Ancient West Africa: An Introduction

A Curriculum Unit for Middle Grades

A Humanities Approach
using
Five Themes of Geography
Gold Trade of Ancient West Africa
&
Epic of Sundiata of Ancient Mali

Monique van Gigch
Boston, Massachusetts
December 2001
Copyright 2001

Acknowledgments

Special credit goes to a number of people that contributed significant aspects, ideas, or inspiration to this curriculum unit. Special thanks to Barbara Brown, coordinator at the African Studies Center, Boston University, and all the speakers at the summer/fall 2001 African History Institute. Credit goes to the Teachers Curriculum Institute for their curriculum unit Empires and Kingdoms of Sub-Saharan Africa, from which I excerpted two lessons.[1] Special credit also goes to the authors of the three versions of the Sundiata epic that provides both inspiration and a focus for this unit. Special acknowledgement goes to Carol Bearse, Curriculum Coordinator for the ESL/Bilingual Program at Fuller Middle School, Framingham, MA, for her essential contributions to the lessons on Sundiata and honoring our ancestors. Thanks also to Lenna Dower, Milton Academy, for sharing her unit on Sundiata. See the Teacher Resources in the appendix for additional sources.

Introduction

Ancient West Africa: An Introduction, designed for the middle grades (6 – 8), uses a humanities approach. The three areas of focus are physical geography, the gold trade of ancient West Africa, and the epic of Sundiata of Mali. The unit applies the Five Themes of Geography throughout. Strategies for students with special needs and students acquiring English are also applied.[2]

Purpose

The primary purpose of this unit is to introduce students to West African culture and history. Within this objective, the unit also hopes to:

• Enrich, complicate, and humanize students’ understandings and perceptions of Africa;
• Focus on West Africa, (in anticipation of a subsequent unit on slavery in the U.S.), expanding students’ perceptions of Africans beyond the narrow scope of the Atlantic slave trade; and,
• Dispel misconceptions and assumptions about Africans as “simple” or “uncivilized” peoples.

Curriculum Context

Prior to this unit, students will have studied the dawn of humans in Africa; Ancient Egypt; and ancient empires that extended into Africa (including empires of Greece, Alexander the Great, Phoenicia, and Rome).

After this unit, students will study U.S. history beginning with the thirteen colonies, including the Atlantic slave trade and influences of West African culture on the Americas.

Objectives for Student Learning

During this unit, students will:

• apply the Five Themes of Geography (location, regions, human-environment interaction, movement, and place) to study Africa
• understand that Africa is vast
• appreciate that Africa is diverse, geographically, linguistically, culturally, and economically
• recognize that we cannot learn all of Africa in this mini-unit (as a result of being vast and diverse across space and over time)
• learn simple physical geography of Africa and some implications for human-environmental interaction
• be able to describe the Ancient West African gold trade
• synthesize aspects of the culture, religions, politics, and history of ancient Mali from studying the epic tale of Sundiata
• apply their understanding of the African tradition of honoring ancestors by creating “Honoring My Ancestors” projects

Outline of the Unit

Lesson 1: Activating & Assessing Prior Knowledge

(Approximately 30-60 minutes)

Materials: Graphic organizers (word-splash web, Before & After Reading, and pre-unit vocabulary assessment)

Purpose: To activate and assess prior knowledge and identify misconceptions.

Procedure: Students will complete the graphic organizers. Use the organizers for class discussion and to activate inquiry questions. If appropriate, use student responses to modify lessons. Retain the organizers to compare understands at the completion of the unit.

Lesson 2: Review of 5 Geography Themes

(Approximately 30-45 minutes)

Materials: Handout “100+ Generic Geography Questions;

Purpose: To review the 5 themes of geography so that students may apply them in the Africa unit.

Procedure: Review the 5 themes, briefly defined below. Use the handout for students to practice with topics familiar to them, such as their home, school, and town.

Brief Definitions: 5 Geography Themes[3]

Location: The location theme helps answer the question “Where is it?”

Place: The theme of place answers the question “What is the place like?” Places can be described by their physical characteristics such as climate, mountains, deserts, bodies of water, plants, and animals. Places can also be described by their human characteristics, such as many people live in a place, what language they speak, and what they do for a living.

Human-Environmental Interaction: The theme of human-environmental interaction deals with how people use, adapt to, or change their environment.

Movement: The theme of movement looks at how people, objects, and ideas are linked to places through movement.

Regions: The theme of regions looks at places divided and defined by physical or human characteristics or categories.

Lesson 3: Introduction to African Maps

(Approximately ½ hour)

Materials:

• Slide projector
• Overhead projector
• Map: How Big is Africa?
• Political map of modern Africa
• “Messy Map” of African language groups
• Map of ancient Africa (from African Beginnings)
• Map of physical features of Africa (TCI slide CP.B)

Purpose: To introduce Africa as a huge and diverse subject that we cannot fully study and understand in this unit.

Geography Themes: Location & Place.

Procedure: Students will briefly examine a series of maps of Africa to appreciate the following:

• Africa is huge
• Modern Africa has 54 nations
• Africa has thousands of languages and many ethnic and culture groups
• Human history in Africa spans millions of years – from the dawn of humans through ancient civilizations to the present
• The physical geography of Africa is diverse, therefore people’s lives vary as they adapt to their environment

Lesson 4: Physical Geography of Africa & Human Adaptations to the Environment

(Approximately 1 ½ – 2 hours)

Materials:

• Slide projector
• Overhead projector
• TCI Slides (1.1E, 1.1D, 1.1Q, CP.B, 1.2B, 1.2C, 1.1A, 1.2H)
• TCI Handouts (map: Student Handout 1.1A – modified; Student Handouts 1.2A – one for each zone; checklist for labeling map)
• TCI Teacher Guides to Slides 1.1 and 1.2 (modified)
• Color markers, pencils, or crayons
• Teacher master of completed map
• Notes on Human-Environment Interaction

Purpose: To introduce students to simple physical geography of the African continent and some examples of how Africans adapted to their diverse environments.

