Nyonyose (Mossi conquered farmers)
Descendants of the pre-Mossi farming populations conquered by the *nakomse* cavalry; the earth-priest stratum and the exclusive producers and custodians of Mossi masks.
Nyonyose (singular nyonyonga) is the Mòoré term for the descendants of the pre-Mossi farming populations — principally of Dogon and Gurunsi ancestry — who were conquered by the nakomse cavalry in the 16th century. The nyonyose are the earth-owning spiritual specialists: they hold the tengsoba (earth-priest) function and are the exclusive producers and custodians of Mossi masks.
Understanding nyonyose is the prerequisite for any serious discussion of Mossi masks, because mask ownership, masquerade performance and the masks' earth-shrine functions are unintelligible without this social category. The nakomse nobility, by contrast, commission figurative sculpture tied to political legitimacy. Conflating the two strata — or ignoring the distinction — is the most common analytical error in Mossi art literature (Izard 1985; Roy 1987).