Spearcase
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 Oct 1974
name: label: Donor Name
content: Walter G. La Pointe
notes: label: Notes
content: See accession file for more complete history. Abridged: "This is a ceremonial spearcase of Mutesa II of the Kingdom of Buganda... It dates back to the period when English explorers Speke and Baker were searching for the origin of the NIle River, ca. 1840. The Mutesa was absolute monarch of the Batutsi... Kabaka (king) Mutesa kept his ceremonial spears in this case, and they were carried everywhere he went by his attendants. The spears were equivalent of the imperial sceptre, were considered to be sacred, and were used in conjunction with ceremonial decrees...The souls of the previous dead kings were believed to inhabit articles of the Royal household, such as this spearcase... Kabaka Mutesa presented this spearcase to the King... of one of the lesser kingdoms in what is present day Rwanda. When Rwanda... was granted independence in 1961, there was a violent revolution by the Bahutu tribe, who were virtual slaves of the ruling Batutsi tribe. The Bahutu made a special effort to destory the sacred household articles of the King, so as to insure the Royal lineage would be forever destroyed. This case was one of the few articles saved."
label: Notes
content: From card: "Wooden spearcase for sorting ceremonial spears. Body made from one piece of hollowed log. Outer surface smoothly finished and decorated with bands of incised geometric designs. Capped at both ends with wooden lids terminating in large flat knobs."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 12 Apr 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Rwanda, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tutsi
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 313314
label: USNM Number
content: E416846-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Spear Case
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 140 cm
label: Diameter
content: 21 cm