The Senufo peoples, who now number three million, have inhabited areas of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Côte d'Ivoire since the 15th century. Senufo villages are organized according to family lineage and age and are governed by a council of elders. All men belong to the Poro society in which they learn their social, political, and spiritual roles. Similarly, women belong to the Sandogo society. Senufo art includes wooden sculpture and masks for initiation and funeral ceremonies as well as dye-decorated textiles and pottery.

Excerpt from

Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 304.

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