Warrior Crown

Crowns were obviously signs of rank and status and were most prevalent among the Bulisa people of Ghana. Traditionally, Bulisa’s crowns were worn by warriors or in public ceremonies. They were embellished with symbolic designs in beads, which were themselves signs of wealth and status. Most of our Bulisa crowns are contemporary and were probably made for sale rather than for use by a warrior.

There is some merging of usage with other African crowns with helmets, which were largely ceremonial, denoting rank and status, rather than functional in a military sense.

Today it is only used for war dances (e.g. at the Feo-festival or at funerals); the cap is produced by coiling kpinkpiak grass and using toboga-grass as the active thread.