Bow

Used for weapon in warfare and hunting, although guns were increasingly used in warfare. Hunting was often conducted by a hunting-class among the Chokwe; there was considerable social and religious prestige associated with hunting. Chokwe peoples conducted hunts communally, whether as a village or as a group of villages banded together as one group. Collective hunts, whether by the hunting-class or by a communal group, occurred during the spring and summer, when the grass was high. Collective hunters would divide into two groups: one would light grasslands aflame and drive animals downwind, the other would capture and kill the animals fleeing. Individual hunting was also a profession. A professional hunter, known as a chianga or nyanga, would often be a small farmer in the off season.

The collector, Nellie Taylor, served as a nursing missionary (1900-1920), first with the Ovimbundu at Bihe, then with the Chokwe at luma Kasai. She belonged to a group who sponsored several missions across Central Africa from 1881-1931.

Hunting

Bow made from a cylindrical section of wood, arched and tapering to ends that are wrapped in hide thong. With the exception of an area at the centre that is flanked by some thong lashing, the rest of the length is covered by tightly coiled in wire covered with a blackened coating. The bow string, lashed over the hide at the ends, is three-ply cord made of twisted hide thongs.