Initiatory Society Types
Title conferred by vote of eligible members.
Iroko Framework: Ékpè Module (Initiatory Societies, Grades, and Esoteric Governance)
Number of grades in this society's hierarchy. The count is community-restricted in active societies; public for historical documentation.
Election by membership
The female counterpart to Poro, managing female initiation among Mende, Temne, and neighboring peoples. Sande is distinctive in African contexts as a society where women wear and operate the sacred Sowei helmet mask.
Communal sanction / enforcement
A masked or costumed ritual embodiment associated with an initiatory society, representing an ancestor, force, or principle. Examples: Abakuá íremes (diablitos) representing the voice of the fish Tanze; Egungun masquerades embodying ancestral spirits; Gelede masquerades honoring the mothers. The masquerade as a cultural form (name, tradition, function) is community-restricted; the identities of performers and operational sequences are initiated-only. Distinct from iroko:SpiritualEntity (which covers the spiritual force) and travay:CeremonialSequence (which covers the ritual sequence).
masquerade insignia
The grade that must be held before this grade may be received. Initiated-only: the sequencing of grades is esoteric knowledge.
A Yorùbá male initiatory society associated with the voice of Oro (heard as a bullroarer), ancestral authority, and community sanction. Oro festivals enforce communal prohibitions and conduct ancestral rites. Strict gender separation is central to Oro practice: women must remain indoors when Oro goes out.
Àgẹmọ
Gẹlẹdẹ
society type
Society Status Scheme
lodge territory
required grade for performance
title insignia
grade sign
Governance by a council of senior members without strict linear grade hierarchy. Characteristic of Ogboni and some Egungun lineages.
The Yorùbá earth-deity society organized around Onilé (the earth) and its representations. Historically a governance institution with judicial, political, and ritual authority in Yorùbá towns. Members include both men and women. The Reformed Ogboni Fraternity (ROF) is a Christianized offshoot. Distinct from the traditional Oshugbo lineages in Ijebu and other areas.
Society Governance Structures
required grade
Tipos de sociedade iniciática
Title conferred through divination or spiritual indication rather than human election.
dissolution authority
Title Conferral Methods
The ritual, ceremonial, or governance function of this title holder. Initiated-only.
Abakuá
Structures de gouvernance des sociétés
Society Masquerade
Society Lodge
Funciones del enmascarado
Fonctions du masque
Ogboni / Oshugbo
dissolution event
A local chapter or lodge of an initiatory society. Ékpè lodges in Cross River; Abakuá potencias in Havana and Matanzas; Ogboni chapters in Yorùbá towns. Each lodge may have its own territory, titleholders, and charter, while being part of a broader society network. Uses iroko:parentSociety to link to the overarching tradition-level society.
represented entity
The Abakuá mutual aid and initiatory society founded in Cuba in 1836, derived from Ékpè/Ngbe through enslaved Efik and Efut practitioners in Havana and Matanzas. Organized into potencias (lodges), each with a specific founding charter and ranked titleholders. Known in Cuban public life through the íremes (diablito masquerades) which appear at funerals and public ceremonies. Male-only by tradition (juramento).
Funerary / transition rites
One of the most extensively documented Afro-Atlantic initiatory societies due to 19th-century Cuban court records and 20th-century ethnographic work (Cabrera, Sosa). Historical lodge names and early records are in the public domain; contemporary lodge governance and membership remain restricted.
Purchase / fee-based conferral
initiating officiant
parent society
Àwọn ọ̀nà ìfúnni orúkọ ọlá
Governance structure not covered by existing concepts.
society tradition
dissolution date
active
grade prerequisite
The minimum grade required to hold this title. Initiated-only.
A title held by this member within the society.
Society Title
A religious house (iroko:House) with which this society maintains an ongoing ceremonial relationship. In many traditions, society and house membership overlap for senior practitioners.
Consensus / deliberative
Title passes within a family or lineage by birthright or elder designation.
Links an InitiatorySociety to a ForcedDissolution event that ended or suspended its operation by external authority.
The masquerade manifests an ancestral spirit or collective ancestral force. Primary function of Egungun.
Métodos de concessão de títulos
Senior nomination
Hierarchical grade system
Membership Record
Society Grade
The ritual, governance, or social privileges conferred by this grade. Initiated-elder only.
The minimum grade required to perform or wear this masquerade. Initiated-only.
Poro
The grade held by this member.
Hereditary title succession
Agemo
Title conferred in exchange for a defined payment or contribution to the society. Common in some Ékpè and Abakuá grade structures.
Authority flows through a defined sequence of grades; higher grades govern lower. Characteristic of Ékpè, Abakuá, and similar tiered societies.
A record documenting an individual's initiation into and progression through a society. Membership records are among the most sensitive data in this framework: the identity of initiates is strictly guarded by all documented traditions, and their disclosure to outsiders is a serious breach. Default access is no-access; date and grade level may be community-restricted in contexts where historical record-keeping is an accepted practice (e.g., Cuban Abakuá records kept since the 19th century).
