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class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Initiation and transformation subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Initiation_and_transformation-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Sequestration_and_female_genital_mutilation_(FGM)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sequestration_and_female_genital_mutilation_(FGM)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>Sequestration and female genital mutilation (FGM)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sequestration_and_female_genital_mutilation_(FGM)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Post-initiation_education" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Post-initiation_education"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.2</span> <span>Post-initiation education</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Post-initiation_education-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bonding" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bonding"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.3</span> <span>Bonding</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bonding-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Return_to_the_community" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Return_to_the_community"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.4</span> <span>Return to the community</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Return_to_the_community-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Symbolic_meaning" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Symbolic_meaning"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.5</span> <span>Symbolic meaning</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Symbolic_meaning-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Unique_masking_traditions_in_Liberia" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Unique_masking_traditions_in_Liberia"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Unique masking traditions in Liberia</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Unique_masking_traditions_in_Liberia-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Unique masking traditions in Liberia subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Unique_masking_traditions_in_Liberia-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Iconography_of_the_Mende/Vai_helmet_mask" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Iconography_of_the_Mende/Vai_helmet_mask"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.1</span> <span>Iconography of the Mende/Vai helmet mask</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Iconography_of_the_Mende/Vai_helmet_mask-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Relationship_between_Sande_and_Poro_societies" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Relationship_between_Sande_and_Poro_societies"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Relationship between Sande and Poro societies</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Relationship_between_Sande_and_Poro_societies-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Political_and_economic_sway_of_Sande_society_in_Liberia" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Political_and_economic_sway_of_Sande_society_in_Liberia"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Political and economic sway of Sande society in Liberia</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Political_and_economic_sway_of_Sande_society_in_Liberia-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Political and economic sway of Sande society in Liberia subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Political_and_economic_sway_of_Sande_society_in_Liberia-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Economic_influence_of_zoes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Economic_influence_of_zoes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.1</span> <span>Economic influence of zoes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Economic_influence_of_zoes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sande's_influence_over_local_and_national_politics" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sande's_influence_over_local_and_national_politics"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.2</span> <span>Sande's influence over local and national politics</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sande's_influence_over_local_and_national_politics-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sande_and_FGM-related_matters" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sande_and_FGM-related_matters"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.3</span> <span>Sande and FGM-related matters</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sande_and_FGM-related_matters-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Criticisms_of_Sande_society" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Criticisms_of_Sande_society"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Criticisms of Sande society</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Criticisms_of_Sande_society-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Violence_against_Liberian_activists_and_journalists" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Violence_against_Liberian_activists_and_journalists"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Violence against Liberian activists and journalists</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Violence_against_Liberian_activists_and_journalists-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Other_sources_and_further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Other_sources_and_further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">12</span> <span>Other sources and further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Other_sources_and_further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" 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href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_Sande" title="Société Sande – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Société Sande" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masyarakat_Sande" title="Masyarakat Sande – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Masyarakat Sande" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societ%C3%A0_Sande" title="Società Sande – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Società Sande" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sande_(Sierra_Leone)" title="Sande (Sierra Leone) – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Sande (Sierra Leone)" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sande_(salaseura)" title="Sande (salaseura) – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Sande (salaseura)" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q3963459#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div 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//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg/80px-Edit-clear.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="48" data-file-height="48" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This article should <b>specify the language</b> of its non-English content, using <span class="nowrap">{{</span><a href="/wiki/Template:Lang" title="Template:Lang">lang</a><span class="nowrap">}}</span>, <span class="nowrap">{{</span><a href="/wiki/Template:Transliteration" title="Template:Transliteration">transliteration</a><span class="nowrap">}}</span> for transliterated languages, and <span class="nowrap">{{</span><a href="/wiki/Template:IPA" title="Template:IPA">IPA</a><span class="nowrap">}}</span> for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate <a href="/wiki/Lists_of_ISO_639_codes" title="Lists of ISO 639 codes">ISO 639 code</a>. Wikipedia's <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_multilingual_support_templates" title="Category:Wikipedia multilingual support templates">multilingual support templates</a> may also be used.<span class="hide-when-compact"> <a href="/wiki/Template:Lang#Rationale" title="Template:Lang">See why</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">August 2021</span>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundu_girls_whitened.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Bundu_girls_whitened.jpg/220px-Bundu_girls_whitened.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="300" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Bundu_girls_whitened.jpg/330px-Bundu_girls_whitened.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Bundu_girls_whitened.jpg/440px-Bundu_girls_whitened.