Butti ceremonial statue. The name of the tribe indicates its occupation – from teke meaning “to buy.” They are farmers and hunters and live in an area of plateaus covered by savanna, in villages grouped under a district chief. The Teke believe in a supreme being, the creator of the universe, called Nziam, but their only cult is an ancestor cult.

The power of this statue is in magical substance (bilongo or bonga) contained in the arapping surrounding the neck, the gourds hanging on its shoulders and special wrappings. The fetish has a second face at the back of its head. Supposedly, this enhances its power to ward off evil - bu looking both ways.

Legs of this fetish are bent at the knees, similar to the position of the men in their nkibi dances.