Primary Geography Themes: Regions & Human-Environment Interaction

Procedure: Follow the procedures outlined below.

Part I Major African Water Bodies

1. Give each student a map outline of Africa (TCI Student Handout 1.1A -modified) and Checklist for Labeling Map
2. Use the TCI Teacher Guide to Slides 1.1 to narrate the slides & guide class discussion.
3. Students will locate, draw, and color major water bodies onto their maps using the Checklist Students will check their work against teacher master on transparency.

Part II Four Major Regions/Zones of Physical Geography

1. Show TCI Slide CP.B of African physical geography zones (in color)- four major geographic zones: tropical rainforest, savanna, semi-arid, and desert.
2. Use Teacher Narrative: Introduction to Zones of Physical Geography to introduce the unifying theme of water for the zones and human-environment interaction.
3. Pass out Student Handouts TCI 1.2A (one for each zone). Students will read and study these handouts to draw, in pencil, each zone onto their outline maps of Africa. After checking their work against teacher master, students will color the zones and complete the key. Maps will be stored in student notebooks.

Part III Mini-Lecture on Human-Environmental Interaction

1. Show TCI slides of examples of the 4 zones. (1.2B women in tropical rain forest, 1.2C grasslands of the savanna, 1.1A Sahel semiarid region, and 1.2H camels in the Kalahari desert.)
2. Use the TCI Teacher Guide to Slides 1.1 & 1.2 (modified) including these questions:
   • Can you identify the zone based on evidence you see in the slide?
   • What predictions can you make about how people might adapt their way of living to fit or use the environment?
3. Reveal teacher notes (on transparency) for students to record as the discussion proceeds through each slide.

Lesson 5: Caravans of Gold

(Approximately 45-60 minutes)

Materials:

• Video “Caravans of Gold”
• TV/VCR
• Video guide sheet

Purpose: To learn about the ancient West African gold trade. For students to see and hear some of the people, architecture, geography, clothing, music, dance, and other aspects of West African cultures, including the ancient empire of Mali (which is the focus of future lessons).

Primary Geography Theme: Movement

Procedure:

1. Read Teacher Narrative Introducing “Caravans of Gold” Video
2. Preview the questions on the student video guide sheet. Students will complete the sheet while viewing the video.
3. Show the first section of the video through the section on Cairo (totaling approximately 30 minutes).
4. After the video, discuss the video questions with students, along with their impressions and questions.

Extension Activity:

1. Show TCI slide 2.1A map of the salt/gold trade.
2. Give students a blank outline map of Africa.
3. Have students draw in locations for the gold/salt trade with a map key.

Lesson 6: Honoring the Ancestors & the Epic of Sundiata

(Approximately 1 week: 4 – 5 periods)

Materials:

• Slide projector
• Overhead projector
• Cassette player
• Sundiata epic (Wisniewski & excerpts of Niane version)
• Excerpt of TCI Activity 2.2 on the Kingdom of Gold & Mansa Musa in Mali (Slides 2.2B, 2.2C, excerpt of Teacher’s Guide to Slides, Student Handouts for slides 2.2B & 2.2C,Teacher Master of handouts)
• “Breaths” poem & tape
• TCI slides 4.1A, 3.3A, & CP.A & narrative text on griots
• Tape of traditional griot and kora music
• Literature Circle handouts
• Large poster paper & markers

Purpose: For students to learn the African traditions of honoring ancestors and oral literature by hearing a poem and an epic story of West Africa. Students will deepen their understanding of cultural traditions and political history of Mali including respect for elders, music, clothing, and the rise and fall of kingdoms.

Primary Geography Theme: Place.

Procedure: Follow the instructions in the following parts to the lesson.

Part I: Building Background Knowledge on Mali

(Approximately ½ period)

1. Review student notes from video “Caravans of Gold” on Mali’s gold trade.
2. Use excerpt of TCI Activity 2.2 Kingdom of Gold and Mansa Musa in Mali to build student background knowledge.
3. Show TCI slides (2.2B & 2.2C) & narrate from the Teacher’s Guide to Slides.
4. Show Teacher Masters for students to record notes on Student Handouts.

Part II: Introducing the Tradition of Honoring Ancestors

(Approximately 1 – 1 ½ periods)

1. Show TCI slide 4.1A (elder speaking with children) & introduce the African tradition of honoring elders and ancestors
2. Read aloud “Breaths” by Senegalese poet Birago Diop & listen to the musical rendition by Sweet Honey in the Rock
3. Discuss and analyze the images, feelings, and meanings in the poem
4. Model writing one’s own “ancestor poem”
5. Students will write at least one stanza of their own poem, using “Breaths” as their model and inspiration, to honor their own ancestors, traditions, or cultures
6. Share student poems

Part III: Oral Literature, Griots, & Sundiata Epic

(Approximately 1 1/2 periods)

1. Show slides 3.3A & CP.A (Gambian griots/jali with kora string instrument)
2. Read TCI narrative text to introduce oral tradition and griots
3. Define “What is an epic?” An epic is a kind of poem that focuses on a national theme and relates enough details and events to create a sense of history and a feeling of pride in the nation’s past.[4]
4. Teacher reads excerpts from background notes (synthesized from three Sundiata versions to introduce this oral literature)
5. Optional: play djembe drum from Guinea and Mali and sing song for lamba rhythm which is dedicated to the griots, teach song to the students.
6. Play tape of traditional griot & kora music while reading epic
7. Teacher does a dramatic reading of the epic (Wisniewski version) & shows illustrations

Part IV: Literature Circles on Sundiata

(Approximately 2 periods)

Purpose: To ensure all students understand the basic plot and story line of Sundiata. To enrich the text and challenge students by adding excerpts from a traditional griot rendition of the epic. To allow students to engage the epic kinesthetically and internalize it by enacting scenes.

