Makonde Body Mask From Tanzania, East Africa 20x12 in
MAKONDE (WAMAKONDE) Tanzania and Mozambique Inhabiting the southeast of Tanzania and the northeast of Mozambique are about 500,000 Makonde, divided into matrilineal clans, each one comprising several villages. Decisions are made by a chief supported by a council. Clan members meet only for the ancestral cult and to celebrate initiations. According to legend, shortly after the Creation, the first man, wandering around outside the bush, sculpted a female figure out of wood, and the statue became a real woman who gave him many children and, after her death, became the venerated ancestress of the Makonde. This accounts for the ancestress cult as well as the profusion of sculpted female figures, kept in huts. Some other tribes included: NYAMWEZI (BANYAMWEZI, NYAMEZI, NYAMWESI, WANJAMWEZI, WANYAMWEZI)
