# Journal of American Folk-Lore/Volume 12/Issue 46/The Ocimbanda

THE OCIMBANDA, OR WITCH-DOCTOR OF THE OVIMBUNDU OF PORTUGUESE SOUTHWEST AFRICA.
In July of last year the Anthropological Department of the Field Columbian Museum secured an ethnological collection from the Ovimbundu of the Portuguese African province of Angola. The collection was made by Rev. T. W. Woodside, a missionary for seven years among the Ovimbundu, and, on account of its completeness and the full data which accompanied the objects, is of unusual importance and value. Perhaps of chief interest among the series of objects illustrating the various phases of native life in this region is the complete "medicine chest" of a witch-doctor. This I shall describe, making free use of the extensive notes furnished by Mr. Woodside, supplemented by several conversations during which the objects themselves were discussed, and much information furnished concerning the Ovimbundu in general. The collection under consideration was obtained from a single individual, and has seen long use.
The Ovimbundu are a southern division of an extensive group of people known as the Bundas, who, in turn, belong to the group of Bantu populations. They occupy the territory of the Bailundu and Bihe plateaus, from Bengualla to the Ouanza River, a table-land 4000 to upwards of 6000 feet high, and in south latitude about twelve degrees. The Ovimbundu are described by Mr. Woodside as a dark-skinned people, varying from coffee-brown to quite black, with thick curly hair. They are entirely uncivilized, but are a peaceable, kindly people. Their food is chiefly vegetal, although they possess cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens. They practise polygamy, and the women prepare the food and do nearly all the field work. The men are famous as traders, and journey to the interior for rubber, wax, ivory, and slaves; the latter they secure by purchase from the country of the Lubas. The principal medium of exchange is a cheap cotton cloth which is obtained from white travellers.
Among the Ovimbundu, as in nearly all parts of Africa, the witch-doctor is an important personage. He is feared by all classes, and often has more influence and power than the chief himself. Whenever anything is lost or stolen, they apply to the witch-doctor to find out where the object is, or who is the thief. As no one is supposed to die a natural death, the doctor is called in to discover the witch who caused the death. To him they go for all kinds of charms to protect themselves against all evils, or to cast a spell on some one whom they wish to injure; to him they also go for help in ​case of sickness. He is also a diviner, reading both the past and future. At all spirit feasts, at the installation of a new chief, in preparation for war, and on almost every occasion the witch-doctor plays a prominent part. He bears an influential position among his people, and his art is the source of a considerable income, for always before he begins operations the pay must be brought and laid down before him. Thus it is that he is loth to part with even a few of his charms, much less a full set.
The ocimbanda does not inherit his power, but must serve a long apprenticeship to some old witch-doctor, whom he pays liberally. He is then given a small basket with a few charms, to which he adds from time to time. His idols and charms are not made by him, but are purchased one by one. All of these objects are considered powerful, cikola or sacred, and the common people are afraid to touch them; even the touch of a white man is sacrilegious. One of the distinguishing features of a witch-doctor's costume is a headdress, ckufue, made of long porcupine quills fastened together at one end, sewn to a cloth disk about two inches in diameter. Many of the quills are over a foot in length. This headdress is only worn when divining. He also occasionally wears about the loins a girdle, uya, consisting of a strip of antelope skin sewn together along the two edges, thus forming a pouch which contains medicines. Attached to the girdle are war charms and medicines, of which he eats from time to time. There are also several kinds of small skins in the collection, on which the doctor kneels when about to perform. Two pigments should also be noticed. The first is a white, clayey substance, ocikela, with which the ocimbanda paints himself, and with which he also marks the person whom by his divining he has discovered to be innocent, the sign of acquittal being a mark across the forehead and down the arms. The other pigment is a red clay, onongo, with which he also marks his own body and employs as the sign of guilt.
