Europeans considered sculptures like these “fetishes”; often they destroyed them. Many, however, have survived. Nkisi generally offered people protection from evildoers. Their makers empowered the sculptures by driving nails into the wood and pressing substances into cavities. Doing so “hid” power into the figure, providing the owner protection from the malevolent forces swirling around them. This figure seems to be missing crucial materials. We now know that at least in some instances people disempowered Nkisi before they ended up in the hands of others.