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1798" data-file-height="2455" /></a><figcaption>Sande society initiates marked with white clay and animal fat, called <i>Hojo</i> or <i>Wojeh</i>.</figcaption></figure> <p><b>Sande</b>, also known as <b>zadεgi</b>, <b>bundu</b>, <b>bundo</b> and <b>bondo</b>, is a women's initiation society in <a href="/wiki/Liberia" title="Liberia">Liberia</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sierra_Leone" title="Sierra Leone">Sierra Leone</a>, <a href="/wiki/Guinea" title="Guinea">Guinea</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Ivory_Coast" title="Ivory Coast">Ivory Coast</a>. The Sande society initiates girls into adulthood by rituals including <a href="/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation" title="Female genital mutilation">female genital mutilation</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MacCormack_1975-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is said by its supporters to confer <a href="/wiki/Fertility" title="Fertility">fertility</a>, to instill notions of morality and proper sexual comportment, and to maintain an interest in the well-being of its members throughout their lives. </p><p>In addition, Sande champions women's social and political interests and promotes their solidarity vis-a-vis the <a href="/wiki/Poro" title="Poro">Poro</a>, a complementary institution for men. The Sande society masquerade is a rare and perhaps unique African example of a <a href="/wiki/Traditional_African_masks" title="Traditional African masks">wooden face mask</a> controlled exclusively by women – a feature that highlights the extraordinary social position of women in this geographical region. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Geographic_extent">Geographic extent</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Geographic extent"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:A_group_of_Bundu_female_dancers_all_wearing_necklaces_of_bea_Wellcome_V0015968.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/A_group_of_Bundu_female_dancers_all_wearing_necklaces_of_bea_Wellcome_V0015968.jpg/220px-A_group_of_Bundu_female_dancers_all_wearing_necklaces_of_bea_Wellcome_V0015968.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="117" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/A_group_of_Bundu_female_dancers_all_wearing_necklaces_of_bea_Wellcome_V0015968.jpg/330px-A_group_of_Bundu_female_dancers_all_wearing_necklaces_of_bea_Wellcome_V0015968.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/A_group_of_Bundu_female_dancers_all_wearing_necklaces_of_bea_Wellcome_V0015968.jpg/440px-A_group_of_Bundu_female_dancers_all_wearing_necklaces_of_bea_Wellcome_V0015968.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3650" data-file-height="1945" /></a><figcaption>Teenage girls being initiated into the Sande society, Sierra Leone.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> "The dancers all wore <a href="/wiki/Fetishism" title="Fetishism">fetishes</a> peculiar to the order, each having special significance. These consisted of several ropes of cane cut into beads and of rows of seeds which had been bored and filled with Bundu (Sande) medicine".</figcaption></figure> <p>The Sande society is found throughout the Central West Atlantic Region, an ethnically plural and linguistically diverse region that lies within the forested <a href="/wiki/Littoral_zone" title="Littoral zone">littoral zone</a> bounded by the <a href="/wiki/Little_Scarcies_River" title="Little Scarcies River">Little Scarcies River</a> and <a href="/wiki/Cape_Palmas" title="Cape Palmas">Cape Palmas</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-d'Azevedo_1962_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-d'Azevedo_1962-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As early as 1668, a Dutch geographer named <a href="/wiki/Olfert_Dapper" title="Olfert Dapper">Olfert Dapper</a> published a description of the "Sandy" society as it existed in the <a href="/wiki/Grand_Cape_Mount_County" title="Grand Cape Mount County">Cape Mount region</a> of Liberia, based on a first-hand account that seems to date from 1628.<sup id="cite_ref-Holsoe_1980_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Holsoe_1980-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Dapper_1668_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Dapper_1668-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Anthropologists believe that Sande originated in Gola society and spread to the neighboring Mende and Vai; other ethnic groups adopted Sande as recently as the present century. Today this social institution is found among the <a href="/wiki/Bassa_people_(Liberia)" title="Bassa people (Liberia)">Bassa</a>, <a href="/wiki/Gola_people" title="Gola people">Gola</a>, <a href="/wiki/Kissi_people" title="Kissi people">Kissi</a>, <a href="/wiki/Kpelle_people" title="Kpelle people">Kpelle</a>, <a href="/wiki/Loma_people" title="Loma people">Loma</a>, Mano and <a href="/wiki/Vai_people" title="Vai people">Vai</a> of Liberia; the <a href="/wiki/Kono_people" title="Kono people">Kono</a>, <a href="/wiki/Limba_people_(Sierra_Leone)" title="Limba people (Sierra Leone)">Limba</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mende_people" title="Mende people">Mende</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sherbro_people" title="Sherbro people">Sherbro</a>, <a href="/wiki/Temne_people" title="Temne people">Temne</a> and <a href="/wiki/Yalunka_people" title="Yalunka people">Yalunka</a> of Sierra Leone; and in the northern and eastern extension of these ethnic groups in Guinea. </p><p>The predominantly Christian <a href="/wiki/Sierra_Leone_Creole_people" title="Sierra Leone Creole people">Sierra Leone Creole people</a> are the only ethnicity in Sierra Leone not known to practice <a href="/wiki/FGM" class="mw-redirect" title="FGM">FGM</a> or participate in bondo/sande society rituals.<sup id="cite_ref-Bassir,_Olumbe_1954_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bassir,_Olumbe_1954-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Common_features">Common features</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Common features"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The common features of all of these women's associations are: </p> <ul><li>Group initiation in a secluded area of the forest.</li> <li>The use of Sande society names in lieu of birth names following initiation.</li> <li>Scarification.</li> <li>Body modification in the form of piercings and skin removal.</li> <li>Hierarchically ranked female leadership.</li> <li>A pledge of secrecy vis-a-vis men and uninitiated girls.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation" title="Female genital mutilation">Female genital mutilation</a> performed by female specialists.</li></ul> <p>An additional characteristic Sande feature – the wooden helmet mask and <a href="/wiki/Raffia_palm" title="Raffia palm">raffia palm</a> costume worn by Sande leaders – is absent among the Kono, Loma, and Mano. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Regional_variations">Regional variations</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Regional variations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Although anthropologists and art historians sometimes describe the Sande society as an all-embracing, pan-ethnic association, there is considerable cultural variation throughout the region.<sup id="cite_ref-d'Azevedo_1980_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-d'Azevedo_1980-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Boone_1986_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Boone_1986-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The ethnic groups where the Sande Society is present speak languages belonging to three language families (<a href="/wiki/Mande_languages" title="Mande languages">Mande</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mel_languages" title="Mel languages">Mel</a> and <a href="/wiki/Kru_languages" title="Kru languages">Kru</a>). They may be <a href="/wiki/Animists" class="mw-redirect" title="Animists">animists</a>, or like the Mende, Vai and Yalunka, they may have significant <a href="/wiki/Muslim" class="mw-redirect" title="Muslim">Muslim</a> populations. </p><p>In some societies, such as the Bassa, Kissi and Kono, the complementary men's society, the Poro, may not be present. Among the Dei and Loma, the Sande society regularly admits male blacksmiths as ritual specialists, and in Gola society, the spirit represented by the mask is considered to be male rather than female. Indeed, the quintessential symbol of Sande among many of the ethnic groups where this woman's association is present – the wooden helmet mask – is entirely absent among the Kpelle, Kono, Loma and Mano. