FurtherReadings
Alleyne, M. (1989).Roots of Jamaican Culture. London:
Pluto Press.
Bilby, K., & Gupe, F.-K. K. (1983).Kumina:A Kongo-
Based Tradition in the New World. Bruxelles, Belguim:
Centre d’Etude et de Documentation Africaines.
Ohadike, D. C. (2007).Sacred Drums of Liberation:
Religions and Music of Resistance in Africa and the
Diaspora. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Simpson, G. E. (1978).Black Religions in the New
World. New York: Columbia University Press.
KURUMBA
The Kurumba live on the borders of Burkina Faso
and Mali. Although many of them have now become
Muslims, they have a long and fertile history of
African religious and cultural practices that derive
from their experiences before their immigration from
the region occupied by the Dogon. Indeed, like the
Dogon and the Bamana, who are neighbors to
the Kurumba, who prefer to be called Nioniosi, the
people are organized according to clans and have
strong ancestral ties to their traditions.
In fact, the Nioniosi have several clans that are
keys to understanding their traditions. Among
these are the Sawadougou, the Zale, the Oueremi,
and the Tao. Each one of these clans represents a
lineage that is connected ultimately to the great
hero who came from Heaven to create all things
and to teach the people how to grow crops. As an
agricultural people, the Nioniosi are spiritually
connected to the idea of land. They believe that
the land is the most precious of all creations
because without the land the people cannot live.
Therefore, each clan celebrates the importance of
the agricultural inventions that made it possible
for their ancestors to survive.
Among the attributes of the Nioniosi that
demonstrate their connectedness to the ancestors
are the cyclical ceremonies and rituals that show
their respect and reverence for the deceased. Even
in a contemporary funeral, the Kurumba masks are
brought out to establish a connection between the
myths and the agrarian rituals. The great Kurumba
masks are calledadoneand are sculptured helmet
masks worn on the heads of the dancers whose
faces are covered with raffia during the ceremonies.
Because the Nioniosi believe that the most sig-
nificant of all their ancestors was Sawadougou,
the members of the Sawadougou clan must per-
form the rituals. The spirit of the Dead comes
through the Kurumba mask, the adone, and is
placed in the center of the people’s altars. It is this
ancestral commemoration that is at the heart of
the traditions among the people. The main hero of
the nation, Sawadougou, after whom one of the
clans is named, is asked to strengthen and restore
the people. Like the dancers, the makers of the
masks, those who carve and decorate them, must
be from the clan of the original person who came
from the sky to create the Nioniosi nation. They
are all members of the Sawadougou clan.
Sawadougou is appealed to because, when he
came to the Earth with his wife and children, they
were involved in the process of civilizing humanity—
teaching agriculture, proverbs, wisdom, birth,
death, and values and ethics. Although modern
Nioniosi (Kurumba) people may only know their
culture through the remnant masks that are found
throughout the world, the richness of this African
cultural form remains current for contemporary
generations in its beauty, conceptualization, and
performance.Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoBamana; DogonFurtherReadings
Asante, M. K. (2007).The History of Africa. London:
Routledge.
Conrad, D. C. (Ed.). (1990).A State of Intrigue:The
Epic of Bamana Segu According to Tayiru Banbera.
Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press for the British
Academy.
Dantioko, O. M. (Ed.). (1985).Soninkara Tarixinu:
Récits Historiques du Pays Soninké.Niamey, Niger:
Centre d’Études Linguistiques et Historiques par
Tradition Orale.
Innes, G. (Ed.). (1976).Kaabu and Fuladu:Historical
Narratives of the Gambian Mandinka. London:
School of Oriental and African Studies.
Kesteloot, L., & Dieng, B. (1997).Les Épopées
d’Afrique Noire.Paris: Éditions Karthala and
Éditions UNESCO.
Niane, D. T. (Ed.). (1982).Sundiata:An Epic of Old
Mali. London: Longman.372 Kurumba