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The '''Senufo people''', also known as '''Siena''', '''Senefo''', '''Sene''', '''Senoufo''' and '''Bamana''', are a ]n ethnolinguistic group composed of diverse subgroups living in a region spanning the northern ] (around ]), the southeastern ] and the western ].<ref name="Olson1996p515">{{cite book|author=James Stuart Olson|title=The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MdaAdBC-_S4C&pg=PA515|year=1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-27918-8|page=515}}</ref><ref name="Daddieh2016p427"/><ref name="Imperato2008p266"/> One group, the ], is found in north-western ]. The '''Senufo people''', also known as '''Siena''', '''Senefo''', '''Sene''', '''Senoufo''' and '''Bamana''', are a ]n ethnolinguistic group composed of diverse subgroups living in a region spanning the northern ] (around ]), the southeastern ] and the western ].<ref name="Olson1996p515">{{cite book|author=James Stuart Olson|title=The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MdaAdBC-_S4C&pg=PA515|year=1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-27918-8|page=515}}</ref><ref name="Daddieh2016p427"/><ref name="Imperato2008p266"/> One sub-group, the ], is found in north-western ].<ref name=richter37>{{cite journal | last=Richter | first=Dolores | title=Further considerations of caste in West Africa: The Senufo | journal=Africa | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=50 | issue=01 | year=1980 | pages=37–54 | doi=10.2307/1158641 | accessdate=2016-10-24}}</ref>


The Senufo people are predominantly ],<ref name="Imperato2008p266">{{cite book|author1=Pascal James Imperato|author2=Gavin H. Imperato|title=Historical Dictionary of Mali|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zf6xAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA266|year=2008|publisher=Scarecrow|isbn=978-0-8108-6402-3|page=266}}</ref> with some who are Muslims.<ref name="Group2013p184"/> They are regionally famous for their handicrafts, many of which feature their cultural themes and religious beliefs.<ref name=shakarov41/> The Senufo people are predominantly ],<ref name="Imperato2008p266">{{cite book|author1=Pascal James Imperato|author2=Gavin H. Imperato|title=Historical Dictionary of Mali|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zf6xAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA266|year=2008|publisher=Scarecrow|isbn=978-0-8108-6402-3|page=266}}</ref> with some who are Muslims.<ref name="Group2013p184"/> They are regionally famous for their handicrafts, many of which feature their cultural themes and religious beliefs.<ref name=shakarov41/>
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In the 1980s, estimates placed the total ethnic group population of Senufo people somewhere between 1.5 and 2.7 million<ref>Garber (1987) estimates the total number of Senufos at some 1.5 million; the ] (15th edition), based on various population estimates, counts 2.7 million.</ref> A 2013 estimate places the total over 3 million, with majority of them living in Ivory Coast, and some 0.8 million in southeastern Mali.<ref name="Group2013p184">{{cite book|author=Diagram Group|title=Encyclopedia of African Peoples|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ISAuAgAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-96334-7|page=184}}</ref><ref name="Daddieh2016p427"/><ref name="Imperato2008p266"/> Their highest population densities are found in the land between the ] river, ] and ].<ref name="Olson1996p515"/> In the 1980s, estimates placed the total ethnic group population of Senufo people somewhere between 1.5 and 2.7 million<ref>Garber (1987) estimates the total number of Senufos at some 1.5 million; the ] (15th edition), based on various population estimates, counts 2.7 million.</ref> A 2013 estimate places the total over 3 million, with majority of them living in Ivory Coast, and some 0.8 million in southeastern Mali.<ref name="Group2013p184">{{cite book|author=Diagram Group|title=Encyclopedia of African Peoples|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ISAuAgAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-96334-7|page=184}}</ref><ref name="Daddieh2016p427"/><ref name="Imperato2008p266"/> Their highest population densities are found in the land between the ] river, ] and ].<ref name="Olson1996p515"/>


The Senufo people are typically studied in three large subgroups which have been relatively isolated. The northern Senufo are called "Supide or Kenedougou", found near ], and who helped found an important kingdom of West Africa and challenged Muslim missionaries and traders. The southern Senufo are the largest group, numbering over 2 million, who allowed Muslim traders to settle within their communities in the 18th century who actively proselytized, and about 20% of the southern Senufo are Muslims. The third group is very small and isolated from both northern and southern Senufo.<ref name="Olson1996p515"/> The Senufo people are typically studied in three large subgroups which have been relatively isolated. The northern Senufo are called "Supide or Kenedougou", found near ], and who helped found an important kingdom of West Africa and challenged Muslim missionaries and traders. The southern Senufo are the largest group, numbering over 2 million, who allowed Muslim traders to settle within their communities in the 18th century who actively proselytized, and about 20% of the southern Senufo are Muslims. The third group is very small and isolated from both northern and southern Senufo.<ref name="Olson1996p515"/> Some sociologists such as the French scholar Holas mentions fifteen identifiable sub-groups of Senufo people, with thirty dialects and four ]s scattered between them.<ref name=richter37/>