Of the various objects of the ocimbanda's outfit proper, the most important is the basket, uhamba, in which the outfit is kept. When it is said that so and so has a "uhamba," it means that he is a witch-doctor. The basket is thirteen inches high by nineteen in length, and eight inches in thickness. The ends are rounded, thus giving the basket, as seen from above, an elliptical form. The cover, three inches in height, fits closely down over the basket, after the manner of our telescope bag. The bottom of the basket is made separate, and is fastened by means of an interlacing of grass braid. The sides of the basket are simply one long strip of interlaced reed and bark fibre, the ends overlapping and being fastened together by the grass braid, which passes up continuously from the bottom to ​the top of the basket which it circles, thus giving a decorative effect as well as affording additional strength. The lid is built in a similar manner.
Only second in importance is a small basket-shaped gourd, ongombo, used in divination. The basket is ten inches in diameter and three inches deep. Around the rim is bound two bands of grass fibre, thus affording strength, and, by means of the manner of binding these in place, a certain amount of decoration. The basket has evidently seen much use, for the bottom is cracked in several places and has been mended with cotton thread. On two sides near the rim are two cowry shells. The contents of this basket are extremely varied, all the objects being in the nature of charms. Among them may be enumerated several small images made of different kinds of wood, horn of a goat, ox hoof, piece of pig's foot, lion's tooth; skin from the nose of a hyena, to smell out crime; bone of a person, a supposed witch; chicken bones, and a chicken head with open mouth, which is supposed to represent a gossip; and dozens of other trinkets, each having its own significance in the eyes of the witch-doctor.
During the process of divination two images, ovitakas, representing male and female, are set up before the ocimbanda, that he may cause them to be inhabited by spirits. These are not worshipped as idols, yet are venerated in a sense by the common people, especially by women and children. The images are carved out of hard wood, and stand a little over a foot in height. Each one is partially clothed in a cotton wrapper, and bears about the neck several strands of native beads. They possess unusual interest, as on the back of the head of each the manner of wearing the hair of each sex is carefully portrayed. Attached to the male by a string around the neck is a rosette of dull red and yellow feathers, one of which has been artificially notched. To enable the ocimbanda to call the spirits into these images, he uses a whistle, ombinga, consisting of the horn of a small antelope inserted into an ox-tail wrapped with beads arranged into broad bands of white, black, and red. Furthermore, when about to divine, the doctor eats a number of ants. He also has some medicines known collectively as ovihemba, which are kept in a skin, from which he takes and eats before and during divining. Of rattles, ocisikilo, shaken by the ocimbanda during the practice of his art, there are two, both bottle-shaped gourds containing cannalilly seeds.
When the ocimbanda goes to divine, he first carefully spreads his skins one upon the other, and upon these he places his basket of charms. He puts white and red clay on his eyebrows, cheek bones, shoulders, and elbows; also stripes his body with these clays, and ​puts on his necklace and headdress, which gives him a strange, wild appearance. Taking one of the gourd rattles, and giving the others to the parties interested, setting up the images, he is ready for operations. He begins by shaking the gourds and blowing the horn whistle, at the same time chanting in a minor strain, all the rest responding in chorus. In this way he works himself up into a sort of frenzy. He then takes the basket of charms, and, by throwing them slightly, claims to be able to read from them the past and future, and to declare the guilt or innocence of a person. In this way trivial matters, as well as the most weighty, even life and death, are decided. For instance, if, while determining whether an accused person is a witch or not, in his shaking and throwing of the charms the little horn with the wax and red seeds should stand upright, that would be taken as evidence of guilt; while if, on the contrary, the little image with the small cowry shell on the head should stand upright, that is evidence conclusive that the person is innocent. Not only is the question of guilt thus decided, but witch-doctors are thought to be able to predict coming events.
