CONGOBONGO Newsletter | Griots, west african poet

American Embassy Kinshasa Newsletter

In this Edition

July 29, 2010 2 Griot, West African Poet 5 10th Festival International Meeting of Storytellers and Griots in DRC CLO’s Line

5 6 FLO Weekly Update 7 The Medical Unit

From Motor Pool 8 From Human Resources

9 What’s Going On 10 Classifieds 11 Calendar

U.S. Embassy Kinshasa warmly welcomes:

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A griot is a West African poet, praise singer, and wandering musician, considered a repository of oral tradition.

riots are sometimes also called bards. According to Paul Oliver in his book Savannah Syncopators, "Though [the griot] has to know many traditional songs without error, he must also have the ability to extemporize on current events, chance incidents and the passing scene. His wit can be devastating and his knowledge of local history formidable." Although they are popularly known as 'praise singers', griots may also use their vocal expertise for gossip, satire, or political comment.

Griots today live in many parts of West Africa, including Mali, the Gambia, Guinea, Western Sahara and Senegal, and are present among the Mande peoples (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Fula, Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs and many other smaller groups. The word may derive from the French transliteration "guiriot" of the Portuguese word "criado," which in turn means "servant."

In African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names: jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar (Fula), and igiiw (or igawen) in Hassaniyya Arabic.

Griots form an endogamous caste, meaning that most of them only marry fellow griots and that those who are not griots do not normally perform the same functions that they perform. The Manding term jeliya (meaning "musicianhood") is sometimes used for the knowledge of griots, indicating the hereditary nature of the class. Jali comes from the root word jali or djali (blood). This word is also the title given to griots in areas corresponding to the former Mali Empire. Though the usage "griot" is far more common in English, some griot advocates such as Bakari Sumano prefer the term jeli.

In West Africa, written history is something new. African history was written in European languages during the colonial era beginning in the late 1800s, and has been around in Arabic for centuries. But societies in the Sahel and Savanna regions of West Africa have long kept their own history, in their own languages, orally, in the form of epics. Imagine relying on someone's memory to hold your people's history. In many parts of West Africa, this job is carried out by the griot.

Griots — masters of words and music, Tom Hale calls them in his book, Griots and Griottes — have been around for a millennium. Over time, the griots' function has changed as society evolved. Once, the male griots and female griottes were historians, genealogists, advisers to nobility, entertainers, messengers, praise singers — the list goes on. Today, they perform on television and radio and record CDs. Many are popular singers who reinterpret traditional songs, giving new meaning to old words — "time binding," Hale calls it. As performers, griots and griottes are in great demand, not only for ceremonies and parties in West Africa, where they have traditionally appeared, but all around the world. Back in the United States, they tour universities to give insight into West African culture. In a performance at Penn State in 1978, griotte Dionton Tounkara and her husband, Sekou Kouyaté performed a praise song naming some of the people in the audience, including Hale, who had invited the group.

Richard K. Priebe Griots hold the memory of West Africa. At the festival marking the installation of a regional chief in Faraba Banta in October 1991, griotte Adama Suso sings and Ma Lamini Jobareth plays the kora.

Congo Congo Bongo Bongo July July 29, 29, 2010 2010

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The griot profession is inherited, passed on from one generation to the next. "Griots are very different from the rest of society — almost a different ethnic group," says Hale. They are both feared and respected by people in West Africa for their wisdom and talent with words. They can sing your praises, but they can also sing your doom.

My master has requested that I ask you the exact meaning of your name Da. Is it Da Guinea hemp?

Is it Da clay pot?

Is it Da the syphilis?

Is it Da the mouth?

Is it Da the door?

Is it Da do you sleep there?

If you are a pot, Kaarta Tiema will break you.

If you are Guinea worms he will harvest you in order to give you to his fishermen who will make nets of you.

If you are syphilis, he will treat you with a red hot iron.

If you are a mouth, he will rip you open to your ears.

If you are a door, he will close you for good and you will never serve for any pathway.

If you are sleeping there, he will stand you up like a house at the top of a hill.

That's what my master put in my mouth with the order to spit right into your face.

In return for their services, griots receive gifts. There is no set fee. They never know what they will get.

Sometimes a few coins, sometimes a blanket, sometimes much more. In one reported case, a wealthy admirer gave the Malian griotte Kandia Kouyaté a small airplane so that she could fly directly to his airstrip whenever he wanted to hear the praise song she had written for him.

Good griots must have remarkable memories and be ever ready to recite or sing long histories, genealogies, and praise songs. They must also be musically talented.

Hale describes their training as comparable to that of receiving a doctoral degree. To become a griot you must learn genealogies and histories, but not just the words, also the music. You can't separate the musical art from the vocal art without losing the overall effect. Griots often play a 21-stringed instrument called a kora. The kora is described as a bridge-harp with two rows of strings, one on either side of the meter-long neck, and a body made of a calabash. The sound of the kora has no American equivalent, and is as unusual as its structure. Training for a griot begins within the family unit, with boys and girls learning from their griot parents, and then moves on to a formal griot school, and then to an apprenticeship with a master griot. Both boys and girls can train to be griots, although griottes may have less freedom to travel and train because of family obligations.

