Abstract
A PREGNANCY CUSTOM IN WEST AFRICA.-Dr. J. Maes describes in Man for March a recent acquisition of the Musee du Congo Beige from the Katanga which is connected with a child-birth custom distributed through a wide area in West Africa. The object is a clay figurine of a seated female figure holding on her lap a disproportionately large bowl. The stylisation of the hair indicates that the figure represents a woman of the Bena Kanioka. It is the first record of this custom among these people, though figures of this type are common among the Baluba. These figures are made by men during the pregnancy of their wives. When the time of delivery approaches, and the woman is no longer able to work in the fields, the figure is placed at the door of the hut and all passers-by place alms in the bowl. These gifts are shared among the woman's friends when they return at night in return for the produce of their fields which they give the expectant mother, and for labour which they have expended on her garden. This custom is found among the Yoruba, and clay figures made by the peoples of the Gulf of Guinea exhibit exactly the same characters as these from the south of the Belgian Congo
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Research Items. Nature 123, 619–621 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123619a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123619a0