Old Bambara Leather Hunting Bag – Donso Society – Mali

Leather bag featuring geometric engravings, fringes, and adorned with shells, beads, metal elements, and a carved wooden figure of an ancestor, intended for protection and to facilitate communication with forest spirits. Includes two hunting knives and two fly whisks. Approx. 30.0 cm (11.81″) high x 28.0 cm (11.02″) wide. In very good overall condition.

These bags, used to carry gunpowder, bullets, knives, medicines, and other small hunting essentials, also held significant ritual value. Many were imbued with magical power through amulets and protective substances, ensuring success in the hunt and safeguarding against vengeful spirits. Some bags, richly decorated, signified the hunter’s rank or membership in initiatory societies.

The Donso, or Hunters’ Society, is a traditional brotherhood found among Mande-speaking peoples in West Africa, particularly in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. It is both a professional and spiritual association, bringing together skilled hunters who follow strict codes of conduct and initiation rituals. Members are considered guardians of knowledge, mediators with the spirit world, and protectors of their communities. Their practices combine hunting expertise with esoteric wisdom, including the use of charms, protective amulets, and ritual objects to ensure success in the hunt and defense against malevolent forces.

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