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Initiation_and_transformation">Initiation and transformation</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Initiation and transformation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Sequestration_and_female_genital_mutilation_(FGM)"><span id="Sequestration_and_female_genital_mutilation_.28FGM.29"></span>Sequestration and female genital mutilation (FGM)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Sequestration and female genital mutilation (FGM)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Adolescent girls are initiated as a group during the post-harvest dry season in a specially cleared area of forest surrounding the town or village. The initiation period varies from several weeks to several months, depending upon such factors as the initiate's age, <a href="/wiki/Lineage_(anthropology)" title="Lineage (anthropology)">lineage</a> membership, school attendance, and ethnicity. </p><p>In the past, the girls are said to have remained in the forest, called the bondo or bush period, for upwards of one year, during which time they made rice farms for the Sande leadership. Nowadays, the initiation period lasts around 3–4 weeks.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In addition to the initiate's labor, Sande leaders receive a substantial initiation fee from the girl's father or her prospective husband, as a girl may not marry before initiation.<sup id="cite_ref-:10_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:10-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The details of what transpires in the bush are kept secret, but it is known that the <a href="/wiki/Clitoris" title="Clitoris">clitoris</a> and part of the <a href="/wiki/Labia" title="Labia">labia</a> are <a href="/wiki/Genital_modification_and_mutilation#Female_genital_mutilation" title="Genital modification and mutilation">excised</a>. It is a highly respected female elder who usually performs this surgery. She is reputed “to have a good hand” and good social influence to welcome girls to the bush.<sup id="cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MacCormack_1975-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Sande membership and initiation practices are promoted by zoes, who are typically elderly women who lead the Sande bush. The primary purpose of the female genital mutilation (FGM) procedure is to remove the sexual desire and promiscuity of women, thereby making them “clean” and suitable for marriage. On the day to perform FGM, girls are first asked to ‘numb the area’ by sitting in a bucket of water. Then, they are each tied down with their hands and legs separated. The zoe will perform the ‘procedure’ without any anesthesia. In the past, zoes have used ‘ritual knives’, now it is more common to use unsterilized razor blades or surgical blades.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Post-initiation_education">Post-initiation education</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Post-initiation education"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:SierraLeoneP007.tif" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/SierraLeoneP007.tif/lossy-page1-220px-SierraLeoneP007.tif.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="140" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/SierraLeoneP007.tif/lossy-page1-330px-SierraLeoneP007.tif.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/SierraLeoneP007.tif/lossy-page1-440px-SierraLeoneP007.tif.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3213" data-file-height="2046" /></a><figcaption>Sande society initiates, Sierra Leone. To either side of the initiates stand masked women wearing "devil masks", who are in charge of the initiation.</figcaption></figure> <p>After their wounds have healed, the girls are instructed in domestic skills, farming, sexual matters, dancing, and medicine. Specialized skills such as dyeing cloth may be taught to girls who demonstrate special aptitude or, according to some sources, to girls from high-ranking landowning lineages.<sup id="cite_ref-MacCormack_1982_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MacCormack_1982-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Although there is some debate about whether the emphasis of bush school is to offer girls novel skills that they might not otherwise have at this stage in their lives, it is vital for cultural integration. It is through Sande school education that girls learn cultural customs, such as what it means to be a good wife and mother, as well as how to treat elders.<sup id="cite_ref-:9_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:9-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As Carol MacCormack suggests, it is through the bush school where “they begin to anticipate the role of wife who must work cooperatively with her co-wives and her husband's female kin."<sup id="cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MacCormack_1975-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The most essential lessons learned are deference to authority and an absolute respect for secrecy. The ‘secret’ is enforced by an ‘oath’, and they are told the price for revealing what happened in the ‘bush’  is death to either them or a member of their family. The fear instilled by the zoes make FGM a prohibited conversation topic to discuss with non-members, and open conversation around it could be interpreted as questioning the legitimacy of Sande and its moral teachings.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_13-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Bonding">Bonding</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Bonding"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The shared experience of a lengthy stay in the forest and the risk of the surgery binds the girls together as a cohesive social group.<sup id="cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MacCormack_1975-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> During the bush school period, each girl’s family is obliged to send large quantities of food and there is song and dance each night. The songs usually end with instructive mural laws linked to Sande society.<sup id="cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MacCormack_1975-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After initiation, members obtain the feeling of a larger cultural identity. The induction into Sande society is quite separate from a woman’s social status or position, and is an identity and community she can draw on at any point in her life.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Membership in Sande is a lifelong identity that members carry down to their daughters.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_13-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Through this bonding, women are also taught to maintain the peace of the town. If a man abuses or insults a Sande woman, no other woman in Sande will talk to him. Due to the immediate social ostracization that occurs when men step out of line, women hold the power to create accountability mechanisms in the villages based on the strong bonds that occur during initiation.<sup id="cite_ref-:9_15-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:9-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Return_to_the_community">Return to the community</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Return to the community"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundu_girls_oiled.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Bundu_girls_oiled.jpg/220px-Bundu_girls_oiled.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="161" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Bundu_girls_oiled.jpg/330px-Bundu_girls_oiled.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Bundu_girls_oiled.jpg/440px-Bundu_girls_oiled.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1794" data-file-height="1314" /></a><figcaption>Sande society initiates, Sierra Leone.</figcaption></figure> <p>At the conclusion of their initiation the girls are ritually washed and returned to the community as marriageable adults. They emerge from the forest dressed in their finest clothes, with new names signifying their newly achieved adult status and their persona (i.e. rank) in the association's ritual hierarchy. In some areas, <a href="/wiki/Scarification" title="Scarification">cicatrization</a> in the form of teeth support the view (held by the uninitiated) that the girls were devoured by a forest spirit that has now returned them to society; although death and rebirth imagery is not a universal feature of Sande initiation. </p><p>The ceremony that follows initiation is comparable to a graduation ceremony. The initiates are all dressed in white cotton dresses and head veils, and they sing and dance for everyone in the community to watch.