Gambia Music

Music plays an important part of Gambian culture: “The drum” made of carved
wood and goatskin seems a simple instrument, but use of the drum is not limited to
musical entertainment, such as in music from the Americas or Europe. It has a serious
application in many societies across the continent. 


Many West African tribes are well known for their use of drumming in daily activities and special events and a native speaker of a language can often perceive an actual message in the music. This effect also forms the basis of drum languages (talking drums). In days gone by drumming was used as a way of communicating news from village to village, for example to inform members of their respective tribes about major news, such as a death, funeral, meeting, or celebration within the tribe. In the past it was used as a warning of imminent attack.


The drum is the sign of life – its beat is the heartbeat of the community. Such is the
power of the drum to evoke emotions, to touch the souls of those who hear its rhythms.
The beating of the drum is an opportunity to give one another a sense of belonging and of
solidarity. It is a time to connect with each other, to be part of that collective rhythm of the life in which young and old, rich and poor, men and women are all invited to contribute to the society.



Traditional music is mostly functional in nature, there are for example, many different
kinds of work songs, some of the drumming that goes on in the middle of the day even
helps women and men of the tribe get daily chores done more quickly as the drums allow
them to follow a rhythm while they work, Ceremonial or religious music accompanies
childbirth, marriage, hunting, and even political activities.

Ceremonial music will often be accompanied by the Balafone and the Kora, which
produces a harp-like sound. The player uses the thumb and index finger of both hands to
pluck the strings in polyrhythmic patterns. The combination of instruments used depends
on the tribe. Male griots, or praise singers, are born into the profession. They most often
act as a solo or duo instrumentalists and are traditionally heard at weddings and infant
naming ceremonies. They attend the ceremonies to bring good luck with their songs and
historical recitations. In some areas they may form part of a larger group that may include
Kora, Calabash, Flute and Tamo Drums. The griot or “Jali” society acted as historians,
advisors, arbitrators, praise singers and storytellers and essentially these musicians were
walking history books, preserving ancient stories and traditions through song. Their
inherited tradition was passed down through generations. They were said to have deep
connections to spiritual, social, or political powers through their music and speech. The
talking drums (Tamo) are some of the oldest instruments used by West African griots
and their history can be traced back to the ancient Ghanaian empire. Many griots have
developed a highly sophisticated genre of music centred on the talking drum

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Gambia's Magic Stone Circles

The Senegambian stone circles lie in Gambia north of Janjanbureh and in central Senegal. Coordinates: 13° 41 N - 15° 31 W. Approximate area: 15,000 square miles (39,000 km²). They are sometimes divided into the Wassu (Gambian) and Sine-Saloum (Senegalese) circles, but this is purely a national division.


The stones were erected around the eighth century on top of earlier graves. The ten to twenty-four stones in each circle vary in size up to ten-ton stones, from 1 to 2.5 metres high and are generally of laterite. The stones mark burials and were erected before the twelfth century. There are around 1,000 stone circles, the biggest concentration being more than 1,000 stones in fifty-two circles at Djalloumbéré and those around the village of Wassu, which has a museum devoted to them. One notable circle is actually a V formation.


Traditionally, for unknown reasons, people leave small rocks on the stones. The use to which the stones were put is not clear but recent excavation work (2006), reported by the National Geographic Society, suggests a funerary purpose given the large number of human remains found at the sites. Archaeologists at the site are pursuing the theory that different parts of a body were buried at different sites and at different times


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Gambian Ninki Nanka Expediition

A Ninki Nanka is a legendary creature based inWest African folklore.  According to tradition, the Ninki Nanka lives in the swamps of West Africa. The animal is said to be extremely large and very dangerous. It is said that when a child gets too confident and feels they can disobey their parents and go into the swamp they will be taken by the Ninki Nanka.


The "dragon" is rumoured to look rather like a game of zoological "consequences", possessing the body of a crocodile, the neck of a giraffe and the head of a horse with three horns. Less fantastically,Richard Freeman of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, suspects the ninki-nanka of being a species of colossal monitor lizard. "Whatever the truth," he says, "this is the first dedicated expedition to search for this animal."


