Kota Reliquary figure

According to Siroto, the relics of family chiefs entered the bwete reliquary contaniner immediately following death. Other relics would be included only if they had belonged to distinguished deceased,such as religious specialists, powerful judges, artists or craftsmen, and exceptionallly fecund women, who were proven to have had some virtue during their lifetime. On occasion such as initiaton rites, festivals or in time of misfortune, as infertility, hunger, death or sickness, the ancestor reliquaries were invoked to magically strengthen the community, in ensuring their benevolent protection, bringing fertility, success and well-being to the community - reinforcing and assuring the flow of life (L. Siroto, The face of the Bwiti, African Arts 1968: vol.1 no.3 :22-27).