1. Teaches will place students in heterogeneous groups.
2. Each group will be assigned 1-2 “scenes” of the story (Wisniewski version) to summarize the plot on the summary worksheet.
3. Groups will also receive excerpts (from the Niane version) which elaborate an aspect of their scene. Students will study the excerpts.
4. Using their plot summary, Niane excerpts, and some simple props (optional), student groups will make mini dramatic oral presentations of their scene(s) to the class, in order of the story.
5. Summaries will be written on large paper and posted in the room in order of the story.

Extension Activity: The Story of Mansa Musa

Purpose: To continue studying the history of the Malian Empire through the story of a later king, Mansa Musa. See the Teacher Resources for materials to use for this lesson.

Lesson 7: Student Projects – Honoring Our Ancestors

(Approximately 2 – 3 periods in class & homework)

Materials:

• Models for each format of student project
• Criteria chart

Primary Geography Theme: Place

Purpose: Inspired by the epic storytelling of Sundiata and the Senegalese poem “Breaths” , students will create individual projects to honor their ancestors, cultures, or traditions. This will allow students to apply their understandings from this unit to their own lives. The individual projects will serve as assessments of learning.

Procedure:

1. Teacher will model examples of each possible project format: poem, family artifact with oral or written story, family story (oral or written), illustration of family tree.
2. Review the criteria chart for the project requirements and assessment.
3. Students will select one format and begin brainstorming/researching/drafting.
4. Students will complete their projects as homework.
5. Students will share projects in class.

Teacher Narrative: Introduction to Zones of Physical Geography

Water is a defining factor for life in Africa. Find the equator on your map of Africa. Along the equator is a force called the “tropical convergence zone” where the interplay between the physical geography and the atmospheric conditions mean lots of turbulence, which means RAIN! Lots of RAIN! Rain all year long. The “tropical convergence zone” bounces up and down like a yo-yo, sometimes moving north, sometimes moving south. So people move to follow the yo-yo effect – wanting to use the rain to their advantage for living, following wild game animals, growing crops, or raising livestock animals.

In the African climate, the most significant factor is rainfall. Along the equator, rain all the time. In the rest of Africa, rain is seasonal; winter is the dry season, summer is the rainy season. Remember the four zones: tropical rainforest (most rain, along equator), savanna (both sides, north and south of the rainforest), the semiarid (between the savanna and the desert), and the deserts.

Access to water, rain or water bodies, deeply affected the lives of Africans. For example, in the tropical rainforest, the tsetse fly killed domesticated animals like horses and cattle, so armies based on cavalry and cattle farmers could not exist in the tropical zones. Also, in the tropical zones, diseases like malaria kill many people, though the Africans found herbal/plant medicines to help heal malaria.

Teacher Narrative Introducing “Caravans of Gold” Video

Movement is an important geography theme. Movement includes the movement of people, goods, and ideas.

In ancient Africa, river and sea systems were critical to ancient African trade and cultural exchanges within Africa as well as with cultures in Europe, Arabia, India, and as far away as China. For example, along the Indian Ocean, monsoon winds carried trade boats south along the east coast of Africa from November to March, and north from April to October. The Red Sea and the Nile River connected Africa and the world around the Mediterranean Sea.

However, don’t think of the Saharan Desert as a barrier to trade and cultural exchange! The Sahara used to be wetter. Ancient Saharan desert cave drawings show that the desert used to be an area with more water.

For thousands of years, the Berber people of northwest Africa crossed the Sahara to trade and for cultural exchanges. Then, in approximately AD 300, the Romans brought an important technology to the Sahara. Any idea what? The camel! Romans needed African grain to feed the Empire.

The Berber people, who had been crossing the Sahara for hundreds of years before the Romans came, creatively adapted the camel to the Sahara to make trade easier. A major part of the trade across the Sahara was for gold and salt. Salt was so valuable, it was used as money in trade.

Social Studies
Ms. van Gigch

Name ______________________
Section _____________________
Date _______________________

Checklist for Labeling Physical Geography of Africa

Major African Water Bodies:
Check off when you have located, drawn, and labeled the following:
____ Nile River
____ Lake Victoria
____ Mediterranean Sea
____ Atlantic Ocean
____ Indian Ocean
____ Red Sea
____ Niger River
____ Congo River

Four Major Physical Geography Regions/Zones:
Check off when you have drawn & colored the zones and key:

____ Tropical Rainforest
____ Savanna/Grasslands
____ Semiarid (northern strip of semiarid is called The Sahel)
____ Deserts

____ color-code your key

Teachers’ Resources & Works Cited

Resources:
African Studies Center, Boston University, Boston, MA (to borrow materials and receive training)

