MENDE - BUNDU - SOWEI HELMET
MASK .
The Mende culture is primarily found in Sierra
Leone, Liberia, western Guinea and Mali.
Secret societies among the Mende are called
Poro, which means "laws of ancestor spirits,
thereby imparting power to the Poro from
ancestor spirits. The Poro duties include
settling disputes, controlling fishing and
harvesting, and regulating the economy and
trading. Other societies within the Mende are
responsible for military training, agricultural
fertility, general education, sexual conduct, and
medical and social services. The Mende
women belong to a secret society called
Sande which is primarily responsible for
training young girls for the adult roles they will
soon encounter. Mende girls are instructed in
child care, homemaking, sexual matters abed
the proper attitude towards husbands and
authority. Mende boys are instructed in road
maintenance, clearing land for agriculture,
bridge and trap making, basketry and weaving,
traditional law and custom, and the art of
enduring hardship and pain. Secret societies
dominate the lives of traditional West Africans
and serve to establish social, political,
economic, and artistic rules that solidify and
unite the culture.
The Sande society uses the word ''Sowei'' to
represent the personification of the society's
spirit, medicine, and the most important
masked dancer. The Sowei is present at
initiation school, brings male offenders to
justice, and is the chief mourner at funerals foe
Sande officials. Sowei mask are kept in special
enclosures called Kende where the mask
attendant keeps medicine and masks.
MASK .
The Mende culture is primarily found in Sierra
Leone, Liberia, western Guinea and Mali.
Secret societies among the Mende are called
Poro, which means "laws of ancestor spirits,
thereby imparting power to the Poro from
ancestor spirits. The Poro duties include
settling disputes, controlling fishing and
harvesting, and regulating the economy and
trading. Other societies within the Mende are
responsible for military training, agricultural
fertility, general education, sexual conduct, and
medical and social services. The Mende
women belong to a secret society called
Sande which is primarily responsible for
training young girls for the adult roles they will
soon encounter. Mende girls are instructed in
child care, homemaking, sexual matters abed
the proper attitude towards husbands and
authority. Mende boys are instructed in road
maintenance, clearing land for agriculture,
bridge and trap making, basketry and weaving,
traditional law and custom, and the art of
enduring hardship and pain. Secret societies
dominate the lives of traditional West Africans
and serve to establish social, political,
economic, and artistic rules that solidify and
unite the culture.
The Sande society uses the word ''Sowei'' to
represent the personification of the society's
spirit, medicine, and the most important
masked dancer. The Sowei is present at
initiation school, brings male offenders to
justice, and is the chief mourner at funerals foe
Sande officials. Sowei mask are kept in special
enclosures called Kende where the mask
attendant keeps medicine and masks.
MENDE - BUNDU - SOWEI HELMET MASK ( Sieraa Leone )
Late 20th century. 16 '' Double face mask.
Late 20th century. 16 '' Double face mask.