They speak the various ]. It belongs to the Gur-branch of the Niger-Congo language family, and consists of four distinct languages namely Suppire in Mali, and Palaka, Dyimini, and Senari in Côte d’Ivoire.<ref name=britsenufo/> ], an ancient town in northern Ivory Coast dating from the 13th century, is linked to the Senufo people. This separation of languages and sub-ethnic groups may be linked to the 14th-century migrations with its founding along with the Bambara trade-route.<ref name=britsenufo>, Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> They speak the various ]. It belongs to the Gur-branch of the Niger-Congo language family, and consists of four distinct languages namely Suppire in Mali, and Palaka, Dyimini, and Senari in Côte d’Ivoire.<ref name=britsenufo/> ], an ancient town in northern Ivory Coast dating from the 13th century, is linked to the Senufo people. This separation of languages and sub-ethnic groups may be linked to the 14th-century migrations with its founding along with the Bambara trade-route.<ref name=britsenufo>, Encyclopedia Britannica</ref>
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The Senufo are predominantly an agricultural people cultivating corn, millet, yams and peanut. Senufo villages consist of small mud-brick homes. In the rainy southern communities of Senufo, thatched roofs are common, while flat roofs are prevalent in dry desert-like north. The Senufo is a patriarchal extended family society, where arranged typically cousin marriage and polygyny has been fairly common. However, succession and property inheritance has been matrilineal.<ref name=britsenufo/> The Senufo are predominantly an agricultural people cultivating corn, millet, yams and peanut. Senufo villages consist of small mud-brick homes. In the rainy southern communities of Senufo, thatched roofs are common, while flat roofs are prevalent in dry desert-like north. The Senufo is a patriarchal extended family society, where arranged typically cousin marriage and polygyny has been fairly common. However, succession and property inheritance has been matrilineal.<ref name=britsenufo/>


The Senufo are regionally famous as musicians and superb carvers of wood sculpture, masks and figurines.<ref name=britsenufo/> The Senufo people have specialized their art and handicraft work by subgroups, wherein the art is learnt within this group from one generation to the next. The ''Kulubele'' specialize as woodcarvers, the ''Fonombele'' specialize in blacksmith and basketry work, the ''Kpeembele'' as brass casting specialists, the ''Djelebele'' are renowned for leatherwork, the ''Tchedumbele'' are masters of gunsmith work, while ''Numu'' specialize smithing and weaving.<ref name=richter37/> Outside the artisan subgroups, the Senufo people have hunters, musicians, grave-diggers, diviners and healers who are called the ''Fejembele''.<ref name=richter37/>
The Senufo are regionally famous as musicians and superb carvers of wood sculpture, masks and figurines.<ref name=britsenufo/>


The Senufo people have traditionally been a socially stratified society, like many West African ethnic groups with ]s.<ref name="Sardan1984p56">{{cite book|author=Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan|title=Les sociétés Songhay-Zarma (Niger-Mali): chefs, guerriers, esclaves, paysans|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jwfsBQBCcvMC&pg=PA56|year=1984|publisher=Paris: Karthala|isbn=978-2-86537-106-8|pages=56–57}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Tal Tamari| year= 1991|title= The Development of Caste Systems in West Africa| journal= The Journal of African History| volume= 32| number= 2| pages= 221-250|publisher= Cambridge University Press| url= http://www.jstor.org/stable/182616}}, '''Quote:''' " are found among the Soninke, the various Manding-speaking populations, the Wolof, Tukulor, '''Senufo''', Minianka, Dogon, Songhay, and most Fulani, Moorish and Tuareg populations".</ref> The Senufo people have traditionally been a socially stratified society, like many West African ethnic groups with ]s.<ref name="Sardan1984p56">{{cite book|author=Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan|title=Les sociétés Songhay-Zarma (Niger-Mali): chefs, guerriers, esclaves, paysans|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jwfsBQBCcvMC&pg=PA56|year=1984|publisher=Paris: Karthala|isbn=978-2-86537-106-8|pages=56–57}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Tal Tamari| year= 1991|title= The Development of Caste Systems in West Africa| journal= The Journal of African History| volume= 32| number= 2| pages= 221-250|publisher= Cambridge University Press| url= http://www.jstor.org/stable/182616}}, '''Quote:''' " are found among the Soninke, the various Manding-speaking populations, the Wolof, Tukulor, '''Senufo''', Minianka, Dogon, Songhay, and most Fulani, Moorish and Tuareg populations".</ref> According to Dolores Richter, the caste system found among Senufo people features "hierarchical ranking including despised lower castes, occupational specificity, ritual complementarity, endogamy, hereditary membership, residential isolation and the political superiority of farmers over artisan castes".<ref name=richter37/>


