The Karanga mask is the region's most prominent masquerade.
Mossi masks, so central to a family's founding as well as to its more recent past, present, and future, also play a prominent role in assuring a smooth transition to the afterlife. During the burial of any male or female clan elder, masks escort the body to the grave and ensure that all burial procedures are properly followed. At the conclusion of the rites, the spirits' union with clan ancestors is joyfully celebrated with dances in which performers imitate the motions of the animals their masks depict.
Yatenga style masks have been cited as most characteristic of the Mossi style in all publications to the present. They are vertically oriented, worn over the face, and consist of a round or oval facial area surmounted by a tall, thin, wooden plank, often a meter or a meter and a half long, with a very small antelope head and long horns rising above the mask face just in front of the plank. In the
great majority of examples the antelope horns are not attached directly to the facial area of the mask but come together to form a very small triangle, often colored white, which forms the head of the antelope. As in the rest of Mossi country, masks are called
wango. However, Yatenga style masks with oval faces, planks, and antelope horns may also be referred to by the more specific name karanga.
