Bamberger Ciwara

15"h x 8"w x 4"d

Donated to the Bamberger Ranch Foundation Silent Auction

This little guy is a Ciwara ("chi-wa-ra"), a traditional antelope headress of the Bamana people in Mali, Africa. The Ciwara is a mythical figure that gave humans the first grain and taught them to care for the soil. The Bamana perform a ceremonial dance in these headresses to honor the union between sun and earth and the knowledge needed to sustain life.

It's a great metaphor for the Bamberger Ranch, where restoring the land is their highest goal. This Ciwara also represents the ranch's herd of Scimitar-horned Oryx -- animals once found in the Sahara region of Africa, including Mali.

I love the symmetry: an African creation story about an antelope that taught humans to care for the soil; and the Bamberger Ranch, where people have returned to that ancient trust...and shelter an extinct African antelope.