Songye people
NKISHI (CHILD POWER FIGURE),
Wood, horn, iron, brass tacks, glass beads, raffia, cloth, fiber, tukula, symbolic substances
Height: 10 inches
Gift of Dianne Komminsk in memory of LaVerne Shone
2007.116
Songye People
Child Power Figure (Nkishi)
Among the Songye, power figures, called nkishi, (plural: mankishi) are made only at the request of a cult specialist, the nganga, according to precise magico-social requirements: dimensions, wood, gender, aspect and shape of the figures.
A nganga knows what “medicines” (bishimba) a nkishi must contain in order to be a repository of offensive or defensive forces (metal pieces, seeds, beads, hide, feathers, hair, etc.). Mankishi are used by a nganga to heal illness, increase well-being and wealth, or for success in hunting.
Community power figures like this family of three, are kept by the village chief in a special shelter. They would to be taken care of at the rise of a new moon by rubbing them with tukula (a reddish cosmetic powder made from the bark of a tree, used for body and hair coloring), by palm wine libations and prayers.
Songye people
NKISHI (POWER FIGURE),
Hard wood, metal, antelope horns, civet hide, lizard skin, fiber, feathers, nuts, oil, and fiber cord
Height: 46 inches
Gift of Dianne Komminsk in memory of Dr. Roy Sieber
2001.61
Songye People
Child Power Figure (Nkishi)
Among the Songye, power figures, called nkishi, (plural: mankishi) are made only at the request of a cult specialist, the nganga, according to precise magico-social requirements: dimensions, wood, gender, aspect and shape of the figures.
A nganga knows what “medicines” (bishimba) a nkishi must contain in order to be a repository of offensive or defensive forces (metal pieces, seeds, beads, hide, feathers, hair, etc.). Mankishi are used by a nganga to heal illness, increase well-being and wealth, or for success in hunting.
Community power figures like this family of three, are kept by the village chief in a special shelter. They would to be taken care of at the rise of a new moon by rubbing them with tukula (a reddish cosmetic powder made from the bark of a tree, used for body and hair coloring), by palm wine libations and prayers.