Dan (Gio, Gioh, Gyo,Yacouba, Yakuba), Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia

Chief Emblem. The 350,000 Dan live in the northeastern Côte d’Ivoire and in the east of Liberia, in regions covered by forest in the south and savannas in the north. Traditionally cultivators of rice and manioc, the Dan also work immense cacao and coffee plantations. They also live off game hunting and fishing. Every Dan village is under the authority of a chief and a council of elders. The chief emblem is used during different ceremonies, in particular, connected to initiation. It presents the image of the Nyomu nea female spirit who accompanies the nyomu sine gbloa masquerader, the initiation master, in the sacred grove. A remarkable detail of this kind of masks is the ears, which are seldom represented on Dan masks.

Material:  wood

Size: 13½”x6”x4”

Price: $200+$30 (S&H)                                                                       [#N9D5S440]