Humoi

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A cult association among the Mende and other peoples in south-eastern Sierra Leone concerned with upholding traditional relationships and the prohibitions associated with them, as for example the rules relating to sexual relations. In particular, it supplies rites of purification for those guilty of simongama or '', a Mende term that covers various categories of illicit sexual intercourse, such as having sex in the daytime or sex in the bush, but also physical contact of any kind with certain prohibited individuals. A few examples of wooden masks have been described as humoi masks, but their use does not seem to be widespread.

[The most detailed account of Humoi is in Harris and Sawyerr, although they have nothing to say about any masquerade associated with its activities.]

  • W.T.Harris & H.Sawyerr, The Springs of Mende Belief and Conduct (Freetown 1968), 93-99.
  • A.J.Gittins, Mende Religion (Nettetal 1987), 142-145.