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After, each proud initiate stands with her family and friends, donning an outfit signifying she will never need to be initiated again.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_11-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The next day, the girls model self-control by sitting still while others celebrate their achievement.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_11-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The men express their interest in the initiated girls as future brides and celebrate their virtues of virginity and faithfulness.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_13-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Within Sande society, these new initiates hold the lowest status, but will gain status as they grow older. Hierarchy within Sande is based on both secrecy and age, and older members tend to have more secret knowledge than younger members. As these girls further immerse themselves into society and gain valuable skills, such as midwifing and medicinal work, they are made more valuable in the community.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Symbolic_meaning">Symbolic meaning</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Symbolic meaning"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>According to Jedrej (1986), the Sande initiation ritual centers on several sets of spatial and temporal oppositions, such as those between village (public) and forest (secret) space, on the one hand, and ancestral time (sacred) and the present-day (profane) on the other. The initiate's moral transformation from child to adult occurs in three stages (novice > virgin > bride) marked by public scarification, skin removal, and/or body piercings in the town or village. A key symbol of these performances is the initiate's metaphorical movement through water, the realm of the ancestors.<sup id="cite_ref-Holsoe_1980_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Holsoe_1980-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-MacCormack_1982_14-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MacCormack_1982-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Jedrej_1986_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jedrej_1986-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Unique_masking_traditions_in_Liberia">Unique masking traditions in Liberia</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Unique masking traditions in Liberia"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Masquerade_in_Mende_culture" title="Masquerade in Mende culture">Masquerade in Mende culture</a></div> <p>Women generally do not wear masks in <a href="/wiki/West_Africa" title="West Africa">West Africa</a>, but in this region the most numerous and most important wood masks are produced for use by women for the Sande. Several types of masks, some in wood but many made of leather, fur, and cloth, are used in conjunction with the counterpart male initiation society, the Poro. The masks used in these societies have common iconographic features throughout the region, but each mask is known by an individual person name corresponding to the spiritual force believed to be associated with the local Poro or Sande society chapters.<sup id="cite_ref-Siegmann_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Siegmann-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Iconography_of_the_Mende/Vai_helmet_mask"><span id="Iconography_of_the_Mende.2FVai_helmet_mask"></span>Iconography of the Mende/Vai helmet mask</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Iconography of the Mende/Vai helmet mask"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_74.64_Helmet_Mask_ndoli_jowei_for_Sande_Society.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Brooklyn_Museum_74.64_Helmet_Mask_ndoli_jowei_for_Sande_Society.jpg/220px-Brooklyn_Museum_74.64_Helmet_Mask_ndoli_jowei_for_Sande_Society.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="284" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Brooklyn_Museum_74.64_Helmet_Mask_ndoli_jowei_for_Sande_Society.jpg/330px-Brooklyn_Museum_74.64_Helmet_Mask_ndoli_jowei_for_Sande_Society.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Brooklyn_Museum_74.64_Helmet_Mask_ndoli_jowei_for_Sande_Society.jpg/440px-Brooklyn_Museum_74.64_Helmet_Mask_ndoli_jowei_for_Sande_Society.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1189" data-file-height="1536" /></a><figcaption>Helmet mask (<i>ndoli jowei</i>) for Sande society; late 19th-early 20th century; wood; 39.4 x 23.5 x 26 cm (15<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1154941027">.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}</style><span class="frac"><span class="num">1</span>⁄<span class="den">2</span></span> x 9<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1154941027"><span class="frac"><span class="num">1</span>⁄<span class="den">4</span></span> x 10<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1154941027"><span class="frac"><span class="num">1</span>⁄<span class="den">4</span></span> in.); <a href="/wiki/Brooklyn_Museum" title="Brooklyn Museum">Brooklyn Museum</a> (New York City). A vertical crack runs from base of mask to head band at back center and includes a triangular 1<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1154941027"><span class="frac"><span class="num">3</span>⁄<span class="den">4</span></span> hole below band</figcaption></figure> <p>This type of mask, also often called <i>bundu</i>, is worn at initiation ceremonies celebrating a successful transition into womanhood.<sup id="cite_ref-BMA_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-BMA-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In Mende society, "the term <i>sowo</i> refers to both the supernatural entity which represents the women's secret society, and the masked dancer whose polished black <a href="/wiki/Anthropomorphic" class="mw-redirect" title="Anthropomorphic">anthropomorphic</a> helmet mask and black raphia-covered body the spirit invests with its presence and power."<sup id="cite_ref-Dubinskas_1976_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Dubinskas_1976-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In addition to the mask's appearance at girls' initiation ceremonies, <i>sowo</i> also "appears in public to mark important civic events such as the visits of important dignitaries and the coronations and funerals of important chiefs. On these occasions, her presence is a means of impressing on the community the unity and strength of the female corporate body as well as Sande's political significance."<sup id="cite_ref-Day_1988_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Day_1988-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>According to Dubinskas, the Mende say a finely carved <i>sowo</i> mask is <i>nyande</i> ("good," "pretty," "beautiful" and aesthetically "pleasing") when it includes the following elements, each of which has a symbolic meaning: </p> <ul><li>Full forehead: wisdom, intelligence</li> <li>Somnolent, downcast eyes: modesty</li> <li>Shining black color: mystery</li> <li>Neck rings: health and prosperity (as well as the mask's mythic rise out of the water)</li> <li>Birds: messengers between spirits and humans</li> <li>Cowries: wealth</li> <li>White cloth: ritual purity</li> <li>Fish, snakes, tortoises: the riverine home of <i>sowo</i></li> <li>Antelope horns and <i>lasimo</i> (scripture): 'good medicine' (<i>hale nyande</i>)</li> <li>Three-legged cooking pot: represents <i>sowo</i> as a repository of women's knowledge, and as a symbol of domesticity</li></ul> <p>In addition, the mask's eyes should be slightly oversized (indicating knowledge and wisdom), while the mask's nose and mouth should be slightly smaller than human-sized (for a discussion of Mende feminine beauty).<sup id="cite_ref-Boone_1986_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Boone_1986-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Dubinskas_1976_21-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Dubinskas_1976-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Dubinskas writes that the mask represents the ideals of womanhood and <a href="/wiki/Feminine_beauty_ideal" title="Feminine beauty ideal">the ideal image of feminine beauty</a>, an everywoman versus a woman of extraordinary power, desired by all but attained by an elite few. As such, the mask "embodies and mediates contradictions between traditional feminine role models in the society and the actual political and economic power which women do have access to, if not consistently, then at least regularly and generally enough for that power to call forth a significant symbolic focus in the ideological realm."