The Senufo villages are typically independent of each other, and each has a male secret society with elaborate initiation rituals in a patch of forest they consider as sacred.<ref name="Daddieh2016p427"/> The initiation rituals involve masks, figurines and ritual equipment that the Senufo people carve and have perfected. The secrecy has helped the Senufo people to preserve their culture in the times of wars and political pressure. They wear specially crafted ] ], such as one mimicking wildlife.<ref name=shakarov41/> The Senufo villages are typically independent of each other, and each has a male secret society called ''Poro'' with elaborate initiation rituals in a patch of forest they consider as sacred.<ref name="Daddieh2016p427"/><ref name=richter37/> The initiation rituals involve masks, figurines and ritual equipment that the Senufo people carve and have perfected. The secrecy has helped the Senufo people to preserve their culture in the times of wars and political pressure. They wear specially crafted ] ], such as those mimicking wildlife.<ref name=shakarov41/>


The Sandogo is an authoritative women’s social order responsible for sustaining positive relationships with the ] through ] and for protecting the purity of each ] group. The ] are diviners within the Sandogo society who diagnose and resolve issues within the community.{{cn|date=October 2016}} The Sandogo is an authoritative women’s social order responsible for sustaining positive relationships with the ] through ] and for protecting the purity of each ] group. The ] are diviners within the Sandogo society who diagnose and resolve issues within the community.{{cn|date=October 2016}}

Revision as of 19:59, 24 October 2016

Senoufo people of West Africa

The Senufo people, also known as Siena, Senefo, Sene, Senoufo and Bamana, are a West African ethnolinguistic group composed of diverse subgroups living in a region spanning the northern Ivory Coast (around Katiola), the southeastern Mali and the western Burkina Faso. One sub-group, the Nafana, is found in north-western Ghana.

The Senufo people are predominantly Animists, with some who are Muslims. They are regionally famous for their handicrafts, many of which feature their cultural themes and religious beliefs.

Demographics and languages

Distribution of Senufo people in Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana (approx).

In the 1980s, estimates placed the total ethnic group population of Senufo people somewhere between 1.5 and 2.7 million A 2013 estimate places the total over 3 million, with majority of them living in Ivory Coast, and some 0.8 million in southeastern Mali. Their highest population densities are found in the land between the Black Volta river, Bagoe River and Bani River.

The Senufo people are typically studied in three large subgroups which have been relatively isolated. The northern Senufo are called "Supide or Kenedougou", found near Odienne, and who helped found an important kingdom of West Africa and challenged Muslim missionaries and traders. The southern Senufo are the largest group, numbering over 2 million, who allowed Muslim traders to settle within their communities in the 18th century who actively proselytized, and about 20% of the southern Senufo are Muslims. The third group is very small and isolated from both northern and southern Senufo. Some sociologists such as the French scholar Holas mentions fifteen identifiable sub-groups of Senufo people, with thirty dialects and four castes scattered between them.

They speak the various Senufo languages. It belongs to the Gur-branch of the Niger-Congo language family, and consists of four distinct languages namely Suppire in Mali, and Palaka, Dyimini, and Senari in Côte d’Ivoire. Korhogo, an ancient town in northern Ivory Coast dating from the 13th century, is linked to the Senufo people. This separation of languages and sub-ethnic groups may be linked to the 14th-century migrations with its founding along with the Bambara trade-route.

History

The Senufo people were a significant part of the 17th to 19th-century Kénédougou Kingdom (literally "country of the plain") with the capital of Sikasso. This region saw many wars including the rule of Daoula Ba Traoré, a cruel despot between 1840 to 1877. The Islamization of Senufo people began during the Kénédougou rule, but it was the chiefs who converted, while the general Senufo population refused. Daoula Ba Traoré attempted to Islamize his kingdom, destroyed many villages within the kingdom such as Guiembe and Nielle in 1875 because they resisted his views. The Kénédougou dynastic rulers attacked their neighbors as well, such as the Zarma people and they in turn attacked back many times between 1883 to 1898.

