The Bété are an Ivory Coast group with strong cultural and artistic links to the Dan, the We (Gwere) and the Guro, among others.
Bété communities consist of subsistence farmers, but base most of their culture around hunting.
Historically, spiritual authority was wielded with an array of paraphernalia, notably including the “gre” mask, a horned and decorated creation (originating with the We) designed to instill terror in the onlooker, to quell social unrest, and to be worn when meting out justice after conflict.
Statuary is uncommon, and is based around feminine iconography that refers to a mythical mother figure.
No recognized liturgical function was found, although some reports indicate that a pair of figures was often placed under a village rain shelter to represent its founders.
Alternatively, they may have constituted a more general role, evoking or celebrating the fertility of the village/land, its founders or the forest from which the people made their living.
[citation needed] Traditionally, Bete men traveled outside of the village to find marriage partners.
The date of the wedding is set and the wife's family is invited to the groom's village to celebrate.
A wife can leave her husband and return to her home village whenever she chooses without notice or explanation.