among the people. The Teke engage in the regular
use of festivals and rites to honor the ancestors
who were hunters, farmers, or fishermen,
although the Teke are now principally traders in
the riverine areas of the Congo and Gabon. Yet
the complexity of their powerful artistry as repre-
sented in the diverse butti and nkir gives the Teke
a prominent position in the history of traditional
African values.
Although the butti and nkir are creative, they
are no more powerful than the Teke masks. In the
African world, it is well known that, for many
centuries, the Teke and other people used masks
as a way of expressing thoughts about the natural
world, social organization, and the spiritual
realm. Masks are traditionally used in village reli-
gious celebrations and worn during ceremonial
dances. They often represent animal gods usually
found in stories, and the dances associated with
the masks would help to interpret a myth, set
down folklore, or act out an African legend. The
art of making masks and wearing them at tradi-
tional gatherings is still common in many areas
of Africa. In many parts of Africa, masks are still
used today to display the spirit beings, departed
ancestors, and sometimes the invisible powers of
the ancestors.
For centuries, African people have employed
masks to venerate the ancestors and bring honor
to the living and the Dead. In cultural displays of
respect to ancestors, the trained African dancers
use these ceremonies with masks to express their
connections to those who laid the foundations of
the society. These complex ceremonial events,
which often use masks, demonstrate the social,
religious, artistic, ancestral, and moral values
because each performer uses masks to engage
and enthrall the audience with the wide variety
of traditions present in the African world. Masks
have always been used to demonstrate the com-
plex African village. It is impossible to explore
African life and custom historically and not have
a basic understanding of the use of the mask. The
mask has and will continue to have large ances-
tral meanings and implications for the African
world.
M.TillotsonSeealsoAncestors
Further Readings
Olson, J. S. (1996).The Peoples of Africa:An
Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press.
Willett, F. (1993).Introduction to African Art. London:
Thames & Hudson.TELLELAMARNA
SeeAKHETATEN
TELLEM
The Tellem people are an ancient African people
who lived at the foothills of the Bandiagara Hills
before the coming of the more powerful and
dominant Dogon people in the 14th century. The
Dogon were eventually fully ensconced in their
present territory by the 18th century. It is believed
that the Tellem were responsible for much of the
art and culture that is now called Dogon. In fact,
many anthropologists and historians like to refer
to the Dogon culture as Dogon-Tellem as a way of
referencing the enormous contributions that the
Dogon got from the earlier people who occupied
their current land.
It is believed that the Dogon originated in the
Manding mountains near the borders of
Equatorial Guinea and Mali. At the present time,
there are 1 million Dogon living mainly in Mali
in a region that stretches from the border with
Burkina Faso in the east to the region of Sevare in
the west. This vast region extends the length of the
Bandiagara cliff.
The Tellem, who the Dogon call “the ones we
found here,” are the original inhabitants who
farmed and hunted in the Bandiagara cliffs. Yet
when the Dogon were fleeing the onslaught of
Islam, they sought refuge in the cliffs alongside
and among the cliff dwellers who lived inside the
cliffs. The meeting between the Dogon and the
Tellem was unfortunate for the Tellem inasmuch
as the Dogon, with superior weapons and experi-
enced in warfare, often by being attacked them-
selves, were able to subdue and eventually wipe652 Tellem