Hunter's Shirt (donso duloki)
Bristling with anatomy and amulets, this shirt announces the presence of an impenetrable individual-the hunter. Dense accumulations "almost sting the eyes" and serve as evidence of his attraction to the forest's wild animals, dangerous forces and medicines. Inside the horns and leather packets, the hunter may store potent substances to protect himself and cure everything from fevers to bad breath. This herbal chemistry is called jiridon or "science of the trees" and is gathered by the hunter on his journeys in the bush.
A Mande proverb, "The best way to know yourself is through your daliluw" (Yeredon nyogon te daliluw la), is cited as part of an explanation for the implications of the amulets. "Two virtues are referred to here. First, self-understanding is of greatest importance. They must be aware of their character and their destiny, and they must possess the capacity to bend the one to suit the other. Then follows the pursuit of knowledge. Each daliluw is a formula for making something tangible… and for the marshalling of useful energy. In attaching horns and packets to their shirts, hunters are in effect wearing their daliluw. In so doing they plainly state that they know themselves very well indeed."
- Patrick MacNaughton, African Arts, 1987
Cloth (strip weave), leather, teeth, claws, aluminum, and yarn
31 1/2 x 51 1/2 in. (80 x 130.8 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.41
Photo: Paul Macapia
