SEWA - MENDE - BUNDU - SOWEI HELMET MASK ( Sierra Leon )
Late 19th century.
Late 19th century.
A helmet form, lustrous blackness, beautiful simply arranged hair, downcast eyes, a closed mouth
and an expression of inner spiritual concentration.
According to Yale's archives this mask belong to workshop number 24.
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.
and an expression of inner spiritual concentration.
According to Yale's archives this mask belong to workshop number 24.
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.