The Kongo people and their neighbors call this type of figure nkisi nkondi, whichtranslates as “medicine / night hunter.” After a sculptor carved the figure, a ritualspecialist empowered it by hiding substances – “medicine” – in its head and collarand on its abdomen. Figures like this one were used to connect living individuals andcommunities with the spirit world for purposes of divination (gaining knowledgeof current or future events), healing, and protection. An nkisi nkondi enforced legalsettlements and discouraged wrongdoers. Regarded as a powerful spiritual being thatwould “hunt down” violators of agreements, the figure once carried a spear or knife in itsraised arm.