Ancestral Mothers
of the BaPende
Exquisite sculptures
from a matrilineal culture in southern Congo.
The BaPende never went in for centralized state power, with a minimalist idea of chiefdom. This was certainly a factor in their being chased north from Angola during the Lunda expansion circa 1620. The matrilineal clans remained the primary socio-political unit of BaPende society.
And what artists!
--Max Dashu
