Wodaabe

The Wodaabe are cattle-herders and traders in the Sahel, with migrations stretching from southern Niger, through northern Nigeria, northeastern Cameroon, southwestern Chad, western region of the Central African Republic and the northeastern of the Democratic Republic of Congo.{{Cite web|url=https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/peoples/show/Wodaabe|publisher=University of Iowa|title=Wodaabe People}} The number of Wodaabe was estimated in 2001 to be 100,000.{{Cite book |last=Boesen |first=Elisabeth |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/171564162 |title=Cultures of migration : African perspectives |date=2007 |publisher=Lit Verlag |isbn=978-3-8258-0668-2 |chapter=Pastoral Nomadism and Urban Migration Mobility among the Fulbe Wodaabe of Central Niger |oclc=171564162}} They are known for their elaborate attire and rich cultural ceremonies.{{Cite web |last=teamAG |date=2019-08-23 |title=The Wodaabe – Nomads of the North |url=https://africageographic.com/stories/the-wodaabe-nomads-north/ |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=Africa Geographic |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=2011-01-20 |title=The male beauty contest judged by women |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12215138 |access-date=2022-09-16}}

The Wodaabe speak the Fula language and don't use a written language.Carol Beckwith, [http://iws.collin.edu/mbailey/wodaabe.pdf Niger's Wodaabe: "People of the Taboo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024044/http://iws.collin.edu/mbailey/wodaabe.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }}. National Geographic, 1983, vol. 164, no4, pp. 483–509 In the Fula language, woɗa means "taboo", and Woɗaaɓe means "people of the taboo." This is sometimes translated as "those who respect taboos", a reference to the Wodaabe isolation from broader Fula/Fulani culture, and their contention that they retain "older" traditions than their Fula neighbors.Loftsdóttir, Kristín. When nomads lose cattle: Wodaabe negotiations of ethnicity. African Sociological Review 2004, 8(2): 52–76

By the 17th century, the Fula people across West Africa were among the first ethnic groups to embrace Islam, were often leaders of those forces which spread Islam, and have been traditionally proud of the urban, literate, and pious life with which this has been related.{{Cite web |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fula_2/hd_fula_2.htm |date=October 2002 |access-date=21 March 2023 |website=www.metmuseum.org |title=The Fulani/Fulbe People }} Both Wodaabe and other Fula see in the Wodaabe the echoes of an earlier pastoralist way of life, of which the Wodaabe are proud and of which urban Fula people are sometimes critical.Carol Beckwith. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3336256 An Interview with Carol Beckwith]. African Arts, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Aug. 1985), pp. 38–45Mette Bovin (2001), p.13

File:Bororo'en in 1900.png (1900)]]

The Wodaabe keep herds of long-horned Zebu cattle. The dry season extends from October to May. Their annual travel during the wet season follows the rain from the south to the north.Gabrielle Lyon, [http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/wodaabe_feature_3.htm The Wodaabe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020315071551/http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/wodaabe_feature_3.htm |date=15 March 2002 }} Groups of several dozen relatives, typically several brothers with their wives, children and elders, travel on foot, donkey or camel, and stay at each grazing spot for a couple of days. A large wooden bed is the most important possession of each family; when camping it is surrounded by some screens. The women also carry calabashes as a status symbol. These calabashes are passed down through the generations, and often provoke rivalry between women. The Wodaabe diet consists of milk and ground millet, yogurt, sweet tea and sometimes goat or sheep meat.{{Cite news |date=2017-02-27 |title=In pictures: The men competing for love in the deserts of Chad |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39070587 |access-date=2022-09-21}}

Wodaabe religion is largely Islamic (mixed with pre-Islamic beliefs).{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=1-57958-468-3|editor-last=Skutsch|editor-first=Carl|location=New York|pages=229}} Although there are varying degrees of orthodoxy exhibited, most adhere to at least some of the basic requirements of the religion.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gateway-africa.com/tribe/wodaabe_tribe.html|publisher=Africa.com|title=Wodaabe religion}} Islam became a religion of importance among Wodaabe peoples during the 16th century when the scholar al-Maghili preached the teachings of Muhammad to the elite of northern Nigeria. Al-Maghili was responsible for converting the ruling classes among Hausa, Fula, and Tuareg peoples in the region.

