Lega

E499773

The Lega are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, known for their distinctive wooden masks and figures used in the Bwami initiation society.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Lega canonical 4

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Bantu people
ethnic group
artCollectionFoundIn Metropolitan Museum of Art
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
Royal Museum for Central Africa
artForm figurative sculpture
mask carving
artStyle abstract wooden sculpture
artUsedFor marking initiation grades
moral instruction
teaching proverbs
associatedWith Bwami society
continent Africa
country Democratic Republic of the Congo
culturalHeritage Bwami regalia
didactic sculptures
ivory and bone figures
culturalPractice age‑grade initiation
esoteric teaching through art objects
ethnographicRegion Congo rainforest
linked to: Congo Rainforest
hasAlternativeName Rega
Warega
knownFor initiation rituals
wooden figures
wooden masks
languageFamily Bantu languages
locatedIn Kivu region
Maniema Province
neighboringEthnicGroup Kongo
Luba
Tutsi
partOf Bantu peoples of Central Africa
linked to: Bantu peoples
populationEstimate hundreds of thousands
primaryLanguage Lega language
region eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
religion Christianity
traditional African religion
religiousSociety Bwami
socialOrganization Bwami initiation society
socialStructure age grades
traditionalEconomy fishing
gathering
hunting
shifting cultivation
usesObjectInRitual Lega figure
Lega mask
usesWritingSystem Latin script

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.