The initiatory society to which this grade belongs.
The broader society network or tradition of which this lodge is a chapter. A Havana Abakuá potencia links to the Abakuá tradition; a Calabar Ékpè lodge links to the Ékpè tradition. Subproperty of prov:wasDerivedFrom.
The ceremonial function of this masquerade. Range: iroko:MasqueradeFunctionScheme.
Estruturas de governança de sociedades
Reformed Ogboni Fraternity
Numeric position in the grade sequence. 1 = lowest/entry. Community-restricted.
Domain module. Vocabulary for documenting initiatory societies, grade structures, esoteric governance, and sodality membership across Afro-Atlantic traditions. Covers Ékpè/Ngbe, Abakuá, Ogboni/Oshugbo, Oro, Gelede, Egungun, and analogous institutions. Distinct from iroko-ile (religious houses and lineages) and iroko-travay (ritual processes): this module focuses on the institutional architecture of sodalities as systems of graded authority, esoteric knowledge, and community governance. Use with iroko-authority to model grade conferral authority and recognition networks; iroko-epistemic to constrain disclosure of restricted grade content and member identities.
Elected officers
The society is no longer operating but was not forcibly dissolved — it ceased through natural discontinuity, succession failure, or community decision.
A defined rank or level within an initiatory society's graded hierarchy. Each grade confers specific knowledge, privileges, obligations, and esoteric rights. Grade names, their sequence, and their content are among the most carefully protected knowledge in these traditions. The existence of a grade structure is public; grade names are community-restricted; grade content and sequence are initiated-only or initiated-elder.
Masquerade Functions
The masquerade carries and communicates the voice or authority of the society. Function of Abakuá íremes and Ékpè masquerades.
The masquerade pays tribute to the power of elder women, ancestresses, and female spiritual authority. Primary function of Gelede.
society status
Forced Dissolution
The Afro-Atlantic tradition within which this society operates. Range: iroko:TraditionScheme.
The society has been reconstituted after a period of dormancy or dissolution, with continuity of tradition but a break in institutional operation.
Tipos de sociedad iniciática
Title conferred by nomination from existing titleholders or elders.
Ancestral embodiment
The initiatory society to which this masquerade belongs.
Title conferral method not covered by existing concepts.
Key titles pass within specific families or lineages. Characteristic of some Egungun and Agemo societies.
Ñáñigos
Spiritual designation
Ékpè / Ngbe
Funções da mascarada
title function
reformed
Initiatory society type not covered by existing concepts. Use skos:scopeNote to describe.
Egúngún
The male initiatory bush school society widespread among Mande, Kpelle, Temne, and neighboring peoples of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. Poro manages male initiation, education, and community governance through a graded forest-based curriculum.
The date or approximate period of the forced dissolution event.
membership date
Other
masquerade society
Society voice / announcement
The name of the masquerade or masked figure. Community-restricted.
Material objects, dress, or identifying marks associated with this title. Initiated-elder only: insignia descriptions can enable unauthorized imitation.
The esoteric graphic sign or identifying mark associated with this grade. Range: iroko:GraphicSign — grade signs in Ékpè and cognate societies are drawn symbols belonging to a sacred sign system, not free-text strings. Initiated-elder only.
Honoring the mothers
Métodos de conferimiento de títulos
The society into which the individual was initiated.
The person to whom this membership record belongs. No-access: member identity is the most protected information in society records.
Description of costume elements, materials, and identifying features. Initiated-elder only.
Egungun
Oro
The Ékpè (also Ngbe) leopard society originating among Ejagham and neighboring Cross River peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon. One of the most widespread and influential initiatory societies in West Africa, with documented Afro-Atlantic presence through enslaved Africans in Cuba (Abakuá) and elsewhere. Organized around graded leopard-force initiation; Nsibidi script is associated with Ékpè esoteric communication.
Healing / protective
Gelede
society governance structure
The geographic or community territory over which a lodge exercises spiritual and social jurisdiction. Free-text description.
Typological classification of the society. Range: iroko:InitiatorySocietyTypeScheme.
Date of initiation into this grade. Community-restricted for historical records.
membership title
Àwọn iṣẹ́ ìbòjú
masquerade function
An Ijebu Yorùbá priestly and masquerade society associated with Agemo, a deity of transformation and mediation between worlds. The Agemo festival cycle involves multiple masquerades representing aspects of Agemo's power. Restricted primarily to Ijebu initiates.
membership society
The name of the office or title in the tradition's language. Community-restricted.
