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André Washington

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62 images Created 30 Apr 2018

the Senufo

On several occasions ..Several hit-and-miss occasions, I traveled the scenic eight-hour long route from Ouagadougou to Bobo Dioulasso to Banfora to the Kome Province. Destination: the village of Sindou. Situated in the Black Volta region of southwest Burkina Faso, this stunning, otherworldly landscape of towering, time sculpted rock formations; undulating peaks; and breathtaking outcrops lies in a forested zone bordering southeastern Mali and northern Cotê d’Ivoire…. this is the homelands of the Senufo

The Senufo are a predominately animist West Africa people who are renowned for their artisan traditions in wood carving, woven cloths, and crafted adornment. They are mainly agriculturalist in the cultivation of cotton, corn, and peanuts – and within the mystic Dozo order, are skilled hunters and fierce soldiers (“West Africa’s Samurai”). As artisans, Senufo society is structured under different individual caste that include Fonombele (blacksmiths and basketry), Kulubele (woodcarvers), Kpeembele (brass casters), Djelebele (leather work), Tchedumbele (gunsmiths), Numu (smithing and weavers), as well as the Fejembele (hunters, musicians, potters, diviners, healers, and grave-diggers), all under a strict 7-year apprenticeship to initiation process that is passed from generation to generation. Throughout their vast ancestral region, Senufo music is well loved as they are adept at playing a broad range of wind, stringed, and percussive instruments.

The people are a warm, kind, and generous people not to be taken for granted! Over time and history, they remain fierce defenders of their traditions and way-of-life having resisted the spread of Islam, European colonialism, and the onslaught of Christian missionaries…. This has placed the Senufo among the African societies that have largely preserved and maintained their culture, customs, and traditions.

Spring of 2010, I had the fortune – and the luck of timing, to attend a traditional Senufo ‘wet funeral’ ceremony and the ‘dry funeral’ ceremony. The ‘wet funeral’ is the first part of an elaborate ritual that occurs a few days following a death. A year or more after the burial of the deceased the Yagbaga or ‘dry funeral’ takes place during the period between the end of the harvest season and the dry season. Dry funeral is the important purification ritual and bestows protection for the deceased in the afterlife.

During this celebration of life and death, the entire village of the deceased, along with neighboring communities, transforms into a vibrant frenzy complete with pulsating music, a mystical air, with children scattering everywhere – led by colorfully adorned dancers wearing carved wood animal masks, from head to toe, that are used to drive out negative spirits and invoke the ancestors to welcome the deceased. The traditional spirit masks are crafted by clans from the surrounding villages as tribute to the ancestors.
From sun up till sun down, and over days ..I felt and saw the spirits
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  • morning in the Black Volta region ........
  • Prince Tiemoko Ouatarra (in blue pla..ear!
  • ..and out of the netherworld appears..dead
  • the 'wet' ceremony spirit of the dead
  • one touch from the spirit can seal y..fate
  • the wet ceremony spirits of the dead..ouch
  • the Senufo tradition of the 'wet cer..nity
  • invoking the spirits
  • the rhythmic music pulsates from lat..rise
  • ..a year or more after the wet funer..mony
  • Yagbaga antelope mask
  • Yagbaga spirits
  • it's not nice to tease the spirits!
  • antelope spirit stirring excitement
  • the Dozo Tchedumbele or "master..uot;
  • ..patched and rigged old guns!
  • ..greeting the Yagbaga spirits....
  • dance....
  • ..buffalo dance
  • whirling antelope spirit dance
  • ..dance spirit dance
  • the photographer spirit....
  • musicians playing traditional six st..dara
  • musicians arrive
  • Dozo musicians playing at Orodara
  • ..melodic n'goni music....
  • Dozo Fejembele
  • Donzo n'goni musician
  • melodic homage to the Chief....
  • a Senufo Chief and Dozo
  • Senufo Chief
  • ..all the Chief's men....
  • ..gathering Dozo....
  • ..of the Dozo men
  • Dozo
  • ..and more Dozo brothers gather....
  • ..dressed in tradition....
  • this is the Dozo brotherhood
  • ..in customary Dozo magic clothing w......
  • ..the personality of a Dozo man's sp..sign
  • ..a Dozo hat adorned with talismans ......
  • ..and no hat is like the others!
  • tradition and technology
  • Senufo are known for the unique boko..Dozo
  • dance for the hunting spirits
  • ..the dancing playfully prepares for......
  • dance Dozo dance....
  • ..hunting dance....
  • ..tools of a Dozo soldier
  • regalia of a Dozo hunter soldier
  • n'goni musicians play a Dozo initiat......
  • ..musicians sing praises to Senufo C..2012
  • ..the initiation council
  • Chiefs of the initiation council
  • the Donzo Chiefs
  • ..the initiate....
  • tested by fire....
  • ..harnessing the flame....
  • initiated into the secret society....
  • grilling the sacrificial antelope
  • chants of traditional songs....
  • singing n'goni player