Bassari
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The Bassari are an ethnic group who live primarily in
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
, with some diaspora into
Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
,
Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
and
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...
. They are a
matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...
society stratified into different co ed social groups by age. The Bassari speak a Tenda language called o''-niyan''. They are mainly subsistence farmers growing for self consumption, with fonio being a crop of large importance both to combat climate change and for cultural significance. The majority of the Bassari are animists, and the men take part in the Kore initiation society. Their art is mainly
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
, made for both cosmetic decoration and regalia with significance to the initiation society.


Population

The total population is estimated to be 15,000. Most of the Bassari are concentrated on either side of the Senegal-Guinea border southwest of Kedougou,
Kédougou Region Kédougou (Wolof language, Wolof: Keédugu) is a town in the Kédougou Region of south-eastern Senegal near the border with Mali and Guinea. It lies at an elevation of above sea level. Founded by the Malinké , Malinké people, Kédougou means ...
, which is part of the larger
Bassari Country The Bassari Country () and its Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes (), located in the southeast of Senegal, is a well-preserved multicultural landscape which emerged from the interaction of human activities and the natural environment. It ...
. This area is referred to in French as ''Pays Bassari'', or ''liyan'' in the Bassari language. They migrate to the cities and towns of Senegal and Guinea in the dry season in search of wage-labor, using the money they earn to buy household equipment, clothing and other necessary items. Within the Kedougou Region, there are three cultural landscapes divided between the Bassari, the Bedik, and the
Fula people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...
. The area of Kedougou inhabited by the Bassari is known as Salemata. On the Guinean side of the border, the Bassari mainly live in a group of villages collectively referred to as ''Bokore,'' which can be translated to "Those of ''Kore''," Kore being the name of the initiation society within the region.


Cuisine

The Bassari are subsistence farmers for the most part, growing
rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
,
millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
, earth-peas and fonio. Within Bassari Country around 80% of production is for self consumption, as the off season from August to November are particular harsh agriculturally. The Bassari particularly have been documented to stock pile food for 2–3 years in advance, which also opens up opportunity for market trade with neighboring communities. The Festival of the Fonio is an annual event used to popularize the usage of fonio as a local crop and food in the Kedougou region. Previous to the festival, fonio was often associated with the poor, so the event serves to legitimize fonio's cultural significance and its usage as an adaption to climate change. The festival is largely thanks to a local Economic Interest Group ran by Adja Aissatou Aya Ndiaye, who has become a cultural hero in the area as someone who gives training to local woman in industry skills. Participants have dubbed her the Queen of the fonio, and the festival serves as a place for political speeches, traditional singing and dances, and the gifting of offerings made to Ndiaye.


Language

The Bassari speak o''-niyan'', which is a Tenda language . They refer to themselves as ''a-liyan'', pl. ''be-liyan,'' which translates to "those of the
laterite Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...
." While o-niyan is the traditional language of the Bassari people, the Kedougou population is also fluent in Wolof, which is one of the vernacular language between Senegal villages. French is the official language of Senegal, but only educated men are fluent in it. Some training courses have taught some of the women French, but due to structural inequalities most educational opportunities remain inaccessible to women.


Religion

Most of the group are animists, with a significant minority of
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
(both
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
). Very few Bassari are
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
. The mythology of the Bassari is centered on the creation god Unumbotte. To the Bassari male adulthood is defined by entrance into the Bassari sect of the Kore initiation society, which in turn has three distinct levels of adulthood, each lasts six years and has its own initiation process. Initiation into the first stage occurs when a boy is fifteen, in which he is temporarily separated from his family to undergo a symbolic rebirth as an initiate into the society. This rebirth is mythically possible due to an entity known as ''endaw,'' which is a formless being that exists as a guttural sound performed by initiates, and this sound is its only mode of existence. ''Endaw'' is often represented visually as a leafy mass or a chameleon. Each of the three levels of the society gives initiators access to the roles of masks and kore, which in turn creates six modes of simulated entities. Kore, along with many other initiation societies were almost destroyed under the Sekou Toure regime of the 1960's. Toure's Militia performed public unmasking ceremonies in front of women and children in order to undermine the cultural relevancy of the society, followed by a beating of the men and burnings of ritual objects.The Bassari tradition however has survived.


Art

The Bassari have a long standing tradition of
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
which have been included in European records since the late 19th century. Importing materials through trade with the Coniagui for iron ore and Fula for copper, the Bassari process these metals within their own line of blacksmiths to craft tools and jewelry. Bassari initiation masks most commonly involve rings of hexagons around a circular center. Though the true meaning behind this motif is a secret held by their initiation society, it is theorized to be symbolic of the hierarchy of knowledge involving the progression of levels within the society. This is deduced by the significance of the number six within Bassari precolonial mathematics, and its relationship to the Bassari calendar as well as divination rites. Bassari dancers often employ special rattles known as Bamboyo. Each Bamboyo is composed of twenty plaited capsules, with each capsule being folded in an antiprism using a single palm leaf.


References

{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Senegal Ethnic groups in the Gambia Ethnic groups in Guinea Ethnic groups in Guinea-Bissau