 In various cases, these imported European concepts and terms underwent new transformations as they merged with indigenous concepts.In West Africa, for instance, Portuguese travellers introduced their term and concept of the "feitiçaria" (often translated as "sorcery") and the "feitiço" (spell) to the native population, where it was transformed into the concept of the "fetish".When later Europeans encountered these West African societies, they wrongly believed that the "fetiche" was an indigenous African term rather than the result of earlier inter-continental encounters.