari Dress, African Arts 19, 3: 48-51, 83.

Eicher, Joanne B. and Tonye V. Erekosima. Forthcoming. "Kalabari Funeral Rooms as Handicraft and Ephemeral Art." Festschrift for Dr. Rene Boser-Sarivaxevenis, Basel.

Horton, Robin. 1970. "Ikpataka Dogi: A Kalabari Funeral Rite," African Notes 5,3:57-72.

POYNOR, notes, from page 83 1. See Willett 1966 and Poynor 1976, 1978b, and 1987 for discussions of the preservation of the ako figure representing Olashubude, the mother of Olowo Olagbegi II. Many in Owo believed the figure was destroyed in 1973 by adversaries of the deposed Olowo Olagbegi II. 2. Abiodun states that the burial is normally reserved for men with titles, but a woman "may be eligible" because she is the mother, daughter, or wife of a chief. A man who does not have a title at the time of death but who has been successful by traditional standards may be installed as a chief posthum- ously by the Olowo at the request of his children. This must take place before the burial of the corpse (Abiodun 1976:8-9). In at least one instance, according to my Owo sources, ako was performed for a living person. Omakogbe, an illustrious holder of the title Oludasa, had the ritual performed for himself before his death, acting as host and figure at the same time. He was carried from point to point in the procession, and at places where dancing took place, he himself got down and danced. After his death, his children performed ako for him a second time. I was told of at least one other instance in which a person performed the funeral ritual before her death, in this case a childless woman who wanted to insure that she was sent off in a proper manner into the world of the dead. Her funeral was, of course, a lesser type. 3. The number seventeen seems to be of ritual significance in Owo. Igogo, the most important annual festival in the king- dom, a combination of New Yam festival and purification ceremony merged with a memorial to the goddess Oronshen, also takes place over a seventeen-day period. The burial of the Olowo takes seventeen ritual days. These and other significant ceremonies all begin on the day of the five-day mar- ket. 4. Abiodun's sources (1976:9) implied that a many as ten cows and an appropriate number of goats to "wash the cow's" feet are used. 5. Nowadays it is said the carver is shown a photograph of the deceased in order to insure a more realistic likeness.










POYNOR, notes, from page 83 1. See Willett 1966 and Poynor 1976, 1978b, and 1987 for discussions of the preservation of the ako figure representing Olashubude, the mother of Olowo Olagbegi II. Many in Owo believed the figure was destroyed in 1973 by adversaries of the deposed Olowo Olagbegi II. 2. Abiodun states that the burial is normally reserved for men with titles, but a woman "may be eligible" because she is the mother, daughter, or wife of a chief. A man who does not have a title at the time of death but who has been successful by traditional standards may be installed as a chief posthum- ously by the Olowo at the request of his children. This must take place before the burial of the corpse (Abiodun 1976:8-9). In at least one instance, according to my Owo sources, ako was performed for a living person. Omakogbe, an illustrious holder of the title Oludasa, had the ritual performed for himself before his death, acting as host and figure at the same time. He was carried from point to point in the procession, and at places where dancing took place, he himself got down and danced. After his death, his children performed ako for him a second time. I was told of at least one other instance in which a person performed the funeral ritual before her death, in this case a childless woman who wanted to insure that she was sent off in a proper manner into the world of the dead. Her funeral was, of course, a lesser type. 3. The number seventeen seems to be of ritual significance in Owo. Igogo, the most important annual festival in the king- dom, a combination of New Yam festival and purification ceremony merged with a memorial to the goddess Oronshen, also takes place over a seventeen-day period. The burial of the Olowo takes seventeen ritual days. These and other significant ceremonies all begin on the day of the five-day mar- ket. 4. Abiodun's sources (1976:9) implied that a many as ten cows and an appropriate number of goats to "wash the cow's" feet are used. 5. Nowadays it is said the carver is shown a photograph of the deceased in order to insure a more realistic likeness.










POYNOR, notes, from page 83 1. See Willett 1966 and Poynor 1976, 1978b, and 1987 for discussions of the preservation of the ako figure representing Olashubude, the mother of Olowo Olagbegi II. Many in Owo believed the figure was destroyed in 1973 by adversaries of the deposed Olowo Olagbegi II. 2. Abiodun states that the burial is normally reserved for men with titles, but a woman "may be eligible" because she is the mother, daughter, or wife of a chief. A man who does not have a title at the time of death but who has been successful by traditional standards may be installed as a chief posthum- ously by the Olowo at the request of his children. This must take place before the burial of the corpse (Abiodun 1976:8-9). In at least one instance, according to my Owo sources, ako was performed for a living person. Omakogbe, an illustrious holder of the title Oludasa, had the ritual performed for himself before his death, acting as host and figure at the same time. He was carried from point to point in the procession, and at places where dancing took place, he himself got down and danced. After his death, his children performed ako for him a second time. I was told of at least one other instance in which a person performed the funeral ritual before her death, in this case a childless woman who wanted to insure that she was sent off in a proper manner into the world of the dead. Her funeral was, of course, a lesser type. 3. The number seventeen seems to be of ritual significance in Owo. Igogo, the most important annual festival in the king- dom, a combination of New Yam festival and purification ceremony merged with a memorial to the goddess Oronshen, also takes place over a seventeen-day period. The burial of the Olowo takes seventeen ritual days. These and other significant ceremonies all begin on the day of the five-day mar- ket. 4. Abiodun's sources (1976:9) implied that a many as ten cows and an appropriate number of goats to "wash the cow's" feet are used. 5. Nowadays it is said the carver is shown a photograph of the deceased in order to insure a more realistic likeness. Abiodun's informants (1976:10) suggested that before the ad- vent of photography, children who resembled the deceased

parent would be asked to model for the effigy. It seems that

Abiodun's informants (1976:10) suggested that before the ad- vent of photography, children who resembled the deceased


