The secret society known as Nyau among the Chewa has a tradition, apparently quite ancient, of large basketry masks. Images of these body-covering basketry masks appear in rock paintings. Two types, Kasuyamaliro and Chimkako, both represent a mythical antelope-type creature. They perform during boys' initiation rites, and then are left to disintegrate in "graveyards." Faulkner describes in detail the forms, materials and construction of these masks. Based on fieldwork from 1984 to 1986.