<sup id="cite_ref-Dubinskas_1976_21-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Dubinskas_1976-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Relationship_between_Sande_and_Poro_societies">Relationship between Sande and Poro societies</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Relationship between Sande and Poro societies"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Throughout this region, the complementarity of men's and women's <a href="/wiki/Gender_roles" class="mw-redirect" title="Gender roles">gender roles</a> – evident in such diverse activities as farming, cloth production, and musical performances – reach full expression. The women's Sande and men's <a href="/wiki/Poro" title="Poro">Poro</a> associations alternate political and ritual control of "the land" (a concept embracing the natural and supernatural worlds) for periods of three and four years respectively. During Sande's sovereignty, all signs of the men's society are banished. </p><p>At the end of this three-year period, the Sande leadership "turns over the land" to its counterparts in the Poro Society for another four years, and after a rest period the ritual cycle begins anew. The alternating three- and four-year initiation cycles for women and men respectively are one example of the widespread use of the numbers three and four to signify the gender of people, places and events; together the numbers equal seven, a sacred number throughout the region.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELeopold1983_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTELeopold1983-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESawyerrTodd1970_24-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESawyerrTodd1970-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Due to the interconnected nature of the Sande and Poro societies, women are regarded as valued and essential community leaders. Although men and women are not regarded as being complete “equals,” Sande society holds a large sway over the community and zoes play an integral role in community conflict resolution.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> During Sande leadership of the land, men brush the sides of the Sande bush and build the hut that will host the bush school, in addition to making sure that the initiates’ safety and security is maintained at all times. The men care a great deal about ensuring that Sande society has everything taken care of when leadership turns over because they are promised to marry the girls in the Sande bush.<sup id="cite_ref-:9_15-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:9-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In this way, Sande and Poro societies work together to ensure that secretive rituals continue. While women appear to lead FGM practices, men also play important political roles to maintain its respect in the community.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Both the Poro and Sande societies have sacred and secret forest areas surrounding the village where they conduct their initiation ceremonies. Trespassers are severely punished if they enter, and there is an eight to ten feet fence marking their entrance.<sup id="cite_ref-:3_27-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Political_and_economic_sway_of_Sande_society_in_Liberia">Political and economic sway of Sande society in Liberia</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Political and economic sway of Sande society in Liberia"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Sande society plays a large political, social, educational, and economic role in Liberia. The practices of Sande, including its initiation rituals, have been documented since the 17th century.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_13-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> National data continued import of Sande societies in Liberia, as FGM is still practiced by 13 of the 16 tribes, by both Muslim and Christian communities, and by well over half of the women in the North-Central and North-Western regions.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_28-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:4-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As a result of Sande society’s heavy influence over many rural communities in Liberia, being initiated into the society is necessary to attain influence and power on a local level. Families who choose to opt out of the Sande or Poro societies in areas where it’s practiced are treated as social outcasts and moral sinners, and are not able to take part in any village decision-making.<sup id="cite_ref-:5_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Economic_influence_of_zoes">Economic influence of zoes</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Economic influence of zoes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Being a zoe has always come with great respect and economic reward. During the slave trade, for example, zoes used ‘bush’ schools as a way of obtaining women to sell to Europeans, and kept the profits for themselves.<sup id="cite_ref-:3_27-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Zoes continue to reap large economic benefits from their leadership role in Sande society. The ‘bush’ schools charge fees and zoes have decreased their length in order to increase turnover. It’s not uncommon for parents to choose between sending their children to bush school or village schools due to the associated costs.<sup id="cite_ref-:5_29-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Once deciding to send their children to bush school, if parents fail to pay the zoes’ fees, their children may not be permitted to return.<sup id="cite_ref-:3_27-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Because zoes control the labor and services to girls in the village, they also extract fees for their spiritual support or assistance during pregnancy and childbirth.<sup id="cite_ref-:6_30-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:6-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Sande's_influence_over_local_and_national_politics"><span id="Sande.27s_influence_over_local_and_national_politics"></span>Sande's influence over local and national politics</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Sande's influence over local and national politics"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Politically, Sande and Poro societies have been protected by official government regulations since 1924. Politicians vying for power have sought initiation into the Poro society to gain legitimacy. It is the job of the government’s Ministry of Internal Affairs to regulate the societies nationwide, as well as to protect them from local contestation.<sup id="cite_ref-:6_30-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:6-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After the Liberian Civil War ended in 2003, the government placed a renewed central focus on supporting cultural traditions, such as Sande and Poro societies, and courting their leaders during election campaigns.<sup id="cite_ref-:10_12-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:10-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Since zoes hold considerable local power and influence, politicians frequently use them to win rural support. Sande and Poro leaders head the National Council of Chiefs and Elders (NCCE), the representative body of traditional authorities in Liberia, and play an advisory role to internal affairs throughout the country, as well as to the state government itself.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_17-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Minister of Internal Affairs, Dr. Henrique Tokpah, like many Liberian politicians, promised to continue to work with all traditional chiefs and zoes in Liberia and to protect their customs.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Sande_and_FGM-related_matters">Sande and FGM-related matters</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Sande and FGM-related matters"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>At the heart of the debate surrounding these traditions is the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM). Momo Kiazolu, chairman of the country's tribal chiefs, emphasized that "it's important for Liberia that [FGM] should continue because that's our culture. Maybe people say it's harmful and don't know what they're talking about."<sup id="cite_ref-:7_32-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:7-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As a result of Sande society’s integral role in local national level politics, legislation that has tried to limit FGM practices in Liberia has been largely ineffective. In 2012, for example, the government of Liberia announced that it had suspended licenses for Sande leaders, but FGM continued at the same rate despite this measure.