Bambara Ci Wara Antelope Headdress - Early 20thC Buddha concentric spirals

concentric spirals

88 x 58 x 66  (wxdxh cms)

Totems were found in two areas of Naga villages - either side of the entrance to the village or inside the morung (mens dormitory)

It was originally set into a wall

100% Merino Wool from India

Bambara Ci Wara Antelope Headdress - Early 20thC Buddha concentric spiralsThis beautifully carved headdress represents the Ci Wara, the male antelope mythical being of the Bambara (or Bamana) people of Mali. Ci Wara was half mortal and half animal and it is the belief that it was Ci Wara who first taught humans to cultivate and farm the lands around them. As humanity became more wasteful, legend has it that Ci Wara buried himself in earth. In memory of him, Bambara carve these headdresses which are power objects called boli