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Among the Senufo, pairs of figures representing the
ancestral couple are the procession of the singzanga, "the sacred precincts of
the Poro society" (Glaze 1981 in Sieber & Walker p. 28). According to Anita Glaze
(1981), the pair symbolizes the civilized state of the initiate and expresses purity in
the path of Poro, the way of being a proper, contributing member of society. By their
economy of form, gesture and facial expression, they express an inward energy, containment
and control-- a symbol of ideal behavior and civilized aspects of the world (Glaze in
Sieber & Walker 1987, p.28). When placed in a position of honor at Poro association
events, including funerals of members, they link the concept of ultimate origin to the
concept of death-- completing the cycle (ibid.). Glaze has written that "the guardian
couple watched over the site where the body will be brought for final ancestral rites and
where maskers perform" (ibid. p. 29).
In the matrilineal society of the Senufo, the role
of the female is considerable, thus statues of ancestral pairs often have a female larger
than the male. Glaze reports the:
"dominating status of the female figure is
a ...declaration ...of core Senufo social and religious concepts: the procreative,
nourishing, sustaining role of both mothers and Deity;...tracing relationships and
determining succession rights to title and property; and the special role of women as
intermediaries with the supernatural world." (ibid.)
The secret names of the Senufo primordial couple--
the pair of original ancestors-- are "ones who give birth" or "ones who
bear offspring". The couple are the ideal social unit of the reborn initiated man and
woman giving reverence to the ancestral lineage of Poro graduates who have suffered
for the group during their lifetime (Glaze in Sieber & Walker 1987, p. 33).
A typical couple shows a male wearing an
open-worked headdress and holding a flywhisk in his hand--emblems of the Kwonro (or
Kworo) age-grade of the men's Poro association. The female, in her ritual
scarification and adornment, represents a fully initiated member of the Sandogo
association. All men must be initiated into the Poro society, however all do not
gain the specialized knowledge to achieve the highest grades. Through knowledge of
genealogy and kinship and activities of divination, the women’s Sandogo
society gains social control (Goldwater & Glaze in Sieber & Walker, p33). The
couples used by the diviner are much smaller--averaging about six or eight inches high
(ibid., p 29).The Senufo primordial couples are also referred to as "rhythm
pounders." Poro initiates, strike them against the ground during stages of the
funeral and other ceremonies (ibid., p33)--preparing the soul for a new existence in the
kingdom of the ancestors, an essential rite of passage.
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