MENDE - BUNDU - SOWEI HELMET MASK ( Sierra leone )
Early 20th century
Early 20th century
Complex combination of occasional iconographic motif been especially popular in eastern
Mendeland. This mask display Two suspended snakes on both sides of the mask topped with a
bowl with two rats underneath , surrounded with four fishes, and two birds facing each other in
both sides. The mask also features ngaya maki scarifications on the cheeks and two leather
encased amulets in a form of small drums above the forehead and the nape.
According to Yale's archives this mask belong to workshop Number 9
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.
Mendeland. This mask display Two suspended snakes on both sides of the mask topped with a
bowl with two rats underneath , surrounded with four fishes, and two birds facing each other in
both sides. The mask also features ngaya maki scarifications on the cheeks and two leather
encased amulets in a form of small drums above the forehead and the nape.
According to Yale's archives this mask belong to workshop Number 9
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.