Kouyou ancestors family

The mythical ancestors, totemic figures:
– father, with three identical faces.
– mother, with arms attached to the bust and scarifications. This statue wears a necklace, and a figure above her head.
– young initiated figure, resting on a head with double face, with arms attached to the bust and scarifications. This statue wears a necklace, and a bird above his head.

Polychrome red orange and black patina. Mid XX°.

Two totemic clans once formed the Kouyou ethnic group, a neighbouring group of the Punu in the Republic of Congo, west that of the panther and in the east that of the snake. A secret male association, Ottoté, played an important political role in the appointment of chiefs. The initiation of young men of a serpent God Ebongo is represented in the form of a head. The Kebekebe dances, which accompanied the ceremony, reactivated the successive stages of creation. The panther clan had a drum as its emblem. For its part, the snake had carved heads above his head.