Senufo People Research Paper

The Senufo people are located in Cote d Ivoire, Ghana. The Senufo people are considered a people heavily involved with the “spiritual realm”. Religion is quite different when it comes to the people of Senufo, they do not associate themselves as one of the three prominent religions of the world; Islam, Christianity, or Judaism. There is a belief that a women spirit; called the “ancient mother” is heavily involved with the poro society 2. The poro society (a male dominated community) was also a vital part of the Senufo community. The poro community were to turn boys to men through ceremonies 3 , but their focus was to make sure their relation with the ancestral spirits were good 4 .
The rhythm pounder was used by the Senufo people in the poro society during these ceremonies; the ceremonies were to initiate new members to the poro society. …show more content…
Without microphones it would be impossible to hold big events; the type of events that involve someone communicating to a wide group of people. The same with the poro society, the way they communicate with the dead is beating the rhythm pounder against the ground so the ancestors can purify the earth. So, without their rhythm pounder their would be no big ceremony, and without our microphones their would probably not be any big gatherings that involve one person speaking to a wide group.
The way I see it is that rhythm pounders was used during their religious ceremonies, and it really relates to how whenever I go to church and the pastor is speaking to us through the microphone. The members of the poro society and the pastor are both practicing their religious beliefs through their modern pieces of art, and it is quite astonishing how decades can pass yet art can still remain so similar. One is using his art to preach the gospel, and the other is using his art to perform his religious ceremony, both pieces of art are both similar in stature and the way it is