|
Tribe Snapshots Mende |
| Location: |
Southern Sierra
Leone |
| Population: |
700,000 |
| Language: |
Mende (Mande) |
| Neighboring
Peoples: |
Bullom-Sherbro, Vai, Temne, Gola |
| Types
of Art: |
Most Mende art is associated with initiation
and healing and includes wooden masks, twin figures,
and medicine objects. Utilitarian objects such
as heddle pulleys are decorated with carved heads
or other beautiful designs. |
| History: |
The Mende language is closely related to the
Mande language group, indicating that the Mende
migrated from the Sudan to the north. The oral
traditions of the Mende tell of a peaceful migration
into the area that may have spanned the period
from 200 to 1500 A.D. Cultural and physical differences
among the Mende suggest that immigrants may have
originated from more than one source. This could
also be a result of intermarriage with the peoples
who had already lived in the area. Artistic traditions
link them closely to the coastal Bullom peoples,
a phenomenon which most likely resulted from the
Mende borrowing ideas they found to be useful
in their own society. |
| Economy: |
The Mende are traditionally rice farmers who
also produce yams and cassava as staple crops.
Cocoa, ginger, groundnuts (peanuts), and palm
oil are the primary cash crops. |
| Political
Systems: |
There are two main educational societies among
the Mende which are divided by gender. They are
the Poro, for men, and the Sande, for women, and
are open to anyone in the community. They have
earned the misnomer secret societies because some
of their actions are hidden from the eyes of uninitiated
children and members of the opposite sex. Their
existence and purpose is known to all members
of society. The primary role of both is to teach
individuals about the expectations of the community.
Such organizations function to institute community
morals and act as a very efficient means of social
control. |
| Religion: |
Ngewo is the creator and ruler of the universe
and is assisted by the ancestors and other spirits
(Nga-fa). Both are appealed to for protection
and fertility for the community and the individual.
All manifestation of the spirit, including the
masks that are performed for religious ceremonies,
are considered Nga-fa. The masks are carved to
be aesthetically pleasing to the spirits. It is
hoped that through its continual use the spirits
will agree to embody the dancer during the ceremony.
Interestingly, the Bondu helmet mask, which is
associated with the Sande society and is found
throughout Sierra Leone and western Liberia among
numerous ethnic groups, is the only known masking
tradition in Africa exclusively worn by women.
Although women throughout Africa often act as
intermediaries between the spirit world and the
earthly world, there are no other known examples
of women using masks. |
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