Nkisi Power Figure

Origin: Kongo Tribe, D.R. Congo
Composition: wood, pigment, feathers, glass, textile, libations

Within the Kongo tribal society, power figures, or "fetishes," have traditionally served the tribe and community in many ways. This type of power figure, known as nkisi, served as a doctor, judge, and priest for the tribe. These figures were also used for healing, curing illness and plague, resolving strife (personally or communally), fighting sorcery, and for insuring success in hunting, trading, and sex.

Historically, the ritual expert, known as nganga, would attach magically charged materials (such as the feathers atop this piece) to the nkisi in order to activate its power. The Kongo word for "belly" also means "life," or "soul," and activating materials were placed inside the sealed compartment there as well.

During the 13th century, the Kongo people were led by their king, Ne Kongo, to a vast area across three frontiers, where they settled. Their kingdom expanded rapidly and, by the end of the 16th century, it engulfed the Atlantic Coast of present-day Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and Angola. In 1482, Portuguese sailors arrived at the royal court in Mbanza Congo and eventually converted the Kongo king to Christianity in 1491. By the end of the 16th century, the kingdom was weakened and its demise came with the death of the last Kongo king, Don Antonio II, in 1957.

Today, the Kongo people number three million. Originally, the Kongo kingdom comprised a number of separate tribes—the Vili, the Yombe, the Beembe, the Bwende and the Woyo, among others which were led by a king, the Ntotela, who was elected by a council of governors. The Ntotela controlled the nominations for official positions at court and in the provinces. The main economic resources of the empire were ivory and copper (Ref: Bacquart, "Tribal Arts of Africa").

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