IDNO

N.19318.ROS

Description

Ten? Royal drums and five milk pots set out for display, in the interior of their sacred house; a dome-shaped hut with no pinnacle. The two chief drums have a white cowhide playing skin with a black strip across the middle. "On the floor on either side stand several drums, which are of a later date and of less importance than the chief drums. Under the stand there is a row of milk-pots belonging to the sacred drums; for these drums are fetishes, and are supposed to have spirits and to be able to bring both good and evil to the country” (Roscoe 1922, p: 94).

Physical Condition: Film is an orange/brown colour.

Place

E Africa; Uganda; Ankole; Mbarara

Cultural Affliation

?Banyankole

Named Person

Photographer

?Roscoe, John R.

Collector / Expedition

Roscoe, John R. [Mackie Ethnological Expedition, Uganda, 1919 - 1920]

Date

1919 - 1920

Collection Name

Roscoe Collection

Source

Format

Film Negative Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This negative was kept in an envelope marked C30/271/ by the cataloguer. The envelope was kept in box marked C30/ by the cataloguer.
Previously stored on Shelf 4, in group of 4 wooden boxes numbered 180.

Publication: Image published in Roscoe, J. 1922. The Soul of Central Africa: A General Account of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition. (London: Cassell and Company Limited). p. 94 with the caption "Ankole: Sacred Drums in their House”. [ED 13/9/2007]

Context: "During my stay in Mbarara, the capital of Ankole, I paid frequent visits to the king, and I was able to see and photograph a house in which are the only drums which this King or his people possess. It was a surprise to discover that these people have never been in the habit of using drums in any of their ceremonies or dances ... Though the Ankole people do not use drums, the king has come into the possession of two. These are small, some two feet high and eighteen inches in diameter, and the skin on them is white cowhide with a black strip let in across the middle. They are kept in a hut which is dome-shaped and has no pinnacle. As the hut has only a low doorway to admit both light and air, it is rather dark, and the drums lie side by side on a stand facing the door, thus giving as you enter the impression of two great eyes staring at you. On the floor on either side stand several drums, which are of a later date and of less importance than the chief drums, being, as it were, attendants upon them. Under the stand there is a row of milk-pots belonging to the sacred drums; for these drums are fetishes, and are supposed to have spirits and to be able to bring both good and evil to the country. A large herd of cows also belongs to them, and daily the milk from a number of these is brought and placed before them. The drum-spirits drink the essence of the milk, and later the priest and priestess drink what is left as a sacred meal in the presence of the drums.
At one time these drums were kept in a shrine at some distance from the King’s residence; they might not be on the same hill as he, and a stream of water must run between them and him. When the King became a Christian he had the drums brought to his own hill, but in the minds of most people they retain their old importance; the priest cares for them as old, and their milk is given to them each day with certain ceremonies. Each new king had the drums restrung at the commencement of his reign” (Roscoe 1922, pp. 94 - 95). [ED 12/9/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 4/10/2007]