Definition of "sowei"
sowei
noun
plural soweis
A guardian spirit of a Sande society of the Mende, who is represented by a special helmet-like mask.
Quotations
Like the men's society, the corporate consciousness of women and their respected place in the political body is represented by a masked spirit. This sowei (masker), like all the officials of the society, represents the corporate body of women and retains the authority to levy fines and punish women and men or the community as a whole. The ndoli Jowei (dancing sowei) is a masker whose figure is completely covered with black raffia, topped by the sowei mask.
2012, L. Day, Gender and Power in Sierra Leone: Women Chiefs of the Last Two Centuries
Indeed, so ubiquitous are these 'sowei masks' that they form a veritable Sierra Leonean 'object diaspora' and have become iconic of the region—a sowei mask, for example, appeared on one of the first series of postage stamps issued by the newly independent Sierra Leone in 1961.
2014, Paul Basu, Wayne Modest, Museums, Heritage and International Development, page 74
(by extension) A woman who represents a sowei by wearing a sowei mask.
Quotations
Like the men's society, the corporate consciousness of women and their respected place in the political body is represented by a masked spirit. This sowei (masker), like all the officials of the society, represents the corporate body of women and retains the authority to levy fines and punish women and men or the community as a whole. The ndoli Jowei (dancing sowei) is a masker whose figure is completely covered with black raffia, topped by the sowei mask.
2012, L. Day, Gender and Power in Sierra Leone: Women Chiefs of the Last Two Centuries