Senufo bird

In the initiation ceremonies of the Poro of Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, a Senufo bird is a hat worn by men or carried in a procession, especially during an initiation ceremony.^[1]^[2] Between uses it is kept the Poro’s secret tree grove.^[2] The base is hollowed out underneath so that it may fit like a cap on the head.^[2] However, many of the birds stand on cylindrical bases that seem to be designed to rest upon the ground.^[3]

The Senufo "is said to symbolize fertility, increase and the continuity of the community."^[1]

According to Senufo belief, the hornbill was one of the first living creatures.^{[citation needed]}

The long phallic beak touching its swollen belly suggesting pregnancy, represents the dual forces of the male and female parts.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Selection 1966. University of California, Berkeley. University Art Museum. 1966. p. 7. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Sejen (bird): Senufo artist: 19th–mid-20th century". Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
^ LeVert, Suzanne (2007). Sierra Leone (Cultures of the World). Marshall Cavendish Corp. ISBN 978-0761423348.