FEATURE the same place. They are solitary except during the mating season. White-bellied and long-tailed pangolins are arboreal and are quick and skillful climbers. In contrast, the ground-dwelling species move in a remarkable manner: The animal runs chiefl y on its hind legs, often very fast, while the front legs and tail, which are held above the ground, serve to help it keep its balance. When threatened, 94 all pangolins will roll themselves up into a smooth ball, which can be rolled back and forth without it opening up. If the animal is in a tree, it drops to the ground. The scales cushion the fall and prevent injury, and if necessary the animal can fl ee. They are also good swimmers. Hearing and sight are weak in pangolins, but they have a highly developed sense of smell and they react to vibrations during musical performances.2 PANGOLIN ORACLES IN EAST AFRICA The use of animals for divination purposes is well known in Africa. The one used most frequently is the chicken, which is often ritually slaughtered. There are also oracles that use live animals, such as hyenas and jackals (Mandingo), foxes (Dogon, Lyela), mice (Baule), crabs (Ashanti), turtles (Koko), spiders (Bafi a), termites (Azande), or snakes (Toma in West Africa and Schilluk and Ziba in East Africa), to name some of the more well-known examples (Schilde 1940: 165–200). Less familiar is a divination ceremony carried out annually with the aid of the pangolin. This ceremony, which follows standardized procedures, is distinct from other oracle techniques in that it is very simple and requires no special recitations and no oracle priest. In many animal oracles, the animal has to walk over, touch, or move objects such as perforated leaves, wood or metal rods, twigs, or geometric patterns to form new combinations that are then interpreted to determine causation or to foretell the future. However, in this case the pangolin is only expected to choose one of the objects placed in front of it by going to one or climbing over it. These may include different crops, agricultural implements, or weapons. In southern Tanzania, one such divination rite is associated with the ground pangolin. The pangolin oracle is still consulted by the Ruvuma peoples (Makonde, Makua, Yao) and their northern neighbors (Mwera, Matumbi). My account refers mainly to the Mwera area and is based on data recorded by Order of St. Benedict missionary Joachim Ammann, abbot bishop of Ndanda, in the 1930s (Ammann in Kecskési 2012: 157f), and on information provided between 2002 and 2004 by a teacher local to the Mwera area named Longino Livigha. Identical de- tails in other reports show that this oracle was generally known and is still known today, and not only in southern Tanzania. This is confi rmed by radio reports from Dar es Salaam in which a recently captured pangolin was said to have shown by its behavior what kind of harvest could be expected (Kutalek 2003: 63). It seems that it is not customary to specifi cally go out and search for a pangolin for oracular purposes. It is also uncommon to see one by chance, since they are nocturnal animals. They are most likely to be encountered at the beginning of the cultivation season when the termites come out after the fi rst rains and the pangolins continue feeding after dawn has broken (personal communication from zoologist Dr. Charles Msuya, University of Dar es Salaam, 2004). Since the agrarian cycle also begins at this time, it is understandable that the oracle should relate to the yield to be expected at harvest time, which is one of the fundamental concerns of the community. The ritual process is not presided over by a professional diviner but either by the clan leader or by some other respected elder, whether male or female. This individual, assisted by an expert diviner, follows the whole process and at the end interprets the oracle. As in other divination practices in Africa, this is a dynamic process that, although standardized and following certain routine principles, does not exclude improvisation in both form and content. Moreover, this is a societal action in which the sacred worldview plays a key role (Peek 1991: 2f). According to most sources, the divinatory animal is considered to be a messenger from the ancestors, as among the Matumbi (Ionides 1950: 76) or the Mwera (personal communications from Longino Livigha 2003), to name but two examples. The Bena of southwestern Tanzania consider it to be the messenger of an all-pervading impersonal force known as mulungu, or, as many Bena claim, the deity Mulungu (Culwick & Culwick 1935: 120f). According to Longino Livigha, anyone who happens to fi nd a pangolin in the bush will say to it, “I have found you! I will go home now to report to the elders. Wait here until I come back with one of the elders to fetch you, so that you can tell us what to expect!” The fi nder then informs his neighbors, goes to buy a white woven cloth, and returns in the company of an elder to the place where he saw the pangolin. The pangolin stays where it is until they return—or so the people claim. Again the pangolin is addressed, “We have come to fetch you.” They then put it into a net or a basket, or they wrap it in the white cloth. Once in the village, they place the animal on the ground in the shade of a tree. In the meantime, the news spreads that a pangolin has been brought to the FIG. 4 (above): Henry Likonde, Pangolin oracles, Mwera, Tanzania, 1984. Watercolor. 100 x 69 cm. Museum Fünf Kontinente, Munich, inv. 06-328 102. Photo: Marietta Weidner.
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