Lega

The Lega inhabit the forests between the Lualaba River and the eastern African lakes. Their communities are organised through lineages, and the forest supplies food and materials for building, basketry and carving. Cultivation, especially of bananas and plantains, complements hunting, gathering and fishing. Across Lega communities, the Bwami association gives moral teaching and marks stages of initiation through ceremonies and carefully preserved objects.

Bwami offered a way to gain standing through successive grades rather than through birth alone. Its figures, masks and other emblems could evoke proverbs and lessons understood in their ceremonial setting. Some small ivory figures were reserved for members of the highest grades. Men and women took part in the association, whose values and obligations helped connect people in a society without a single central ruler.