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| Fulani: Uncommon People In A Changing World |
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The high-pitched song of a young Fulani boy resonated across the vast open spaces of the arid land, carried far by the light dry air of the harmattan. As the wind sped by, the voice rose in intensity, much like that of a songbird straining its voice in the twilight. I listened as the cloud of dust revealed the tall Fulani herd boy loping among his father’s cattle. Clad in a long white kaftan that covered his body. On his head was a frond woven hat to shield from intense heat of the sunlight. He made short strides, gesticulating with his stick with poetry of motion and singing to his contended herd. He was unconcerned about the sophisticated world.
The Fulanis, a unique nomadic people are predominantly light-complexioned people inhabiting the Sudan between Senegal and the Upper Niger. They conquered (1805-10) the powerful Hausas, founded the Kingdom of Sokoto in Nigeria, and have had great political importance in West African History. Their language is Fulfulde. Living much the way their ancestors did centuries ago; unconcerned about the passing of time, what Martin Luther King Jr. called ‘sleeping through revolution’, their lives are governed by the sunrise and sunset and the ever-changing ‘dry and wet’ seasons.
What marvelled me most was their ability to survive in the harsh environment and rugged open landmass of the Sahel savannah, walking with long loping strides, they travel great distances in search of green pastures and water sources for their highly-prized cattle. They are said to be the owner of cattle. The Fulani bond emotionally with their cattle and could distinguish each animal voice, temperance, needs and strength. A Fulani man sings and fusses around his herd and tenderly cares for a young calf as though it is a newborn child to a new couple. Bulls with large curved horns are highly prized; the man will stroke the horns, admiring its beauty. The women milk the cows, filling their long gourd containers. The raw cow milk is called ‘Nunu’, nutritious, refreshing and delicious when taken with ‘Fura’ (millet powder). I took a calabash of fresh ‘Nunu’ using a long wooden spoon on a sunny day. It became a cornucopia of inspiration. So refreshing that I penned out an eulogy of ‘Fura da nunu’.
Do you know ‘mai fura da nunu’?
She hawks fresh cow milk
In a pyramid of calabash
On the beautiful arid land.
Nunu’s the desert delicacy
Fura’s brown of copious millet
Ideal for the weary souls
Followed by the sweetest sleep.
Rarely do the Fulanis slaughter their cattle for food. Their very survival depends upon the health and strength of their herd. A few goats and sheep are kept for meat. A man with fewer than sixty heard of cattle is considered poor and low in status in the community.
Tall and slender with fine agile physical features, the Fulanis are a handsome race with long, narrow, pointed nose. The women are beautiful, active and commonly adorn themselves with big circular plate like beaded collars and headbands of many colours. Their heads and palms are painted artily with a red mineral ground (laali) pounded to a fine powder. They live in small huts constructed of branches and fronds woven together with grass and then plastered with ashes and sealed with cow dung. The homes are fenced with thorny branches for protection of themselves and the livestock. The huts are built in the bush scattered from one another in a community. The women hawk Nunu or come to the market draped in cloth dyed in vivid shades of red and blue, loosely over their slender, inviting bodies, usually barefooted. The women also make butter and cheese.
In the evening, all members of the family huddle around a fireplace that dispels the chill in the salubrious air. As they share the roasted meat, an older man sits and talks stories of Fulanis history, heroic deeds, superstitions, and inculcate the borrowed Islamic religion into them. 99.9% are Muslim (Few churches are seen scattered at the outskirts of their towns.) He pauses only when a cow blenches from its sleep, seeing there is no apparent danger continues with his elaborate tale late into the night. Finally, one by one, all disappears into the darkness of their thatched homes unaware of the luminous nights of the modern cities.
The Fulanis are always on the move, traveling long distance towards the South in dry season in search of green pasture and water for their beloved cattle armed with their long knives. Upward movement back to the North occur in the rainy season when flood and bites from tsetse flies endemic to the South in the rainy season plagued their cherished cattle.
Today, unfortunately, the Fulanis can no longer roam freely with their large heard to search for new pastures. Forestation is going on presently in the Northern Nigeria and vast tracts of land that made up their homestead are being developed for wildlife reserves, for modern housing and agriculture to accommodate growing populations. Economics hardships, lack of green pastures and environmental hazards are forcing these handsome Fulanis to sell their beloved cattle in order to survive.
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作者档案
Akinwole Philips
I've been trying to be persistent in intellectual meditations and spiritual intercourse and all that pertains to that. I enjoy writing and see messages in all things, events and phenomena. Most importantly I see beauty in all things.
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