Mugango Society Knife

Origin: Salampasu Tribe, D.R. Congo/Angola
Composition: forged iron, wood, vegetable fiber, rattan, pigment dye, metal inlay

The Salampasu consist of a number of small, non-centralized groups who live on the D.R. Congo/Angola border. They have remained fiercely independent, despite being situated between two powerful tribes, the Lunda and the Chokwe.

This type of blade would have been used in Mugango and Matambu society initiations and rituals. The Mugango is an association into which boys are initiated and through which they spend much of their life ascending, and whose purpose is to educate and govern collectively. During Mugango initiation rites in particular, this type of knife is an integral part of the complete tutor's costume. The Matambu is a warriors' association, about which much less is known, that also uses knives of this type (Ref: Visona, "A History of Art in Africa").

The photograph (left) was taken between 1945 and 1985 and depicts a Salampasu masquerader in full costume, and is © Michel Huet.

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