Last Saturday, Sonsoro celebrated Gaani Fete, an annual Bariba horse festival. Every year, on a date determined by mysterious means, the country's largest Gaani Fete is held in Nikki, the capital of Bariba culture. After this year's Gaani Fete in Nikki in late January, other villages held their smaller versions of Gaani Fete in the weeks that followed (Banikoara on February 2, Kandi on February 9, Sonsoro on February 16, etc). While Sonsoro's Gaani Fete is drastically smaller than Nikki's, one of the largest tourist draws in Benin, it was still an interesting show of the local culture.
From what I was able to discern, Gaani Fete is an opportunity to show off sophisticated horsemanship and to celebrate with traditional music. The Peulh horsemen seemed to delight in galloping towards the crowd, causing the spectators to flee and shriek for fear of getting run over.
As for all special occasions, many villagers made a point to wear matching outfits with their friends. In some cases, this meant identical outfits from traditional cloth. In other cases, it meant identical Western outfits. Many people had my colleague print them matching, customized Gaani Fete T-shirts for the occasion.
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| A Peulh horseman showing off for the crowd |
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| The Peulh king of Sonsoro (center). The Bariba king died three years ago, so the man on the left, my landlord's son, is representing the Bariba king until a new one is elected. |
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| Griots, the traditional musicians/storytellers, playing traditional instruments. The left is a sort of violin, and the right is like a maraca. |
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| The crowd gathered in our market square to watch the festivities |
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| A man offers money to one of the four horsemen |
Storytelling in this country must be widespread, since the literacy rate is so high. Are these stories that are passed on from generation to generation? Are children told stories? If so, these are stories that could be written in school and made into books. A library of these books could be at school for others to read. This might then begin to make the library a place that becomes of more interest.
ReplyDeleteHas your landlord"s son been representing the Bariba king for three years? How long will it take for an election to take place?
That's a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know to what extent the griots' stories are shared with adults or with children. The griots are the caretakers of the village's history. In particular, they are expected to be able to recount a person's genealogy for generations.
I don't know how long my landlord's son has been representing the king. I am surprised the election has taken so long, but I don't know what it will take for them to decide to call the election. In my colleague's case, he was crowned six months after the death of the previous king, whose burial I attended in August.