Early 20th Century African art. To the Bamana people, farming is the most important and noblest profession. At planting time, men of the Chi-Wara association of farmers dance with headresses like these in the fields to honor Chi-Wara, the mythical "farming animal" that taught agriculture to the ancestors of the Bamana. The headdresses, always danced in male and female pairs, depict the antelope-like Chi-Wara and display the ingredients of successful cultivation. The long horns of the male Chi Wara stand for the tall growth of millet; the penis signifies the rooting of this grain. The long ears refer to the cultivators listening to the songs sung by women who encourage the men while they work in the fields; the open, zigzag pattern in the neck symbolizes the sun's path along the horizon between the two solstices.   Antique Ethnographic Art and Tribal Collectibles.