Abiodun's informants (1976:10) suggested that before the ad- vent of photography, children who resembled the deceased


photographs of the deceased may also serve as a substitute

corpse in some instances (Lawal 1977:52). 6. Two rather poor photographs of ako figures seated in state show that the area was draped with large handwoven cloths and that sculptural attendants were placed on either side of at least one such figure. Bowls and calabashes appear to have held gifts for the deceased. 7. This great amount of public ritual activity is not in accord with Cordwell's statement that the "visit of the dead to the

living is kept secret until the last minute" and "the townspeople are caught by surprise when they see a figure that so closely resembles the one who has died." The prepara- tions that take place prior to the appearance of the figure may be somewhat secret, but they cannot be completely so. The

dancing of the women en masse to receive permission to weave ashigbo cloth, the accumulation of large amounts of thread for weaving it, the hectic weaving activity over a

nine-day period, the accumulation of vast amounts of food and the preparation of fresh foods daily for weavers, carvers, and all callers, the sounds of carving, the nine-dayako gwigwe period in which special songs are sung around the figure set up in a special courtyard - altogether these do not suggest total secrecy on the part of the family or ignorance on the part of the public. The degree of surprise at the resemblance of the figure to the deceased may not be so great either. The time

lapse between the death and the celebration may serve to fog the memory. The fact that a photograph or another person has served as a model does not insure exact likeness. The effect is also lessened because figures are usually carved to represent the deceased at the peak of health and at a younger age. Moreover, one must also consider that a certain degree of stylization takes place in even the most realistic works. 8. I was told that the orufonran costume, which is one of the most significant of Owo's chiefly costumes today, was origi- nally intended for use at funeral ceremonies only, although many chiefs now use it for court rituals. For a discussion of

orufonran see Poynor 1981 and the Basel Museum fur Volker- kunde Festschrift in honor of Renee Boser-Sarivexevanis (forthcoming). 9. Abiodun (1976:12) was told that over 200 goats were used in this manner for a 1920 ako. 10. Fagg (1951b:134) suggested the figure was preserved "dans une sorte de tombeau." Willett (1966:35) said it was buried in a normal grave similar to that of the deceased and close to it. Several informants told me in 1973 that it is buried in the dung heap or trash heap. Sr. Philomena of the St. Louis hospital in Owo was invited to view the carving used in an ako ceremony in Ipele near Owo in 1972 and was told it was to be taken to the bush and destroyed. 11. Bradbury (n.d. BS:87) suggests that a period of up to three

years was necessary for the ritual trip from Benin to Ife. 12. Egharevba (1968:75) also states that if the mother of the Edaiken died before his accession to the throne, the body would be embalmed, and later, at the usual time, it would be re-interred with the accustomed honors, giving her the title of lyoba. 13. According to Bradbury's field notes (n.d. BS:87), the last time the remains were taken to Ife was for Oba Adolo. "The

journey to Ife and back took about three years. The messen- gers would move only a few miles a day, following the route Oramiyan had followed." 14. A description of another ipeku is provided by I.0. Delano (1937:115-16) and another by B. Lawal (1977:52-53). 15. A "play" is any festive performance by a musical group, a dance troupe, a masquerade, or any sort of performer. Here, the reference is to musical/dance performance. 16. Bradbury's notes say that the figure was carried on a person's head (n.d. BS: 87, 418). Some may actually be rolled along the street on wooden wheels, according to Chief Ihama (Paula Ben-Amos, personal communication, 1976). The figure in the Bradbury photograph (Willett 1966:pl. 4a) is shown with its feet on the street, its elbows and hands supported by a man on either side. 17. Olowo Elewuokun was considered to be the great "Benin-izer" of Owo. It was during his reign that two Benin-

type chieftaincy costumes were introduced into the court. He also changed the names of several titles to align them more

closely with those of the Benin court. For specifics, see my article on Edo influence on the art of Owo (Poynor 1976). Bibliography Abiodun, R. 1976. "A Reconsideration of the Function of Ako,

Second Burial Effigy, in Owo" Africa 46, 1:4-20. Adesola. 1908. "Burial Customs in the Yoruba Country," Ni-

gerian Chronicle 4, 11, 18 Dec.













gerian Chronicle 4, 11, 18 Dec.













gerian Chronicle 4, 11, 18 Dec. Ashara, A. 1951. The History of Owo. Owo:Moonlight Press.

Bradbury, R. 1973. Benin Studies. London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.

Ashara, A. 1951. The History of Owo. Owo:Moonlight Press.


Ashara, A. 1951. The History of Owo. Owo:Moonlight Press.


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