Mama

With a reputation for having practiced anthropophagy, the mothers, implanted in the Jos region, in central Nigeria, have been a bellicose people characterized by their ferocity, which has prevented them from achieving a beautiful stylization of the buffalo's head for their masks. These masks are used by members of a male society mainly in the Mangam rites intended to dominate the vital forces of nature and put them at the service of man helping to maintain social order, uniting the group and favoring agricultural production. The breast buffalo masks are kept in the sacred forest. They can also be taken to the village to accompany the deceased on their last trip or to participate in the enthronement of a chief. They are always bearers of prosperity.