‘Madam Yoko and the Sande Dancers’

Madam Yoko (c.1849-1906) was a famous Mende paramount chief who was a powerful figure within the female Sande society. The lantern ‘Madam Yoko and the Sande Dancers’ was built by Supercombo Lantern Club and comprised puppets depicting Madam Yoko herself (not visible in this photograph), 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 and debuls were depicted in puppet form in lanterns for purely entertainment purposes and not as part of any society masquerade.