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For the memory Among West African peoples, local and family history stories are told in speech and song by griots. Stephen Davies meets the continent’s traditional genealogists
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s my eyes adjusted to the dim light in the inner court I saw Dikko Hamadou, the Fulani chief of Djibo (north-west Burkina Faso). He was swathed in indigo and sitting bolt upright on a wicker chair. On millet-stalk mats before him crouched ranks of well-wishers, here to congratulate their chief on the 32 • ANCESTORS APRIL 2006
forthcoming marriage of his nephew. “Salam aleykum,” I said. “Aleykum asalam,” replied the visitors in unison. “Mi wari faa jowte” (I have come to greet you), I said to the chief, and he nodded graciously, offering his hand. We rattled through the greeting sequence and I took a place on one of the mats. Then a figure appeared at the door,
the wide shoulders of his robe blocking out the light. He did not enter the inner court, but stood framed in the doorway and pointed a long forefinger at the chief. “Dikko Hamadou, maami to maama, maami to maama, maami to maama,” cried the intruder. His resonant voice shattered the calm of the court.
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“Moyyi!” (Good!) shouted a second voice behind him. “Dikko Hamadou, bii Dikko Paate!” cried the first. “Moyyi!” shouted the second. “Bii Dikko Mamadou.” “Moyyi!” “Bii Dikko Oumarou.” “Moyyi!” With a shiver of excitement I realised what was going on. The speaker and his sidekick were Fulani griots, and this was the genealogy of Djibo’s chief. Traditional African societies take genealogy extremely seriously. According to the Fulani proverb, “a tree with deep roots is not easily blown over.” Tribes, clans and individuals find their sense of identity in the history and achievements of their ancestors. Among non-literate peoples, family trees are transmitted orally, and in Africa the guardians of these traditions are the griots. Almost every tribe in Africa has a clan of griots – experts in local family history and masters of speech and song. Hassan Tamboura, the most accomplished griot in Djibo, came to the end of the chief’s genealogy, turned on his heel and disappeared, leaving his young apprentice blinking nervously in the limelight. He was shorter than Hassan, clean-shaven and bespectacled. “Moyyi!” shouted the young man one last time, then he turned and hurried away. I did the maths. Twenty generations of names corresponded to roughly 500 years of family history, all delivered at breakneck speed in the space of a couple minutes. Moyyi indeed. The first person to write about griots was the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta. In 1352 he was received at the court of Mansa Suleyman, king of the empire of Mali, where he encountered a host of griots playing on their lutes and singing
British Library Maps.C.3bb.2
Left: A troup of griots from Baraboulé with their flutes and drums.
A 1375 map of Mali featuring the king wearing a crown and holding his orb and sceptre.
the king’s praises. It is certain, however, that there were griots in Mali many centuries before Ibn Battuta got there. Different people in West Africa tell different stories about the origin of griots, but here is Hassan Tamboura’s version. Once upon a time in Mali there lived a beggar called Sura Gato. Gato was accustomed to beg from the prophets of God and one day he went to beg from a prophet called Ali Badara. When Badara refused to give him anything, Sura Gato ran to the market place and began to list in a loud voice all the prophets in Mali, conspicuously omitting Badara’s name. The prophet flew into a rage and threatened to cut out Sura Gato’s tongue, so the frightened beggar revised his list to include Ali Badara, who was so relieved that he showered Gato with gifts. And so it was that Sura Gato became the world’s first griot. The story of Sura Gato illustrates the different powers of griot and patron, and their uneasy, co-dependant relationship. Even today, a fascinating symbiosis exists between the griots and the families they serve. The ancestors of Hassan Tamboura
Traditional African societies take genealogy extremely seriously.
praised the ancestors of the current chief, and his sons will praise the sons. A griot bestows history and honour on his patron, and in return the patron bestows cattle and grain on his griot. Genealogy in West Africa is big business. By 12 o’clock, the marriage of the chief’s nephew was in full swing. The whole of Djibo had turned up at the village hall, and were waiting outside for the happy couple to emerge. Mopeds wove in and out of the crowd, hooting their horns in celebration. A troupe of griots from Baraboulé wielded their drums and flutes with enthusiasm. Hassan and his apprentice hovered on the edge of the crowd, occasionally raising their hands to sing brief eulogies for passing noblemen. A large Fulani woman approached me, her golden earrings and necklace glinting in the midday sun. “Dikko!” she said. “I give you the name of Dikko.” Several heads turned. “Who are you?” I said, taken aback. “Who am I? I am a griotte, the daughter of a griotte and the wife of a griot, and I have given you the surname Dikko, the surname of Djibo’s chief.” The griotte opened her palms with a flourish. I shuffled nervously. “I have no money with me.” I whispered. “Dikko has no money!” exclaimed the griotte, stepping backwards in APRIL 2006
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CHANTS FOR THE MEMORY
To research family history in Africa, you can turn neither to the internet nor to magazines. mock horror. “I named him Dikko but Dikko says he has no money.” Above all else, the Fulani fear being shamed in front of their peers, so even the poorest Fulani man will give to a griot unquestioningly if asked to. In my case I was saved from mortification by the emergence of the bride and groom from the village hall. My praise-singer cavorted away towards the Baraboulé musicians and
began to reel to the beat of their tamtams. To research family history in Africa, you can turn neither to the internet nor to magazines. Archives are few, and the only census reports are so recent as to be almost useless. But if you are armed with the surname of an individual and the town or village they came from, there is a good chance you can find a griot who can help you.
