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[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Houten dansmasker Nimba de belichaming van de vruchtbaarheid en de cultusgeest van het Simo-genootschap TMnr 2801-1.jpg|thumb|200px|A mask of the goddess Nimba, a goddess of fertility celebrated in Simo society, collection of [[Tropenmuseum]], Amsterdam.]] |
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Houten dansmasker Nimba de belichaming van de vruchtbaarheid en de cultusgeest van het Simo-genootschap TMnr 2801-1.jpg|thumb|200px|A mask of the goddess Nimba, a goddess of fertility celebrated in Simo society, collection of [[Tropenmuseum]], Amsterdam.]] |
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The '''Simo society''' is a [[secret society]] in [[West Africa]] (esp. [[Ghana]], [[Mali]], [[Sierra Leone]]) also described as a "masked cult".<ref name="Isichei1997">{{cite book|last=Isichei|first=Elizabeth Allo|title=A History of African Societies to 1870|url=https:// |
The '''Simo society''' is a [[secret society]] in [[West Africa]] (esp. [[Ghana]], [[Mali]], [[Sierra Leone]]) also described as a "masked cult".<ref name="Isichei1997">{{cite book|last=Isichei|first=Elizabeth Allo|title=A History of African Societies to 1870|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic|url-access=registration|accessdate=27 July 2012|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge UP|isbn=9780521455992|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic/page/223 223]}}</ref> It hails, according to a UNESCO report, from among either the [[Temne people]] or the [[Baga people]] at the time of the [[Mali Empire]].<ref name="Ki-Zerbo1998">{{cite book|last=Ki-Zerbo|first=Joseph|title=UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HwV2a-lPB70C&pg=PA124|accessdate=27 July 2012|year=1998|publisher=U of California P|isbn=9780520066991|page=124}}</ref> The [[Susu people]]'s political organization "assigned an important role to the Simo initiation society", and it "dominated" the organization of the Baga and the [[Landuma people]].<ref name="Africa1981">{{cite book|title=General History of Africa: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TpjwF--kPL4C&pg=PA315|accessdate=27 July 2012|year=1981|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=9789231017100|pages=307, 315}}</ref> |
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Initiation and other rites included masks, and of particular importance were fertility rites.<ref name="Segy1976">{{cite book|last=Segy|first=Ladislas|title=Masks of Black Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5wJPF7rfgoC&pg=PA60|accessdate=27 July 2012|year=1976|publisher=Courier Dover|isbn=9780486231815|page=60}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Laet1994">{{cite book|last=Laet|first=Sigfried J. de|title=History of Humanity: From the seventh to the sixteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixCyd2lByggC&pg=PA505|accessdate=28 July 2012|year=1994|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=9789231028137|page=505}}</ref> |
Initiation and other rites included masks, and of particular importance were fertility rites.<ref name="Segy1976">{{cite book|last=Segy|first=Ladislas|title=Masks of Black Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5wJPF7rfgoC&pg=PA60|accessdate=27 July 2012|year=1976|publisher=Courier Dover|isbn=9780486231815|page=60}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Laet1994">{{cite book|last=Laet|first=Sigfried J. de|title=History of Humanity: From the seventh to the sixteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixCyd2lByggC&pg=PA505|accessdate=28 July 2012|year=1994|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=9789231028137|page=505}}</ref> |
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==Observations by early white ethnographers== |
==Observations by early white ethnographers== |
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French explorer [[René Caillié]], the first European to travel to [[Timbuktu]] and return alive, described a group of young men living in the forest along the [[Nunez River]] 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.<ref name="Caillié1830">{{cite book|last=Caillié|first=René|authorlink=René Caillié|title=Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo: and across the great desert, to Morocco, performed in the years 1824-1828|url=https:// |
French explorer [[René Caillié]], the first European to travel to [[Timbuktu]] and return alive, described a group of young men living in the forest along the [[Nunez River]] 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.<ref name="Caillié1830">{{cite book|last=Caillié|first=René|authorlink=René Caillié|title=Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo: and across the great desert, to Morocco, performed in the years 1824-1828|url=https://archive.org/details/travelsthroughc01cailgoog|accessdate=28 July 2012|year=1830|publisher=H. Colburn and R. Bentley|pages=[https://archive.org/details/travelsthroughc01cailgoog/page/n199 153]–58}}</ref> |
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According to a 1908 study by [[Hutton Webster]], 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.<ref name="Webster1908">{{cite book|last=Webster|first=Hutton|title=Primitive secret societies: a study in early politics and religion|url=https:// |
According to a 1908 study by [[Hutton Webster]], 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.<ref name="Webster1908">{{cite book|last=Webster|first=Hutton|title=Primitive secret societies: a study in early politics and religion|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39752|accessdate=28 July 2012|year=1908|publisher=Macmillan|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39752/page/n188 172]}}</ref> |
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==Masks== |
==Masks== |
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Revision as of 11:37, 3 January 2020
The Simo society is a secret society in West Africa (esp. Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone) also described as a "masked cult".[1] It hails, according to a UNESCO report, from among either the Temne people or the Baga people at the time of the Mali Empire.[2] The Susu people's political organization "assigned an important role to the Simo initiation society", and it "dominated" the organization of the Baga and the Landuma people.[3]
Initiation and other rites included masks, and of particular importance were fertility rites.[4] 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.[5]
Observations by early white ethnographers
French explorer René Caillié, the first European to travel to Timbuktu and return alive, described a group of young men living in the forest along the Nunez River 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.[6]
According to a 1908 study by Hutton Webster, 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.[7]
Masks
Masks, decorated with "animal, reptile and human attributes" are used in ritual.[8]
References
- ^ Isichei, Elizabeth Allo (1997). A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge UP. p. 223. ISBN 9780521455992. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ Ki-Zerbo, Joseph (1998). UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. U of California P. p. 124. ISBN 9780520066991. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ General History of Africa: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth century. UNESCO. 1981. pp. 307, 315. ISBN 9789231017100. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ Segy, Ladislas (1976). Masks of Black Africa. Courier Dover. p. 60. ISBN 9780486231815. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ Laet, Sigfried J. de (1994). History of Humanity: From the seventh to the sixteenth century. UNESCO. p. 505. ISBN 9789231028137. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
- ^ Caillié, René (1830). Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo: and across the great desert, to Morocco, performed in the years 1824-1828. H. Colburn and R. Bentley. pp. 153–58. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
- ^ Webster, Hutton (1908). Primitive secret societies: a study in early politics and religion. Macmillan. p. 172. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
- ^ Sieber, Roy; Arnold Rubin (1969). "On the Study of African Sculpture". Art Journal. 29 (1): 24–31. JSTOR 775272.