Preservation supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Film Preservation Foundation
Cataloging supported by Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee
Summary:
Footage shot during fieldwork in Dahomey (Benin), Nigeria, and the Gold Coast (Ghana). Documentation of Yoruba, Hausa, Ashanti, and Dahomean culture includes: <elegbara> dancers and an Igun (Egungun) ceremony in Abeokuta, Nigeria; Hausa drummers and praise singers of the Emir of Kano, Nigeria; court scenes and Kwasidei ceremony in Asokore (Gold Coast) honoring a chief's ancestors; market scenes in Abomey, Dahomey; a <dokpwe> (communal work group); Dahomean chief with wives and praise singers; <legba> dancers and drummers and Nesuhwe ceremony honoring ancestors; and various subsistence and craft activities including iron-forging, brasswork, woodcarving, weaving, hoeing and planting.
Publications:
Herskovits, Melville J. DAHOMEY: AN ANCIENT WEST AFRICAN KINGDOM. New York: J.J.Augustin, Publisher, 1938
Repository Loc.:
Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Museum Support Center, Suitland, MD
