''Fingo'' is a protective

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

of the Mijikenda people in

Coast Province The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city at Mombasa and was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili, among oth ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Fingo are believed to attract guardian spirits (''djinns''). It is commonly buried in the ''kaya'' (sacred forest). ''Kaya'' elders take care of the ''fingo'', which is said to have come from

Shungwaya Shungwaya (also Shingwaya) is an origin myth of the Mijikenda peoples. Traditions known collectively as the "Shungwaya myth" describe a series of migrations of Bantu peoples dating to the 12th-17th centuries from a region to the north of the Tana ...

, the ancestral home of the Mijikenda. Considered to be interesting

objet d'art In art history, the French term Objet d’art describes an ornamental work of art, and the term Objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish th ...

, many ''fingo'' are stolen, while others are lost. The

Giriama The Giriama (also called Giryama) are one of the nine ethnic groups that make up the Mijikenda (which literally translates to "nine towns"). The Mijikenda occupy the coastal strip extending from Lamu in the north to the Kenya/Tanzania border in ...

use large stones as ''fingo'' while other Mijikenda use a large pot of medicine. The pottery vessel contains not only medicine but also magic charms. It serves to protect the ''kaya'' and its inhabitants, one buried at the entrance and exit of each ''kaya''.

References

{{reflist, 3 Kenyan culture Talismans Mijikenda