Wagenia women waiting to dance, Stanleyville Femmes Wagenia attendant de danser, Stanleyville

The Wagenia who fished in the rapids of the Lualaba around Stanleyville, in the Eastern province on the Belgian Congo. During festivals, regattas were organised during which the men would show of their prowess in their pirogues. The women, with pearl jewellery, would dance in front of a row of men, who wore feather head-dresses and leopard-tooth necklaces, and held a large sculpted paddle in their right hand.