elope was supposed to have played a significant rolein this. Two men, one wearing a male antelope headdress, theother wearing a female antelope headdress danced on thecommunal field. While they were doing this other young menhoed all day to mark the opening of the planting season. Theappearance of the masked figures was a scared rite to honorthe mythical wild creature who brought the knowledge ofhoeing to mankind. The dancers were covered in long blackfibers, and bent over on sticks. They imitated thecultivator, or pawed the ground like mating antelopes. Nowthe ceremony honors the good farmer, which is one that workslike a Tyi Wara. Which means a cultivator, a wild animal, oran excellent farmer. The example in the art gallery of an antelope headdresswas an exaple of a Tyi Wara. The long nose of the headdressrefers to the pangolin. This is a small animal who survivesby burrowing in the ground for his food. They use thisbecause a good farmer does the same thing by hoeing theground. The male antelope headdresses horns are usuallycurved and the females are usually straight. Anotherdistinction between the male and female headdresses is thatthe females sometimes have a small antelope on there ...
