Ngoin helmet crest

Ngoin represents a royal female spirit and serves as a generic symbol of womanhood. It dances with Kam, a leader male mask. These masks are part of an ensemble of twenty or more masks representing different characters that are worn on the occasion of funeral celebrations for high-ranking elders and in the contexts of social control and law enforcement.

The mask fits snugly on top of the dancer’s head and is worn with a costume of blue-and-white resist-dyed royal cloth. The dancer’s face is concealed under a fitted hood.