These mysterious small houses never have their roofs replaced each year like so many other African village houses. Instead a new layer of thatch just gets added, lending each a kind of whimsical mushroom like appearance.
The Niofoin houses act as places for sacrifice and the wishes associated with those sacrifices. Outside of each is a wooden building called a Kafodan which acts as a meeting house and judiciary area. No one is allowed to see inside each house other than a very privileged few, so the interior of each fetish house is a complete mystery. Each one of them is decorated in bas reliefs, offerings and the oldest has a hanging set of leashes/collars that remain from the animals that were sacrificed to it.
The Niofoin fetish houses are located in the last remaining true examples of Senoufo vernacular architecture in the country. Dotted between pretty, roundhouse style homes are some chunky, stilted granaries with thatched conical rooves used to keep the contents of the granary dry.
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