The country of Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa, just north of Liberia.

In many African societies masked dancers perform on special occasions, but the dancers are nearly always men. Among the Mende people, however, women also dance in masks. Nearly every Mende woman and man belongs to a secret association: the Sande (San-day) society for women, and the Poro (por-o) society for men. When girls and boys reach their teens they go through special training to join these organizations, learning all they will need to know to become full adult members of society. Women teach the girls dancing and singing, domestic skills, child care, grooming, and etiquette, in addition to religious knowledge. This mask was used in a traditional initiation ceremony into the secret Sande society.

This mask represents everything an adult Mende woman should be--wise, serene, and elegant. The mask was not intended to be a portrait of a specific person; rather, it represents an ideal woman. The delicate facial features of the mask, the modestly downcast eyes, and the discreetly closed mouth, are examples of inner beauty as much as outer beauty. The smooth high forehead indicates wisdom and success. In Mende thought, a woman's future may be told by her forehead. Because elaborate hairstyles are desirable among adult Mende women, the hair is carved to show an intricate style of braiding and banding. The hair is carefully arranged in orderly patterns, reflecting the balance and harmony of an ideal household. The lines around the eyes and mouth represent scarification marks, formed by cutting into the skin. Mende girls undergo scarification as a part of initiation. Special designs are cut to identify the woman and her link to society.

To fully appreciate the Sande Society mask, we would have to see it in the context of the ceremony for which it was intended. Now still and silent, this wooden mask once embodied a powerful spirit called sowei(so-way). Imagine the awesome appearance of this beautiful black mask worn by a woman with raffia swirling about her as she moved. The mask itself is an embodiment of the sowei spirit, not simply decoration that conceals the dancer. In evoking the spirit, the masked woman gives up her own identity to allow the spirit to take over. The sowei spirit is present to escort the girls into initiation, to provide guidance while they are in training, and to emerge with them in festive celebration of their readiness for adulthood and marriage.

The rings on the neck represent another aspect of feminine beauty. The neighboring Temne people associate the sowei spirit with the chrysalis of the butterfly and so may the Mende. It is possible that the rings on the mask symbolize the female's emergence from childhood to adulthood just as the rings on the chrysalis mark the transformation of the pupa to the mature butterfly. Most likely, the bird on the crown of the mask is a hen. referring to the responsibility of motherhood. Just as a hen watches over her eggs, the sowei spirit watches over her initiates.

A woman must be of a certain rank to commission a mask from a carver. The carver is a man in the community possessing special knowledge of spiritual and social concerns. She tells him the name of the spirit that the mask will represent, and he "dreams" the appropriate form. The resulting mask can be worn only by this woman, and only she can call forth the spirit. Before completion of the mask, the carver performs a ceremony to determine if the mask is satisfactory for spiritual use. The woman who commissioned the mask will then compare it to other masks that have been proven satisfactory. If she approves the mask, she will perform a ceremony that invites the spirit to enter.

The Sande Society remains a vital part of Mende life today. A mask such as this one becomes valueless when its owner no longer participates in initiation or moves upward in society. While initiation and masking continue today, Society members do not discuss their beliefs and practices with outsiders. For the most part, knowledge of their traditions remains, as it should, secret.

Vocabulary Terms

chrysalis - The casing, or pupa, of an undeveloped butterfly.

Poro Society - The secret association for men in Mende society.

Sande Society - The secret association for women in Mende society.

scarification - Permanent patterned marks made by small scratches or cuts in the skin. In many parts of Africa these scars are marks of beauty and a way to identify someone belonging to a particular group.

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