بامبارا
The Bambara people had six male societies and each society had its own unique mask. One of the societies called ‘"jo’" is about initiation, a procedure that every boy had to go through to become a man. This initiation only stopped a few decades ago. At each stage of the procedure or initiation the young man is required to wear a mask. One of the procedures involves the young man going to live in the bush for one week. After this he would return to the village where he would perform in the mask the dances and songs he learnt in the bush and then be given small gifts from spectators. After that, they are ritually bathed which signals the end of their animal life and the beginning of their new life as ‘"jo"’ children. Another mask depicts the culture as well as the life of the tribe. Without this the tribe believed that chaos would come upon them as their crops wouldn’t grow, and they couldn’t perform weddings or initiations.