Traditional associations

There can be many associations and interest groups in a village. Some of them can only include men, others are composed of women, still others may have both men and women as their members. Some associations have nothing mysterious about them. For example, the purpose of a women’s association Bara of the Bamana is to organize dancing with a drum. Other associations, like a children’s Ntomo can be considered a secret association, although it is a secret only for the youngest kids. But there are also true secret associations whose names are only pronounced in a whisper. And if an uninitiated person witnesses a mask ritual of such association, he or she is lucky to get away with a heavy fine, because most probably he or she will be murdered on the spot.

The influence of some secret associations extends through large territories, and it is not necessarily checked by state or ethnic limits. It is the case of a male association of Poro and the female association of Sande (also referred to as Bundu) in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Initiation to such associations passes from one village to another, from one ethnic group to another, and people keep the memory of who they got their Poro or Bundu from.

Of course, secret associations do not exist merely to scare the non-associates. Their main purpose is to make important decisions for the whole society, and to control the implementation of these decisions. And fear is an important condition to avoid anyone challenging such decisions.

There are also secret associations meant to cause harm to the society. For example, associations of evil sorcerers, eaters of human souls. It is believed that members of such an association treat each other in turns with souls of their close relatives which brings forth the death of the victims. If someone is identified as a member of an association of sorcerers, he or she can be fined, imprisoned, or even executed.

The head of the men’s secret society in his gboi ten  dress that is meant to repell harmful magic. Cote d'Ivoire. The Kla-Dan. V. F. Vydrin. 2002		The kifwebe mask of the Leopard secret society. Kongo The Luba, the Songe		Helmet mask of Bundu, the women’s secret society. Sierra-Leone, 1851-1900 The Mende