The pre-colonial wars and violence led to their migration into Burkina Faso in regions that became towns such as Tiembara in Kiembara Department. The Kénédougou kingdom and the Traoré dynasty was dissolved in 1898 with the arrival of French colonial rule.

Society and culture

The handicrafts of Senufo people.

The Senufo are predominantly an agricultural people cultivating corn, millet, yams and peanut. Senufo villages consist of small mud-brick homes. In the rainy southern communities of Senufo, thatched roofs are common, while flat roofs are prevalent in dry desert-like north. The Senufo is a patriarchal extended family society, where arranged typically cousin marriage and polygyny has been fairly common. However, succession and property inheritance has been matrilineal.

The Senufo are regionally famous as musicians and superb carvers of wood sculpture, masks and figurines. The Senufo people have specialized their art and handicraft work by subgroups, wherein the art is learnt within this group from one generation to the next. The Kulubele specialize as woodcarvers, the Fonombele specialize in blacksmith and basketry work, the Kpeembele as brass casting specialists, the Djelebele are renowned for leatherwork, the Tchedumbele are masters of gunsmith work, while Numu specialize smithing and weaving. Outside the artisan subgroups, the Senufo people have hunters, musicians, grave-diggers, diviners and healers who are called the Fejembele.

The Senufo people have traditionally been a socially stratified society, like many West African ethnic groups with castes. According to Dolores Richter, the caste system found among Senufo people features "hierarchical ranking including despised lower castes, occupational specificity, ritual complementarity, endogamy, hereditary membership, residential isolation and the political superiority of farmers over artisan castes".

The Senufo villages are typically independent of each other, and each has a male secret society called Poro with elaborate initiation rituals in a patch of forest they consider as sacred. The initiation rituals involve masks, figurines and ritual equipment that the Senufo people carve and have perfected. The secrecy has helped the Senufo people to preserve their culture in the times of wars and political pressure. They wear specially crafted brass jewelry, such as those mimicking wildlife.

The Sandogo is an authoritative women’s social order responsible for sustaining positive relationships with the spiritual world through divination and for protecting the purity of each kinship group. The Sandobele are diviners within the Sandogo society who diagnose and resolve issues within the community.

References

  1. ^ James Stuart Olson (1996). The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 515. ISBN 978-0-313-27918-8.
  2. ^ Cyril K. Daddieh (2016). Historical Dictionary of Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 426–427. ISBN 978-0-8108-7389-6.
  3. ^ Pascal James Imperato; Gavin H. Imperato (2008). Historical Dictionary of Mali. Scarecrow. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-8108-6402-3.
  4. ^ Richter, Dolores (1980). "Further considerations of caste in West Africa: The Senufo". Africa. 50 (01). Cambridge University Press: 37–54. doi:10.2307/1158641. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ Diagram Group (2013). Encyclopedia of African Peoples. Routledge. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-135-96334-7.
  6. ^ Avner Shakarov; Lyubov Senatorova (2015). Traditional African Art: An Illustrated Study. McFarland. pp. 41–45. ISBN 978-1-4766-2003-9.
  7. Garber (1987) estimates the total number of Senufos at some 1.5 million; the Ethnologue (15th edition), based on various population estimates, counts 2.7 million.
  8. ^ Senufo people, Encyclopedia Britannica
  9. ^ Pascal James Imperato; Gavin H. Imperato (2008). Historical Dictionary of Mali. Scarecrow. pp. lxxviii, 266. ISBN 978-0-8108-6402-3.
  10. Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan (1984). Les sociétés Songhay-Zarma (Niger-Mali): chefs, guerriers, esclaves, paysans. Paris: Karthala. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-2-86537-106-8.
  11. Tal Tamari (1991). "The Development of Caste Systems in West Africa". The Journal of African History. 32 (2). Cambridge University Press: 221–250., Quote: " are found among the Soninke, the various Manding-speaking populations, the Wolof, Tukulor, Senufo, Minianka, Dogon, Songhay, and most Fulani, Moorish and Tuareg populations".

Bibliography

  • Holas, Bohumil (1957) Les Sénoufo (y compris les Minianka), Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
  • Spindel, Carol (1989). In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove. Vintage. ISBN 0-679-72214-9. ISBN 978-0-679-72214-4.
  • Glaze, Anita J. (1981) Art and Death in a Senufo Village. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

External links

Ethnic groups in the Ivory Coast
Ethnic groups in Mali
Ethnic groups in Burkina Faso
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