The Bidjogo use clothing as a way to differentiate between age-grades. During the fanado period, adolescent females are taken into a hut with a priestess for three days. During this period, the girls learn about their role as protectors of the souls of boys who died before being initiated into adulthood. The newly initiated women serve as a conduit for the souls of the deceased boys during initiation rituals supervised by local elders. In addition, it is during this period that girls give up their short vegetable fiber skirts, like this one, for longer skirts.

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