Imina na mask

The imina na mask was used during Sigi, a festival held every 60 years. In the Sigi-so language, Awa duno translates as great Awa or old Awa. The name imina na comes from the Dogo-so language and means great mask or imina mask.The mask represents an ancestor who died through young men's fault and then transformed into a snake. It is performed to protect the first person's soul. Each village, or in the case of large villages, each district, prepares a new mask before the Sigi festival. The work is supervised by Olubaru, a man initiated into the Awa cult. He selects a few young men belonging to a inne puru group for the task. In seclusion, they make the mask and learn the secret Sigi-so language. Imina na is made from one long piece of wood, which can measure over ten metres. Only two tree species are used to make it, called ga and togodo in the local language. These trees are endowed with nyama, a kind of soul, and their sap is red and resembles blood. The completed mask is placed next to an altar of masks, from which it draws strength in the form of nyama offerings. Although imina dances on it and is never applied to the face, it has a schematic facial part at the bottom, with the eyes marked. During the Sigi festival, it is placed vertically in the main square, and the lower facial part is buried in the ground or covered with stones. The mask is decorated with alternating dark and light triangles, which symbolise the patterns laid on the snake's skin. After the ceremony, it is moved to a safe place, usually a horizontal rock crevice, where masks from previous Sigi festivals are also kept.

Ewa Prądzyńska