Currency object inspired by a throwing knife, kuur, kul or keul
Southern Sara: Ngama, Madjingay, Daye, Ngambaye, Chad
Iron
Early 20th century

The Ngam (Ngama) are a subgroup of the Sara, who live in Southern Chad and the Central African Republic. Even though the Ngam appear to be the only producers of these currencies, they were used by many Sara groups including the Daye, Kaba, Madjingay, Nar, and Ngambaye, and often traded quite far from their place of production.

Because they were derived from the sacred form of the Miya-bo throwing knife, whenever these currencies were exchanged, condensed stories of cosmology and mystical practice informed their value, connotations, and transformative efficacies, as well as expectations of what such transactions would afford.

In earlier times, the Sara used a mythical ability called muum to locate iron deposits from which ore was smelted. Muum also permitted someone to become a butterfly in order to approach hunted prey, or to speak with animals and gain their guidance in finding herbal medicines. Muum was a sharing of "matter-energy" among humans, iron, and animals, then, and a most potent entailment of the metal itself (Elsen, De fer et de fierté, 2003; Roberts, Joyce, and Berns, Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths, 2019; Zirngibl & Kubetz, Panga Na Visu, 2009). 

Most African currency objects are not maintained or cleaned. This one appears to not only have been maintained, but also never to have been left to corrode. 

17 in :: 43 cm

InventoryID #13-1564

SOLD