Chi Wara headdresses, worn by a pair of Bamana performers who dance as male and female antelope and anteater-like creatures, are associated with fertility and successful growth. The pair represents the cooperation needed for survival among the sun, the earth and the water, and between men and women.

Both wooden headdresses attach to a woven cap; the male headdress has long horns or ears in order to hear the lessons of the ancestors. The dancers also wear fiber costumes that symbolize the water. Through the dance, the performers imitate the leaps and screeches of young antelopes in order to calm the earth’s spirits to ensure a bountiful harvest.

Legends speak of the Chi Wara (translated as the “animal of tillage”) as a mythological being—half human and half snake. Chi Wara tilled the earth with its claws and transformed the weeds into millet and corn, teaching the Bamana people to farm. The members of the Chi Wara Association wear the headdress and perform the dance to honor the Chi Wara. The dance also teaches the young the virtues of hard work and celebrates the important work of the farmers.