The Asaro Tribe

Mountain spirits

The well-known masks of the Asaro aren’t just very well-known and beautiful, they are also an ingenious way to prevent war and to defend themselves. The masks are called Holosas, meaning spirit. Legend goes that when the neighboring tribes started to attack the Asaro, they decided to hide in the river. The Asaro remained silent in the water until sunrise. When they rose from the water, their bodies where covered with clay from the soil and combined with the fog coming from the mountains every morning, they frightened their enemies away, who thought they were spirits. From that moment, surrounding tribes believed that the river spirits protected the Asaro, and never attacked them again. 

Holosas

The Asaro men make their masks themselves using white clay, which they gather from the Asaro river. They have to walk a few days from their village to the banks of the river, a journey they make as much as needed to create and repair their masks. A Holosa is about 2 centimeters thick and weighs 5 to 10 kilograms, and they can’t wear them too long. The masks have changed over the years. Initially, the mask was made of bamboo.
The bamboo was used to create a frame. This frame was covered with the mud. But because the Asaro started using them for many other things as well, they decided to use the roots of a banana tree, which they polished with a sharp stone. However, it takes a lot of time to collect the roots of a banana tree, so the Asaro decided to use clay for their masks.