ACTIVIDADES

Sociologically, the life of the Mano people was governed by and revolved around the secret societies. The largest and most important were the Poro and the Sande Societies. The Poro Society was the bush society for men and boys and the Sande Society was the auxiliary for women and girls. The Poro Society originated with the Mano and the meaning of the word Poro was “tattoo” or “body marking.” The Poro Society has been the greatest barrier for Christianity to overcome in penetrating the indigenous Mano village with the good news (Wonbenyakeh, May 2009).

The barrier of the Poro Society to Christianity was not only an issue of religious belief. History demonstrated that both the governmental political relationships and the missionary enterprise struggled to transcend that divide. In the Mano tradition, the village chief had a governance role related to family, town, and community, but significant issues could only be appealed to a tribunal of the Poro secret society, thus centralizing control and power. The prominent role and secretive structure of the society, created a barrier to all outside influences (Harley 1941:6).

In the early years of evangelization and without context of how the Poro functioned, the Society would have seemed an insurmountable barrier. In early writings on the subject, Jackson described the society to his Canadian family as clubs with indigenous

94Kissi Money or Money with a soul. [Online]. http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/kissi.htm.

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membership that once in were very hard to get out of. He acknowledged that because of secrecy, he did not know precisely what happened, but viewed the society as a diabolical barrier to the Gospel (Gautier 1995:17).

The Poro Society had many different functions, serving as an integral part of the society structure, much as a town or city government in the Western world. An analogy of the Poro would be that of a municipality functioning in many arenas including judicial, administrative, enforcement, and recreational. In the same way, the Poro was a body with many functions. The Poro functioned as a training institute that taught boys to become men, but also had spiritual, civic, and religious functions.

The Poro Society was set up as a village structure with a hierarchical council of secretly named officials. The Poro drew from families in the village and masks were used to identify roles. The power of those identified in leadership roles through family lineage was believed to be endowed to them through ancestral spirits. Sacred locations were utilized for activities. The inner circle ruled on issues of economic, social, and political disputes and governed outside relations (Harley 1941:8).

The spiritual component of the Poro was led by a Zo, who was a respected elder, and considered to have medicinal and spiritual powers, along with levels of authority (Dunn 2001:366). Zo was often synonymous in the English language with a witchdoctor. In the Poro, a Zo may have also functioned as a herbalist, medicinal practitioner, chief, village leader, or a host of other roles. An error of the early missionary enterprise was to view the role of a Zo as only spiritual and evil.

The Mano have always been a proud people and have appreciated speaking in parables and respectful dialogue. Overcoming barriers involves respecting the leaders and structures. According to Gbengan (June 2011), the church, when possible, should seek to be in partnership with the local leaders and communities. The Poro society was intertwined with life and village structure and a church must distinguish which areas were in conflict, but recognize other parts are a normal functioning part of life.

144 5.5.1 Societal Initiation

A major function of the Poro and Sande was the transition and education of young boys and girls to adulthood. The training was conducted by the societal groups and the process was long, complex, and secretive. There was a hereditary right to leadership and groupings were formed to ensure the development of future leaders.

The Society was secretive, so there were not a lot of sources for information from local agents. Harley (1941) wrote extensively on this subject as he gained knowledge from the collection of the masks. In addition, some information was obtained from nationals who had learned of the traditions through oral transmission.

A primary point of entry to the Poro was the practice of initiation which took place in the spirit forest. The Mano term for the initiation was ge bon. In the older oral accounts, boys in their early teens were taken to the forest for three years or more.

They were to learn codes of behavior, obedience to elders, and general life lessons.

During the process, they underwent circumcision, bodily markings, and secret rituals.

This practice gradually changed and became a shorter rite (Adams 2009:19).

The girls were usually taken into the forest around the age of puberty while still virgins. This was a traumatic event as they were usually taken unexpectedly and blindfolded at night. The overseer was the female Zo who was only seen with a mask, creating an atmosphere of fear (Harley 1941:16-17). The fear factor contributed to the perpetuation of the devil. There was a lot of fear as the girls were forced into the process (Betty Jonah, May 2009).

