MENDE COSMOS

Marriage: 

Marriages are mostly exogamous and patrilocal within the mende's. It's a sign of social progress, and chastity is frowned upon and considered abnormal. For a man, Polygyny enhances a man's social caliber and prestige. Economically, polygyny provides labor to the family for farming when children are being born into the family. Divorce traditionally is not common, but exceptional circumstances can lead a marriage to be dissolved after which the bride-wealth is refunded to the husband.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2Ctcrq4HqPQu0U9PkSOTynqKPni5kW1EinFCJUYet_RjPqWb2ivOFlrAFSVDFcViJFDuuZTIL38DwsGBt43CrLTFoRzbwH3nCSVprmKFlPqhcZlyUPmKsqT1TGXFtKEDeocgWED5Fhc/s400/Falwi-devil-with-attendants.gif

Inheritance:

 Patrilineal form of inheritance is very common in the inheritance system of the Mende’s. After the passes away, his immediate heirs to his land are his brothers in order of age, followed by his sons and then his daughters. In their absence, the matrilineal system of inheritance prevails and the nephew becomes the heir.

Religious Beliefs:

Priests serve as mediators between the local people of the Mende and their deities. They offer sacrifices to the deities to ask for protection and favor on behalf of the local people. There are also diviners, traditional physicians who diagnose illness, interpret omens and predict the future. The traditional healing doctor takes the functional role of the priest's in ritual healing and prepares protective charms against evil and harmful spirits.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nvwK6OnRHVyaqfe5ANs-bLuBSEPLsF1ClxAePpPvdixroR1Bfoo5cxVgOCjt7Oi_TQqwbdPyIv9pQEiB9gSsgA-nI_X7nDba_GtijOzMU9RT8wMpg5DKbtmNknu82umh6MyUh1wB_3A/s640/8.jpg

Sande, also known as bundo is a women's association found within the culture where girls are initiated into womanhood with notions of morality and appropriate sexual conduct being instilled in them. In these rites, women are made to wear wooden face mask controlled exclusively by women – a feature which underlines the peculiar social position of women within the society.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPBCcTsXvGmowFNAdacZ8kvY_hxvn3-dytpjK6RLDqpqO1R2GYzVUO8zs7DLr5NGs7tm6a6pjR5SUDkWwCqTHiz8XhTmQ_SiA8wkrCzVeEw14fvrmwNug0A3_RetybNgBYx4Ptghw0xg/s660/Devil-dancing-b.jpg