MENDE - BUNDU - SOWEI HELMET MASK ( Sierra Leone )
Late 20th century
SOLD
Late 20th century
SOLD
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.