MENDE - BUNDU - SOWEI HELMET MASK ( Sierra Leone )
Mid 20th century. 16''
Mid 20th century. 16''
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 for 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 for Sande
officials. Sowei mask are kept in special enclosures called Kende where the mask
attendant keeps medicine and masks.