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<TITLE>Portraits of Power</TITLE>
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<CENTER><font size=+3>Icons of Power</font></CENTER>
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<A HREF="Bayly/Senufo_helmut_wabele_b.JPG">
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<CENTER><font size=+2><B>The Power of Poro</B></font></CENTER>
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<CENTER><font size=+1><B>Helmet mask, <I>Wabele</I></B></font></CENTER>
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<CENTER>Senufo peoples, Côte d'Ivoire
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Wood, pigment</font></CENTER>
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The wabele mask is a masterful combination of dangerous animalistic
elements: antelope horns, crocodile jaws, and wart hog tusks.
The mask
portrays the magical powers of the male Poro society that may be directed
against lawbreakers, sorcerers, and malevolent spirits. The mask's
power to
"strike" people comes from the substance that is placed on the top
of the
mask's head. The chameleon figure on top of the mask represents
one of the
five principal animals present at the creation of the world.
Members of
the Poro society wear this mask at funeral celebrations for deceased
society members, whose Poro membership becomes known only at this time.
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<CENTER><font size=+2><B>Chiefly Courage and Anger </B></font></CENTER>
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<CENTER><font size=+1><B>Helmet mask, <I>Pumbu</I></B></font></CENTER>
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<CENTER>Eastern Pende peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo</CENTER>
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<CENTER><font size=1>Wood, pigment</font></CENTER>
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Pumbu is one of the three types of helmet masks owned by Pende chiefs,
and is considered the most dangerous. The performer dresses in
the chief's
garb and
brandishes a warrior's bow, arrow, and sword, symbolizing the chief's
power to
make war and execute criminals (in pre-colonial times). The interlacing
diamond
pattern signifies chiefship; the mask's white rimmed eyes express
uncontrolled
anger. The mask appears only in times of social crisis, when
the chief must
assert his authority. The performer must be restrained by ropes, and
onlookers
are kept at a safe distance by young men wielding whips. At the end
of the
dance,
the mask breaks loose and kills a stray animal (chicken or goat) to
display
its deadly power. According to one scholar, "Pumbu depicts the courage
that
the chief must sometimes muster to address life-and-death issues."<BR
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