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Description

Antelope headdress. Wooden carving depicting an antelope-like animal with a large head, neck, horns, and small body and legs on a rectangular base. The body and legs are smooth, while the neck, head, and horns are decorated with incised lines, diamonds, and dots. In the centre of the neck, triangles are cut through the wood. Curved shapes stick out from the back of the neck, resembling fur or a mane. The front of the neck has a U-shape cut through the wood. The long horns curve backward and are incised with curved lines.

Narrative

Purchased by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in 1971; sent on longterm loan to the Kelowna Museum (now the Okanagan Heritage Museum) in 1998, then deaccessioned and transferred to them in 2002.

History Of Use

Chi Wara (or Tyi Wara, etc.) headdresses are made to be danced as a pair (male and female) at harvest festivals to honour Chi Wara, a half human half antelope mythical being who taught agriculture to the ancestors of the Bamana people. The headdresses embody the ingredients necessary for successful cultivation, their long horns representing the tall growth of millet. The headdress is attached to a wicker cap, which is strapped around the chin of a dancer.