More encouraging are the witnesses. A compelling chap called Papa Jinda had described a scene of devastation at a pumping station where, the blog gushes, "a ninki-nanka had destroyed several pipes". It continues: "The mention of a ninki-nanka had caused a panic among the workers, and they had asked for a mirror as it was thought that the only way to get rid of the animal was to show it its reflection.

Back in 1983, amateur naturalist Owen Burnham discovered the fresh carcass of a strange beast on a remote beach in the Gambia. It was around 15 feet long and looked like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin. Realizing that it was something unknown to science, Owen, a missionary’s son, made detailed sketches of the creature. He and his family then buried it in the hot sand above the tide line, hoping that the dry sand would preserve the body. He also made a detailed map.


Makasutu a 500-hectare piece of bush in the Kombo central district of the republic of The Gambia is deemed by some to be a sprits home. They say he is there in the form of a ninkinanko or dragon, and protects the hidden crown and clothes of King Jatta from Busumbala who was killed 200 years ago by the Muslim king Kombo Silla on his way east to take over the country. Jatta's men took the crown and clothes and placed them for safekeeping in the area of Makasutu, now known as the Big Forest.


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Gambia History

The first British traders in the Gambia came in 1587. They began to explore the river in 1618. and eventually got control of St. Andrew's Island 1661. It was renamed James Island after the Duke of York, later King James II, a name it has retained to this day. Trading companies were set up and they tried to control the trade of the river. By the mid-seventeenth century, the slave trade had over-shadowed all other trade.

The British and French competed for the control of the trade of the area. In 1765, the forts and settlements were vested in the British crown and for eighteen years what is now The Gambia, formed part of the British Colony of Senegambia, with headquarters in St. Louis at the mouth of the river Senegal. However in 1783, the greater part of the Senegambia region was handed to France. The Gambia section ceased to be a British colony and was again placed under the charge of the African Company.

With the British abolition of the Slave Trade in their settlements in 1807, they tried to look for a suitable location in The Gambia from where they would be able to monitor the river and stop ships from entering and leaving with slaves.

Alexander Grant, sent out from Goree for this purpose, found the fort at James Island to be too far inland and in ruins. He therefore entered into a treaty with the Chief of Kombo in April, 1816 for the cessation of the detached sand bank known as St. Mary's Island. Originally called Banjulo by the Portuguese, Grant named the new settlement, Bathurst after the Colonial Secretary of the time Lord Bathurst.

Britain declared the Gambia River a British Protectorate in 1820. In 1886, Gambia became a crown colony, and the following year France and Britain drew the boundaries between Senegal (by then a French colony) and Gambia.

With the slave trade at an end, the British were forced to come up with a new source of wealth to support the fledgling protectorate, which led to the planting of groundnuts. The groundnuts or peanuts are originally South American, where they were grown by Indian communities. (It was introduced to West-Africa (first the Senegambia area) by the Portuguese in the 16th century.

The harvested nuts are crushed to make oil, which is exported to Europe for use in food manufacture. In the 1950s, Gambia's groundnut production was beefed up as a way to increase export earnings and make the country that much more self supportive, today groundnuts remain the chief crop of both Gambia and neighbouring Senegal.

On the 18th of February 1965, The Gambia gained political independence from Britain and although Britain's Queen Elizabeth II remained as titular head of state. It was strongly felt that The Gambia would not be able to stand on her own and there were talks of forming a federation with Senegal, but this did not materialise at the time.

Around the same time, two events occurred that enabled the tiny nation to survive and even prosper. For a decade after independence, the world price for groundnuts increased significantly, raising the country's GNP almost threefold. The second event had an even more resounding effect - Gambia became a significant tourist destination. On April 24, 1970, The Gambia became a Republic following a majority approved referendum led by President Dawda Kairaba Jawara, who was re-elected five times.

The relative stability of the Jawara era was broken first in a violent coup attempt in 1981 which was led by Kukoi Samba Sanyang, who, on two occasions, had unsuccessfully sought election to parliament.

