The construction of a house. West of Kingulube village, Congo (Democratic Republic)

"The Lega houses are constructed in an ingenious way. The latticework walls are covered on the inside with large panels of bark, held together with lianas, and on the outside with matungulu or with dried banana leaves. The roof, also made of latticework, is covered with phrynium leaves arranged like tiles and kept flat with matungulu plants and sticks. Symbolically, the Lega see a direct relationship between the arrangement of scales on the back of the pangolin and their way of placing phrynium leaves on the roofs; thus the pangolin is praised as a culture hero who taught the Lega how to cover a house." [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 Kingulube 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, visiting Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo).