Lega woman cooking in the open air, Mulanga village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

"Traditionally the Lega prefer to eat roasted foods. Women are in charge of the preparation of meals. In good weather they cook in the open air in front of their living quarters; the hearth is formed by four slow-burning logs arranged in a triamgle so that they can support a pot over the fire. This informal hearth, or mutula, is of great symbolic and social value. When the weather is inclement, the women's kitchens (lusa lwa bakikulu) which intersect the long compartmentalized houses. Men eat together in the men's house; women eat with young children and occasional female guests in, or in front of, the kitchen." [Biebuyck D., 1973: Lega Culture. University of California Press]. During his trip to Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo), Elisofon visited the Lega people at Shabunda and its surroundings in the Maniema district. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for American Broadcasting Company and traveled to Africa from early December 1966 to early February 1967.