Tanzania
Zaramo

Calabash, Wood, Strings
ca. Early-Mid 20th century
Length: 25 1/4 inches; Width: 6 1/4 inches
Chordophone – Zither – Trough

A trough zither called ‘inaga’,  blackened wood with mwana hiti figure on handle, gourd resonator attached.  Mwana Hiti figures are used as surrogate child/husband figures by girls during their ritual seclusion before initiation. Considered to be both male and female, they are given names of real or mythical ancestors, and are kept in special places in the hut, either on a special stool or in a little house. The name has many meanings, including “daughter of the throne,” and “child of the initiation stool”…so it is common to have this image on a throne or as a finial.