Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Senoufo
The Senoufo, a farming people who live in Côte d'Ivoire, western Burkina Faso and south-
ern Mali, are, like the Lobi, renowned for having maintained their traditions in the face of
assaults by colonialism, Islam and Christianity. The northern Côte d'Ivoire town of
Korhogo is considered the Senoufo capital.
Animals are held in high regard in Senoufo culture, and when someone dies it is believed
that they are transformed into the clan's animal totem. As a result, many Senoufo dances
are associated with animals. One of these is the dance of the leopard men, which is per-
formed in Natiokabadara, near Korhogo, as well as in other Senoufo areas when young
boys return from their Poro (part of the secret Lô society) initiation-training sessions. In
this and other dances, spirit masks (often of animal heads) are instrumental in making con-
tact with the gods and driving away bad spirits.
When someone dies in traditional Senoufo society, the corpse is carried through the vil-
lage in a procession, while men in grotesque masks chase away the soul of the deceased to
ensure it leaves the village in peace and departs for the afterlife.
