Mnemonic Board (Lukasa)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 11 Feb 1965
label: Collection Date
content: 1920 to 1923
name: label: Collector
content: Ethel A. Miller
label: Collector
content: Rev. Wesley A. Miller
label: Donor Name
content: Mrs. Roy W. Mullen
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "LUKASA 'THE LONG HAND" (OR CLAW), A MEMORY DEVICE USED BY THE BAMBUDYE SECRET SOCIETY. WOODEN RECTANGULAR PLAQUE; ROW OF CARVED MOUNDS (LUKALA) RUNS ACROSS THE LUKASA'S CONCAVE SURFACE, DIVIDING IT IN HALF; BLUE, RED, AND WHITE GLASS BEADS ATTACHED BY SMALL SLIVERS OF WOOD DRIVEN THROUGH THEIR CENTERS, COVER THE SURFACE; ONE IRON STUD ON SURFACE, ONE DRIVEN INTO THE END OF THE PLAQUE; DECORATED ON CONVEX SIDE WITH INCISED GEOMETRIC DESIGNS REPRESENTING A STYLIZED TORTOISE SHELL DESIGN.LENT TO THE COOPER-HEWITT MUSEUM 8-27-92. LOAN RETURNED APRIL 1,1993." EXHIBIT LABEL FROM "THE POWER OF MAPS", COOPER-HEWITT MUSEUM,1992: "THIS FORM OF LUKASA, FROM THE WESTERN LUBA REGION, RELATES TO PEOPLE AND PLACE. IT CONVEYS INFORMATION ON CULTURE HEROES, EARLY RULERS, AND THE MYTHICAL MIGRATION ROUTES OF THE LUBA. THE BEAD CONFIGURATIONS MAY BE INTERPRETED AS REPRESENTING MEMBERS OF A SECRET ASSOCIATION AND SACRED DWELLING PLACES OF THE ANCESTRAL SPIRITS. THESE MEMORY BOARDS WERE USED BY THE BAMBUDYE, A SECRET ASSOCIATION OF THE LUBA WHOSE KINGDOM EXTENDED THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE CENTRAL SHABA REGION (FORMERLY KATANGA PROVINCE OF ZAIRE FROM THE 18TH THROUGH THE 19TH CENTURY."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 18 Nov 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Kabongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Luba
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 260822
label: USNM Number
content: E403544-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Mnenonic Device
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 16.5 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 10.2 cm