These powerful wooden figures called nkisi nkondi were used as a tool to control and contain a spiritual force

Fetishes were protective figures used by individuals, families, or whole communities to destroy or weaken evil spirits, prevent or cure illnesses, repel bad deeds, solemnize contracts or oath-taking, and decide arguments. A diviner or holy person would activate the statue, using magical substances. Fetishes gained power and were effective because people believed in them.

The nkondi are the most powerful of the nkisi (spirits, or an object that a spirit inhabits). Religious idols, made by the Kongo people of the Congo region, used to identify and hunt down unknown wrongdoers such as thieves, and people who were believed to cause sickness or death by occult means.

The pieces became influential in art circles and many were acquired by art museums. source — *The pieces became influential in art circles and many were acquired by art museums. Source: Staffan Vilcans/Flickr*

Male Nkisi Figure with Strips of Hide, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. source — *Male Nkisi Figure with Strips of* Hide, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. source

They were also used to punish people who swore false oaths and villages which broke treaties. To inspire the nkondi to action, it was both invoked and provoked. Invocations, in bloodthirsty language, encouraged it to punish the guilty party. It would also be provoked by having gunpowder exploded in front of it, and having nails hammered into it. They were also used to literally “hammer out agreements”…with clear implications as to what would happen to people who broke the agreements.

*A male nkisi of the Songye in the collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art. source*

The nkisi figures brought back to Europe in the nineteenth century caused great interest in stimulating emerging trends in modern art. source — *The nkisi figures brought back to Europe in the nineteenth century caused great interest in stimulating emerging trends in modern art. Source: rob koopman/Flickr*

Many nkondi were publicly held and were used to affirm oaths, or to protect villages and other locations from witches or evildoers. This is achieved by enlisting spiritual power through getting them to inhabit minkisi like nkondi. Because they are aggressive, many nkondi with human figures are carved with their hands raised, sometimes bearing weapons.

Many nkondi were publicly held and were used to affirm oaths, or to protect villages and other locations from witches or evildoers. source — *Many* nkondi were publicly held and were used to affirm oaths, or to protect villages and other locations from witches or evildoers. Source: fugzu/Flickr

Nkisi figure, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. source — *A nkisi* figure, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. source

*Chained Nkisi figures, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. source*

Nkondi with nails were made at least as early as 1864, when the British Commodore A. P. Eardley Wilmont acquired one while suppressing Solongo (Soyo) piracy at the mouth of the Congo River, a piece that was the subject of a contemporary painting and is presently in the Royal Geographical Institute in London. Another early description and illustration of a nailed nkondi (named Mabiala mu ndemba, and described as a “thief-finder”) is found in the notes of the German expedition to Loango of 1873-76, so by that time the specific practice of nailing was well established.

*A nail or a blade was driven into the figure each time its spiritual force was invoked. Source1/Source2*

*Nkisi Nkondi, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. source*

*Female Nkisi Nkonde at the Birmingham Museum of Art. source*

Today the beliefs that underlie the use of minkisi are still prevalent in the Kongo area; however, minkisi no longer take the elaborate figural forms of the past.