Herskovits' Film Study of West Africa
odd: label: Local Number
content: HSFA 1977.1.1
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963
setName: label: See more items in
content: Melville Herskovits films
physdesc: label: Extent
content: Film reels (71 minutes, black-and-white silent; 1900 feet)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1931
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Footage shot during fieldwork in Dahomey (Benin), Nigeria, and the Gold Coast (Ghana). Documentation of Yoruba, Hausa, Ashanti, and Dahomean culture includes: elegbara dancers and an Igun (Egungun) ceremony in Abeokuta, Nigeria; Hausa drummers and praise singers of the Emir of Kano, Nigeria; court scenes and Kwasidei ceremony in Asokore (Gold Coast) honoring a chief's ancestors; market scenes in Abomey, Dahomey; a dokpwe (communal work group); Dahomean chief with wives and praise singers; legba dancers and drummers and Nesuhwe ceremony honoring ancestors; and various subsistence and craft activities including iron-forging, brasswork, woodcarving, weaving, hoeing and planting.