Curricula:
Teachers’ Curriculum Institute. Empires and Kingdoms of Sub-Saharan Africa (for slides and lessons on geography; copy can be borrowed from B.U. African Studies Center or purchased from TCI)

Videos:
Davidson, Basil.“Africa: Story of a Continent, Program 3: Caravans of Gold” R.M. Arts, 1984. (available from Social Studies Service)

Books:
Burns, Khephra, author, Dillon, Leo & Diane, illustrators, Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali, Gulliver Books, Harcourt, Inc., San Diego, 2001. (children’s picture book)

Hamdun, Said, and King, Noel. Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, Markus Wiener Publishers, Princeton, 1975. (for primary sources on Mansa Musa)
Haskins, James, Benson, Kathleen, authors, Cooper, Floyd, illustrator, African Beginnings, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, Morrow, New York, 1998. (children’s history book)
Lomax, Alan and Abdul, Raoul, eds. 3000 Years of Black Poetry: An Anthology. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. 1970. See poem Breaths by Diop, Birago.
Niane,D.T. Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali, Longman, England, 1960. (translated from an oral rendition of the epic by a griot)
Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. St. Martin’s Press, New York. 1995. (teacher resource)
Wisniewski,David. Sundiata, Lion King of Mali, Clarion Books, New York, 1992. (children’s picture book version of epic)

Periodicals:
Coulson,David. “Ancient Art of the Sahara”, National Geographic, Vol. 195, No. 6, June 1999, pages 100 – 119. (rock art of Sahara shows moister period)
Lange, Karen E. and Leen, Sarah. “Djenne, West Africa’s Eternal City” , National Geographic, June 2001, pages 100 – 117.
Logan, Roberta A. “Sundiata of Mali”, in Calliope, January/February 1994, Cobblestone Publishers.

Miscellaneous:
Map of African language groups ( “messy map” – source?)
“100+ Generic Geography Questions” by Ginny Wilkins, Colorado Geography Alliance member

Music:
Diabata, Toumani with Sissoko, Ballake, New Ancient Strings, Rykodisc, 1999. (CD of traditional griot & kora music)
Sangare, Oumou, Moussoulou, World Circuit/Nonesuch, 1990. (CD of contemporary female vocalist from Mali from a griot family)
Sweet Honey in the Rock, Good

Literature Circle Worksheets

Students are in six heterogeneous groups. (Group size and allotment of scenes can be adjusted depending on the number of students per class.)

Allotment of Scenes

List of Major Characters in Sundiata

Characters for Sundiata Plot Summaries

Group 1 Scene 1

Student Names
Griot (storyteller) ___________________________________
Griot’s Audience ____________________________________

Scene 2

Student Names
King Maghan (Sundiata’s father) ____________________
Hunter(s) _______________________________________
Sogolon (Sundiata’s mother) _______________________

Group 2 Scene 3

Student Names
Sogolon (Sundiata’s mother) __________________________
Sundiata (as a child) ________________________________
Sassouma (King’s first wife) ___________________________

Scene 4

Student Names
King Maghan (Sundiata’ father) ________________________
Sundiata (as a child) ________________________________
Griot (storyteller) ___________________________________

Group 3 Scene 5

Student Names
Sassouma (King’s first wife) ___________________________
Witch(es) __________________________________________
Sundiata ___________________________________________

Group 4 Scene 6

Student Names
Sundiata _________________________________________
Sogolon (Sundiata’s mother) _________________________
King of Mema _____________________________________

Group 5 Scene 7

Student Names
Sundiata ______________________________________
Balla Fasseke (griot) _____________________________
Nana Triban (Sundiata’s sister) _____________________
Sumanguru (King of Sosso) ________________________

Group 6 Scene 8

Student Names
Sundiata ________________________________________
Balla Fasseke (griot) ______________________________
Crowd _________________________________________

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 1: Words of the Griot

Main Characters: the Griot & audience members

Plot Summary

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

Key Question
What is the job of the griot?

The job of the griot is ______________________________________________

________________________________________________________________.

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 2: The Buffalo Woman

Main Characters: King Maghan, hunters, Sogolon

Plot Summary

1. ______________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

Key Question
Why did the King marry Sogolon?

King Maghan Kon Fatta married the hunchback woman named Sogolon Kedjou because

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________.

Vocabulary for Niane text excerpts
successor: person who will follow in that position
ravaging: destroying
vanquisher: conqueror

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 3: The Lion Child

Main Characters: Sogolon,Sundiata, Sassouma

Plot Summary

1. ______________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

Key Question
Why was Sassouma jealous of Sogolon when Sundiata was born?

Sassouma was jealous because

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________.

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 4: Childhood

Main Characters: King, Sundiata, griot

Plot Summary

1. ______________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________

Key Question

Why did King Maghan make his son Sundiata his heir even though Sundiata was not his first born son and Sundiata could neither walk nor talk by age 7?

King Maghan made Sundiata his heir because

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________.

Vocabulary for Niane text excerpt
successor: person who will follow in that position

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 5: The Lion’s Awakening

Main Characters: Sassouma, witches, Sundiata

Plot Summary

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________

6. ______________________________________________________________

7. ______________________________________________________________

Key Question

Why were the nine great witches of Mali powerless against Sundiata?

The nine great witches were powerless against Sundiata because

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________.

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 6: Exile

Main Characters: Sundiata, Sogolon, King of Mema

Plot Summary

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________

6. ______________________________________________________________

7. ______________________________________________________________

8. ______________________________________________________________

Key Question
Why did the King of Mema make Sundiata his heir?

