Chi Wara Headdress, Bamana peoples, Mali

The deity Chi Wara taught the first humans how to cultivate plants for food. To honor him and to ensure abundant harvests, an organization of farmers was created in his name. The Chi Wara Association teaches its members the art of productive farming. Once a year, the two most skillful farmers in each area are selected to dance two sacred crest masks, a male/female pair. The male Chi Wara is conceived as the sun, while the female represents the bountiful earth. Their design represents the conditions necessary for agricultural success. Chi Wara’s long, sleek horns represent healthy stalks of millet grain – the principle crop of Bamana farmers. The infant atop the Chi Wara female’s back symbolizes human beings, whose lives depend upon the farmers’ care in facilitating the blessed union of these male and female elements.