Masks and statues: power and Fang ancestors

The Fang are a famous ethnic group from Gabon, also established in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
Ferocious cannibals feared by the other tribes that they have annihilated or assimilated during their history, the Fang practice ancestor worship. To this end, each family has a byeri, or reliquary box, in which the bones of ancestors are kept. At the top of this box, a byeri statue or an angokh nlo head acting as a guardian, protecting the ancestor.

Several stylistic currents exist: Ntumu, Betsi, Mabea, Okak, Ngumba,...

The social cohesion of the Fang is also ensured by the Ngil and So societies, whose members wore very recognizable large traditional masks covered with kaolin, and also rarer ngontang helmets or helms.