EO.1975.48.1
Mutanga. Spreekwoordenkoord / Corde à proverbes / Proverb cord. Maniema, RD Congo. [Lega]. Wood, plant fiber, cloth, leaf, seed pods, calabash. Bequest from E.I. Burk. 1975. EO.1975.48.2.
Commissioned by the museum
The object in this display case is one half of a set of one hundred objects that together form the only Lega proverb cord in the Museum’s collection. It consists of two parts, only one of which is shown here.
This Lega proverb cord, which was included in the ethnographic collections in 1975, had already been sent to the Museum in 1956. Because of its ambiguous role for the Lega, somewhere between philosophy, language, and material culture, this object remained associated with the institution’s Linguistic Department for almost twenty years. The then head of this department, Achille E. Meeussen, had received the object from one of his correspondents in Congo, the American missionary Ellen I. Burk. The lengthy correspondence between Meeussen and Burk provides an insight into the context of the creation of this object, which was financed directly by Meeussen.
A unique object
It therefore seems necessary to break down the ‘biography’ of this single object into several factors.
In accordance with institutional provisions, linguist Achille E. Meeussen had the resources of a centralized Congolese team – around the mission and especially around Ellen I. Burk – of informants and translators who spoke fluent Kilega, Swahili, French, and English. The research into and the genuine curiosity about the proverb cord appears to reveal an interest in scientific ‘discovery’ and the importance that its disclosure represented to the media.
Missionary Ellen I. Burk, who – on occasion – did not hesitate to express her joy about the destruction of Lega cultural objects, wanted to increase the value of a ‘pure’ object that had fallen into disuse. Re-emphasizing its importance was an attempt to ‘breath new life’ into a tradition whose interpretation of pedagogical meaning no longer seems to be exclusively Lega in this context.
This may have been of interest for the Lega dignitaries of that time, as this approach was in line with their local initiative, which had already been implemented in the 1940s, with the aim of strengthening the linguistic and cultural integrity of the Lega, which had been weakened by colonial power (and religious preaching). Convened around the mwami Mupipi, from Shabunda, they decided to take measures in support of Lega initiations - not only of the bwami, but also of the bwali, which is accompanied by the circumcision of young boys. And it is precisely to this context that the use of the proverb cord refers.
Rev. Sister Ellen I. Burk, under the umbrella, and a group of workmen at a house under construction. November 1924 Photograph Lot 97 DOE Africa: Zaire/Belgian Congo: Gen/Unid; NM 342100 06067900, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.