Object Notes

The Hemba peoples memorialized distinguished ancestors (e.g. chiefs, warriors, and heads of lineages) in sculpted wooden figures (sing. singiti; pl. lusingiti) that served as vessels for their spirits.

Mintadi (sing. ntadi) funerary figures were carved in soft gray steatite (soapstone) as well as wood and placed on graves or in memorial houses in Mboma cemeteries, where survivors could consult them. This ntadi portrays a chief.

African women in traditional societies enhanced their natural beauty with scarification and cosmetic preparations. For example, they applied black kohl to their eyes, painted their faces and bodies with a reddish powder or paste, and moisturized their skin with shea butter.

Dogon blacksmiths also served as sculptors carving wooden doors for houses, granaries, and shrines and decorating them with symbolic motifs drawn from Dogon mythology and religious beliefs, including depictions of primordial ancestors (nommo) and ani

This memorial figure represents an important woman whose name has since been lost. She wears an upswept hairstyle or royal headdress, has filed teeth, and wears no fewer than five bracelets on her left arm, all indications of an extraordinary, spiritually imbued woman, perhaps a great healer and protector of children.

Beginning in the 18th century, ancestors of the Fang peoples migrated from the northeast into southern Cameroon, Rio Muni, and Gabon. Believing that their forebears were concerned about and could affect their well-being, Fang venerated the ancestors who were left behind.

Among the Yoruba, who consider twins (ijebi) special, even sacred, the frequency of giving birth to twins is exceptionally high. However, multiple births were seen as unnatural in the distant past and resulted in the practice of twin infanticide.

Among the Yoruba, who consider twins (ijebi) special, even sacred, the frequency of giving birth to twins is exceptionally high. However, multiple births were seen as unnatural in the distant past and resulted in the practice of twin infanticide.

Among the Yoruba, who consider twins (ijebi) special, even sacred, the frequency of giving birth to twins is exceptionally high. However, multiple births were seen as unnatural in the distant past and resulted in the practice of twin infanticide.