An important object in the outfit is a large horn of the roan antelope, containing a smaller antelope horn, medicines, oils, etc., prepared by the ocimbanda. This is known as ombinga, or "loaded horn," and is considered efficacious in warding off from its possessor all harm, lightning, disease, witches, spirits, wild animals, etc. Carried upon journeys, it also insures a prosperous issue to the undertaking, and affords as well protection. Somewhat similar in construction, but used for an entirely different purpose, is the ocifungo or rain wand. This is the tail of an ox, into which are inserted two small horns with medicines and oils. By blowing the horns and waving the tail, the ocimbanda is supposed to drive off rains at will.
Of numerous small charms, umbanda, in the collection, two are of sufficient interest to merit notice. One consists of two four-inch-long bottle-shaped objects made of woven string, from the mouth of each of which projects a two-inch tuft of very tiny feathers. The two objects are joined at the top and bottom, and singly bear a decided resemblance to a Hopi tiponi, or religious society's palladium. They contain medicines and are worn from the neck. This is a special war charm, and affords protection against bullets and all harm in battle. The other charm is an ox's hoof into which is thrust a small antelope horn and medicines. In times of special danger, it is put up somewhere in the village for protection. Still ​another form of fetish for protection are two small images also known as ovitekas. They, like the other ovitekas described above are of wood, but are rudely carved from two round pieces of wood about sixteen inches long. No attempt has been made to represent the human form in any detail, only the face, neck, and arms being indicated. The face of both images has been besmeared with some reddish black pigment. These were placed where the path to the village branches off to the caravan road. A small hut before which they stood was built for them, about two feet square, and between two and three feet high, with a thatched grass roof. Within was a shelf on which from time to time was placed food, corn, and a small gourd of beer. This was done to appease certain spirits which were supposed to be angry with the village and were causing sickness.
For the so-called poison test three medicines are employed. The first and most common is known as the ombambu, a drug obtained from the country east of the Quanza River, and represented in the collection by a piece of bark. It has the property of a powerful spinal irritant, and it is said that a very small quantity will produce death. There is a current belief among the Ovimbundu that if a bird alights upon the ombambu tree it will fall down dead. The second drug, or ombambu, employed in the poison test is obtained from the Bihe country, and is represented by several roots. It is taken in the form of a decoction. The third test is known as onsunga. This is a mixture of powdered herbs, and is obtained from the country of the Ganguellas. With these three drugs should be mentioned a small gourd, okopo, used by the ocimbanda in mixing the medicines, and from which during the poison test the parties drink. The test medicines are stirred with the foot of a small antelope. Occasion for the administering of the poison may arise in various ways. Frequently one person will accuse another of being a witch. The accused may deny it, and appeal to the poison test to prove his innocency. They go to the chief, who calls an ocimbanda, who mixes up a concoction in a gourd, and both the accuser and accused drink. If the draughts make one sick and he vomits, he is acquitted; and if the other one becomes very sick and does not vomit, he is said to be the witch. This same test is often appealed to in other matters where one affirms and another denies. A man may drink by proxy, that is, he may have a friend drink the poison in his stead, or, more frequently, a slave drinks for his master.
Finally, it must be noticed that the ocimbandu is also a medicine-man. He undoubtedly possesses some really valuable remedies, but there is so much of the fetishistic cult bound up in the administering of the remedies that when they do help a person the credit of ​the cure is given to the charms and incantations. Of the medicines contained in the collection I shall only mention four: The first is a love medicine, ekulo, a powdered mixture of seeds. When a wife becomes jealous of the other wives of her husband, she complains to her mother, who advises her to cook a chicken and in the broth to place some of this medicine, which, when her husband eats thereof, will compel him forever to love her above all the other wives. The second remedy is an emetic, asangu. This is frequently used, as, for example, when in the poison test a person becomes very sick, and the guilt has become fully established, the doctor will administer an emetic to save life. In cases of difficult labor, the woman is given a small piece of the bark of the oluvanga to chew. For rheumatism, ovihata, a mixed powder called omatoli, is used.
George A. Dorsey.