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Gerald W. Hartwig 
dolls themselves was when instruction was necessary and the mother would then pro 
duce an example. These dolls are still very much in evidence today. The tradition is so 
diffuse and regarded as so unimportant that no one can remember a time when Kerebe 
girls did not produce and use them. 
Though not a facet of the sculpturing art itself, the Kerebe also represented the 
human form with small calabashes or gourds 16 ). They were used when twins (amarongo) 
were born. The following qualification must be stated immediately, however; Kerebe 
society in the twentieth century has been composed of three distinct ethnic divisions 
that are now beginning to blend into a single unit. The three groups consist of the 
Kerebe proper, a large segment of Jita, and a smaller group of Kara. The latter two 
groups form a majority of the population as well as its lowest social element. Only the 
Kerebe welcomed the birth of twins. Both the Jita and Kara regarded twins as a bad 
omen and disposed of them immediately. Therefore the use of calabashes to represent 
twins was confined to a minority of the population at the turn of the century. When 
twins were born, the father would contact an omufumu (medicine man) who possessed 
powers in this sphere. The omufumu prepared two small calabashes (ohunamwana), 
measuring from five to seven centimeters in height, with burned etchings on the exterior. 
In addition his own particular medicine was put inside each calabash. This was done to 
protect the infants from disease, etc. On the day the infants were brought out of the 
house “to view the sun”, approximately one week after birth, the omufumu conducted 
a ceremony, accompanied by joyful dancing of family and neighbors. At this time he 
presented the mother with the two prepared calabashes that were attached to a cord and 
worn by her. The cord was worn on her right shoulder and then crossed under her 
left arm so that the gourds rested near her left elbow. This procedure, however, could be 
varied because each omufumu prescribed slightly different procedures. For example, 
they might be worn so that the two calabashes fell on the mother’s breast. 
If both children survived until weaning, the calabashes were continually worn and 
removed only at the time of weaning. They were then carefully preserved by the mother 
in the hope that she would again have the good fortune of bearing twins. If one child 
died, however, one calabash was removed from the cord, carefully wrapped in the 
cloth, or skin in the nineteenth century, which had been used to carry the infant. This 
bound calabash was continually worn by the mother until weaning of the surviving 
child. In some instances, the mother was instructed by the omufumu to press the bound 
calabash to her breast before feeding the surviving child. When people would greet the 
mother, they would always enquire about the health of both children even though the 
single visible calabash informed them that one of the children had died. Her response to 
the greeting was always in the plural. Finally, if both children died before weaning the 
calabashes were removed and destroyed. 
A Kerebe sculpturing tradition did develop during the twentieth century; its 
characteristics were as bizarre as could be imagined. The tradition, because of its 
essential nature, could not develop a distinctive style as occurred in Butimba In the 
1S ) J. A. Simard, Religion d’Ukerewe, 88—89. Interview with Aniceti Kitereza, 16 
October 1968.