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_28-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:4-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Additionally, in 2016 when a domestic violence bill was proposed with a clause banning FGM, zoes used their sway in rural communities to ensure that it was taken off the bill, mobilizing their members to protest the ruling and its associated politicians.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 2018, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed Executive Order 92, temporarily banning FGM for the span of a single year. However, this bill was severely limited in its scope and only covered girls below the age of 18 and held lenient penalties for perpetrators. Resultantly, it did little to reduce FGM practices throughout the country.<sup id="cite_ref-:8_34-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:8-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Due to the political influence zoes hold on nearly two-thirds of the Liberian population, no law actually threatening the power of Sande can be approved at a national level.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_13-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Despite the strong political and social sway of Sande, some data suggests that the prevalence of FGM and Sande society practices is declining. According to a 2019-20 Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the U.S. State Department, 38 percent of girls and women ages 15 to 49 have undergone FGM in Liberia. This a clear fall in prevalence from 72.4% among 45–49-year-old women and 39.8% among 20–24-year-old women.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, this cannot be directly attributed to Sande societies losing any of their cultural influence and membership, and might be more suggestive of underreporting due to increased anti-FGM messaging in the media and by the government.<sup id="cite_ref-:11_36-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:11-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The practice remains widespread among women who live in rural areas (52.3%), particularly when compared to those in urban areas (29.9%). It is most prevalent in the North Western (68.3%) and North Central (54.2%) regions. No definitive statistics about the number of women involved in Sande or its temporality exist due to the secretive nature of the society and the widely held fears of retribution for speaking out about its practices, such as FGM. As a result, these numbers are likely to be underreported.<sup id="cite_ref-:11_36-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:11-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Criticisms_of_Sande_society">Criticisms of Sande society</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Criticisms of Sande society"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Although Sande society is integral to the cultural fabric of Liberia, it has also faced wide scrutiny. The main criticisms are its negative effects of girls' enrollment in local schools, its practicing of FGM, its lack of an age limit for initiation, and its recurrent cases of coerced initiation of non-members.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_11-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In 2011, a Ministry of Gender and Development/UNFPA study found that being involved in Sande increased girls' likelihood of dropping out of school.<sup id="cite_ref-:5_29-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Parents have reported prioritizing Sande initiation fees over school fees. Additionally, when bush school is held during the school year, many girls have to pull out of classes for several weeks and frequently do not return.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_11-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Humanitarian and feminist activists have problematized Sande's FGM practices and the dangers that it poses to women’s health and freedom.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Concern has been raised over the age of consent for initiation into Sande societies. Girls as young as two have been sent into bush school.<sup id="cite_ref-:5_29-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Public health advocates have also raised alarm over the after-care practices for the FGM procedure. Due to the remote and discrete nature of the bush, it is unlikely that zoes will take girls to a nearby clinic if complications arise. Additionally, the unsterilized instruments also pose a risk for local infection, <a href="/wiki/Sepsis" title="Sepsis">sepsis</a>, and even death.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_13-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Lastly, there are recurrent cases of forced Sande initiation of non-members that routinely go unpunished. Sande society has a rule that anyone that steps onto their land has to abide by their rules. As a result, strangers who are unaware of traditional customs are forcibly kidnapped and initiated.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_11-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In each of these cases, FGM is used as a punishment for any perceived wrongdoing against Sande members.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_17-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 2021, for example, a case made national headlines because Sande members kidnapped five girls and forcefully initiated them due to allegations of public disturbances and the usage of obscene language on sacred land.<sup id="cite_ref-:8_34-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:8-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Violence_against_Liberian_activists_and_journalists">Violence against Liberian activists and journalists</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Violence against Liberian activists and journalists"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Journalist <a href="/wiki/Mae_Azango" title="Mae Azango">Mae Azango</a> received death threats from several Sande society women for reporting on Sande <a href="/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation" title="Female genital mutilation">FGM</a> practices in 2012.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> FGM is considered a volatile and taboo topic of conversation in Liberia, and even international aid organizations refuse to speak publicly about their work. According to the director of a Liberian aid group, "this is a very sensitive issue, and we need to make sure we are respecting the security and safety of our staff and partners.”<sup id="cite_ref-:7_32-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:7-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation" title="Female genital mutilation">Female genital mutilation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prevalence_of_female_genital_mutilation" title="Prevalence of female genital mutilation">Prevalence of female genital mutilation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secret_society" title="Secret society">Secret society</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-MacCormack_1975-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-MacCormack_1975_1-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFMacCormack1975" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bundu:_Political_Implications_of_Female_Solidarity_in_a_Secret_Society&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bundu: Political Implications of Female Solidarity in a Secret Society (page does not exist)">MacCormack, Carol P.</a> (1975). <a href="/wiki/Dana_Raphael" title="Dana Raphael">Dana Raphael</a> (ed.). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/beingfemalerepro0000inte"><i>Bundu: Political Implications of Female Solidarity in a Secret Society</i></a>. The Hague: Mouton. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-202-01151-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-202-01151-8"><bdi>0-202-01151-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Bundu%3A+Political+Implications+of+Female+Solidarity+in+a+Secret+Society&rft.place=The+Hague&rft.pub=Mouton&rft.date=1975&rft.isbn=0-202-01151-8&rft.aulast=MacCormack&rft.aufirst=Carol+P.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fbeingfemalerepro0000inte&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">[T. J. Alldridge, <i>The <a href="/wiki/Sherbro_people" title="Sherbro people">Sherbro</a> and its Hinterland</i>, (1901)]</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-d'Azevedo_1962-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-d'Azevedo_1962_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFd'Azevedo1962" class="citation journal cs1">d'Azevedo, Warren L. (1962). "Some Historical Problems in the Delineation of A Central West Atlantic Region". <i>Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences</i>. <b>96</b> (2): 512–538. