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Simon Ottenberg photographs of Limba and Afikpo Peoples

National Museum of African Art

Object Details

Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Collector
Ottenberg, Simon
Place
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Guinea
Africa
Occupation
Weavers
Topic
Beadwork
Headdresses -- headgear -- Africa
Rites and ceremonies -- Africa
Clothing and dress -- Africa
Cultural landscapes
Music
Dance
Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Culture
Fulbe (African people)
Igbo (African people)
Mandingo (African people)
Limba (African people)
Fula (African people)
See more items in
Simon Ottenberg photographs of Limba and Afikpo Peoples
Summary
The collection primarily includes photographs of Limba peoples taken by anthropologist Simon Ottenberg during field research in northern Sierra Leone within Bafodea Town, the capital of Wara Wara Bafodea Chiefdom, and Guinea, from October 1978 through July 1980. The collection also includes photographs taken while conducting field research at an Afikpo village-group, in southeastern Nigeria, from January 30, 1988 to February 5, 1988 and in 1992.
Biographical / Historical
Simon Ottenberg (1923-) is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington. He studied under Melville J. Herskovits and William R. Bascom at Northwestern University. He was a 1970 Guggenheim fellow. He has written at least seven scholarly books and has curated numerous exhibitions.
Extent
3145 Slides (photographs) (color)
Date
between 1978-1992
Custodial History
16 photographs taken by Pa Huff, a Wesleyan Methodist Minister, at Bafodea old town and new town were donated to Ottenberg in 1999 by former field assistant Paul Hamaidu Mansaray.
Archival Repository
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Identifier
EEPA.2005-001
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Color slides
Black-and-white transparencies
Arrangement note
The collection is arranged into two series by peoples, and further arranged by location. Arrangement Series 1: Limba Peoples, Sierra Leone and Guinea, 1978-1980 Subseries 1.1: Field Research, Year One, October 1978-August 1979 Subseries 1.2: Field Research, Year Two, September 1979-1980 Series 2: Afikpo Peoples, Guinea and Nigeria, 1988, 1992
Processing Information
Finding aid by Eden Orelove, 2018. Slides digitized in 2017.
Rights
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Photographs by Pa Huff, Hamaidu Mansaray, and Labelle Prussin are restricted. In these cases, the photographer's permission is required for access and publication of images.
Genre/Form
Color slides
Black-and-white transparencies
Scope and Contents
The collection primarily includes photographs of Limba peoples taken by anthropologist Simon Ottenberg during field research in northern Sierra Leone within Bafodea Town, the capital of Wara Wara Bafodea Chiefdom, and Guinea, from October 1978 through July 1980. The collection also includes photographs taken while conducting field research at Afikpo village-groups in Guinea and southeastern Nigeria, from January 30, 1988 to February 5, 1988 and in 1992. There are also some photographs by Pa Huff, a Wesleyan Methodist Minister, Venice Lamb, and Professor Labelle Prussin.
Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Related Archival Materials note
Related EEPA collections include: EEPA 1996-020 and EEPA 1994-012 (video-recorded interviews conducted by Ottenberg), and EEPA 2000-007 (photographs taken in Southeastern Nigeria within the Afikpo Village Group). Simon Ottenberg Papers are located at the National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1536868297930-1536868298400-0
Metadata Usage
CC0

In the Collection

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  • Girls, elaborately dressed and covered with heavy oil, perform a last, very controlled dance during final initiation phase, called "washing hands" or "turning" kakunutu, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Kaparana, a Fulbe blacksmith, red incising a wood storage box, Kamabungbu village, Sierra Leone

  • Leather whip, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Carved house post, Kasasi Village, Sierra Leone

  • Kpele wrist gongs worn also on back of hand by nkali player, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Kadanso Village, Sierra Leone

  • Front of hu ronko shirt stamped by Dunto, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Limba boy, wearing his initiation dance dress and beaded band hanging down the front of his chest, performs acrobatic dance for his initiation rite, Gbondokali, shortly before going to the bush, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Two 5-band clothes, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Painted female figure carved by Mohamed Bangura, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Limba boy, wearing his initiation dance dress and beaded band hanging down the front of his chest, performs acrobatic dance for his initiation rite, Gbondokali, shortly before going to the bush, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Girls, elaborately dressed and covered with heavy oil, return from the stream to the village for a last, very controlled dance during final initiation phase, called "washing hands" or "turning" kakunutu, Kakoya Village, Sierra Leone

