the truth is underated- damian marley ft nas patience

African Kings- Daniel Laine- Portraits of a disappearing era

NGIE KAMGA JOSEPH

Fon of Bandjun Cameroun

The Fon (King) is the brother of courageous and powerful animals. At night, he has the power to transform himself into a panther, where he haunts the forest, runs through the savana and drinks from torrents. When a panther is killed by a hunter, the Fon from Bamileke region are afraid. Will one of them not perish from the death of his double.

Formerly a chief administator and cabinet chief for the finance Minister of Cameroun in 1964, Kamga Joseph is the thirteenth Fon of Bandjun. On the day of his predecessor’s funeral, he was stopped in the Bandjun market by two Bamileke chiefs, “the hangmen”, in the middle of the nobles and princes who wept the deceased King. Wearing a head dress made of sisal as a sign of humility, he was taken to the noblemen, the “tafo meru”, where he learned during nine weeks how to be a Kin

HAPI IV

King of Bana Cameroun

The kingdom of Bana finds its origins in a tragedy.

In the middle of the twelfth century, several Bamileke groups, settled in small villages around what is actually Bana. Legend says that one of the village chiefs, Mfenge was accused of sorcery by the others. In order to exonerate himself, he cut off his mother’s head and had the cadaver examined by specialists. The belief in sorcery, that it is transmitted through the “maternal womb”, was not proven. Mfenge then demanded that mothers in others families be beheaded. His four sons went from house to house, sending wives and mothers to the palace, in order to be examined. The recalcitrants were decapited on the spot. Taken by panic, chiefs and nobles fled, and Mfenge became King of Bana.

                                                                                  ONI of IFE

                                                                                   Nigeria

In 1980, Sijuwade became the fiftieth Oni (King) of Ife, one of the most ancient African Dynasties. Formerly, during his coronation, an Oni had to embrace the sword of justice, and enter into his palace on a cloth stiffened by the dry blood of sacrificed men and women. Today the Oni is a rich businessman, with several vaste properties in Nigeria and England.

NYIMI KOK MABIINTSH IIIKing of Kuba

D.R. Congo

The Nyimi Mabiintsh III is fifty years old. He acquired the throne at the age of twenty. As a descendant of god the creator, the king is attributed with supernatural powers.

Due to his top position he is restricted by several contraints: he does not have the right to sit on the ground, and he cannot cross a cultivated field. Apart from his cook, no one has seen him eat. Moreover he never travels without him, and his personal cooking ustensils.

It took me three weeks to photograph the Nyimi (king) of the Kuba in his royal apparel, the “bwantshy”. The outfit made out of material stitched with beads and “cauris” (small shells used as money in Africa), weighs 160 lb. It takes more than two hours to dress the King, and two days of spiritual preparation to be sufficiently purified in order to wear the outfit.

The Weight and the heat of the bwantshy is such, that it is impossible to wear it more than one hour. The preceeding King had only worn it three time during his entire life.

Source: African Digital Art