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bibcode (identifier)">Bibcode</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1962NYASA..96..512D">1962NYASA..96..512D</a>. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1749-6632.1962.tb50146.x">10.1111/j.1749-6632.1962.tb50146.x</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:85121542">85121542</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Annals+of+the+New+York+Academy+of+Sciences&rft.atitle=Some+Historical+Problems+in+the+Delineation+of+A+Central+West+Atlantic+Region&rft.volume=96&rft.issue=2&rft.pages=512-538&rft.date=1962&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A85121542%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1111%2Fj.1749-6632.1962.tb50146.x&rft_id=info%3Abibcode%2F1962NYASA..96..512D&rft.aulast=d%27Azevedo&rft.aufirst=Warren+L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Holsoe_1980-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Holsoe_1980_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Holsoe_1980_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHolsoe1980" class="citation journal cs1">Holsoe, Svend E. (1980). "Notes on the Vai Sande Society in Liberia". <i>Ethnologische Zeitschrift</i>. <b>1</b>: 97–109.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Ethnologische+Zeitschrift&rft.atitle=Notes+on+the+Vai+Sande+Society+in+Liberia&rft.volume=1&rft.pages=97-109&rft.date=1980&rft.aulast=Holsoe&rft.aufirst=Svend+E.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Dapper_1668-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Dapper_1668_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDapper1668" class="citation book cs1">Dapper, O. (1668). <i>Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten van Egypten, Barbaryen, Libyen, Biledulgerid, Guinea, Ethiopiën, Abyssine ..</i>. Amsterdam: J. van Meurs.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Naukeurige+Beschrijvinge+der+Afrikaensche+Gewesten+van+Egypten%2C+Barbaryen%2C+Libyen%2C+Biledulgerid%2C+Guinea%2C+Ethiopi%C3%ABn%2C+Abyssine+...&rft.place=Amsterdam&rft.pub=J.+van+Meurs&rft.date=1668&rft.aulast=Dapper&rft.aufirst=O.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Bassir,_Olumbe_1954-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Bassir,_Olumbe_1954_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">[Bassir, Olumbe (July 1954). "Marriage Rites among the Aku (Yoruba) of Freetown". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 24 (3): 251–256]</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211222125403/https://www.28toomany.org/static/media/uploads/Country%20Images/PDF/sierra_leone_country_profile_v2_(october_2018).pdf">"FMG in Sierra Leone"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. 28TooMany, Registered Charity: No. 1150379. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.28toomany.org/static/media/uploads/Country%20Images/PDF/sierra_leone_country_profile_v2_(october_2018).pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 2021-12-22<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2022-05-27</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=FMG+in+Sierra+Leone&rft.pub=28TooMany%2C+Registered+Charity%3A+No.+1150379&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.28toomany.org%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fuploads%2FCountry%2520Images%2FPDF%2Fsierra_leone_country_profile_v2_%28october_2018%29.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/4b20f02bc.html">"Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Sierra Leone: The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM); the government's position with respect to the practice; consequences of refusing to become an FGM practitioner in Bondo Society, specifically, if a daughter of a practitioner refuses to succeed her mother, 27 March 2009, SLE103015.E"</a>. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Canada%3A+Immigration+and+Refugee+Board+of+Canada%2C+Sierra+Leone%3A+The+practice+of+female+genital+mutilation+%28FGM%29%3B+the+government%27s+position+with+respect+to+the+practice%3B+consequences+of+refusing+to+become+an+FGM+practitioner+in+Bondo+Society%2C+specifically%2C+if+a+daughter+of+a+practitioner+refuses+to+succeed+her+mother%2C+27+March+2009%2C+SLE103015.E&rft.pub=Immigration+and+Refugee+Board+of+Canada&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.refworld.org%2Fdocid%2F4b20f02bc.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-d'Azevedo_1980-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-d'Azevedo_1980_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFd'Azevedo1980" class="citation journal cs1">d'Azevedo, Warren L. (1980). "African Art of the West Atlantic Coast: Transition in Form and Content, by Frederick Lamp. L. 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New Haven: Yale University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-03576-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-300-03576-4"><bdi>0-300-03576-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Radiance+from+the+waters+%3A+ideals+of+feminine+beauty+in+Mende+art&rft.place=New+Haven&rft.pub=Yale+University+Press&rft.date=1986&rft.isbn=0-300-03576-4&rft.aulast=Boone&rft.aufirst=Sylvia+Ardyn&rft.au=Busselle%2C+Rebecca&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fradiancefromwate00boon&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_11-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_11-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_11-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_11-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_11-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Peel, J. 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"A Dangerous Job: Fighting against female genital mutilation in Liberia". <i>The World</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://theworld.org/stories/2012-11-19/dangerous-job-fighting-against-female-genital-mutilation-liberia">https://theworld.org/stories/2012-11-19/dangerous-job-fighting-against-female-genital-mutilation-liberia</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Brune, A. (2017). "The Shadow Society That Controls Female Bodies in Liberia". <i>OZY</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/the-shadow-society-that-controls-female-bodies-in-liberia/79806">https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/the-shadow-society-that-controls-female-bodies-in-liberia/79806</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:8-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:8_34-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:8_34-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. (2017). <i>Liberia: The Sande secret society, its activities, organization, leaders and consequences of refusing the role of leader; Sande's power, its treatment of those who speak out against or oppose its practices; state protection for individuals threatened by Sande (2012-November 2016).</i><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/58cff6114.html">https://www.refworld.org/docid/58cff6114.html</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Liberia". <i>United States Department of State</i>. Retrieved 2022-04-29.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:11-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:11_36-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:11_36-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">"28 Too Many". <i>www.28toomany.org</i>. Retrieved 2022-04-29.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Adetunji, S. (2018). The Impact of Parental Education Level, Wealth Status, and Location on Female Genital Mutilation Prevalence in Northwestern Liberia. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/4828/">https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/4828/</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBonnie_Allen2012" class="citation web cs1">Bonnie Allen (March 29, 2012). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120707192050/http://www.theworld.org/2012/03/female-genital-circumcision-temporarily-stopped-in-liberia/">"Female Circumcision Temporarily Stopped in Liberia"</a>. <i>The World</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theworld.org/2012/03/female-genital-circumcision-temporarily-stopped-in-liberia/">the original</a> on 7 July 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">23 September</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=The+World&rft.atitle=Female+Circumcision+Temporarily+Stopped+in+Liberia&rft.date=2012-03-29&rft.au=Bonnie+Allen&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theworld.org%2F2012%2F03%2Ffemale-genital-circumcision-temporarily-stopped-in-liberia%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJina_Moore2012" class="citation web cs1">Jina Moore (29 May 2012). