  It is hard to ignore an elephant. They tend to go where they want, earning the fury of farmers whose crops they threaten. Unfortunately for the living animals, they are also actual wealth--enough meat to feed a village and a treasure in ivory. Traditional rulers often claimed at least one ivory tusk from each hunter, who was esteemed for his bravery and special skills, as in the Akan proverb, "After the elephant there is still a greater creature, the hunter." Many proverbs reference the elephant. The saying "When an elephant is thin, its meat will still fill a hundred baskets" is straightforward. Others require reflection. "One who follows the track of the elephant never gets wet from the dew on the bushes" encourages one to follow an important man and he will protect you in time of trouble. Many cultures invoke the elephant in their masquerades. In Côte d'Ivoire the elephant is a metaphor for change: the power to transform as well as the ability to respond to change. Elephant masks in the Bamileke kingdoms of the Cameroon Grassfields emphasize the men's association, imbuing it with leadership. Elephants are perceived as the counterpart of the kings. The elephant also appears in masks relating to the cycle of life and death. For example, mukyeem is a funeral mask among the non-royal peoples of the Kuba kingdom that conveys the importance of the individual who died. Among the Igbo peoples, men wear wood elephant masks at male age-grade ceremonies, funerals and village purification festivals. Igbo women in only one village wear the elephant mask at ceremonies to honor an oracle that saved the lives of sick children.
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