Bwa

The Bwa are divided between Burkina and Mali. They are essentially animists and practice worship of God Do. They do not have a boss, decisions are made collectively in the assemblies of notables, although their power is also limited. The most important professional corporations are blacksmiths, musicians and growers. There was great historical confusion with regard to the Bwathe French confused them with the Bobo Fing and with Bobo Oule, although they have nothing in common with this ethnic group, not even the language. They have numerous family altars dedicated to the secondary gods of nature, but there is no established hierarchy, each family gives preference to its gods. All their masks represent spirits of nature. Its owl, hawk and butterfly masks are important and well known, with colorful drawings and colors, among which the white dominates. The zig-zag drawings represent the way of the ancestors while the red, black and white squares symbolize the social and religious precepts they must respect. They also have buffalo, antelope and numerous animals masks. MASCARAS NWANTANTAY Used in celebrations at funerals of important people and in agrarian festivities and also in initiation rites, as well as most of their masks, and even manifest in markets. It is a large white plate, with geometric drawings, finished with a motif that looks like a croissant or a quarter moon. They represent the calao, the owl and sometimes the duck if the beak is too wide. MASCARA GAVILAN The hawk or Dourô mask and the butterfly mask or Yehoti are very similar both in shape and size. The first has the largest nose and the second the mouth opened in the form of a rhombus or square supported on a vertex. It differs from the butterfly mask because it has a beak in the center. There is a great confusion between the hawk mask and the owl mask. These three masks symbolize the Leele spirit, the leaf masks to God Do and the wooden masks and fibers to God Lanlee.