Niksi reliquary figure

"Nkisi" are ritual sculptures used by the group Kongo (Angola) as a recipient and an instrument for the management of magical/religious forces by the Nganga, or spiritual healer. One of its arms is raised, threateningly, and would have originally held a knife or a spear, and therefore this "Nkisi" is a "Nkondi", i.e., a hunter, that would have been used to search and identify sorcerers, adulterous, thieves or any other elements responsible for disturbing social order.