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katana · 3rd January 2007, 09:58 PM

I also found this about the The Lega [sometimes Rega]..... a tribe found in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.....

. As the Bwami initiate rises in rank so to does the quality and power of his or her regalia. Some materials are restricted as to who can wear them either by prohibi-tion or by financial cost. A hat made from a Pangolin skin [a scaly anteater] may only be worn by the chief, who must have hunted the animal himself. Where as cowries are allowed for the lower level initiates.

I am beginning to think that Pagalin Scale armour was the reserve of the trully elite.....The mystical attributes of the Pangolin, the less common 'armour' seen on the Benin plaques, the fact that a number of tribes saw the Pangolin 'scale' as a more expensive item compared to the Cowry Shell (which was highly desirable and highly valued), that some tribes felt that Pangolin was the reserve of kings.........

....I wonder how much of the protection offered by the scale armour was mystical......a defence against worldly weapons and spiritual attacks...

3rd January 2007, 09:58 PM	#10
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	I also found this about the The Lega [sometimes Rega]..... a tribe found in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo..... . As the Bwami initiate rises in rank so to does the quality and power of his or her regalia. Some materials are restricted as to who can wear them either by prohibi-tion or by financial cost. A hat made from a Pangolin skin [a scaly anteater] may only be worn by the chief, who must have hunted the animal himself. Where as cowries are allowed for the lower level initiates. I am beginning to think that Pagalin Scale armour was the reserve of the trully elite.....The mystical attributes of the Pangolin, the less common 'armour' seen on the Benin plaques, the fact that a number of tribes saw the Pangolin 'scale' as a more expensive item compared to the Cowry Shell (which was highly desirable and highly valued), that some tribes felt that Pangolin was the reserve of kings......... ....I wonder how much of the protection offered by the scale armour was mystical......a defence against worldly weapons and spiritual attacks...