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120903042935/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2012/0529/Mae-Azango-exposed-a-secret-ritual-in-Liberia-putting-her-life-in-danger">"Mae Azango exposed a secret ritual in Liberia, putting her life in danger"</a>. <i>Christian Science Monitor</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2012/0529/Mae-Azango-exposed-a-secret-ritual-in-Liberia-putting-her-life-in-danger/(page)/2">the original</a> on 3 September 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">23 September</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Christian+Science+Monitor&rft.atitle=Mae+Azango+exposed+a+secret+ritual+in+Liberia%2C+putting+her+life+in+danger&rft.date=2012-05-29&rft.au=Jina+Moore&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.csmonitor.com%2FWorld%2FMaking-a-difference%2F2012%2F0529%2FMae-Azango-exposed-a-secret-ritual-in-Liberia-putting-her-life-in-danger%2F%28page%29%2F2&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASande+society" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Other_sources_and_further_reading">Other sources and further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Other sources and further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Abraham, Arthur. <i>Mende Government and Politics under Colonial Rule</i>, Sierra Leone Univ. Press (dist.by Oxford), 1978. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-711638-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-19-711638-8">0-19-711638-8</a></li> <li>Bledsoe, Caroline. <i>Women and Marriage in Kpelle Society</i>. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1980. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8047-1019-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-8047-1019-8">0-8047-1019-8</a></li> <li>Boone, Sylvia A. <i>Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art</i>. (Yale Publications in the History of Art 34). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-03576-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-300-03576-4">0-300-03576-4</a></li> <li>Dapper, O. <i>Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten van Egypten, Barbaryen, Libyen, <a href="/wiki/Biledulgerid" title="Biledulgerid">Biledulgerid</a>, Guinea, Ethiopiën, Abyssine ...</i>, Amsterdam: J. van Meurs, 1668.</li> <li>Day, Lynda Rose. <i>The Female Chiefs of the Mende, 1885-1977: Tracing the Evolution of an Indigenous Political Institution.</i> Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1988.</li> <li>d'Azevedo, Warren L. (1962) <i>Some Historical Problems in the Delineation of A Central West Atlantic Region</i>. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 96: 512-538.</li> <li>d'Azevedo, Warren L. (1980) <i>African Art of the West Atlantic Coast: Transition in Form and Content</i>, by Frederick Lamp. L. Kahan Gallery, New York, 1979. African Arts 14(1): 81-88.</li> <li>Dubinskas, Frank A. <i>"Everywoman" and the "Super"-Woman: An Investigation of the Sowo, Spirit of the Mende Women's Secret Society, Sande: The Relation of Her Form as an Ideological Construction to its Bases in the Social and Economic Position of Women.</i> Unpublished manuscript, 1976.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/McCormack_Easmon" class="mw-redirect" title="McCormack Easmon">Easmon, M. C. F.</a> (1958) <i>Madam Yoko: Ruler of the Mendi Confederacy.</i> Sierra Leone Studies (n.s.) 11: 165-168. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070701223936/http://www.sierra-leone.org/heroes10.html">[1]</a></li> <li>Holsoe, Svend E. (1980) <i>Notes on the Vai Sande Society in Liberia</i>. Ethnologische Zeitschrift 1: 97-109.</li> <li>Jedrej, M. C. (1990) <i>Structural Aspects of a West African Secret Society</i>. Ethnologische Zeitschrift 1: 133-142.</li> <li>Jedrej, M. C. (1986) <i>Cosmology and Symbolism on the Central Guinea Coast</i>. Anthropos 81: 497-515.</li> <li>Lamp, Frederick (1985) <i>Cosmos, Cosmetics, and the Spirit of Bondo</i>, African Arts, 18:3, 28-43+98-99.</li> <li>Leopold, Robert S. (1983) <i>The Shaping of Men and the Making of Metaphors: The Meaning of White Clay in Poro and Sande Initiation Society Rituals</i>. Anthropology 7(2): 21-42.</li> <li>MacCormack, Carol P. [Hoffer] <i>Madam Yoko: Ruler of the Kpa Mende Confederacy</i>. In <i>Woman, Culture and Society</i>, edited by Michele Z. Rosaldo and <a href="/wiki/Louise_Lamphere" title="Louise Lamphere">Louise Lamphere</a>, pp. 171–187, 333-334. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8047-0850-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-8047-0850-9">0-8047-0850-9</a></li> <li>MacCormack, Carol P. [Hoffer]. <i>Bundu: Political Implications of Female Solidarity in a Secret Society</i>. In <i>Being Female: Reproduction, Power, and Change</i>, edited by Dana Raphael, pp. 155–163. The Hague: Mouton, 1975. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-202-01151-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-202-01151-8">0-202-01151-8</a></li> <li>MacCormack, Carol P. [Hoffer]. <i>Health, Fertility and Birth in Moyamba District, Sierra Leone</i>. In <i>Ethnography of Fertility and Birth</i>. C. P. MacCormack, ed. pp. 115–139. NY: Academic Press, 1982. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-12-463550-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-12-463550-4">0-12-463550-4</a></li> <li>Phillips, Ruth. B. (1995) <i>Representing Woman: Sande Masquerades of the Mende of Sierra Leone.</i> Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-930741-45-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-930741-45-5">0-930741-45-5</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harry_Sawyerr_(theologian)" title="Harry Sawyerr (theologian)">Sawyerr, Harry</a> and S. K. Todd (1970) <i>The Significance of the Numbers Three and Four among the Mende of Sierra Leone</i>. Sierra Leone Studies (n.s.) 26: 29-36.</li></ul>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&oldid=1212344044">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sande_society&oldid=1212344044</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:African_secret_societies" title="Category:African secret societies">African secret societies</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Organizations_based_in_Liberia" title="Category:Organizations based in Liberia">Organizations based in Liberia</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Organisations_based_in_Guinea" title="Category:Organisations based in Guinea">Organisations based in Guinea</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Organisations_based_in_Sierra_Leone" title="Category:Organisations based in Sierra Leone">Organisations based in Sierra Leone</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Organizations_based_in_Ivory_Coast" title="Category:Organizations based in Ivory Coast">Organizations based in Ivory Coast</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Female_genital_mutilation" title="Category:Female genital mutilation">Female genital mutilation</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Violence_against_women_in_Liberia" title="Category:Violence against women in Liberia">Violence against women in Liberia</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Violence_against_women_in_Guinea" title="Category:Violence against women in Guinea">Violence against women in Guinea</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Violence_against_women_in_Sierra_Leone" title="Category:Violence against women in Sierra Leone">Violence against women in Sierra Leone</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Violence_against_women_in_Ivory_Coast" title="Category:Violence against women in Ivory Coast">Violence against women in Ivory Coast</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Harv_and_Sfn_no-target_errors" title="Category:Harv and Sfn no-target errors">Harv and Sfn no-target errors</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_with_non-English_text_lacking_appropriate_markup_and_no_ISO_hint" title="Category:Pages with non-English text lacking appropriate markup and no ISO hint">Pages with non-English text lacking appropriate markup and no ISO hint</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_with_non-English_text_lacking_appropriate_markup_from_August_2021" title="Category:Pages with non-English text lacking appropriate markup from August 2021">Pages with non-English text lacking appropriate markup from August 2021</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 7 March 2024, at 10:53<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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