The King of Mema made Sundiata his heir because

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________.

Vocabulary Definition for Niane Excerpts
soothsayer: someone who predicts the future

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 7: The Battle at Kirina

Main Characters: Sundiata, Balla Fasseke, Nana Triban, Sumanguru

Plot Summary

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________

6. ______________________________________________________________

7. ______________________________________________________________

8. ______________________________________________________________

Key Questions

Why does Sundiata leave Mema to fight Sumanguru?

Sundiata leaves Mema to fight Sumanguru because

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________.

Why does Sumanguru run away from the battle and Sundiata even though the arrow only touched his shoulder without making a wound?

Sumanguru ran away from the battle and Sundiata even though the arrow only touched his shoulder without making a wound because

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________.

Literature Circle Worksheet for Scene 8: The Lion King Returns to Mali

Main Characters: Sundiata, Balla Fasseke, kings, crowd

Plot Summary

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________

6. ______________________________________________________________

Key Question

How does Sundiata connect the reason for his exile from Mali to his promise to the people of Mali?

Sundiata said that “hatred drove me from this land” because

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________.

So now Sundiata promised

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________.

Teacher Master of Plot Summary for Wisniewski version of Sundiata

Scene 1: Words of the Griot

1. The griot introduces himself & explains the role of griots
2. griot tells audience he will tell the story of Sundiata

Scene 2: The Buffalo Woman

1. Two hunters come to King Maghan
2. Hunters bring him Sogolon, spirit of the buffalo
3. Griot says a great king will born to Sogolon
4. The king marries Sogolon & loves her

Scene 3: The Lion Child

1. Sogolon gives birth to a boy
2. Everyone is happy except Sassouma, 1^st wife of king
3. Sundiata can’t walk or talk

Scene 4: Childhood

1. For seven years, Sogolon tries to heal Sundiata
2. Griots tell king that Sundiata will grow in his own time
3. King gives Sundiata the griot Balla Fasseke
4. King makes Sundiata his heir – to be next king
5. King prepares Sundiata to rule

Scene 5: The Lion’s Awakening

1. When King dies, council makes Sassouma’s son king
2. Sassouma taunts Sogolon
3. Sundiata uses iron rod to stand and walk
4. Sassouma calls the witches to kill Sundiata
5. Witches go to Sogolon’s garden to steal spices
6. Instead of being angry, Sundiata gives the witches the spices
7. Witches can’t hurt Sundiata because he is kind to them

Scene 6: Exile

1. When Sundiata was 10, Sassouma sends Balla away
2. Sumanguru decides to keep Balla
3. Sogolon & her children leave Mali
4. Family travels for 7 years
5. Many rulers turn away the family
6. Sundiata grows up
7. King of Mema took Sundiata on military campaigns
8. King of Mema makes Sundiata his heir, like a son

Scene 7: The Battle at Kirina

1. Messengers tell Sundiata to return home
2. Sumanguru has invaded Mali
3. Sundiata gathers an army on horses
4. The armies clash at Kirina
5. Balla finds Sundiata & gives him tana of Sumanguru
6. Sundiata shoots the arrow at Sumanguru
7. The arrow hits Sumanguru & he runs away
8. Sumanguru’s army is defeated, Sundiata wins

Scene 8: The Lion King Returns to Mali

1. Sundiata returns to Mali
2. Crowds shout his praises
3. 12 kings swear allegiance to Sundiata
4. Sundiata speaks & Balla tells the crowd his words
5. Sundiata promises that no one will interfere with another’s destiny
6. Sundiata rules for many years

Vocabulary Definitions for Wisniewski

griots: people who memorize & tell the history
savannah: grasslands
potions: liquid medicine
heir: the person who is the next king
ancestors: all the dead grandparents, great grandparents, and family who came before you

destiny: the future that is predicted & must occur
smith: blacksmith who makes things from iron
sorcerer: male magician or wizard
exile: long absence from one’s country
“found favor with” : became a favorite of
homeland: country where you are born
the bush: the wild forest or grasslands
“the seers” : the people who can see the future
host: army
allegiance: loyalty
tana: a personal taboo, something the person can’t touch or do or he/she will be badly hurt
pursued: followed
the multitude: the crowd
“appointed place” : rightful status or position in society

Excerpts from Niane version of Sundiata

Paraphrasing is in regular print; direct quotes are in italics.

Scene 1: Words of the Griot Mamadou Kouyate

Griot: “By my mouth you will get to know the story of the ancestor of great Mali… who… surpassed even Alexander the Great…” (page 2)

Griot: “Listen to the story of the son of the Buffalo, the son of the lion… Maghan Sundiata… the man of many names against whom sorcery could avail nothing.” (page 2)

Scene 2: The Buffalo Woman

Griot: A hunter, who is also a seer, does a twelve cowrie shell divination for King Maghan Kon Fatta, that he may see the future. (page 5)

Hunter 1: “…Fine king, your successor is not yet born. I see two hunters coming to your city… a woman accompanies them. Oh, that woman! She is ugly, she is hideous, she bears on her back a disfiguring hump. Her monstrous eyes… but mystery of mysteries, this is the woman you must marry, sire, for she will be the mother of him who will make the name of Mali immortal forever…” (page 5-6)

Griot: Later, two strangers, hunters, arrived at the king’s city with a woman. The hunters tell the story of their adventure. (page 6)

