Before I get to the details of the day we spent touring Djenne, I'll detail some of the notes I took in my journal. First, regarding the drive and what we saw along the way:
We later learned that these were fire berries (or something like that) -- really pretty trees that looked like crape myrtles in the winter (bare, no barked branches) but with bright orange flowers
While most women were dressed in bright patterned skirts and tops, we did see one woman in skinny jeans with a silky blouse on the side of the road -- western hair and cell phone included. Looked very out of place!
Lots of donkey and horse carts
One man riding a camel (only camel we'd see)
Lots of small villages along the roads.
The Baobob tree was introduced -- it looks either like an upside-down tree (roots on the top as the branches are pretty bare) or the Keebler elf tree. They use the bark as fiber for weaving ropes and in costumes for masked dances, and eat the insides of the fruit (tastes like popcorn and similar texture). Or they dry the fruit and use it as marakas
The "tack tree" -- if you are upset with a person, you write it on a piece of paper and tack it to a tree -- then you let go of it.
More history:
Mali was a colony of France that gained its independence in 1960 (unlike in the US where the "native" population was essentially run out, Mali is mostly populated by "native" people). It was part of the salt trade and caravan routes before that. The kingdom of Mali was quite wealthy, though the "common" people really weren't (and still are not). It was called "French West Africa" and was joined with Senegal. When the two countries split (after independence), Senegal got the entire coastline and Mali became a land-locked nation. There is some gold found in the country and shallow mines exist. According to the UN, Mali is the 4th poorest nation in the world, though as much of the economy is barter, this is difficult to truly measure. The country used to be well-forested but human activity has changed this. People were in the area up to 200,000 years ago.
The city of Djenne (where we'll visit) was established in 300BC. There was early work in iron and early use of tools. The salt trade helped lead to the sharing of ideas, most notably Islam. By 1200, Timbuktu was a bustling city. The Dogon people fled the Islamists and arrived in Mali to displace the Tellim people (some believe the Tellim fled to central Africa and are the origin of today's pygmy race, but this is not proven). In the 1500s, sailing and exploration from the west brought in big new ideas. One of these was the slave trade -- people were traded for products. Slavery was also within Africa -- prisoners of war were made slaves, the poor would sometimes sell their children, raiders would kidnap people and make them slaves. However, African slavery was different in that a slave might marry into the owner's family, they could buy their own freedom, and they weren't treated as chattle. Slavery still exists in Mauritania. It was in the 1880s that European countries made a scramble for African land which was the beginning of the colonial period. "Civilizing" missions took place to teach the Africans western was and expected that they'd just do as told. The whites starting living there, in large homes as they would in their "home" countries and the Africans saw this. During WWII, African conscripts fought for other country's freedoms, which led to their own revolutions. Additionally, during the 1960s when the Civil Rights movement was occurring here, the Africans were also learning this and seeking their own freedoms. Additionally, the Cold War was going on -- the question of communism or not -- Mali chose communism (though this is no longer in practice). While the country was granted freedom in 1960 (and was communist), in 1990 the Toureg Rebellion happened. Nomads from the Saharan region staged an attack which resulted in a military coup. The military leader said he'd stay in power for 1 year and then step down for a democratic election -- AND HE DID!!!!! Women have the vote, but often don't execute it -- less from being "forbidden" and more from not having access -- they don't tend to leave their villages, and I believe that they'd have to go to a larger town to vote.
And for a last definition -- cousinage. There are still tribes in Mali, identified by their families. Many tribes are "cousins" of one another. This allows them the freedom to insult one another without it being taken seriously -- sort of like we do within our families when we joke about how grammy always overcooked the vegetables.....
Next post will be about our day in Djenne (unless something truly exciting happens!)
No comments:
Post a Comment