One of the acts of the female initiation that caused such fear was the female genital mutilation. This was a painful and risky process. Jonah described the initiation as dangerous and shared the case of her intervention in regards to the daughter of a church deacon (name removed for privacy). His daughter was taken at night to the bush to be initiated. During the mutilation, they were unable to stop the bleeding.

This and unsanitary conditions commonly caused infections. Jonah challenged the

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society leaders to remove the girl and get medical treatment and advocated judicially for an end to this practice. Jonah lamented that this has been a problem for many years and young women have died because of the process.

Another example of a proactive Christian transformative role was with Pastor Anita Wonbenyakeh (May 2009) who led the church to challenge this practice as an abuse against women.⁹⁵ Anita and Moses created a safe haven for young girls at Mensonn Baptist Church to resist being taken into the initiation process. Wonbenyakeh was able to challenge the Society, in part because the influence was weakened by the war and also because of the growing impact of the church. A judicial verdict rendered that girls could not be taken by force into the initiation. Individual and family consent was mandated and ended the practice of female genital mutilation in the village.

Reflecting on behalf of the advocacy of women, Longkumer (2011:304) stated that Christian mission should insure that women are protected and nurtured both in the church and in society. The movement of indigenous evangelization of the Mano and Gio not only advocated for women, but the advocacy was often provided through the leadership of women. This study demonstrates the significant roles that women have played in Liberia in recent years, both politically and spiritually.

At the end of the six months of initiation, the boys and girls completed their rite of passage and were brought out at harvest. The families provided food for a celebration and the girls came out covered in chalk while the boys came out with distinguishing marks. The difficulty of the encounter with the society was that there were some aspects that needed to be challenged, but other aspects that were preparation for life.

When the society was weakened, it eliminated the unhealthy practices, but it also ended the contextual training processes of adolescents of the village. There is a broader debate on how to view African Traditional Religions in relationship to Christianity. This research has avoided this debate as it requires more extensive discussion and is not at the core of answering this research question of evangelization.

95Lapea #1 is the name of the village near Karnplay and has approximately 3 000 people.

146 5.5.2 Oracle Tree

Another element associated with the Poro Society was the presence of the Oracle Tree. Oracle was another word for god and the name might be better understood in translation as the “god tree.” This tree was traditionally planted at the establishment of the village. As you entered or passed an older Mano or Gio village, there was a large Cottonwood Tree in the center or at the approach of the town.

The older Mano traditions stated that to establish a new village, a tree would be planted and the people would worship and make sacrifices at the oracle tree. The ceremony of the planting of the tree involved a human sacrifice. According to M.

Wonbeyakeh (May 2009), the village elder would have taken a niece who was a virgin, but with breasts (in or just past puberty), and she would be buried alive and the cottonwood tree planted on top of her. In later years, an animal would have been used as a substitute sacrifice. The practice of human sacrifice ended when the tribal wars ended and with the implementation of governmental control. The tree was regarded as a spiritual tree and most of the animistic practices were associated with the tree.

A similar description was presented in The Situation of the Mano of Guinea. In describing the barrier of evangelizing the Mano of Guinea, Moisy Mamy stated:

The Mano have trees planted in the middle of their villages. In ancient times, the Mano wanted to dedicate themselves to something. So when someone founded a village, the village would meet together and say to the founder: “We want to dedicate your village to a god; give the village a member of your family that the village can make a living sacrifice.” The person would give his niece. The village would dig a hole in the middle of the village and then would bring the person to be sacrificed. After saying everything, they would place the person in the hole alive and place a bowl on his head. They would plant the tree in the bowl and then bury the person alive in the hole. After some time had passed, the tree would sprout and grow and all in the village would come to worship it with fear.

These sacrificial trees exist everywhere in Mano villages (Mamy 1997:2).

This example in another country demonstrated that this was a practice throughout the Mano and was probably applicable among other ethnic groups of the Poro Society.