Hunter 2: “… After the great harvest my brother and I left our village to hunt… we learned that an amazing buffalo was ravaging the countryside… the King [of Do] had promised the finest rewards to the hunters who killed the buffalo. We decided to try our luck… [when] we saw an old woman… who was weeping, … gnawed by hunger… Touched by her tears I approached and took some pieces of dried meat from my hunter’s bag…” (page 7)

Buffalo Woman: “…arrows are useless against the buffalo; but, young hunter, your heart is generous and it is you who will be the buffalo’s vanquisher. I am the buffalo you are looking for, and your generosity has vanquished me.” (page 7-8)

Griot: And so the buffalo woman transformed herself into the young hunchback woman named Sogolon and traveled with the hunters to King Maghan Fatta, who married her to complete the destiny told in the 12 cowrie shell divination. (page 8-9)

Scene 3: The Lion Child

Griot: Sogolon became pregnant. When “Sogolon’s time came… Thunder began to rumble and swift lightening rent the clouds…the king’s griot sings…’I salute you Maghan Kon Fatta… the lion child, the buffalo child is born’” … The name was given on the eighth day after his birth.” His name was Sogolon Mari Djata. (pages 12 – 14)

Scene 4: Childhood

Griot: By the age of 3, Sogolon Mari Djata, as everyone called him, could still not walk or talk. (page 15)

Sassouma: Sogolon, see my eleven year old son! “I prefer a son who walks on his two legs to a lion that crawls on the ground.” (page 16)

Griot: At age 7, Mari Djata still crawled. The King speaks to his advisors. (page 17)

King’s advisors: “When the seed germinates growth is not always easy; great trees grow slowly but they plunge their roots deep into the ground.” (page 17)

King: Mari Djata, I am growing old…but before death takes me off I am going to give you the present which each king gives his successor… In Mali, every prince has his own griot…Doua is mine and the son of Doua, Balla Fasseke here, will be your griot. Be inseparable friends from this day forward. From his mouth you will hear the history of your ancestors, you will learn the art of governing Mali… May you destiny be accomplished, but never forget that Niani is your capital and Mali the cradle of your ancestors.” (page 17)

Scene 5: The Lion’s Awakening

Griot: One day Sassouma Berete was especially mean to Sogolon, laughing at Sogolon and her son who still couldn’t walk at seven. (page 19)

Sundiata: “Very well then, I am going to walk today… Go and tell my father’s smiths to make me the heaviest possible iron rod.” (page 19)

Griot: Balla Fasseke ran to the master smith to order an iron rod. “[Mari Djata] crept on all-fours… to the iron bar… he picked up the iron bar without any effort and stood it up vertically… With a violent jerk he threw his weight on to it…In a great effort he straightened up and was on his feet at one go – but the great bar of iron was twisted and had taken the form of a bow!… Sogolon Djata walked.” (pages 19-22)

Sassouma: (speaking to herself) I will call the nine great witches of Mali and make a plan to kill Sundiata. I must protect the throne for my son. (page 24)

Griot: The next night, Sundiata went to check his mother’s vegetable patch and found the nine witches stealing leaves and pretending to run away like thieves. (page 25)

Sundiata: “Stop, stop, poor old women…What is the matter with you to run away like this. This garden belongs to all…Each time you run short of condiments come to stock up here without fear.” (page 25)

Witches: “Listen, Djata…we had come here to test you. We have no need of your condiments… We were sent here by the queen mother to provoke you… But nothing can be done against a heart full of kindness… Forgive us, son of Sogolon.” (page 26)

Scene 6: Exile

Sogolon: “Let us leave here, my son… You will return to reign when you are a man; for
it is in Mali that your destiny must be fulfilled.” (page 27)

Griot: “One morning the king [Sassouma’s son] announced his intentions of sending an embassy to the powerful king of Sosso… For such a delicate mission he thought of Balla Fasseke… It was a very clever way of taking away from Sundiata the griot his father had given him.” (page 27)

King of Mema: (speaking to Sundiata) “It is destiny that has sent you to Mema. I will make a great warrior out of you.” (page 37)

Griot: “After three years the king [of Mema] appointed Sundiata… his viceroy, and in the king’s absence it was he who governed. Djata had now seen eighteen winters and at that time he was a tall young man with a fat neck and powerful chest… The soothsayers of Mema revealed the extraordinary destiny of Djata. It was said that he was the successor of Alexander the Great and that he would be even greater.” (page 37)

Scene 7: The Battle at Kirina

Griot: While Sogolon’s son was fighting his first campaign far from his native land, Mali had fallen under the domination of a new master, Soumaoro (also known as Sumanguru), King of Sosso. (page 38)

Traveler: “Maghan Sundiata, I salute you; king of Mali, the throne of your fathers awaits you. Whatever rank you may hold here, leave all these honours and come and deliver your fatherland. The brave await you, come and restore rightful authority to Mali. Weeping mothers pray only in your name, the assembled kings await you, for your name alone inspires confidence in them. Son of Sogolon, your time has come… for you are the giant who will crush the giant Soumaoro.” (page 45)

Griot: “Up until that time, Sundiata and Soumaoro had fought each other without a declaration of war. One does not wage war without saying why it is waged… Here is the dialogue of the sorcerer kings:” (pages 59-60)

Soumaoro: “Stop, young man. Henceforth I am the king of Mali. If you want peace, return to where you came from.”

Sundiata: I am coming back, Soumaoro, to recapture my kingdom. If you want peace you will make amends to my allies and return to Sosso where you are the king.

Soumaoro: I am king of Mali by force of arms. My rights have been established by conquest.

Sundiata: Then I will take Mali from you by force of arms and chase you from my kingdom.

