Ngil
Ngil is the terrifying spirit embodied in the mask of the Ngil secret society of the Fang in Gabon. The society's name means 'gorilla', and the mask's elongated face, broad forehead, curved eyebrows and jutting mouth may reference a gorilla. The mask was whitened with kaolin, a colour the Fang associate with ancestral spirits, death and male virility. Ngil members were judicial authorities; the mask's intimidating presence helped resolve conflicts and identify sorcery. The French colonial administration banned Ngil societies in 1910, and use of the mask declined.