Illinois State Museum to return Kenyan artifact

Tucked away in the Illinois State Museum are spiritual artifacts indigenous to Kenya, waiting to be returned to their original owners in the East African country.

Thirty-eight vigango - hand-carved memorial posts, each of which had been erected after a member of a secret society of male elders died - are stored in the museum. The collection soon is to be reduced by one, because one kikango (the singular of "vigango") has been claimed by a Kenyan curator on behalf of a family there.