Masks of this type are associated with the antelope, one of several animals featured in regional myths. In the northern Mossi region, masks are used in burials, memorial celebrations and protective ceremonies and may perform for entertainment. The deceptively simple yet dramatic form of the mask contrasts with the complex history of migration, conquest and assimilation of its owners-individual Nyonyosé lineage groups. They are descendents of three blended groups: the original Dogon peoples, displaced by the westward-moving Kurumba peoples, and the Dagomba horsemen, a new ruling elite from the south that entered around 1500. The groups intermarried and integrated into the peoples now called Mossi.

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