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ast year Stephen Davies interviewed Hassan Tamboura about being a griot. This is the question and answer session, translated from the original Fulfulde. What is a griot? A griot is a slave, but not a tanner or a blacksmith or a silversmith. A griot is a wordsmith. His skill is in hoddu (lute) and haala (talk). His work is yesude (listing genealogies) and yettude (singing praises).
When did you become a griot? I was born a griot. All my ancestors from the very beginning were griots, right down to my grandfather. My father was also a griot, but someone made him angry and after that he never sang again. It was my grandfather who taught me hoddu and haala. I started learning the chief’s genealogy at the age of four. Who are the best griots in Burkina Faso? There are many good griots here in the North: Saala of Aribinda, Maabo Laamu of Sikire, Jaayi Laabetu of Dori, Al Mustapha of Markoy. But the best griots come from Mali – Bukari Hamade Farane, Bara Sambare and the sons of Yero Askula.
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That is exactly what Alex Haley did. The resulting book, Roots, was published in 1976 and quickly became a classic of African genealogy. The author was a black American who travelled to the Gambia to research his family tree. There he found an old griot who knew the genealogy of his Gambian ancestors and performed it to musical backing. Alex Haley was impressed: “Spilling from the griot’s head came an incredibly complex Kinte clan lineage that reached back across many generations: who married whom; who had what children; what children then married whom; then their offspring. It was all just unbelievable. I was struck not only by the profusion of details,
music province. I walk behind him wherever he goes and I sing his praises. When we arrive at a village we go to the house of the delegé, the administrative authority in a village, and I recite a genealogy. Everyone gives more generously when I am with the Amiiru.
Hassan Tamboura.
What is the hardest thing about being a griot? It can be hard when you travel in an area where you are not known. When you come to a new town you must ask who the wealthy people are and work hard to learn their genealogies. Even if you perform well, they might not give you anything, not even a hen. It is hard to sing from an empty stomach. Author
GRIOTS
I met a griot in Boukouma who told me that it would take me seven years to learn all the genealogies he knows. Seven years is a very long time, even for a stupid person!
Do griots co-operate with each other or do they compete? When Bara Sambara visited Djibo, he asked me to tell him the genealogy of the Amiiru (the Fulani chief of Djibo). I gave him the principal line, but I held back some of the details. You must always hold something back, or your work will lose its value.
When you praise someone, what kind of things do you say? You give examples of the person’s courage or intelligence or goodness. In the past you could talk about the battles a man fought in – you could recount his mighty deeds. But today the mighty deeds are different. Today the mighty deeds involve travelling to distant places or studying at university, or getting a well-paid job. Even if someone else in your family does these things, you will be honoured because of it.
What is your favourite activity as a griot? Accompanying the Amiiru when he goes to visit the bush villages in his
If I give you my family tree, can you learn it and sing it for me? Of course. (Laughs.) How much are you willing to pay?
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A 16th century Dutch map of North-West Africa showing some of the African kingdoms of the period.
but also by the narrative’s biblical style.” The phrase “just unbelievable” turned out to be apt. In a 1978 lawsuit, Roots was exposed as a hoax and Haley was ordered to pay $650,000 to Harold Courlander, whose novel The African he had plagiarised. An original transcript of that famous griot scene in Gambia showed how grossly Alex Haley had manipulated the griot, asking for a story that fitted in with his predetermined American narrative. The writer’s reputation was damaged, but even today Roots is marketed as a true story and enjoys rave reviews on Amazon from unsuspecting new readers. However, the silver lining of the Roots debacle is that griots now have the international recognition they deserve. Their popularity has been further enhanced in recent years by a surge of interest in African music. Some of
West Africa’s griots are packing up their lutes and boarding planes for Paris and New York in search of new audiences and lucrative recording contracts. Others are staying home and enjoying the extravagance of their traditional patrons. Kandia Kouyaté is one of several griottes to have hit the jackpot in recent years. She is known in her home country Mali as “la dangereuse” because the beauty of her voice makes people go into a trance and fall over. Kouyaté has many patrons, including the mysterious Malian millionaire Babani Sissoko, who once gave her an aeroplane. Try her 2002 album Biriki, but first make sure that you are sitting down. Back in the village, Tamboura Hassan is still waiting for his big break; if you want to buy a cassette of his genealogies you have to go to Djibo market. Hassan lives with his wife and five children in a mud-brick
house in the old Fulani quarter of town, and he does not yet own a bicycle, let alone an aeroplane. Nevertheless, the last few days have been good for Hassan. The marriage of the chief’s nephew was a success, and Dikko Hamadou rewarded his griot to the tune of two cows and a bull – a generous gesture which the Tambouras of Djibo will be praising for at least the next 500 years. Stephen Davies has written a children’s book, Sophie and the Albino Camel, to be published this April by Andersen Press. The story features an apprentice griot called Gidaado the Fourth and is suitable for 8 to 11 year-olds.
READ MORE ABOUT IT Thomas A Hale, Griots and Griottes: masters of words and music (Indiana University Press) Alex Haley, Roots (Picador, 1976)
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