A sodality or secret society organized around graded initiation, with esoteric knowledge and authority distributed across hierarchical grades. Membership is earned through initiation rather than birth or lineage alone. Examples: Ékpè/Ngbe lodges (Ejagham, Cross River Nigeria/Cameroon), Abakuá potencias (Cuba), Ogboni chapters (Yorùbáland), Gelede societies (Yorùbá/Fon/Ewe), Egungun lineage associations. Subclasses schema:Organization for interoperability with external directories, and iroko:SacredEntity for access control. Distinguished from iroko:House (which organizes around founding-elder lineage) in that membership cross-cuts lineage boundaries.
The masquerade carries healing or protective power for the community or individual supplicants.
founding location
A named office or titled position within an initiatory society, distinct from grade level. Titles may be elected, inherited, purchased, or conferred. Examples: Iyamba (Abakuá), Isue (Abakuá), Ekueñón (Abakuá), Apetebi Ogboni, Olori Egungun. Each title carries specific ritual functions, insignia, and governance authority. Title names are community-restricted; the ritual functions attached to them are initiated-only.
A masquerade society of the Yorùbá, Nago, and Fon peoples honoring the power of women, especially elder women, ancestresses, and the mothers (àwọn ìyá wa). Gelede festivals feature carved wooden masks worn by male dancers who embody female spiritual authority. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Active in Nigeria, Benin, and Afro-Atlantic communities.
Place of origin or founding of the society. City/country level is public; specific address is community-restricted.
The current operational status of an initiatory society. Range: iroko:SocietyStatusScheme concepts (active, historical, reformed, forcibly-dissolved). A forcibly-dissolved society's archival records retain their access restrictions — dissolution by external authority does not transfer governance to the suppressing power or to the public.
Masquerade function not covered by existing concepts.
title name
grade privileges
lodge name
grade level
The society was suppressed by an external authority — colonial administration, state government, or occupying power — rather than ceasing through internal process. Records held by a forcibly dissolved society do not become public as a result of the dissolution. See also: iroko:ForcedDissolution.
How this title is conferred: election, hereditary succession, purchase, senior nomination. Range: iroko:TitleConferralScheme.
member person
grade count
Documents tradition-specific rules regarding gender and membership. For Abakuá: historically male-only (juramento); for Ogboni: both male and female members, with distinct female titleholder roles (Iyalode); for Gelede: primarily concerns gender complementarity (mothers/fathers). Free-text, records documented practice without normative judgment.
Àwọn ìlànà ìṣàkóso ẹgbẹ́
membership grade
The external authority (state, colonial power, occupying government) that forced dissolution of the society. Free text, language-tagged.
title conferral method
Decisions made through deliberation among all members or all senior members without fixed hierarchical authority.
The ancestral spirit, principle, or force embodied by this masquerade. Range: iroko:SpiritualEntity. Initiated-only: the identity of what a masquerade embodies is esoteric in many traditions.
Sande / Bundo
Initiatory Society
Leopard Society
Controlled vocabulary for the operational status of an initiatory society.
historical
Ékpè and Abakuá are historically related but institutionally distinct. Use iroko:parentSociety to express the derived relationship.
Àwọn ìrú ẹgbẹ́ àṣírí
Hereditary succession
grade name
The Yorùbá ancestral masquerade society responsible for summoning and embodying ancestral spirits (egungun). Membership and performance rights are typically hereditary through specific lineages. The masked figure is understood as a manifestation of the collective ancestral force, not a theatrical performance. Widespread across Yorùbáland and Afro-Atlantic.
gender policy
Types de société initiatique
The titleholder who performed the initiation. No-access.
associated house
The masquerade enforces community rules or social norms through symbolic or direct intervention. Function of Oro.
The masquerade performs entertainment, social commentary, or satire as a secondary function. Often combined with sacred primary functions.
An event in which an initiatory society was suppressed, banned, or destroyed by an external authority. Enables structured documentation of state violence against sacred institutions. Primary case study: Machado-era suppression of Abakuá potencias in Cuba (1923). Key governance principle: forced dissolution by an external authority does not transfer custodial rights over the society's sacred materials, records, or knowledge to the suppressing state or to the public. Materials held by a forcibly dissolved society remain governed by iroko:Ritual Sovereignty under iroko:RitualPractitioner authority.
grade society
The society is currently operating, initiating members, and exercising its governance functions.
The masquerade participates in funerary ceremonies, guiding the deceased or honoring the passing. Abakuá íremes appear at members' funerals.
Méthodes de conférence des titres
The name of the grade in the tradition's language. Community-restricted for active societies.
The public name of the lodge or potencia. In Abakuá: the potencia name (e.g., Efik Butón, Efik Efor). Community-restricted for active lodges; public for historical lodges documented in scholarly sources.
Entertainment / social satire
The governance model of this society. Range: iroko:GovernanceStructureScheme.
Estructuras de gobernanza de sociedades
Council of elders
forcibly dissolved
Governance officers are elected by the membership for defined terms. More common in Afro-Atlantic adaptations (Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, some Abakuá mutual aid structures).
masquerade name