Dimensions: H:18.9" W:7.9" L:3.1" Weight: 2.0 lbs.
Tikar Mask from Cameroon - This colorfully decorated and detail mask is hand carved from Cameroon in the Tikar tribe. The mask is worn during harvesting ceremonies. The basic idea behind these rituals was that the ground was sacred because it belonged to the ancestors. When the harvest is good, there is reason to rejoice and express gratitude to them.
About the Tribe
The Tikar are a Cameroonian ethnic proto-Bantoid Tikar-speaking group. They are primarily found in the Western Grassfields (Bamenda Plateau) and Eastern Grassfields (Fumban) and the Tikar plain of Bankim (Upper Mbam). According to oral history, the Tikar originated in the Arabian peninsula and migrated to the Nile Valley region of modern-day Sudan near Meroe. They then migrated from Sudan to Ntumu, Cameroon's present-day Tikar Plain, and intermarried with the locals. Those who claim Tikar ancestry in the Bamenda Grassfields include Nso and Kom, Bum,Bafut, Oku, Mbiame, Wiya, Tang, War, Mbot, Mbem, Fungom, Weh, Mmen, Bamunka, Babungo, Bamessi, Bamessing, Bambalang, Bamali, Bafanji, Baba (Papiakum), Bangola, Big Babanki, Babanki Tungo, Nkwen, Bambili and Bambui.