The Punu reside in Angola. They belong to a nation of people known as Shira. They live in independent villages in which the Moukouji whose primary role was to subjugate evil and the destructive forces of the forest sprits ensured social cohesion. The Punu stylized beauty and delicate features of the mask are said to represent the faces of their ancestors. The use of white kaolin pigments suggest that this mask was a depiction of a spirit – it would have been worn during funerals by the Moukouji initiates who would wear elaborate costumes made out of raffia or cotton to conceal their bodies and identities. The initiates would then take on the persona of the spirit for the duration of the ceremony.