The code of behavior of the Wodaabe emphasizes reserve and modesty (semteende), patience and fortitude (munyal), care and forethought (hakkilo), and loyalty (amana). They also place great emphasis on beauty and charm.Beckwith, Carol, and Angela Fisher. African Ceremonies. New York: Harry N Abrams, 1999.

Parents are not allowed to talk directly to their two first born children, who will often be cared for by their grandparents. During daylight, husband and wife cannot hold hands or speak in a personal manner with each other.

File:1997 274-27 Gerewol.jpg festival]]

File:1997 274-24 Gerewol.jpg festival, Niger 1997]]

{{Main|Gerewol}}

At the end of the rainy season in September, Wodaabe clans gather in several traditional locations before the beginning of their dry season transhumance migration. The best known of these is In-Gall's Cure Salée salt market and Tuareg seasonal festival. Here the young Wodaabe men, with elaborate make-up, feathers and other adornments, perform the Yaake: dances and songs to impress marriageable women. The male beauty ideal of the Wodaabe stresses tallness, white eyes and teeth; the men will often roll their eyes and show their teeth to emphasize these characteristics. Wodaabe clans then join for the remainder of the week-long Gerewol: a series of barters over marriage and contests where the young men's beauty and skills are judged by young women.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080705172550/http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/destinations/africa/article453610.ece Niger's dandy Gerewol festival], The Times, 4 July 2004

The documentary Wodaabe - Herdsmen of the Sun by Werner Herzog describes the Wodaabe.

In the 1999 documentary Zwischen 2 Welten (between two worlds) director Bettina Haasen films her personal conversations with Wodaabe members.

Sahara - Absolute Desert (2002) - a documentary with Michael Palin who follows a camel caravan of Wodaabe to Ingal in Niger for the annual Sahara Cure Salée festival, to an oasis at Tabelot, then across the Tenere Desert to the border of Algeria.

The 2010 ethnographic documentary [http://www.berkeleymedia.com/product/dance_with_the_wodaabes/ Dance with the Wodaabes] by Sandrine Loncke explores, from the point of view of its participants, the complex cultural significance of the spectacular but frequently misunderstood and sensationalized Wodaabe ritual celebrations known as "Geerewol".

The Niger-based band Etran Finatawa is composed of Wodaabe and Tuareg members and creates their unique style of "Nomad Blues" by combining modern arrangements and electric guitars with more traditional instruments and polyphonic Wodaabe singing. In 2005 they recorded an album and toured Europe.

"Wodaabe Dancer" is the name of an instrumental track on guitarist Jennifer Batten's 1997 album, Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage: Momentum.

File:1997 277-2A Wodaabe leaving camp.jpg|A group of traveling Wodaabe in Niger, 1997

File:1997 276-22A Wodaabe fashion.jpg|Two Wodaabe men

File:1997 275-9 Gerewol.jpg|A young woman judging the beauty of men at a Gerewol

File:North Beauty fo Cameroon.jpg|Woman from Cameroon

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• Beckwith, Carol. Nomads of Niger. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1993.
• Beckwith, Carol. [http://iws.collin.edu/mbailey/wodaabe.pdf Niger's Wodaabe: People of the Taboo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024044/http://iws.collin.edu/mbailey/wodaabe.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }}, National Geographic, October 1983
• Bovin, Mette. [https://books.google.com/books?id=xwWegkE7Q3EC Nomads who cultivate beauty: Wod̳aab̳e dances and visual arts in Niger]. Nordic Africa Institute, 2001 {{ISBN|978-91-7106-467-7}}
• Loncke, Sandrine. [http://www.lcdpu.fr/livre/?GCOI=27000100070850 Geerewol : Musique, danse et lien social chez les Peuls nomades wodaabe du Niger]. Société d'ethnologie, 2015, 415 p. (with a DVD-ROM including annotated music recordings, short videos and the documentary feature [http://www.ethnomusicologie.fr/wodaabe-loncke/pages/trailer.html La danse des Wodaabe]) {{ISBN|9782365190091}}
• Loncke, Sandrine. [https://ethnomusicologie.revues.org/967 Mémoire et transmission musicale dans une société nomade. L’exemple des Peuls Wodaabe du Niger], Cahiers d'ethnomusicologie 22, 2008, p. 203-222