Soumaoro: Know, then, that I am the wild yam of the rocks; nothing will make me leave Mali.

Sundiata: Know, also that I have in my camp seven master smiths who will shatter the rocks. Then, yam, I will eat you.

Soumaoro: I am the poisonous mushroom that makes the fearless vomit.

Sundiata: As for me, I am the ravenous [rooster], the poison does not matter to me.

Soumaoror: Behave yourself, little boy, or you will burn your foot, for I am the red-hot cinder.

Sundiata: But me, I am the rain that extinguishes the cinder; I am the boisterous torrent that will carry you off.

Soumaoro: I am the might silk-cotton tree that looks from on high on the tops of other trees.

Sundiata: And I, I am the strangling creeper that climbs to the top of the forest giant.

Soumaoro: Enough of this argument. You shall not have Mali.

Sundiata: Know that there is not room for two kings on the same skin, Soumaoro; you will let me have your place.

Soumaoro: Very well, since you want war I will wage war against you, but I would have you know that I have killed nine kings whose heads adorn my room. What a pity, indeed, that your head should take its place beside those of your fellow madcaps.

Sundiata: Prepare yourself, Soumaoro, for it will be long before the calamity that is going to crash down upon you and yours comes to an end.

Griot: After the war of mouths, swords had to decide the issue. (pages 60-61) “It was announced to Sundiata that his sister Nana Triban and Balla Fasseke, having escaped from Sosso, had now arrived.” (page 56)

Nana Triban: Hail, my brother.

Sundiata: Greetings, sister.

Balla Fasseke: Hail Sundiata.

Sundiata: Greetings, my griot.

Nana Triban: (wiping away tears) When you left Mali, my brother [Sassouma’s son] sent me by force to Sosso to be the wife of Soumaoro…I was in constant touch with Balla Fasseke, each of us wanting to pierce the mystery of Soumaoro’s magic power. One night I … said to Soumaoro…Tell me, king of kings, tell me what jinn [magic spirit] protects you… he himself boasted to me of the might of his Tana. That very night he took me into his magic chamber and told me all. [A tana is a hereditary taboo. In the case of Soumaoro, he was forbidden to touch a rooster’s spur so he could concentrate in himself the power of his ancestors. If he touched the rooster’s spur and broke his taboo, his ancestors would withdraw their power and Soumaoro would lose his power.] (pages 57 – 58, 93 – 94)

Griot: In the battle at Kirina, “Sogolon’s son looked for Soumaoro… The king of Sosso, who did not want Sundiata near him, retreated far behind his men, but Sundiata followed him with his eyes. He stopped and bent his bow. The arrow flew and grazed Soumaoro on the shoulder. The [rooster’s] spur no more than scratched him, but the effect was immediate and Soumaoro felt his powers leave him… A great black bird flew over… the bird of Kirina… The king of Sosso let out a great cry and, turning his horse’s head, he took flight.” (page 65)

Scene 8: The Lion King Returns to Mali

Griot: “… one by one, the twelve kings of the bright savanna country got up and proclaimed Sundiata ‘Mansa’ [king] in their turn. Twelve royal spears were struck in the ground in front of the dais. Sundiata had become emperor.” (page 75)

One of the 12 kings: Sundiata, Maghan Sundiata, king of Mali, in the name of the twelve kings of the ‘Bright Country’, I salute you as ‘Mansa’.

Griot: Djata’s justice spared nobody. He followed the very word of God. He protected the weak against the strong… Under his sun the upright man was rewarded and the wicked one punished.”

“In their new-found peace the villages knew prosperity again, for with Sundiata happiness had come into everyone’s home. Vast fields of millet, rice, cotton, indigo and fonio surrounded the villages.”

“There are some kings who are powerful through their military strength. Everybody trembles before them, but when they die nothing but ill is spoken of them. Others do neither good nor ill and when they die they are forgotten. Others are feared
because they have power, but they know how to use it and they are loved because they love justice. Sundiata belonged to this group… He was the father of Mali and gave the world peace. After him the world had not seen a greater conqueror… and [the capital] Niani became the navel of the earth.”

“The griots … used to boast of Niani and Mali saying ‘If you want salt, go to Niani, for Niani is the camping place of the Sahel caravans. If you want gold, go to Niani… If you want fine cloth, go to Niani, for the Mecca road passes by Niani. If you want fish, go to Niani, for it is there that the fishermen of … Djenne come to sell their catches. If you want meat go to Niani, the country of the great hunters, and the land of the ox and the sheep. If you want to see an army, go to Niani, for it is there that the united forces of Mali are to be found. If you want to see a great king, go to Niani, for it
is there that the son of Sogolon lives, the man with two names.” (pages 81 – 82)

Social Studies
Ms. van Gigch

Name ____________________
Section ___________________
Date _____________________

Video Guide for Caravans of Gold

Focus Question:
Analyze the ancient West African “caravans of gold” using the geography theme of movement: the movement of people, things, or ideas.

City of Jenne in Mali

600 years ago, there was a trade network linking land and sea as far away as China and India. The African heart of the network was the medieval empire of Mali, now poor, but 600 years ago it was rich.

1. The city of Jenne, in ancient Mali, was a market city. Describe 2 details of the city of Jenne & its market.

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

2. Jenne had an economy based on gold. What evidence of the value of gold do we see in Jenne?

_________________________________________________

Ashante People of Ghana

When the gold near Jenne ran out, new gold was discovered in the south, among the Ashante people of ancient Ghana.

