The Guro of the Ivory Coast are related by language and culture to their western neighbors, the Bete and Dan, yet their art has a greater affinity with that of the Baule and Yaure to the east. They were originally called Kweni, but they were violently colonized between 1906 and 1912 and given the Baule name Guro by the invading French colonials. They have no central political authority, and power is held by a council of elders comprised of the head men of the various village quarters, as well as a number of men's associations.The most significant men's association is the Je society. This male society uses a variety of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic masks, some fitted with staff-like superstructures, all ostensibly fatal for women to view. Guro art is stylistically elegant, and their artistic output is dominated by masks carved with elongated faces, concave profiles, and slanted eyes. Many Guro masks represent Gu, and as such have features that correspond to traditional Guro ideals of feminine beauty, such as a narrow, well-proportioned face with a small chin, a high forehead, arching black eyebrows, lowered eyelids, a narrow nose with delicate nostrils, and a slightly open mouth. Once used for purposes of social control, Guro masks now are employed primarily for entertainment. -Robbins/Nooter -Bacquart -Hahner-Herzog/Kecskesi/Vajda