COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Houten dansmasker Nimba de belichaming van de vruchtbaarheid en de cultusgeest van het Simo-genootschap TMnr 2801-1

The Simo society is a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

(esp.

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

) also described as a "masked cult". It hails, according to a UNESCO report, from among either the

Temne people The Temne, also called Atemne, Témené, Temné, Téminè, Temeni, Thaimne, Themne, Thimni, Timené, Timné, Timmani, or Timni, are a West African ethnic group, They are predominantly found in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.

or the

Baga people Baga may refer to: People * Baga (king) (3rd century BC), a king of ancient Mauretania * Ena Baga (1906–2004), English pianist * Kiri Baga (born 1995), American figure skater * Rita Baga, Canadian drag queen * Baga Chipz, stage name of Leo Lor ...

at the time of the

Mali Empire The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Māl ...

. The

Susu people The Susu people are a Mande-speaking ethnic group living primarily in Guinea and Northwestern Sierra Leone, particularly in Kambia District.Landuma people The Landuma also called Landoma, Landima, Landouma, Cocoli, Kokoli, Tiapi, or Tyapi are an African people who live primarily in Guinea, in the area of the Upper Nunez. They have been described as "pre-Mandingas", as they settled in the region be ...

. Initiation and other rites included masks, and of particular importance were fertility rites. The Simo were also one of many secret "cultic groups" (whose priests "possessed immense knowledge of herbs and roots") that practiced medicine to cure specific ailments.

Observations by early white ethnographers

French explorer

René Caillié Auguste René Caillié (; 19 November 1799 – 17 May 1838) was a French explorer and the first European to return alive from the town of Timbuktu. Caillié had been preceded at Timbuktu by a British officer, Major Gordon Laing, who was murdere ...

, the first European to travel to

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

and return alive, described a group of young men living in the forest along the

Nunez River Nunez River or Rio Nuñez (Kakandé) is a river in Guinea with its source in the Futa Jallon highlands. It is also known as the Tinguilinta River, after a village along its upper course. Geography Lying between the to the north and the Pongo ...

after being initiated (through circumcision) by a man called the Simo, who is never seen by anyone except for his young companions who stay with him for seven or eight years. The Simo also acts as a chief magistrate to the locals; his place of residence in the forest is to be left in peace at all time and infractions have to be atoned for with gifts handed over in a ritual manner—with the giver keeping his back to the Simo. According to a 1908 study by

Hutton Webster David Hutton Webster (March 24, 1875 − May 20, 1955) was an American sociologist, economist and anthropologist. He was Lecturer Emeritus of Sociology at Stanford University. Biography David Hutton Webster was born in Malone, New York on March ...

, the Simo had degenerated from a "powerful organization devoted to the interests of the people" into little more than a group that organized dances and dressed up.

Masks

Masks, decorated with "animal, reptile and human attributes" are used in ritual.

References

{{Reflist African secret societies Malian culture Masquerade ceremonies in Africa

Observations by early white ethnographers

Masks

See also

References