The Masques of Tougouri

Sunday December 6, 2009

On my run this evening, I ran into (literally) a large crowd of people on the outskirts of Tougouri that turned out to be a funeral party for an elder of Tougouri. Because the man who died was an elder, the fete was complete with masques, drums, and lots of music and dancing. With some asking around, I found that the masques can represent animals, ancestors, and spirits. When one puts on a mask, he (always a male) is no longer responsible for his actions and takes on the character of the masque. The masques I saw today resembled a cross between Chewbacca of Star Wars and Klu Klux Klan outfits; the masques wore a brown shaggy bodysuit that stretched high above the wearers’ heads in the shape of a cone. Their faces were covered with masks that appeared to be made of wood or bone and one had shiny disks covering his face. Each masque carried a stick and would every so often break from dancing and run after an unlucky victim to hit them with the stick, which subsequently sent the crowd scattering in all directions every few minutes. I must admit I myself was a little scared of the masques, which my students who were present found very amusing. Nevertheless I stayed at the edge of the crowd, not wanting to get really close to the masques. I wish I could have taken a picture, because my description does not do the scene true justice, however, I was on a run and did not have a camera on me and also don’t think it would have been culturally appropriate to take pictures. However, I can safely say that I would never ever have encountered masques and drums while on a run in the U.S.

Four days later…after having several nightmarish dreams about masques while listening to the drums beat through the night, I am ready for the fete to be over and the masques to be put away until the spring, where they will be brought out to give thanks and ask for rains for the new planting season.