  • At the end of their bush period, initiated boys, coming out to their community in single file, wearing their brown native cloths and native cloth cap. They also carry on their shoulder a small decorated wood slit gong. Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Pa Brema Kamara, the diviner from Fadagu Chiefdom, playing small rectangular metal lamellaphone, called kututeng, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Bakunto, a men's secret society (Gbangbani) gong, outside of blacksmith shed, Kamadendena Village, Sierra Leone

  • Fatimata spinning cotton, Kamanda Village, Sierra Leone

  • Mohamed Bangura, a wood carver, making a bird figure, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Coming out seventh-day ceremony for a newborn Fulbe girl, at the house of Tiro the trader, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Huban drum used by the Gbondokali musical ensemble at boys pre-initiation dance, Kamabonsi Village, Sierra Leone

  • Carved Gbangbani men's secret society horn, with cowrie shells, Sierra Leone

  • Limba boy, wearing his initiation dance dress and beaded band hanging down the front of his chest, performs acrobatic dance for his initiation rite, Gbondokali, shortly before going to the bush, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • The weaver, Suma Mannio Mansaray, with his rolled upt thread, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • During the weeks preceding final initiation dance, Limba boy, accompanied by musical ensemble hired by his followers, practices his acrobatic dance, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Women in ashobi dress dancing and singing with the Rainbow group, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Sirekude Village, Sierra Leone

  • Girls, elaborately dressed and covered with heavy oil, perform a last, very controlled dance during final initiation phase, called "washing hands" or "turning" kakunutu, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Wood statue used as a doll for a child, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Two new wooden combs made by a village blacksmith, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Stamps used by Pa Wosi Conteh, hu ronko shirt preparer, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Alhaji Selu, Fulbe Section Chief with other Fulbe from the countryside, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Iron gong called kukengken, usually played along long drum called kusung, Kasatinti Village, Sierra Leone

  • Women in ashobi dress dancing and singing with the Rainbow group, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Girl wearing colored beaded headband at her preinitiation dance, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Rainbow, a large, youthful contemporary ensemble performing music, dance, song and masquerade, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Mohamed Bangura, a wood carver, making an animal figure, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Daba Kamara shaping clay pots, Kamanda Village, Sierra Leone

  • Eldest son of the late Pa Hono, a Limba village head, at his father second funeral, Kadanso Village, Sierra Leone

  • Carved Gbangbani men's secret society gong, Wara Wara Bafodea Chiefdom, Sierra Leone

  • Cloth woven by Bulu, mixed native and European white warp, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Pa Sori Barrie making women hair pieces called kubala, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Muslim protective charm, called hatumere, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Hu ronko shirt stamped by Pa Wosi Conteh, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Kadi, from Kayenda, spinning thread, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Front of hu ronko shirt prepared by Sunkiye, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Standing female figure, carved by a local artist, Freetown, Sierra Leone

  • Daba Kamara shaping large clay pot, Kamanda Village, Sierra Leone

  • The Fulbe weaver, Mabo, making a beater used in weaving, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • The weaver, Pa Modi, laying out European black and native white warp thread, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Girls who have just returned from the initiation bush wearing blue headbands, Seredugu Village, Sierra Leone

  • Iron bit for a horse, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Members of the women secret society, Bondo, dancing and singing after the female initiands has been moved off into the bush, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Back of hu ronko shirt stamped by Dunto, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Women's secret society, Bondo, holding a burial dance, Seredugu Village, Sierra Leone

  • Leather workers making a shoe, Hindia Village, Guinea

  • Women, from Fadagu Chiefdom, hired to perform the Bondo musical instuments at initiation rites for female initiands, Kadanso Village, Sierra Leone

  • Back of hu ronko shirt prepared by Sunkiye, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Altered beater used in weaving, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Painted figure carved by Mohamed Bangura, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Girls dancing and playing samburi drums during final initiation phase, called "washing hands" or "turning" kakunutu, Kakoya Village, Sierra Leone

