Tiwai Heritage Trail
Our Heritage
The Mende people
The Mende people are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, their neighbours the Temne people having roughly the same population. The Mende and Temne both account for slightly more than 30% of the total population.
The Mende belong to a larger group of Mande peoples who live throughout West Africa. The Mende are mostly farmers and hunters. They are divided into two groups: The Halemo are members of the Hale or secret societies, and Kpowa are people who have never been initiated into the Hale. The Mende believe that all humanistic and scientific power is passed down through the secret societies.
The Mende speak the Mende language among themselves, but their language is also spoken as a regional lingua franca by members of smaller Sierra Leonean ethnic groups that inhabit the same part of the country. Their language is spoken by around 46% of Sierra Leone's population.
Mende Art
Much Mende art is in the form of jewelry and carvings. The masks associated with the fraternal and sorority associations of the Marka and the Mende are probably the best-known, and finely crafted in the region. The Mende also produce beautifully woven fabrics which are popular throughout western Africa, and gold and silver necklaces, bracelets, armlets, and earrings. The bells on the necklaces are of the type believed capable of being heard by spirits, ringing in both worlds, that of the ancestors and the living. Mende hunters often wear a single bell that can be easily silenced when stealth is necessary. Women, on the other hand, often wear multiple bells, referring to concepts of community, since the bells ring harmoniously together.
Secret Societies
The Poro society is the male equivalent to the Bondo society. The Poro prepares men for leadership in the community, so they might attain wisdom, accept responsibility, and gain power. It begins with the child's grade of discovery, followed by extensive training and service. During the seven-year initiation period, the young men converse with each other using a secret language and passwords, known only to other Poro members. The member always knows and understands what is being said. This is part of the mystery of this secret society
At the beginning, young men aged 20 are called into the society and are trained by the group above them, along with a few elders. There is much work to be done during the initiation process. Dancing the masks is part of this work, but not the most important part. Only through work does the dance of the mask become meaningful.
All Mende women when they reach puberty begin the initiation process into the Bondo society. The goals of this secret society are to teach young Mende women the responsibilities of adulthood. The girls are taught to be hard working and modest in their behavior, especially towards their elders. Bondo influences every aspect of a Mende woman's life; it is present before birth and still present after.
Sande is the guardian of women; their protector and guide through life. It is Sande that grants a woman with an identity and a personality. The Bondo society is concerned with defining what it is to be human and of discovering the ways of promoting love, justice, and harmony. It is a moral philosophy that focuses on the perpetual refinement of the individual. Bondo leaders serve as models to women in the community. They exemplify the highest of Mende ideals, and they have the duty of enforcing positive social relationships and of removing any harm that might come to women in their community. "This is Bondo; women together in their womanhood, in a free exchange of words and actions among sisters. Where ever two or three women are gathered together, there is the spirit of Bondo."
Bondo groups conduct masked performances that embody the Bondo guardian spirit, who is associated with water and rivers. Descriptions of the society and its masquerade events have been made by visitors since the seventeenth century.