https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/76155/fullDoll (mwana hiti)Height: 5 inches (12.7 cm)WoodGift of William W. Brill90.016.0480Wood doll with abstracted body and head and necklaces.
Young Zaramo women undergo an initiation seclusion during which time they receive a mwana hiti, "wooden child." While secluded, she cares for the doll as though it were a real child. When re-entering society, the young woman performs a dance with the doll.
The mwana hiti features a distinctive, double-wedge, coiffure. This hairstyle is an ideal old-fashioned type and no longer worn by Zaramo women. In holes through these wedges a young woman might attach her own hair.
Mwana hiti represents both sexes; its overall form is phallic, yet its decorations of beads, shells, or bits of fabric are female.
Suggested reading:
Elisabeth L. Cameron. Isn't s/he a doll?: Play and Ritual in African Sculpture. Exhibition catalogue. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1996.
Sculpture21493025270Zaramo (Tanzania)BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This is a carved wooden figure from the Zaramo culture in Tanzania.
WHERE WAS IT MADE?
The Zaramo live in Tanzania.
HOW WAS IT MADE?
This figure was hand carved from a single piece of wood with tools such as an adze, knives, and chisels.
HOW WAS IT USED?
Young Zaramo women undergo an initiation seclusion during which time they receive a mwana hiti, “wooden child.” While secluded, the initiate cares for the doll as though it were a real child. When re-entering society, the young woman performs a dance with the doll.
If a young married woman has difficult conceiving a child, she will wear the mwana hiti on her back like a surrogate child, hidden from public view, until she conceives.
WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS?
Notice the double-wedge coiffure; this hairstyle is an ideal old-fashioned type and no longer worn by Zaramo women, although it is a typical feature of mwana hiti. The owner of the doll might attach her own hair through holes in these wedges.
The mwana hiti represents both sexes; its overall form is phallic, yet its decorations of beads, shells, or bits of fabric are female.
90.016.048_d0566_030