Zande binza (witchdoctor) initiation
104 x 78 mm | Print gelatin silver
Condition:
Residual chemical staining [EE 1989]
Date of Print:
Unknown
Previous PRM Number:
EP.A.333a
Previous Other Number:
92 6 (6) [frame 10]
Accession Number:
1998.341.333.3
Description:
A group of abinza (witchdoctors) dancing around an initiate (Kamanga, Evans-Pritchard's servant and informant) at a ritual 'burial' ceremony.
Kamanga's feet can be seen emerging from the hole.
A mutilated onlooker (identified as Bitarangba) can be seen to the left.
Photographer:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Date of Photo:
?1928 - 1929
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Yambio
Group:
Zande
NamedPerson:
Kamanga, Bitarangba
Publication History:
Contemporary Publication - Reproduced as Plate XVIIb (facing page 238) in E.
E.
Evans-Pritchard's
Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
(OUP 1937), with the caption "Kamanga is buried.
His feet can be seen sticking out in the centre.
On the extreme left, wearing a plaited grass hat, is a man who has been mutilated for adultery."
Reproduced as Plate XIV Fig 2 in E. E. Evans-Pritchard's article 'The Zande Corporation of Witchdoctors', JRAI Vol. LXIII, 1933, with the caption "The novice is buried. In the centre his feet can be seen sticking out. On the extreme left, wearing a plaited grass hat, is a man who has been mutilated for adultery". [Chris Morton 15/6/2005]
Reproduced as Plate XIV Fig 2 in E. E. Evans-Pritchard's article 'The Zande Corporation of Witchdoctors', JRAI Vol. LXIII, 1933, with the caption "The novice is buried. In the centre his feet can be seen sticking out. On the extreme left, wearing a plaited grass hat, is a man who has been mutilated for adultery". [Chris Morton 15/6/2005]
Notes:
The identification of the figure to the left as Bitarangba is based on a comparison with images [1998.341.292] and [1998.341.477].
[Chris Morton 15/11/2004]
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated 1966
Other Owners:
E. E. Evans-Pritchard Collection
Class:
Clothing Ritual , Religion , Ritual
Keyword:
Headdress
Activity:
Ritual Activity
Event:
Ceremony Initiation , Dance
Documentation:
Original catalogue lists in Manuscript Collections. Additional material in related documents files. [CM 27/9/2005]
Primary Documentation:
PRM Accession Records - [1966.27.21] G PROFESSOR E.
E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST.
OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD.
OXFORD - S.
SUDAN, AZANDE TRIBE.
Box of negatives in envelopes.
Nos.
1 - 400
Added Accession Book Entry - [In pencil in column] Catalogue room.
[1966.27.23] G PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD - S. SUDAN, AZANDE TRIBE. Box of prints in envelopes, nos. 1 - 400 (prints of negatives in 1966.27.21)
Manual Catalogues [typewritten, entitled "Zande Photographs (E-P)"] - 333. Seance of witchdoctors. (Shows feet of newly initiated man appearing from hole in which he is buried). 92/6 (6)
Added Accession Book Entry - [In pencil in column] Catalogue room.
[1966.27.23] G PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD - S. SUDAN, AZANDE TRIBE. Box of prints in envelopes, nos. 1 - 400 (prints of negatives in 1966.27.21)
Manual Catalogues [typewritten, entitled "Zande Photographs (E-P)"] - 333. Seance of witchdoctors. (Shows feet of newly initiated man appearing from hole in which he is buried). 92/6 (6)
Other Information:
Ethnographic context - In Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande (OUP 1937, page 154-157) E.
E.
Evans-Pritchard notes that '[o]n my third expedition in 1930 I constantly attended seances of witch-doctors and tried to see their activities in the social life of the Azande in better perspective than I had been able to do when immersed in the details of their craft..' A detailed account of the ritual burial ceremony as part of the training of a binza novice is found on pp.
239 - 245.
On page 239 E-P states that the photographs of Kamanga's ritual burial were taken immediately outside his own hut 'which accounts for the spaciousness of the scene and for the unusual number of magicians present.' Kamanga himself gives an account of his ritual burial initiation experience on page 241.
[Chris Morton 16/10/2003]
Recorder:
Christopher Morton 3/11/2003 [Southern Sudan Project]
