|
Tribe Snapshots Baga |
| Location: |
Coast of Guinea-Conakry |
| Population: |
60,000 |
| Language: |
Baga (Mel) |
| Neighboring
Peoples: |
Nalu, Susu, Maninka |
| Types
of Art: |
Wooden figures, often worn or carried in the
form of masks, are used by the initiation societies
to educate initiates about the role of the spirits
whom they represent. Large wooden serpent figures
appear at initiations, and carved anthropomorphic
figures are placed on shrines. The ancestors are
represented in figures that embody both human
and animal characteristics. Geographically the
Baga belong to the coast, yet their art is more
stylistically akin to that found in the Western
Sudan region. |
| History: |
The Baga have lived in their current location
since the 14th century. They migrated to this
area from the interior highlands in upper Niger
accompanied by several other peoples who share
linguistic similarities, including the Landuma,
Tyapi, and Temne peoples. From the 14th to the
early 20th century they were repeatedly invaded
by the Nalu, Susu, Djalonke, Maninka, and the
Fulbe among others. In the late 19th century French
domination led to colonization. Since independence,
many Baga peoples have abandoned some of their
traditional ways in favor of Guinean nationalism. |
| Economy: |
The Baga are farmers who primarily cultivate
swamp varieties of rice in wet paddies along the
coast. Cotton, gourds, millet, oil palms, okra,
sesame, and sorghum are locally grown products
that help to round out the Baga diet. Despite
all of the hard work of farmers, crops still occasionally
fail. The Baga believe that it is possible to
encourage abundance by placing benevolent spirits
embodied in carved wooden figures in specially
constructed thatch huts located between the village
and the bush. Coastal fishing also plays an important
role in the local economy. |
| Political
Systems: |
The Baga were traditionally governed through
the initiation society commonly known to Westerners
by the Susu term, Simo, which merely means sacred.
Political power is invested in leaders who derive
their power through their relationship to the
ancestors traced through the matrilineal line.
Having a direct connection to the ancestors buried
in the land entitles the leader to control the
distribution of that land. The leader of each
community is attended by a council of elders.
Baga homes are structured with connecting compounds,
creating a strong sense of community both physically
and socially. |
| Religion: |
Religious life among the Baga is focused primarily
on lineage-based men's and women's societies.
The creator god is known as Kanu, and the highest
recognized spiritual being other than Kanu is
Somtup, the male spirit who governs the men's
initiation society. The female society is governed
by a-Bol, the wife of Somtup. Shrines are also
kept by individual families in an effort to remember
and appease the ancestors. Elek are carved shrine
objects, which symbolize the lineage and offer
protection for the family. |
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