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In Lapea #1, Wonbenyakeh (June 2010) recounted a story of the spiritual battle between the village elders and the church regarding the disruptive influence of the Oracle Tree. Though the Poro system was not fully functioning after the war, there was the practice of witchcraft associated with the Oracle Tree. Many young people were drawn into the practice which included casting spells, manipulating the spirits, and pronouncing evil intent on people. This practice also involved exchanging of sexual favors. These practices created significant chaos and strife in the village.

After a season of prayer and fasting, the leaders of the Mensonn Baptist Church approached the village elders for permission to cut down the oracle tree to disrupt the witchcraft process. Initially, the village elders refused because of the significance of the tree and because the tree was used as a tool to manipulate for personal gain. A village leader stated that it would be impossible to cut the tree down because of the size of the tree and the spiritual power possessed in the tree. The response of the church leaders was to state that if the tree could protect itself, why were they afraid to let the church try to cut it down? The elders agreed to let the church try to cut the tree down, not feeling as though it would be possible.

After three days of prayer and fasting, the church began the process of cutting the tree down. Cutting down the tree took over 16 hours during the Easter weekend of 2010, but the tree finally fell the day before Easter. Initially, the cutting down of the tree caused consternation in the village, but ultimately, the people believed that the power of the God proved greater than the evil powers of the Oracle Tree.⁹⁶ The church doubled in attendance and many people believed and received the good news of salvation and were baptized (Wonbenyakeh, June 2010).

The practice of witchcraft was greatly diminished and the unity of the village increased as a result of this event. The story of the Oracle Tree was conveyed by Moses Wonbenyakeh in the presence of other church members. This researcher saw

96Felling of the cottonwood tree in Lapea #1.

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the tree in 2009 and then, after the tree was cut down in 2010. The church added an addition to the building to expand in order to provide space for all the new members.

Refer to the footnotes for links to a You Tube video interview.⁹⁷

Christianity, culture, and witchcraft are a central conversation in The Changing Face of Christianity. Van den Berg (Sanneh and Carpenter 2005:45) engages the discussion of how witchcraft and evil in the African context are understood. He states (:51) that in cultures where the belief of witchcraft exits, understanding varies only slightly and witches and witchcraft are exclusively evil with intent to subvert society. These beliefs are normative to explaining bad events and may help define social values and authority. A deeper discussion would consider the role of how African Christianity engages the ways that traditional ideology is used to explain evil. Van den Berg (:58) theorizes that the African context may regard Jesus as of central importance for afterlife whereas traditional understandings hold sway for everyday experiences.

This researcher would not completely disagree with this theory, but would rather consider the idea that because Western culture does not give a high value to the spiritual realm, missionaries and Western theology have struggled to articulate an understanding of the spirit-realm and the causes of sin. A contextual understanding of the doctrine of sin would more significantly address how various context react in their worldview to sin and a blending of understanding would be helpful. This is demonstrated in Muller’s (2006) view of sin and worldview. The role of the devil in society is an extension of that discussion.

5.5.3 The Devil and the Society

The role of the devil was another significant aspect of the Poro Society. According to tradition, the language of the devil was Mano and the Gio borrowed the devil from the Mano, so it was more deeply entrenched in the Mano villages (Wonbenyakeh, June

97Love Liberia Project. Cottonwood Tree. You Tube video uploaded 29 June 2010, includes the interview of the felling of the evil tree. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRDGYvZvI-A.

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2010). The Society was a social structure, but also governed people through fear using the devil and his masks. Harley documented in Masks as Agents of Social Control in Northeast Liberia the different masks and roles. The thesis that God had made man in his own image⁹⁸ was reversed when man made an image and bestowed it with godlike attributes. The masks may have been made for the great devil or as a personal fetish, but were interconnected to the spiritual process (Harley 1950:3).

Harley’s collection of 391 wooden face masks were from various people groups inhabiting the northeastern interior of Liberia. Harley wrote two additional essays describing the role of the mask and the secretive aspect of control. The masks functioned as a social control agent in the structure of the village (Adams 2009:17).