Chi Wara Male headdress

The Chi Wara is the best known among the Bamana association, which caught the attention of the West, because of it graceful decorative carved antelope headdress. In the past the purpose of the Chi Wara association was to encourage cooperation among all members of the community to ensure a successful crop. Chi Wara masqueraders perform always together in a male and female pairs, the coupling of the antelope,  masqueraders speak of fertility and agricultural abundance. This antelope headdress is in the vertical style, found in eastern Bamana and has a pair of upright horns (Perani&Smith, 1998:74-75).