Bwami member of the kyogo wa yananio rank, and one of his wife initiated into the kanyamwa grade. Near Kalima, Congo (Democratic Republic)

"Symbolic materials used on insignia at the varying levels function as a sort of double entendre. A man who has reached kyogo wa yananio, the lowest sublevel within yananio, for example, attaches a highly polished mussel shell (lusembe) to his belt. When reaching lutumbo lwa yananio, the highest yananio subgrade, the new member places a shell in a more visible location -his hat- as an emblem of his high rank (Biebuyck 1973, 182). Women do not have a symbol that identifies them as Bwami members in the same way that the skullcap identifies a male member. Only when a woman reaches the highest Bwami level (Bunyamwa) does she receive a headdress called lukunia. This consists of a wide band encircling the head, which is made of fiber and covered with beads, cowries, buttons, and occasionally other materials." [Cameron E., 2001: Art of the Lega. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles]." During his trip to Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo), Elisofon visited the Lega people at Pangi 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.