The Art of the Yaka

Abstract

T he 300,000 Bayaka (strong people) sparsely populate 45,000 square kilometers of savannah and forest lands in the Bandundu region of Zaire and northern Angola. According to their legends, the Yaka are descendants of the Yaga, nomadic hunters of central Africa. While conducting research on religions in Zaire during 1972 to 1974, I became deeply interested in the diverse art of the country. That of the Bayaka is among the most remarkable and most mysterious in the playful, almost mocking faces of the masks with their polychromatic scheme and unusual features; and in the contradictions between the abstraction of the masks and the realism of the statuettes and fetishes. Although it was the Yaka figure sculptures that first impressed European travelers (and, in fact, generated an interest in all Congolese art), the masks are more original and interesting. Nearly all of them are destined for the nkanda ceremony or initiation ceremony. The Yaka circumcise at puberty, a custom that distinguishes them from their neighbors, the Baholo and Bawumbu, who circumcise at birth. The ceremony is always communal, with anywhere from five to thirtyfive initiates taking part. After the actual circumcision is performed, they immediately leave the village to live in a small compound. The new initiates, tundansi, build screens of fiber to shut themselves off from other villagers, and women are strictly forbidden from seeing them at any time during their separation. They remain in confinement for at least one year, during which they are taught to hunt, dance, and participate as full tribal members. Their teachers, tulombusi, live with them and supervise the activities. When the teachers, in consultation with the village elders, decide that the initiates have sufficiently learned their lessons, the period of confinement is ended and the grand nkanda ceremony takes place. Previous to this time, the sculptor, kalaveni, has carved five, seven, or nine new masks for the event, and the village chief has chosen a leader of the tundansi and the tulombusi, and has ranked the other initiates and teachers. Only the top-