After a week of violence, which left several hundred dead, Jawara, who was in London when the attack began, appealed to Senegal for help. Senegalese troops defeated the rebel force. In the aftermath of the attempted coup, Senegal and The Gambia signed the 1982 Treaty of Confederation. The result, the Senegambia Confederation, aimed eventually to combine the armed forces of the two nations and unify economies and currencies. The Gambia withdrew from the confederation in 1989.
A protest by soldiers over late salaries in July 1994 turned into a coup d'état, led by a young lieutenant, Yahya Jammeh, a new military government was formed and in 1996 Elections were held and Lieutenant Jammeh was elected by popular vote by the people and a new constitution was introduced, ushering in the Second Republic.

President Jammeh has since won two consecutive elections in 2001 and 2006 and remains in power to this day. He has brought stability to the country and tourism is back in a big way. Also the Gambian infrastructure has vastly improved, as is evidenced by the modern Banjul International Airport, new Hospitals, roads and street lighting that are all being put in place.

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Makasutu The Sacred Forest

Makasutu a 500-hectare piece of bush in the Kombo central district of the republic of The Gambia is deemed by some to be a devil's home. They say he is there in the form of a ninkinanko or dragon, and protects the hidden crown and clothes of King Jatta from Busumbala who was killed 200 years ago by the Muslim king Kombo Silla on his way east to take over the country. Jatta's men took the crown and clothes and placed them for safekeeping in the area of Makasutu, now known as the Big Forest.

This skyline of ancient baobab and strangler trees looms over the eastern end of Makasutu and is now under the self-imposed guardianship of Echin, a Jola tribesman.The devil is not the only presence there to ward off encroaching. Along with him are jinns and giants -- spectral creatures that straddle animism and Islam.

They help watch over an Edenesque orchard, which is thought to appear to those with a purity of heart trekking across the land. Mandingo tribesmen tell you in ominous undertones that you can eat the fruit of the orchard while you are in the forest but can never leave with it.

When the Islamic wave came down through the Sahara in the 12th century it gave Makasutu its name, and greater protection from the men who wanted to ravage the bush of timber and wildlife. It became a place of prayer, and so a Mecca (Maka) in the forest (sutu).

It was strictly protected by local kings and marabouts who said that no tree could be felled or animal hunted in the sacred grounds. The land until the turn of the century was used only for godly communion.

Men prayed and boys recently circumcised in the name of Allah were brought to bathe in Mandina Bilon -- a tributary of the main Gambia river that lies five kilometres to the north.

The Bilon brings fish to Makasutu as the tide swells; from its sandy banks grow thick lines of mangroves, and from their grey tentacles the Koran women collect oysters.

As the 20th century moved in Makasutu with its untouched supply of wood and wildlife became a new mecca for the people of Kembujeh and neighbouring villages. It was on the verge of being stripped bare, when in 1992 Lawrence Williams, an architect, and James English, an engineer, came across the land and decided it would make a perfect location for a retreat and oasis for overlanders coming down off the Sahara.

They bought the land from the Sanni family who had ancient ownership rights, and after eight years of fencing and planting thousands of trees the land once again has found a protectorate.Makasutu has become a model for ecotourism in Africa.

Local women continue to grow crops on the western portion, and oyster women come and collect as ever, but now the birds are returning in droves to the trees and baboons stop at the safe haven on their migration route.

Momadou Jeeba, a Jola tribesman, has been manager at Makasutu for the past seven years and revealed that long before Williams and English arrived he and others had dreams that two whites would come by river and settle at Makasutu and keep it from harm -- a myth that has now turned into reality.

The Karon tribe oyster catchers were utilising the `fruits' of Makasutu long before the ecotourism project. Mangroves cover the banks of the Mandina Bilon and oysters cling to the branches submerged under the water. The women reach the branches by canoe and chip off the oysters at low tide. The women play an important role in keeping Makasutu fused with the local community.

Contact details and Reservations:

Luigis Complex for the best Gambian self-catering apartments, serviced flats, beachside accommodation, bed and breakfast, restaurant and eco-tourism excursions.
Relax and enjoy your Gambia Holidays with us!


info@luigiscomplex.com
www.luigis.gm/
Tel +220 4460280