Eboka: Before the Spirits
The afternoon’s sun hammers the village. The air is dry, and the earth is hot, but the shadow of the roof made with palm tree leaves creates a safe place for the living. For the past three days, the body of a young Mwaka (singular for BaYaka) woman had laid here, cold, gone, on a wooden bed. The face I had seen three days prior, weighed by the pain of an unknown disease, is now peaceful, almost relieved, as if this final rest place was an arrival, not a departure. Her body is shrouded in vibrant fabrics. Living colors. Shrouding her are also the voices and cries of her mother, her husband, her sister, and her close and distant family. Today is the last day to mourn her. It is the last opportunity to touch, see, promise, and shed tears before her body forever disappears. Women will sing and dance around her, calling for secrets only known by them. Men will veil her body with a big litoko and finally lay her in a hole on the ground, from where we all came. To where we all will return. Before the spirits, there is this ceremony, a burial: the Eboka. Unlike other burials I knew, the Eboka is characteristically fast-paced, clamorous, spirited, and alive. Like many other ceremonies, the feelings surrounding it were familiar to me and perhaps to all humanity. This is not only the story of the ceremony that proceeds many other events in the life of the BaYaka people. This is the story of all of us who, at some point, will also arrive at the same place as that young woman, leaving behind the same voices and cries calling for us.
Note: In the BaYaka language, “Eboka” can mean song, dance, or any big gathering in which a massana (ceremony) is performed. In that sense, burial ceremonies, the Diloko and the Ejengi are massanas practiced during an Eboka. During this burial, I was told that women were practicing a women-coordinated massana called Ngoku. However, due to the lack of reliable and detailed information about the Ngoku and the fact that this burial was described to me as “Eboka,” I will keep that same name to describe this event on this website. I will also focus only on the physical details of the burial and refrain from extending any explanations about the supposed Ngoku ceremony.
Consent: Every photograph presented here was taken and shared with the fully informed consent of the people presented here (or their guardians in the case of under-aged children). 
The body of a young Mwaka woman is laid in a wooden bed and protected from the sun. For almost three days she was mourned by her family and visited by other members of the community.
For the days that proceeded the Eboka, the mother of a young Mwaka women have mourned her while using a palm-tree leave to keep insects at bay.
The BaYaka word Massana means both game and ceremony. During the Eboka (a type of massana) children would play their own massanas. The mafyiè is a game that entails singing and running while performing a "trust fall" into the arms of your peers, who will prevent you to touch the ground.
During the Eboka, the men will create the music that accompanies the songs and cries of the women
The husband of the deceased is comforted by other members of the community.
During the days that preceded the burial, the deceased's husband stayed next to the body.
Like in many other BaYaka ceremonies and social events, alcohol, and cigarettes are shared between the community members.
During the Eboka, alcohol is shared between the community members.
For the BaYaka, music plays a central social, symbolic and religious role, often accompanying other activities of their daily lives.
Children collecting mơgεbo leaves. During BaYaka ceremonies, some individuals intertwine mơgεbo leaves to create malembelembe, a type of skirt used during dances.
Woman makes a malembelembe using mơgεbo leaves. During BaYaka ceremonies, some individuals intertwine mơgεbo leaves to create malembelembe, a type of skirt used during dances.
The malembelembe is a type of skirt weared for ceremonies and dancing events. This item can be made with raffia or mơgεbo leaves
Family relatives of all ages travel from distant forest camps to be present during the Eboka.
For three days, several members of both BaYaka and Bandongo communities came to visit the young woman. Some of the BaYaka members traveled from far away, walking from their forest camps in order to be present during the Eboka.
Close family relatives cry the death of the young mwaka woman accompanied by songs and melodies.
Despite the Eboka being a solemn event, BaYaka children play games (mafiyè in the picture) on the outskirts while the adults take care of the ceremony preparations.
Accompanied by the cries of the family members and the melodies produced by men, some BaYaka women spend the Eboka singing.
Eboka describes a big gathering in which a massana is performed. I was told that, in this moment a Ngoku massana (ceremony guided by women) was taking place. In the pictures, these women was coordinating the songs before the body being moved to the grave. Due to the lack of detailed information about the Ngoku, and the fact the participants were describing this event as "Eboka" to me, I will keep that nomenclature for this project.
During the Eboka, many members mourn and cry their parting relative.
The BaYaka believe that whatever they need to live is provided by the forest. Anything else is not a necessity and should be shared between the community members. This includes alcohol and cigarettes. These items find their way into ceremonies as means of celebrations but also (some say) as symbols of prosperity.
After properly veiled, the men will carry the body of the deceased to her grave.
The men place the body in the grave located in the village.
Men coordinate in order to transport the deceased's body into the grave.
Shrouded in fabric and a litoko (a type of tapestry made with dried palm tree leaves), the body of the deceased woman is laid on her final resting place
The deceased's brother holds his nephews into the grave, giving them the chance to have a last look to their mother.
Before burying the body, the closest family members of the deceased woman will tell their final goodbyes. Her mother, followed by her sister and her brother, will make brief speeches about dear memories, promise to find the reason for their relative's death and assure the parting body that they will meet again one day. By the end of the speech, they will be thrown a handful of earth into the grave.
The Eboka ended suddenly with earth being thrown into the grave.
Four sticks places in the ground make the location of the grave.