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Bété N’gre Mask

TITLE: Bété N’gre Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire
ETHNICITY: Bété
DESCRIPTION: N’gre Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI012
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Entertainment; Secret Society; Social Control; War Preparation
AGE: ca. 2000
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: iron tacks; kaolin; hardware; earth

The Bété people are closely related in ethnicity to their near neighbors, the We (Guere) and Dan peoples.  They live in the southwestern part of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).  The Bété were historically hunters and warriors, but today they are primarily agrarian.  The Bété religion aims to harmonize the life of the people with nature and the ancestor spirits who oversee the welfare of the tribe.  Most Bété maintain their animist belief system.  Although they pray to a creator god, they routinely seek help through sacrifice of animals and eggs to supernatural spirits, including ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and animal spirits.

Each Bété ritual focuses on the maintenance and care of good relations with the world of ancestors, so as to assure the protection of the lineages. The religious cults give rise to numerous mask performances accompanied by music. The apprenticeship of male adolescents in dancing societies revolves around mastering the arts of musical instruments, song, and masked dance.

Bété societies have three classes of masks: kuduo masks are the rarest and most sacred, because they mediate between the living and the dead. Many villages have no kuduo masks, and none possesses more than one.

The most common type of Bété mask is the n’gre, which historically was used in a ceremony for restoring peace after a war, purifying the village of evil spirits, and presiding over dispute settlement and the punishment of wrongdoers. It is thought the mask was also used in war preparation dances to give the wearer magical protection and to terrorize potential enemies. N’gre masks can be made for dancing by adults or for training by young boys. Unlike masks in many other African societies, n’gre masks are not strictly controlled in morphology.  Considerable creative variation occurs among different mask makers. The mask on display here is an adult n’gre.

For more on Bété masked dances, see Armistead P. Rood, “Bété Masked Dance: A View from Within,” 2(3) African Arts 37-43, 76 (1969).

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Hawaiian Makini

TITLE: Hawaiian Makini
TYPE: face mask; accessory
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Hawaiian Kingdom (presently in the United States of America)
SUBREGION: Hawaiian Islands
ETHNICITY: Polynesian (Hawaiian)
DESCRIPTION: Makini Helmet Mask and Gourd Rattle
CATALOG ID: OCUS001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Makahiki
FUNCTION: Agriculture
AGE: late 20th century
MAIN MATERIAL: gourd
OTHER MATERIALS: raffia fiber; rooster feathers

Before the conquest of the Hawaiian Islands, members of the priestly caste wore helmets like this one to honor the god Lono, who conferred fertility on the land, and at the Makahiki harvest festival. It may also have been worn by the Warrior Society that protected the chief. This mask is a reproduction; the original masks would have had a crest made of sedge leaves and the strips at the bottom would have been made of tapa (cloth made from the pounded bark of trees).

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Sumba Island Mask

TITLE: Sumba Island Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: Less Sunda Islands (Sumba Island)
ETHNICITY: Melanesian (Sumbese)
DESCRIPTION: Ancestor Mask
CATALOG ID: OCID010
MAKER: Unknown
FUNCTION: War Preparation (?)
AGE: ca. 1950s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: boar bristles; animal teeth

The Sumbese people of Sumba Island are a Melanesian-Austronesian people who continue to practice the Marapu animistic religion. This mask probably represents an ancestor of the maker and probably served the purpose of war preparation. However, very little is known about masking traditions in this region.

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Dan Kran Kaogle

TITLE: Dan Kran Kaogle
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire
ETHNICITY: Kran (Dan)
DESCRIPTION: Gla Society Kaogle (Chimpanzee) Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI010
MAKER: Unknown
FUNCTION: Entertainment; Secret Society; Social Control; War Preparation
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin; iron wire; leather straps

The Kran ethnic subgroup of the Dan people, and are also known as the We or Guere, living primarily in the Côte d’Ivoire.  The Gla secret society of the Kran people are charged with maintaining social control, including judicial functions, as well as officiating at harvest ceremonies and funerals.  The kaogle mask represents a chimpanzee spirit and invokes its strength and cunning, formerly to prepare for war and exercise social control. Today, its role is largely educational and for entertainment.

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Songye Kifwebe Kilume

TITLE: Songye Kifwebe Kilume
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Democratic Republic of the Congo
ETHNICITY: Songye
DESCRIPTION: Bwadi Society Kifwebe Kilume male mask
CATALOG ID: AFCD018
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe Society
FUNCTION: Adult Initiation; Secret Society; Social Control; Social Status; War Preparation
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay; animal hair

Among the Songye and Luba peoples of central Africa, the Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe Society commands high status, because its members are considered to have magical powers to invoke spirits. Among the masks used by the Kifwebe Society is the Kilume (male) mask here. Kilume masks are danced with a suit of mesh and a long mantle of raffia fiber. The masqueraders were used primarily to enforce social norms, to intimidate enemies in war, to attend male circumcisions, and at bukishi initiations teaching social and religious principles. Today, they exist primarily to preserve tradition and provide entertainment.

The dance of the male Kifwebe masquerader is erratic and energetic, reflecting the intimidating policing role played by this part of the Society.

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Grebo War Mask

TITLE: Grebo War Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Liberia
ETHNICITY: Grebo
DESCRIPTION: War Plank Mask
CATALOG ID: AFLR002
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Funeral; War Preparation
AGE: ca. 2000
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: raffia; wicker; cotton cloth; pigment; feathers; hardware; hair

The Grebo people of Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire were formerly governed by a chief-priest who lived in near total isolation. Historically, they chipped their teeth to make them appear sharper and more ferocious. In modern times, Grebo governance has become more fluid and tooth chipping is very rare.

The Grebo use several types of masks, some used for adult initiation or religious ceremonies. The most commonly seen is the war mask, used by warrior societies and formed in the shape of a plank with cylindrical eyes, numbering between two and twelve. The mask is danced in preparation for war and at the funerals of warriors.

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Cherokee War Mask

TITLE: Cherokee War Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: United States of America
SUBREGION: North Carolina
ETHNICITY: Cherokee
DESCRIPTION: War mask with snake on head
CATALOG ID: LAUS079
MAKER: Allen Long (Cherokee, North Carolina, 1917-1983)
CEREMONY: Snake Mask Dance
FUNCTION: war preparation
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: pigment; leather strap

The Snake-Mask Dance was a dance of the Cherokee people, danced with a gourd rattle and leg-rattles made of turtle shells, performed in preparation for war. It represents the warrior’s fearlessness (wearing a poisonous snake on his forehead) and defiance of human enemies, sorcerers, and ghosts. The purpose of the dance was probably to enlist other men into joining a war party. The warrior danced the mask counter-clockwise around a fire with a slow march step. A singer followed, followed in turn by a woman with turtle leg-rattles and other warriors. The warrior then took a position behind the woman, and the singer led the group in song.

For more on Cherokee masked dance, see Frank G. Speck & Leonard Broom, Cherokee Dance and Drama (University of Oklahoma Press 1951).

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