“In African literature, orality is still the most important form of literature on the continent”, Sidikou-Morton says, "because it is not everyone who can understand and read French and English. If you compare the oral literature here to the literature of other women in other cultures, you will see similarities. They are saying the same things about what it is like to be a woman, to be a human being. And the songs are beautiful and challenging — challenging to society, and challenging as a form of literature. With orality there is a lot women are saying. It is comparable to any written literature. It is expression, communication, and exchange."

Griottes traditionally sing at ceremonies, celebrations, and special occasions. When a woman is to be married, griottes sing to her to prepare her for her new life. They sing to prepare her for the trouble she may encounter in the new marriage, and to reassure her that if it gets too bad, she can come home.

Congo Bongo July 29, 2010

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In the Mali Empire The Mali Empire (Malinke Empire), at its height in the middle of the 14th century, extended from central Africa (today's Chad and Niger) to West Africa (today's Mali and Senegal). The Empire was founded by Sundjata Keita, whose exploits remain celebrated in Mali even today. In the Epic of Sundjata, King Naré Maghann Konaté offered his son Sundiata a griot, Balla Fasséké, to advise him in his reign. Balla Fasséké is thus considered the first griot and the founder of the Kouyaté line of griots that exists to this day.

Each family of griots accompanied a family of warrior-kings, which they called jatigi. In traditional culture, no griot can be without jatigi, and no jatigi can be without a griot; the two are inseparable, and worthless without the other. However, the jatigi can accept a "loan" of his griot to another jatigi. Most villages also had their own griot, who told tales of births, deaths, marriages, battles, hunts, affairs, and hundreds of other things.

Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, In Mande society, the jeli was as a historian, advisor, arbitrator, praise Mali), 1890. singer (patronage), and storyteller. Essentially, these musicians were walking history books, preserving their ancient stories and traditions through song. Their inherited tradition was passed down through generations. Their name, jeli, means "blood" in Manika language. They were said to have deep connections to spiritual, social, or political powers as music is associated as such. Speech is also said to have power as it can recreate history and relationships.

Today Bakari Sumano, head of the Association of Bamako Griots in Mali from 1994 to 2003, was an internationallyknown advocate for the importance of the griot in West African society.

In popular culture In the Malian film Guimba the Tyrant directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko, the storytelling is done through the village griot, who also serves to provide comic relief. In the late novels of the Ivorian writer Ahmadou Kourouma, Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote takes the form of a praise-song by the Sora, the Griot, Bingo to the president-Dictator of the fictitious République du Golfe. His final novel Allah is not Obliged also prominently features a griot character.

There are also references in the Alex Haley's book Roots of a griot who passed his family history through oral tradition. When Haley traces back his history, passing from his previous generation through the slave time, back to Africa, he thought there should be griots telling his history and the history of his ancestor, known in the family as "The African", who was captured in the bushes when he was seeking timber to make a talking drum. When he arrived in Africa to do research for his book, he believed he had actually found griots telling his history. Through them he learned the ancestor's identity, Kunta Kinte. Since he had first heard the story from his grandmother and later refreshed by his older cousin, he believed that they were griots in their own way until someone put the story to writing. He later learned that his cousin had died within the hour of his arrival at the village. In fact, however, this story illustrates the problems and complexities of oral tradition, especially when approached without expert knowledge. In 1981, it was shown (Wright, 1981) that the story of Kunta Kinte had been manufactured by a well-wisher. Following the publication of Roots, the story was being told in multiple versions with differing embellishments, having entered the stock of general stories.

Congo Bongo July 29, 2010

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Toddler Nearly Drowns Silently Disappears Another silent toddler near drowning occurred recently, at a post residential pool. After being resuscitated poolside, the toddler spent several uncertain hours in the hospital. A barrier and gate with self-closing, self-latching hardware were in place. However, similar to the case reported two months ago, caregivers were distracted. One parent was outside the barrier playing with a dog while the other went to the restroom. Despite the presence of another adult and older child in the pool area, the toddler slipped under. The child had been missing for about 2 minutes when she was found at the bottom of the pool.

Dedicated supervision of any child in or near a pool or puddle of water is paramount! It is important to remember that department pools pose the same hazards as stateside pools. In the US, for each drowning death there are one to four individuals nearly drowned; 50% of these accidents occur in residential pools; 70% of preschoolers, who drown, are in the care of one or both parents; and 75% are missing for less than 5 minutes. Most drowning victims are visitors, as was the case in the recent incident. Knowing how to swim does not drown proof anyone, particularly young children.

Water safety and in particular, pool safety, relies heavily on two equally important pillars – dedicated adult supervision and barriers. A compromise of either one can lead to tragic consequences. As we progress toward 100% barrier compliance at all post pools, supervision remains the weak link. If you plan activities around standing water or swimming pools, you must have a solid plan for constant supervision of all involved.

History shows us, all too well, that it takes only a brief moment of distraction to allow tragedy to strike.

Congo Bongo July 29, 2010

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