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The Senoufo Country

Korhogo
Boundiali
The Mosque

This is a land of monotonous wooded savannahs,plateaus occasionally broken by steep granitic domes, dry sudan-like climate - particulary when the harmattan wind blows from december to march.Here and there ,large villages are nestled in consecrated woods. The north is occupied by the peaceful Senoufo, probable the oldest ethnic group in Cote d'Ivoire, who settled here since the first millenium A.D. They are skilled at preserving their genuine peasant traditions, despite the many trials and tribulations throughout history. In their past, two perils threatened their customs and traditions without succeeding in eroding them.
First, in the XVth and XVIth centuries, they suffered the backlash of the great march south of the Manding people, linked to the weakening of the Sudanese empires. These newcomers -- the Manlinke -- were far from peaceful. In fact, they came as conquerors, if not as crusaders, "a sword in their hand, trade in their head and Islam in their heart." Hardened by several centuries of strife in their native Mali, they easily subdued the peaceful Senoufo farmers; they were overcome and converted, or driven off to the south and east. The second (and sharper) attack came in the XIXth century when another Manding chief, Samory, caught in the strangle-hold of French colonizers, had to use terror to force the wavering Senoufo into an alliance; this meant forcing enlistments, pillaging, burning villages and driving the population into migrations.
Today, local people still recall with terror the bloody epic of this most illustrious African opponent to the French colonization.
Far from being shaken by all these hardships, the Senoufo have emerged a revived people. They have an agrarian civilization where farmwork has turned into a true cult; and solid traditions have been passed from one generation to the next through a unique institution, the Poro. This education and initiation system, spread over 21 years, is carried out in a sacred forest compound, flanking each village. This sanctuary houses long retreats during which young initiates undergo long tests of endurance, learn how to handle Daba -- the Senoufo farmer's main tool -- and are subjected to well-guarded secret rites. A word of caution: Entering a consecrated wooded area is strictly prohibited.

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