3. How does the Ashanti king today show his wealth & power?

_____________________________________________________________

The Niger River

The trading system of the Malian Empire was one of the largest in the world, with its roots in gold. But no one can eat gold.

4. What do people along the Niger eat? ______________________________

5. Since there are no refrigerators, how do the people preserve the food?

_________________________________________________

6. The Niger River is called a “river highway”. Explain why.

_____________________________________________________________

At the Niger River port of Mokti, 1 day’s boat journey south of Jenne, the great wealth of the region was traded.

7. Examples of goods traded included:

1. Fashionable _______________ from Hausaland (to make clothes)
2. ___________ tusks from the grasslands
3. kola nuts from the forest people of the south
4. foods in bulk like sorghum (grain)
5. bars of iron, _____________, and __________________

The prosperity of the West African interior (as opposed to the coastal areas), called for a unifying form of government. For 1,000 years, the ancient empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai provided that stability and peace.

City of Timbuktu, in Mali

In 1324, Mansa Musa, Emperor of Mali, returned from a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. He turned the trading city of Timbuktu into a center of learning and religion.

8. Draw a sketch of the mosque in Timbuktu, showing it’s special architecture.

In addition to becoming a center for learning and religion, Timbuktu became a famous market town. Goods came up the River Niger from Jenne, and merchants and traders from neighboring countries got together with the Berber traders who made the voyage across the great desert.

9. Name the great desert that the Berbers crossed: _________________

10. Today you can still see caravans of ______________ carrying slabs of ________ arriving in Timbuktu.

The Berber Tuareg People of North Africa

The journey takes 21 days each way from the salt mines 500 miles in the north, across the Sahara Desert, to Timbuktu.

In ancient days, the Berber camel caravan would have carried gold on the return trip north.

11. Name 4 details you see or hear from the Berber people:

_________________________ _______________________________

_________________________ _______________________________

The Tuareg were the “lords of the long-distance caravan trade” long before the camel was known in Africa, and that was 2,000 years ago! Some say the Romans introduced the camel to Africa, and the Berbers put the camel to good use.

12. It takes _________ days to cross the Sahara by camel, traveling _______miles per day, from oasis to oasis, from Timbuktu to the final destination of Cairo, Egypt.

Cairo, Egypt

Traders, travelers, generals, and kings came through the gates of ancient Cairo.

13. Draw a Cairo mosque (showing at least one detail of the architecture).

An international trading system, reaching from the Atlantic to China, had its heart & center in Cairo. Cairo was a city of Islam since the 7^th century. It became a rich and tolerant city that dominated commerce of ½ the world.

All this grand structure of learning and devotion was supported by a standard of coins minted from West African gold.

Coins minted from Cairo to Europe to England were minted with African gold.

14. What was the symbol on the English coin that showed it was made of African gold? __________________________

4 Geographical Zones of Africa

Rainforest:

• located mainly on equator
• 8% of Africa
• 60+ inches rain/year
• temp. between 70-90 degrees Far.
• Most diverse plant life on earth
• Rains erode soil = poor farm land
• Tsetse fly kills cattle, horses, livestock
• People eat and trade with roots, fruits, nuts, oils, bananas, forest animals, & woods

Savanna/Grasslands:

• Largest, most varied zone in Africa
• Spreads north & south of rainforest
• Can be forest or grassland
• rainy season, followed by dry season
• people live by farming, herding, fishing

Semiarid (including Sahel):

• between savanna & desert
• Sahel is between north savanna & Sahara
• Very hot daytime temp.
• Little rain – 10-20 “/year with droughts
• People live by limited farming, fishing, herding – often moving to follow water

Desert

• 30% of Africa
• daytime temp. 100-140 degrees Far.
• Less than 10″ rain/year
• Sandstorms
• Oases provide food & water
• Sparsely populated
• Camels used for transport

Introductory Notes for Telling the Sundiata Epic

In 1960, an African historian and playwright, D.T. Niane, listened to the griot Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate tell the Sundiata epic tale. Kouyate was a griot from the great Keita griot family, descended from the same family as Sundiata. Niane wrote down the epic in the Malinke language. It was later translated into English.

David Wisnieski (Wiz – NESS- key) wrote and illustrated an English-language picture book version of the Sundiata epic based on the Niane writing from the griot Mamoudou Kouyate.

Each griot learns the epic from their family and passes it on to their children. Each family might tell the story a little differently, especially because audience participation is important in the telling and would be different each time.

Griots might also use music to accompany the storytelling, using traditional instruments such as the harp-like kora string instrument, or the balafon, which is like a wooden xylophone.

One person, who visited Mali, described hearing the Sundiata epic and after three days of storytelling, Sundiata hadn’t yet been born! This can be a long story!

We will hear the picture book version, in English, and we will supplement that with pieces from the longer translation.

This unit is available for free use in classroom but is covered by copyright. Please contact the unit author for permission if you would like to use it in other way:

Monique Von Gigch
Fuller Middle School and Framingham Public School
31 flag Drive 01702
mvgdancer@aol.com

[1] If a teacher or school does not own, or cannot borrow, a licensed copy of the TCI unit, they should create alternative resources for the TCI-based lessons in this unit so as not to infringe the TCI copyright.

[2] This draft is a work-in-progress because I have not taught it yet and it will undoubtedly be revised after being taught in January 2002.

[3] Definitions adapted from Human Heritage, Glencoe-McGraw Hill, New York, 1999.

[4] Definition of epic from Calliope, January/February 1994, Cobblestone Publishing, page 10