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category|Wodaabe}}

• [http://www.djingo.net Website of Djingo, the Wodaabe collectif in Niger]
• [http://home.scarlet.be/iez/Wodaabe_article_EN.pdf Article on the creation of the Wodaabe collectif] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926115231/http://home.scarlet.be/iez/Wodaabe_article_EN.pdf |date=26 September 2012 }}
• [http://www.palinstravels.co.uk/book-1954 Report on a 2001 trip with a Wodaabe group to Cure Salée] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032008/http://www.palinstravels.co.uk/book-1954 |date=4 March 2016 }}, from Sahara with Michael Palin
• Radio program on Fulbe Wodaabe and Fulbe Jelgoobe singing and dancing : [http://www.francemusique.fr/emission/carnet-de-voyage/2014-2015/corps-et-voix-avec-les-peuls-jelgoobe-et-les-peuls-wodaabe-09-28-2014-19-00 À corps et à voix avec les Peuls Jelgoobe et Wodaabe], by Sandrine Loncke, France Musique, April 2015.
• [http://archives.crem-cnrs.fr/archives/corpus/CNRSMH_Loncke_002/ Online musical archives dedicated to Fulbe Wodaabe singings] (Telemeta, CREM-CNRS).

• [https://www.excelman.com/en/galerie/afrique/niger/niger.html The Gerewol of the Fula Wodaabe People]
• [http://humanplanet.com/timothyallen/2011/01/gerewol_wodaabe_niger_bbc-human-planet-deserts/ Gerewol photos by BBC Human Planet photographer]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081216125212/http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=5238 Video of Wodaabe dance]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm1tN3SmDWs Video of Gerewol festival], National Geographic
• Wodaabe dancer photos: [http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/wodaabe_feature.htm part 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216125205/http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/wodaabe_feature.htm |date=16 December 2008 }}, [http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/wodaabe_feature_2.htm part 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216125210/http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/wodaabe_feature_2.htm |date=16 December 2008 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081216124424/http://www.enkidumagazine.com/articles/2003/161203/E_024_161203.htm Mr Sahara 2004]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090218224934/http://www.christinehills.co.za/feature.php?action=displaythumbnails&conf%5Bfeatureid%5D=127&conf%5Buserid%5D=1016 The Wodaabe's Cure Salée] by Christine Nesbitt
• [http://www.asmat.eu/scripts/article.php?Article=171-festival-of-the-nomads-cure-salee Festival of the Nomads – Cure Salée]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJFbFkuQaeI Conversation with Woodabe member about marriage] (Experience from Cure Salée festival and Wodaabé photos)
• [http://www.ethnomusicologie.fr/wodaabe-loncke/index.html Geerewol], by Sandrine Loncke (Website about Wodaabe ritual celebrations, with annotated music recordings and short videos featuring dance and ritual sequences. Supplement to the [http://www.lcdpu.fr/livre/?GCOI=27000100070850 book of the same author]).
• [http://www.berkeleymedia.com/product/dance_with_the_wodaabes/ Dance with the Wodaabes], documentary feature directed and produced by Sandrine Loncke, Berkeley Media, 90', 2010
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jCmEJ64bOU Wodaabe, Dance instead of War], documentary feature written and directed by Sandrine Loncke, [http://www.pointdujour-international.com/catalogueFiche.php?lang=en&alpha=&typeAlpha=&rub=0&idFiche=38080&projet=&withVideo=&action=setcookie Point du Jour International], 52', 2013

{{Ethnic groups in Cameroon}}

{{Ethnic groups in the Central African Republic}}

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Category:Fula people

Category:Ethnic groups in Cameroon

Category:Ethnic groups in the Central African Republic

Category:Ethnic groups in Nigeria

Category:Ethnic groups in Niger

Category:Indigenous peoples of West Africa

Category:African nomads

Category:Fula clans