Dimensions: H:76.0" W:13.8" L:13.8" Weight: 35.2 lbs.
Baga Snake Sculpture from Guinea-Bissau - The Baga tribe of Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, created this massive carved wooden snake sculpture. It represents a protective spirit known by the Baga as the Ninkinanka, honored for bringing rain, bestowing riches, and children to infertile women. The serpent figure appeared during the initiation for boys and girls.
About the Tribe
The Baga people live in the swampy coastal region between Cape Verga and Guinea's capital, Conakry, in western Guinea, along the Guinea-Bissau coasts. They speak a language belonging to the Niger-Congo Atlantic branch family. To avoid conflict with the Fulbe Muslims, they moved from Guinea's interior highlands to the Guinean coast's geographically isolated lowlands.