FEATURE 111188 FIG. 10 (above): Beaded headdress. Toposa, South Sudan. Glass beads, plant fi ber, human hair. L: 21 cm. Private collection. FIG. 11 (above right): Beaded headdress. Toposa, South Sudan. Early 20th century. Glass beads, plant fi ber, human hair. L: 23.2 cm. National Museum for African Art, Smithsonian Institution, inv. 84.6.8. Acquisition funds donated by the Friends of the National Museum of African Art. The Dodinga (Didinga) people in particular caught Powell-Cotton’s attention, and he wrote that their coiffures were “entirely different from anything I have ever seen ... like a pudding bowl.”15 Nearly all of the warriors had helmet-like coiffures decorated with a multitude of beads of many colors. The mass of beads refl ected the light and gave off a metallic gleam. Usually the beads were sewn in a spiral pattern onto strips of leather with bark fi ber string, just as they were among the Acholi. At the base of the coiffure, there were often small carved and ornamented rods made of wood or rhinoceros horn, which may also have served to keep out vermin. The coiffures were crowned with tufts of black and white ostrich feathers. Despite the diffi cult circumstances, Powell-Cotton was able to photograph Dodinga warriors with their coiffures in various situations, and he published some of these in his book (fi g. 7). The Dodinga were aggressive and considered themselves to be in a position of superiority. They stole pack animals and goods and refused to return them. Powell-Cotton was threatened and several of his porters were killed in an attack on his compound. He fi nally felt forced to set an example and shot a warrior from a great distance to display his power and that of the modern weaponry he had at his disposal, as well as to restore confi dence among his men. The Dodinga responded by pursuing them, and Powell-Cotton only narrowly managed to escape. He laconically recalled that owing to the urgency of the situation he was in at the time, regretfully there had been no time to remove the beaded coiffure of the slain warrior. He did collect a complete coiffure among a more peaceful neighboring group, the Mielli, who had similar traditions, but seldom used beads as prolifi cally as the Dodinga did (fi g. 6). He paid a calf and a cowbell for it. The coiffure designs of the peoples that Powell-Cotton encountered varied considerably. As noted above, the Mielli differed from those of the Dodinga, and the Tulono decorated their hair with beads only along the lower edge or wore a wide red-and-white beaded headband on the top of their shaved heads. The Maranole preferred pieces
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