FEATURE 96 it stands the jubilant diviner, with a gourd rattle in each hand. The cloth is held by two kneeling elders, a bearded man and a woman. Finally, an unsigned oil painting created in 2001 also shows the situation prior to the beginning of the consultation (fi g. 7). Here, the animal is standing on the ground beside a mat, on which it will be placed, which holds the objects that have been prepared for the divination ceremony. Directly next to the pangolin is a seated fi gure with a ladle for drinking beer, who could be a respected elder. The dancing fi gure on his left, with two gourd rattles, would then be the diviner. The divination ceremony obviously takes place in an atmosphere of general merrymaking. A striking feature of the ceremony is the use of a ritual underlay (a rectangular cloth or an oval mat), on which the pangolin is placed, as emphasized by Livigha and shown by the contemporary artists. The objects among which the animal must “choose” are distributed in small piles around this underlay. The divinatory activity of the pangolin consists in moving toward, touching, or climbing over one of the piles. The objects represent important areas of communal life. While this function is obvious in the case of agricultural produce or implements, the role of the weapons is less clear today, but they symbolize confl icts within the clan, with a neighboring village, or with an employer. A goat can be interpreted as an increase in the number of domestic animals and a child as being blessed with many children or as sickness affl icting children. A basic feature of the oracle is that the animal stays alive and at the end is set free. Killing a pangolin would have disastrous consequences, such as drought, fi re, epidemics, or the death of a child. However, in this region, independent of the oracle, the scales, claws, bones, or tails of pangolins are used for medicinal purposes or as amulets (fi g. 28), but apparently these are obtained only from pangolins that are found dead in the bush. The importance of avoiding killing a pangolin was explained by a very old person in the Mwera town of Nachingwea to Uta Reuster-Jahn (personal communication 2008). However, a single scale, just one, may be taken from a living animal, provided one fi rst asks the animal for permission. If the pangolin indicates that it agrees, one may simply remove a scale, if this can be done without using violence. OTHER ROLES PLAYED BY THE PANGOLIN IN AFRICA The ethnographic literature relating to Africa south of the Sahara contains many scattered indications of the role of pangolins. Apart from mentions of the name in zoological and ethnographical records, there are references to rituals or rite-like customs. Pangolins,4 like lions, leopards, and certain kinds of antelopes, are considered to be carriers of a powerful magic force. This is the “power of revenge,” for which Hermann Baumann used the Bantu word nyama.5 This power remains effective in the different body parts after the animal’s death and is dangerous to hunters. In contrast to the way the pangolin is protected by the Ruvuma peoples and their neighbors, traditions elsewhere imply killing the animal. Often, a single group will use the pangolin for different purposes. The customs of the Sukuma people of northern Tanzania show how varied these uses can be. The discovery of a pangolin by two children was a cause for general rejoicing (Wright 1954: 71). They went with their father to the chief, who had two goats slaughtered and gave the father money, while his senior wife covered the pangolin with butter and millet fl our. After this, the animal was killed by means of a sharp stick stuck into its body through its anus, which required the combined efforts of several men. The impaled pangolin was set up before the entrance to the kraal, presumably as a magic protection for the domestic animals. When the corpse had completely decomposed, it was burned, and the ashes were placed into a pot and deposited in the house of the chief. A small amount was scattered in the fi re from time to time, in order to protect the herdsmen (by the smell) from lions.6 A similar apotropaic power—especially against snakes—is also attributed to single scales worn on the neck or the legs.7 Around 1980, Martin Walsh and Jacques Bilodeau collected information among the Sangu in northwest Tanzania about the ritual signifi cance of the pangolin there. The material contains only hearsay reports rather than direct observations. According to Sangu traditions, the pangolin fell from the heavens to the earth, sent by the ancestors. It is said to have the power to promote fertility in humans, and this is associated with a rite said to be similar to that which takes place upon the birth of twins. At the end of the ritual, which may last for several days, the animal is killed and buried in a hole in the ground, “sitting” in a sheepskin or wrapped in black cloth (Walsh 1995: 155f, 157–161). In the area inhabited by the Matengo in southwestern Tanzania, there are no more pangolins due to the almost complete deforestation of the land, but old men still possess single scales or bits of bone, which they use to protect themselves against lions and poisonous snakes during a journey or when working in the bush. It is believed that a FIG. 7 (above): Artist unknown, Pangolin oracles, Mwera-Makonde, Tanzania, 2001. Painting. 60 x 50 cm. Private collection. Photo: Maria Kecskési.
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