742 Zin
that these “forces and waves” are God in motion.
The Zarma–Songhai believe that the different con-
centrations of spiritual energy have different pur-
poses and effects. There are, for instance, “cold”
spirits that control the forces of nature and there
are spirits that control illness.
The Zarma are a people who are proud of their
heritage and resist the changes that are occurring
around them. Their choice to follow the religion of
their ancestors is not respected as the efforts
to proselytize them are being stepped up by the
Christian missionaries. The Zarma–Songhai are
literally under attack by Christian evangelists. It is
assumed by the evangelists that the Zarma are a
Godless people. Although the Niger government
allows freedom of worship, the Zarma have been
earmarked for conversion to Christianity. The free-
dom of Christian missionaries to preach the word
of God overrides the freedom of religious expres-
sion on the part of the Zarma people. Not more
than 2% of the Zarma people have embraced
Christianity. Of these, many are embracing
Christianity after feeling the effects of famine. The
Zarma are willing to hear the message of Jesus in
response to the Christians, who in their “condi-
tional” generosity have delivered famine relief to
them in exchange for Bible worship.
Vera DeMoultrie NoblesSeealsoBamana
FurtherReadings
Fu-Kiau, K., & Bunseki, K. (1980).The African Book
Without Title. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Katz, R. (1982).Boiling Energy:Community Healing
Among the Kalahari Kung. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
McNaughton, P. (1993).The Mande Blacksmiths:
Knowledge,Power,and Art in West Africa.
Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
ZIN
Zin are generally known as Niger River deities,
which are part of the Songhai mythology, as well
as the myths of other peoples on the Niger River
banks like the Djerma, Hauka, Sorko, and Hole,
who are mainly connected to fishing populations
in small towns and villages.
Songhai culture as well as other Western
African cultures has been greatly influenced by the
Islamic religion, which means that traditional reli-
gions have incorporated some of these Islamic
influences. Several influences concur in the reli-
gious manifestations of the Niger River peoples,
so it is often not clear what exactly is traditionally
African. For example, it is clear that there
are Islamic influences in the Songhai people.
Apparently many of the current religious manifes-
tations of the Songhai and other peoples of the
Niger valley are Islamized. Allegedly, the African
zin are often considered interchangeable with the
Islamic djinn. Among those of the Islamic tradition,
the djinn are more than human: A djinn represents
a genius that never leaves the place it masters. The
djinn are much more powerful than normal
humans, in that they can fly and choose to become
completely invisible or change into the shape of an
animal, as well as have a great command of mag-
ical arts and power to create illusions, an ability
learned originally from being part of the desert. In
this sense, they used to be worshiped as gods or
demigods. Of course, these ideas seem to corre-
spond to certain mystical ideas among traditional
African cultures.
Oral tradition narratives, however, tell us about
an extremely rich mythological influence of the
Mandingo religion built around the traditional
and original concept of an all-governing sun.
According to the Songhai system of beliefs, the
sun was the central force of creation, and every-
thing on Earth was influenced by deities that gov-
erned natural resources. Some of these deities
mastered different places or natural elements.
They were masters of the rivers, trees, and valleys,
and they were called Zin. According to the
Songhai people, everything on Earth is governed
by a particular Zin, the deity of one particularly
remarkable place or natural resource. They are
invisible, but their essences live in special places.
Although we must undoubtedly realize that
there is an extremely intricate pattern of religious
fusions of African and Arab traditions by virtue of
Islam’s influence on the Songhai people, it is possi-
ble to acknowledge that the Songhai tradition is