Enya women at festivities, between Kisangani and Ubundu, Congo (Democratic Republic)

"We have in the man-woman relationship an opposition that finds expression in a variety of ways. At one time the relation will be a complementary and perfetly equal one, at other times there will be question of a one-sided male dominance. On all kinds of occasions the women had their own independent place. At feasts, ceremonial payments and funerals, the women sat separately. When there was dancing, women mostly danced together, and they took part in the celebrating in their own way. They were indefetigable, as they seemed to be also in their ordinary daily activities." [Droogers A., 1980: The Dangerous Journey, Symbolic Aspects of Boys' Initiation among the Wagenia of Kisangani, Zaire. Mouton Publishers, The Hague]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from early March 1951 to July 1951.