1 Film reel (11 minutes, black-and-white sound; 400 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Archival materials
Film reels
Date:
circa 1966
Scope and Contents:
Edited film documents five male dances of the Irigwe people living in the Miango Village area of the Jos Plateau, Nigeria. Dancers wield fly whisks and adzes and the dances are performed to drumming and song in both ring and marching formations. The accompanying dance texts indicate that these dances were traditionally an integral part of Irigwe agricultural festivals.
Legacy Keywords: Dancing processional ; Choreography ring dance counterclockwise kinesics ; Dancing drumming choreography ring dance synchronized jumping ; Dress ceremonial leg rattles skirts headwear ; Choreography dance marching formation counterclockwise ; Music ; Instruments musical instruments ; Drums ; Language and culture
Local Number:
HSFA 1982.11.2
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Francis Speed films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
3 Film reels (2 hours 20 minutes, color sound silent; 2100 feet, S8mm)
Type:
Archival materials
Film reels
Date:
1980
Scope and Contents:
Full film record depicting the three-day initiation and graduation rites of tangoma, Swazi diviners and herbalists who are acknowledged for their ability to communicate with the ancestors and to diagnose and treat illness. Footage includes scenes of an all-night session of singing, drumming, and dancing in the chief sangoma's homestead; preparations of food, medicine, and an altar; the consumption by initiates of food prepared with medicine followed by ritual emesis; ritual interrogations of candidates to test their divinatory powers; riverbank ceremony at which initiates become possessed by ancestors; and final processional dance of tangoma, graduates, and kinsmen.
Legacy Keywords: Mr. and Mrs. Mahlalela diviner "sangoma" Swaziland; Ceremony drumming dancing singing ; Ritual altar ancestors colors symbolic objects medicines ; Ritual animal sacrifice purification blood confession vomiting ; Drumming drums double membrane kettle drums ; Ritual preparations space medicines ; Ritual vomiting induced feather "washing the stomach" ; Adornment initiates hairstyle plaiting rubbed with red clay ; Adornment ceremony initiates necklaces leg rattles beads vests ; Speech stylized initiates diviners interrogation "goo-peng-mula" ; Rites of passage separation testing reincorporation ; Drumming polyrhythms drumming techniques entertainment ; Ceremonial dress headdress feathers red royalty clanship ; Spirit possession drumming water spirits shaking ; Ritual animal sacrifice blood bath ; Feasting food preparation cooking goats chickens ; Taboo ritual animal sacrifice disposal of bones ; Rites of passage transition spirit possession initiates crawling return to homestead ; Rites of passage initiates seclusion hut ; Dancing ceremony choreography counterclockwise processional ; Dancing ceremony staffs headdresses animal pelts ; Ceremony conclusion moral instruction chief diviner ; Rites and ceremonies ; Music ; Instruments musical instruments ; Language and culture
Local Number:
HSFA 1983.7.2
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Full film record documenting the rites of initiation and graduation of tangoma, Swazi herbalists and spirit mediums who are respected for their ability to communicate with ancestral spirits. Tangoma (singular sangoma) provide information about illness and misfortune and, through their training, heal with the use of herbs and other traditional medicines. Footage includes session of all-night drumming, singing, and dancing in the chief sangoma's homestead; processional dancing in the open compound; interior shots of the sangoma's dwelling showing ritual paraphernalia; test during which initiates must find a lost goat; and ritual interrogations of the trainees by tangoma.
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
