Sandé : Société Secrète Féminine

The Sandé is the main female secret society present in Sierra Leone and Liberia within several ethnic groups, the most important and most studied of which is the Mendé ethnic group. This certainly explains why, wrongly, the emblematic Sandé helmet mask is often systematically called a Mendé mask.

The Sandé has an essential characteristic: the women, high ranking initiates, possess and above all dance with their helmet-mask. During ritual ceremonies, particularly during initiation, the power and social weight of the Sandé are manifested through the presence of these sacred masks.

Christiane Kauer first saw a female-faced helmet mask in Abidjan in the early 1970s, which intrigued her and led her to discover the Sandé. In this book, she reads the masks and deciphers the messages conveyed by the elements sculpted on the face and the hairstyle. This book is the first written in French on this subject.