Adorned with clam shells and surrounded by seed pods, mussel shells, and cowries, this hat was once the most prominent sign of an unidentified Lega man’s rank and status. Before 1933, when most Indigenous political organizations were outlawed by the colonial government, the political, economic, and religious life of Lega communities revolved around a hierarchical association called Bwami. As an individual advanced through the association’s five ranks, they were entitled to own and wear different types of clothes and objects. The man who owned the hat you see here had advanced to the fifth and highest grade, kindi.