Do society (Tusian initiation association)
The principal male initiation society of the Tusian people, the ritual context in which loniaken crest masks are activated and through which young men attain adult social standing.
The do (sometimes rendered dwo in adjacent Mande-influenced literature) is a male initiation society widespread across the Voltaic and western Sudanic peoples of Burkina Faso and Mali, including the Bobo, Bwa, Tusian, and related groups. Among the Tusian, the do society oversees the initiation of adolescent males into full adult status, a transition marked by seclusion, instruction in social and ritual obligations, and public masquerade performance. The loniaken crest mask is the material vehicle through which the spiritual authority of do is made visible during these performances.
While the institution is shared across many ethnic groups, its visual conventions differ markedly from people to people. Tusian do masquerades feature the small horizontal loniaken crest; Bobo and Bwa do performances employ large vertical face and plank constructions. Scholarly consensus, drawing on the work of Christopher D. Roy and others, holds that the do complex diffused through the region via trade and intermarriage networks, with each group adapting its forms to local carving and iconographic traditions. The Tusian variant is distinguished by its geometric austerity and the characteristic three-colour polychrome scheme.