Typical of the Mande association masks, the sacrificial material seen in the encrustation on the surfaces of this headdress (also known as a helmet mask) is an indication of its connection with one of the three main Bamana power societies: Komo, Kono, and Nama. This specific headdress is typical of the Komo society, which functions as the custodian of tradition and is concerned with all aspects of community life—agriculture, judicial processes, and passage rites. The Bamana, an ethnolinguistic group of the upper Niger region of Mali, are distinguished by their indigenous method of writing and a remarkable system of metaphysics and cosmology, encompassing associated societies, prayers, myths, and rituals. The Komo is a secret power association of priests, knowledgeable elders, and blacksmiths that forms the central Bamana social institution. Members of the blacksmith clan are born into the Komo society because of their ability to employ the forbidden power of fire to transform matter from one form into another. Its masks and headdresses are of elongated animal form decorated with actual antelope horns, porcupine quills, bird skulls, and other objects as vessels of power. Blacksmiths of the Komo society wear the society headdress or komo-kun during a dance to invoke nyama, the force that activates the universe.