Amkoullel, l’enfant peul or Amkoullel, A Fula Child

Amadou Hampâté Bâ

Background

Amadou Hampâté Bâ wrote his memoirs towards the end of his life. They are published in 2 parts. Their aim is to give a glimpse of the life in Africa during the colonial period; the lives of the local populations interacting with the colonial administration, the civilisational fracture caused by these changes i.e. how the structure of the local communities was affected, the impact that colonisation had on the population mindsets. His view became more objective and wise as he grew older. This first part focuses more on his early life; childhood and adolescence, his relationship with his parents, brothers and sisters, extended family and friends. This book gives a quite complete account on how the Fula community was organised then. We have a good idea of the children’s educative system as compared to the French educative one that has been exported to the colonies. We also learn more about some of the traditional rituals such as circumcision.

Summary and criticism

The events mainly take place in the Actual Mali (West-Africa), specifically in Bandiagara, the author’s native land. We follow him as a kid in his dad’s household. People called him Amkoullel meaning “the small Koullel”; he got his nickname after a wise man from his native village named Koullel who was like a father to him. We learn about his family background; his biological dad who was a royalty died a little bit after his birth and his mom remarried with Tidjani, a Toucouleur. His step dad adopted him and cared for him as his own child. This is a particularity of the traditional African culture; the notion of nuclear family was not very strong, rather, the life was organised around the extended family and the community, family friends were also considered as actual members of the family. This is still observed in the African communities today where in the Western region, children usually refer to their parents’ friends as uncle/aunt and to their children as cousins. The society was based on communitarian values; the children were raised by the community and the wealth belonged to the community.

However, with the rise of colonisation, due to some problems with the administration, the step father of Amadou was sentenced to prison and got deported to another circumscription in Mali. After some time, his mother decided to move the whole family close to her husband. There, she developed a business, catering and offering a place to stay for travellers transiting to this area. This is a good example that shows the place and rights that were granted to women in the Fula community. Actually, women had a say in the children’s education and they were really valued in the society; the author in one of his interview with Ina.fr (Can be watched on Youtube in French) explained that the woman is a godly, sacred and respected figure in his tradition: every human being has 9 forces related to his 9 body orifices (2 eye, 2 nostrils, 1 mouth, 2 ears, 1 reproductive organ and 1 bottom), yet, when a woman gives birth, she gets 2 more forces adding up to 11, hence she becomes surrounded by a mystery.

As the story develops, we witness the death of the author’s older brother at the age of 15, this was a traumatic experience for him who was very close to his brother and had already lost his father at a young age. We also follow him as he created and became the leader of his age class. The education of the children in his community was not formal as in the occidental system. There is a proverb saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child. The age classes enabled the children to learn how to socialise and interact with each other by mimicking the functioning of a mini-society. They were under the supervision of the adults’ age class, under the protection of the age class of the generation just above and were also affiliated to the girls’ age class of the same promotion who were considered as their sisters and “little wives”. Each boy was paired to one of the girls and had the duty to protect her until her wedding which was usually with an older boy and arranged by the respective families. Besides these age classes, in the regions that were Islamised, they were also going to Quran school. History, philosophy and biology related to the minerals and living beings were taught during nights around the firewood through tales, anecdotes and maxims, the level of teaching was also adapted to the audience. Also, at the occasion of big celebrations such as weddings, baptisms and circumcisions, griots were telling epic poems, teaching about the different dynasties that succeeded each other at the head of the empires. Regarding jobs and occupations, typically, there were several casts related to a different profession [blacksmith, goldsmith, farmer, shepherd] and the fathers were usually passing their knowledge on their sons. The education was very complete since it covered the social, societal, occupational and especially spiritual aspects that are needed to form a complete and balanced individual. A major episode of this memoir is about circumcision. The ceremony is very structured and has a strong spiritual significance. The community organises a big feast for at least one week, the boys are subject to a lot of care and attention and they receive gifts from everyone. This ritual is very mystified and secretive to all the non-circumcised boys. It is considered as a stepping stone for becoming a man.

After finishing Quran school, Amadou enrolled into the occidental school even though his mother was opposed to the idea at first. He managed to be among the first of his promotion all along his studies and was therefore offered the opportunity to pursue his education at the Normal School of Gorée in Senegal. His mother violently opposed him going, and due to that, he was forced to accept a position in the Burkinabé’s colonial administration (then called Haute-Volta) which was far from Mali considering the then transportation means. As he went on this trip, his mother gave him some advice that he had to follow on his journey to become a respectable man. These advice can be considered as a very nice conduct code for any person no matter his origins.

1. Never open your bag in front of anybody no matter how close you are. The strength of a man comes from his discretion. A man should never disclose his poverty nor his wealth. A disclosed wealth stirs up jealousy.

2. Never envy anybody. Accept your fate with firmness, be patient in adversity and be moderated in abundance. Never assess yourself in regards to the people above you but rather, in regards to those who have less than you.

3. Never be a miser. Give to the poor as much as you can. Serve as much as you can but ask the least you can. Do it without pride and never be ungrateful toward God nor toward people.

4. Be faithful in your friendships and do all that you can to not hurt your friends.

5. Never engage in a fight with a man younger or weaker than you.

6. If you find yourself sharing a meal with your friends or strangers, never take a big portion, do not fill your mouth with too much food and especially, do not look at people while you are all eating for there is nothing as off-putting as chewing. Never be the last to stop eating, staying too long over a meal is the proper of gluttons and gluttony is a sin.

7. Respect older people. Anytime you meet an elder, talk to him with respect and offer him a gift, as small as it could be. Ask him for advice and question him with discretion.

8. Beware of flatterers, malicious women, hazard games and alcohol.

9. Respect your head managers but you shall never put them in the place of God.

10. Say your prayers regularly, commit your way to the Lord every morning when you wake up and give Him thanks every night before sleeping.

References

Interview of Amadou Hampâté Bâ with Ina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1i3rweFa48&t=5s

Go deeper

Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Oui mon commandant! or Yes, My commander is the second part of his memoirs.