A Fine Sukuma Fertility Doll – Tanzania

Wood, cowries, lether, glass beads. Cm 30,5 high (12.01” ); cm. 33,0 high on the stand (12.99″). Grams 695,6 (24.54 oz.)

The Sukuma live in Tanzania in small villages of Usukuma to the west and south of Lake Victoria. The Sukuma believe in a creator god and in the eternal spirits of the ancestors. They are led by the leaders and wisdom of the men of medicine. Sukuma puppets are used to please the ancestors during ceremonies of rites of passage, rituals of praise and honor of the ancestors (to please) and in the feast and dances of the people. While the ancients dance with the marionettes of the ancestors, they believe that the spirits of the ancestors will bring through the magic powers the fertility, the rain, the food and the well-being.

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