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.
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 ( Sierra Leone )
Mid 20th century.
Mid 20th century.