Part of a lantern (‘Madam Yoko and the Sande Dancers') under construction

In this photograph four kneeling figures are carrying the kundei (‘medicine’) of the Sande society. Each branch of the society has its own kundei. The figures belong to a lantern depicting ‘Madam Yoko and the Sande Dancers’ which was built for Kissy Central Lantern Club and which included puppets depicting Madam Yoko herself, various musicians, Sande sampa dancers and a black Sande debul called sowei. (In Sierra Leone debuls (‘devils’) are human masqueraders who embody and perform the spirits of different cult associations (‘societies’). The term connotes nothing evil. They were depicted in puppet form in lanterns for purely entertainment purposes and not as part of any msaquerade.) Madam Yoko (c.1849-1906) was a famous Mende paramount chief who was a powerful figure within the female Sande society.