From the United States to Kenya, the long return from exile of the sacred poles stolen in the 1980s

It's 9 o'clock on a June morning, and the brown earth is still soaked from the late-night downpour in the small village of Moi, on the Indian Ocean coast in the far east of Kenya. Under a roof, eight elderly men are busy weaving coconut leaves. Beside them, three human-faced statuettes are planted in the ground, pieces of cloth tied around their necks.

They are vigango, long carved wooden planks in which the spirits of the elders of the Mijikenda community, one of the country's forty-two ethnic groups, are reincarnated. The "nine tribes" (the translation of "Mijikenda") are spread along the Kenyan coast, from Tanzania to Somalia.

"These aren't the vigango that were stolen from us, but these look like them," explains Kaingusimba Wanje, 68, with long white sideburns on his cheeks. " Vigango are not just pieces of wood, but people who lived and are honored. They contain the souls of our ancestors. They are real people."

Since the end of the ^19th century, thousands of vigango have been stolen in Kenya, shipped en masse to Europe and, especially, to the United States. The statuettes have ended up in private homes, private collections, and museums. Several have notably ended up in the homes of Hollywood personalities, producers, and film actors. Actors Gene Hackman, Linda Evans, Shelley Hack, and Dirk Benedict, seen in The A-Team , have had them in their homes.

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