Cephalophus zebra

Status: Vulnerable due to deforestation, loss of habitat, and overhunting.

Duikers are small antelopes living in the savannas and shrublands of sub-Saharan Africa.

A Bassari creation story tells of the origin of languages. The creator Unumbotte first made Man, and named him. He subsequently made and named Antelope, and Snake. Unumbotte had the three of them pound the earth, then gave them three seeds to plant in the newly smoothed earth. From this seed sprang a palm tree with red fruit. Every seven days Unumbotte came to the tree and collected the fruit. The man, antelope and snake did not eat from the tree, but the snake started to ask the man, "Why don’t you eat the fruit?" At first the man did not heed the snake, but eventually he gave in and plucked and ate from the tree.

When Unumbotte returned, he saw that the fruit had been consumed. When asked if they had done so, the man spoke up and said that he had been hungry, and the snake had told him to eat. Unumbotte gave to man grains and roots to grow and harvest. When asked, the antelope said he had not, that when he was hungry he had simply eaten the grass at the base of the tree. Unumbotte set the antelope on the wild fields then, and gave him all the grass to eat. For the snake, whose words had urged the man to eat the fruit, Unumbotte gave poison and fangs with which to bite people. The men who ate from the same bowl, gathered and spoke the same language, and those that ate from other bowels spoke other languages and traditions.

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Size: 6 x 6 inches
Medium: Ink
©2023, Stephanie Law