Edo
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Benin city in present-day Nigeria was the capital of the Benin kingdom, which was established around 900 C.E. and flourished until the end of the 17th century. The name of its capital city has caused some to refer to the kingdom and the art produced there as Benin. The people of this kingdom, however, called their land, language, and themselves Edo.
Ekonda
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Ekonda are a group of Mongo-speaking peoples who live in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An account of the Ekonda written in 1944 describes the by-then defunct practice for choosing the ritual chief who embodied Ekonda political authority. According to the report, a group of village elders selected a wealthy outsider who paid the village in exchange for the title of chief.
Guro
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Originally known as the Kweni, the Guro are a group of Mande-speaking agricultural peoples who live in central Côte d'Ivoire. The two hundred thousand Guro live in independent villages with no central authority, but form alliances for the purpose of war. The direct descendant of the village founder, known as the "master of the earth," controls the distribution of agricultural lands.
Fang
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The forested area that extends from Cameroon to Gabon includes Equatorial Guinea and was home to the Fang peoples whose culture thrived in the 19th century. Fang villages and communities were organized around families and clans with common ancestors. Indeed, the cult of ancestors was central to Fang religion, and artists made reliquary figures to guard the bones and skulls of deceased relatives.
Dogon
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Dogon farmers in the rocky plateau and plains of Bandiagara in Mali established their villages under vertical cliff faces to protect themselves from invasion. The Gur-speaking Dogon peoples migrated to this area in the 15th century to escape the Mande, and they developed an architectural style to fit their defensive geography.
Djennenke/Soninke
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Djennenke and Soninke are cultural designations for ancient and rare wooden statues collected in the region of Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali. Figures that have been subjected to scientific analysis are dated as early as the 11th century CE. The wooden sculptures, some of which have an oily patina, represent human figures detailed with scarification, jewelry, and clothing.
Boma
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Bantu-speaking Boma peoples (also called Buma) live in the central savannah region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their small hunting and farming society, numbering about 25,000, is organized into chiefdoms. Boma artists carve angular wooden figures that provide protection against adverse forces in the universe.
Bobo
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Mande-speaking Bobo peoples are comprised of groups of clans in Burkina Faso and Mali. They are farmers who live in compact and autonomous villages.
Baga
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Baga peoples, who reside in villages along the coast of Guinea and now number 100,000, were once divided into small villages. Each village was governed by a council of elders, who derived their powers from specialized knowledge only they possessed and from their interactions with spiritual beings.
Bamana
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Bamana peoples are the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Mali. Primarily farmers, these Mande-speaking peoples of the Niger savannah strongly resisted Islam and were known as bambara, or pagans, by the Muslim invaders.