IDNO

P.49869.DRI

Description

"Lango dance. Flute band in the middle." [Driberg's caption]

A group of Lango men and women performing a myel me bilo dance. The dancers stands with their legs together and arms bent forward at the elbow and hold a stick.
The dancers are accompanied by a flute band using two types of flutes, min bilo and atin bilo, which are blown down the wide end of the horn.
In the background are the thatched roofs of buildings. [JD 25/07/2023]

Place

E Africa; Uganda; ?Northern Region [Lango District]

Cultural Affliation

Lango

Named Person

Photographer

Driberg, Jack Herbert

Collector / Expedition

Date

circa 1912 - 1921

Collection Name

Driberg CollectionUnmounted Haddon Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.49848.ACH2. to P.49875.ACH2. were found in envelope now marked C210/1/. This was found in another envelope now marked C210/ which came from the wooden drawer 1.

Place: The Place field was previously recorded as being "Africa; East Africa; ?Uganda", but the Lango is a group from what was known as the sub-region of Lango District, Uganda. A photograph of the series, P.49860.ACH2, has now being identified as Driberg’s, who worked with the Lango of Uganda between 1912 - 1921. The Place field has been amended accordingly. [Source: Ethnologue 15th Edition, JD 19/6/2009]

Photographer: The handwriting on the reverse of the prints P.49848.ACH2. to P.49875.ACH2 is the same as on P.49860.ACH2, which has been identified as J.H.Driberg’s. The Photographer and Date fields have been amended accordingly. [JD 19/6/2009]

Bibliographical Reference: In Driberg, J.H. and Coryndon, R.T. 1923. 'The Lango a Nilotic tribe of Uganda' (London: Fisher Unwin) Driberg discusses various types of Lango instruments in his chapter on the "Mode of Life" on pages 125-127: "The dance accompanied by flutes may be referred to as myel me bilo (though the old name—still used, but less frequently—was alugturu), and we have seen that flutes are distinguished as min bilo and atin bilo. It is made of the horn of a young hartebeeste, cob or reedbuck, and the performer blows down the wide end of the horn, the tip being forced to form a stop, which is operated by the little finger ... Every man has his own whistle motif (nying, or name, of bilo)." [LS 25/07/2023]