Misplaced Pages

#553446

14-461: The history of Wassoulou before the 19th century is poorly attested in surviving sources, but it appears to have been a relatively decentralized and egalitarian society composed of jamana , alliances of small villages defended by walls . The region was in some respects tributary to the Segou Empire in the 18th and early 19th centuries, but still suffered regular slave raids. Wassoulou is also

28-524: A UNESCO World Heritage Site . Koutammakou Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba ( French : Koutammakou, le pays des Batammariba ) is a cultural landscape designated in 2004 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the border between northern Togo and Benin . The area features traditional mud tower-houses which remain the preferred style of living. The traditional mud houses are known as

42-517: A dialect of the Bambara language and local customs before the 18th century, coinciding with the spread of Islam. The culture of the Wassulunke of Fulbe ancestry is a unique blend of few traditional Fulbe practices and those of the indigenous Mandé peoples. Wassoulou is the birthplace of Wassoulou music , a style which blends traditional and modern influences with strong female vocalists and

56-694: A national symbol of Togo. Many of the mud houses have two floors and some of them have a flat roof. In 2008, to complete the inscription of the site to World Heritage, the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of UNESCO, headed by Rieks Smeets, set up the «Safeguarding of the Cultural Intangible Heritage of Batammariba», from the 2003 Convention. The goal was to promote sustainability in Intergenerational transmission and preservation of skills and knowledge in all

70-488: A pentatonic hunter's harp. Wassoulou music is one of the two forms of West African music ethnomusicologists believe to be the origin of the American blues, which developed out of music forms dating back to the American slave trade from West Africa. Some of the most famous residents of Wassoulou include the singers Oumou Sangare , Ramata Diakite and Coumba Sidibe . Tata (fortification) A tata or tata somba

84-483: Is a historic type of fortification used throughout West Africa. The word is applied to the wall itself as well as the elite living spaces within it for the ruler of the tata and his court. It can also designate the defenses around a major city or other military center. The term 'tata' derives from the Mandinka language but has used across a wide area, roughly corresponding to the former Mali Empire , since at least

98-553: The 16th century. Tata are often made of wood and rammed earth or mudbrick , but sometimes of stone as well. They usually have round or square towers, sometimes thatched, with arrow or gun slits. Tata ruins, such as that of Maba Diakhou Bâ near Nioro du Rip in Senegal , generally date from the 19th century, though some are older. The construction materials used make them vulnerable to erosion and degradation if not maintained regularly. The tata of northern Togo and Benin are

112-562: The designation. From 19 to 24 October October 2018, UNESCO organized an emergency mission to assess the damage allegedly caused by the August 2018 rains in Koutammakou on habitat and on the intangible heritage. The report was prepared by three international experts: Ishanlosen Odiaua, Dominique Sewane and Franck Ogou. The Tammari peoples , for which Koutammakou is inhabited, have lived in this site for hundreds of years. They migrated to

126-546: The ditammari, language of Batammariba in primary schools and education of youth in the intangible cultural heritage (distribution of textbooks). This program was coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Primary Education of Togo, led by minister Angèle Dola Akofa Aguigah . Dominique Sewane, whose groundwork and her research and publications on the Batammaribas’ ceremonial life, had an important role in

140-412: The essential areas of their culture, such as : manufacture of everyday and ceremonial objects, traditional healing and useful plants, takyentas construction, dance, music, archery, oral traditions, promotion of tourism respecting local traditions, mapping sacred areas, accumulation of data on the intangible cultural heritage and creation of access to it, recordings, films and photos…. Overall, teaching

154-529: The name of an Islamic state , the Wassoulou Empire (1870–1898), ruled by Samori Ture and centered on his capital, Bissandugu . In 1870, Samori overthrew an older Wassoulou state whose faama (ruler) was Dyanabufarina Modi. He established a hierarchichal government system for the first time, appointing the local Muslim convert Farbalay Jakite as his representative in the region in 1882. The Wassoulunke rebelled against Toure multiple times. The first

SECTION 10

#1732765502554

168-624: The period of French domination. As slavery gradually died out in the French Sudan , tens of thousands of freed slaves made their way back to their native Wassoulou in the decades before the First World War . The Wassoulou area is a center for the mingling of several ethnic groups. The Fulani people, who are believed to have migrated from the Fouta Djallon highlands, integrated with the indigenous Mandé populations, adopting

182-464: Was also brutally suppressed. Toure moved through again in 1891, forcibly moving much of the population east with him as he migrated, and massacring the town of N'Tentou when the inhabitants refused to leave. Overall, the Samory Toure years saw the region almost completely depopulated. Wassoulou continued to suffer instability and social conflict, including predation by colonial troops, well into

196-416: Was in 1885 in response to the institutionalization of Islam in the empire and the suppression of animist practices. It was brutally put down by Toure's brother Keme Brema. The war between Samory and Kenedougou devastated the region, leaving thousands of refugees who were often sold into slavery or even sold themselves to avoid starving to death. Another rebellion after Samory's failure in the siege of Sikasso

#553446