Yaka-Suku slit gong mukoku Congo

During rites of initiation of a diviner, a chorus of slit-gongs will be sounded as the initiate is led through a series of activities that transform her from an ordinary human to a spiritual agent. Also in divination sessions with a family group or an individual, the diviner will strike the gong with intricate rhythms while calling upon spiritual powers or punctuate statements with a single sharp strike upon the instrument. But as Devisch and Bourgeois have argued, they are not only important for the sounds they create when struck by a stick during a ritual. They are visually significant as well. (Devisch 1978, 1991, 1995; Bourgeois 1979, 1982).

Often illness and unexplained deaths are believed to be caused by offended ancestors or neglected deities. The sorcerer identifies the cause of the problem and prescribes a remedy. The wooden mukoku - slit drum is the symbol of the sorcerer but is also used as the sorcerer´s seat and as a container in which to prepare medicines.
Die mukoku wird bei Heilungs- und Wahrsageriten verwendet.
Sie kündigt einerseits die Anwesenheit des nganga an, dient aber auch zur Begleitung ihrer/seiner Gesänge und als Behälter für die Zubereitung und Darbietung von Medizin.




References:
Devisch René :The Therapist and the Source of Healing among the Yaka of Zaire. 1990
de Beir, L. - Religion et magie des Bayaka. 1975
Michel Plancquaert - Les Sociétés Secrètes chez les Bayaka, Louvain, Imprimerie J. Kuyl-Otto, 1930
Michel Plancquaert - Les Jaga et les Bayaka du Kwango. 1932
Bourgeois, Arthur, P. - Art of the Yaka and Suku, Meudon, Alain and Françoise Chaffin, 1984
Bourgeois, Arthur, P. - Kakungu among the Yaka and Suku. African Arts 14
Hans Himmelheber - Negerkunst und Negerkünstler, Braunschweig, Klinkhardt & Biermann,1960,
Hans Himmelheber - Zaire 1938/39. Photographic documents on the arts of the Yaka, Pende, Tshokwe and Kuba.
Pemberton, John - Insight and Artistry in African Divination