  • Momodu Mansaray playing small rectangular metal lamellaphone, called kututeng, Kamagbembe Village, Sierra Leone

  • Girls, with elaborate hairstyles and covered with heavy oil, perform a last, very controlled dance during final initiation phase, called "washing hands" or "turning" kakunutu, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Strip cloth made by the weaver Pa Sia Mansaray, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • View of the village from the hill, Kakoya Village, Sierra Leone

  • Carved Gbangbani men's secret society gong, Wara Wara Bafodea Chiefdom, Sierra Leone

  • Ruins of a wall made of stones, abandoned Kakoya old site, Kakoya village, Sierra Leone

  • Horn being used by Limba woman to call farm work group in for lunch near Kamatemgbe farm, outside of Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Leather neck charms, called husebe, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Women's group of several older women imitating the late Pa Bayo, at his memorial, also called second funeral, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Secular Limba musical ensemble known as Poro, Sirekude Village, Sierra Leone

  • Rice field at the farm belonging to Pa Suma Mannio Mansaray, near Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Cloth made of orange, yellow, green and blue weft bands, woven by a Limba weaver, near Hindia Village, Guinea

  • Little boy wearing stamped shirt of only 4 bands, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Shrine made of stones, abandoned Kakoya old site, Kakoya village, Sierra Leone

  • Girls practicing their preinitiation dance, Seredugu Village, Sierra Leone

  • Mariama Mansaray sewing cloths for tie dying, native thread, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Ceremony of measuring the cloth to be used by the boys in the bush, part of the preliminary activities of Limba intiation rites, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • The outhouse and wash house, at the home of the author, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Acrobatic dance performed by boy to be initiated, preceding the night before going to the bush, Sirekude Village, Sierra Leone

  • Rice field near the Mantia River, west of Kamadendena village, Sierra Leone

  • Limba boys, on the shoulders of their followers, returning from the bush where they were dressed in an elaborate costume and beaded band hanging down the front of their chest, shortly before performing final acrobatic dance for their preinitiation period, Kasapena Village, Sierra Leone

  • At the end of their bush period, initiated boys, coming out to their community in single file, wearing their brown native cloths and native cloth cap. They also carry on their shoulder a small decorated wood slit gong. Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Arrival of Honorable P.H. Kamara, a minister in the Sierra Leone government,carried in a hammock, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Hukpodung basket made to Pay Layi, Kamagbembe village, Sierra Leone

  • Table and bed ends made by the wood carver Mohamed Bangura, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Farm sacrifice on the ground, Kamadendena village, Sierra Leone

  • Three leather arm bands, know as tebe, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Boy, to be initiated, at the ceremony of measuring the cloth to be used by him in the bush, part of the preliminary activities of Limba intiation rites, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Decorated wood storage boxes with Kaparana, a Fulbe blacksmith, and his sons Kamabungbu village, Sierra Leone

  • Gara dyed native cloth, woven by Fulbe men, dyed by Maninka women, Koin, Guinea

  • Siridi Conteh, using her foot, makes a beaded band, Siemamaya Village, Sierra Leone

  • Standing female figure, carved by Salifu Mansaray, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Gara dyed native cloth, woven by Fulbe men, dyed by Maninka women, Koin, Guinea

  • Mayoi musical group performing at huboga rite, also called memorial or second funeral, for the late Pa Salifu Mansaray, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Wife of the late Pa Bayo at his second funeral, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Mende hat of native thread, made by Pa Alpha Kombe, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Kagbangton Street, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Wearing blue poplin dresses, band of white woven cloth around the waist and blue headbands, their bodies covered with white chalk, three girls who have just completed their first initiation, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Old decorated wood storage box, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

  • Cloth of black and red lines on a blue background belonging to a girl, near Hindia Village, Guinea

  • Pa Sori Barrie making women hair pieces called kubala, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone

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Silver rings worn on left hand fingers of Alimamy Salifu Mansaray, Chief of Wara Wara Bafodea Chiefdom, Bafodea Town, Sierra Leone
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