Kuyu

The Kuyu are located in the centre of the People ' s Republic of the Congo, south-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and west of Gabon, along the river of the same name. The Kuyu were once divided into two large groups according to their totemic animal, panther and snake. The clan of the panther, an animal in which its members could be transformed, had the drum as its emblem. Power was exercised through the secret Ottoté society that appointed the chiefs and was responsible for maintaining social order. The primordial couple of his cosmogony was represented by Joku, the first male ancestor and his wife Ebotita. One of his most important deities is the god Ebongo whose materialized effigy is represented in one of his most important productions, the artistic polychrome heads carved in wood. This deity is the one that transmits its revelation to the young initiates. These heads are the emblem of the serpent's clan, which uses them mainly in the rites that evoke creation. There are different sizes. The smaller ones are piled up in a long stick whose bearer manipulates them, disguised under a long dress. The primordial couple is also represented in these dances. Its statues, with rich polychrome, carry numerous scarifications and embossed motifs and often an animal on the head, lizard, pangolin or snake, among others. They represent the ancestors. Finely carved motifs that decorate these statuettes have different meanings only recognizable by the initiates, social position, authority, protection, etc.