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Dan Passport Masks

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Price:
$25.00
SKU:
Item 274
Weight:
2.00 LBS
Shipping:
$6.50 (Fixed shipping cost)
Quantity:


Product Description

Liberia and the western part of the Ivory Coast are the home to some 350,000 people of the Dan tribe, also known as the Yacuba. Making their living from farming, each Dan village was a self- governing socio-political unit. The corresponding elders based on his social status and wealth elected the chief of each village. Before the Dan was united by the creation of the leopard society or the “Go” at the end of the 19th century, there were frequent raids between the villages. These raids were to obtain slaves who in part supplied the needs of their system of cannibalism. Although it did not fully achieve its goal of unifying and stabilizing the Dan people, the Go is still the most powerful of secret societies. The world according to the Dan is divided into two distinct realms: the village of inhabitants and human- made objects and the realm of the forest with its “bon” spirits, wild animals and fields. Dreams are the medium through which “Du”, a spiritual power who is invisible but present in every aspect of the universe, communicates with humankind. The supernatural spiritual force “Gle”, who resides in the forest, participates in the village life by incarnating himself through wooden masks. During initiation ceremonies a male will dream of a mask that contains the spirit Gle. If the elders approve, the mask in the dream will be created in its full form and function and then becomes the family mask. Miniature copies are called passport masks. These small apotropaic masks serve many of the same functions as their larger cousins. In general the passports were sewn onto a piece of cloth and kept in a leather pouch. The price is for one mask.

Please click photo for enlargement!

Dimensions: The lengths vary from 4 inches long to 5 1/2 inches long.

#'s 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are sold. 

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