https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/72600/fullFace mask (Suruku)[]Wood, animal hair, and encrustationsHyena face mask with slender nose, vertical ears, and trace of animal hair. The Koré society, an elite men's association, has largely died out in Mali. A man could only join the society after having proved himself in several other associations such as the Komo and Ci Wara. Traditionally, the society provided adolescent boys an entry to adulthood. Every seven years, an initiation ritual occurred in which boys were symbolically killed and resuscitated after eschewing childhood and proving themselves as men. Before returning to the village, the boys were instructed in herbal medicine, sexuality, and their communal responsibilities. This hyena mask is danced by a member of one of the most junior levels of the prestigious Koré society. Ugly to behold with its crude features and oversized ears, this mean and stupid scavenger signifies all that is undesirable in respectable men. The hyena mask teaches by contrary example; this vulgar animal is the antithesis of civilized man. The Bamana, an ethnolinguistic group of the upper Niger region of Mali, cannot be easily distinguished from their neighbors such as the Mande or Fula who have adopted Bamana language and culture. Formerly called "Bambara," a pejorative name assigned to Bamana people by outside informants, the Bamana distinguish themselves from their neighbors in religious terms. Bamana people observe the religious practices of their ancestors; they have not converted to Islam. com.gallerysystems.emuseum.core.entities.Classification@6bhttps://emuseum.cornell.edu/objects/12305/rdf