African Orators: Legacy of Historic Preservation from Africa to the Diaspora
Introduction to the African Orators Project
This Storyboard very roughly uses data to depict the direct connections between Africans in the Diaspora and continental Africans who share an African centered mode of historic preservation through Oral Tradition, Genealogies, and Folklore. In Africa these orators haves various names and roles as depicted in the following charts. Their histories and genealogies are accompanied by instrumentation traditionally, which are also listed in the following tables. Many people have been lead to believe only men can serve as orators, but this project dispels that myth by highlighting the Women Orators of West Africa in addition to the men.
Africans who lived in countries where the African Oration Traditions were practiced likely had djelis, djeseres, and griots of their own, or witnessed them in the community roles they participated in. They would have most certainly had a knowledge of these traditions. What cannot be stated as fact is that direct orators were taken into captivity and shipped to the Americas. What I can state with confidence however, is that those Africans in proximity to the Orators and the traditions were brought to the Americas, and some pulled from that knowledge of origin and became the Orators/Griots in the diaspora. Preserving memory, intangible heritage, identities, names, traditions, and places was a means of liberation and resistance against the diabolical realities of chattel enslavement. The traditions reminded people who they were, the traditions helped sold away relatives reunite post emancipation, the traditions empowered the descendants, and the traditions keep OurStory and our memories alive.
Though the identities were temporarily stripped away, this and other works are intended to restore identity and humanity to the Africans and descendants held in captivity and bondage. This work also serves to prove African Americans are efficient in culture, practice, and agency to oversee the Preservation of their history and culture, and relevant sites in America, without being subjected to scrutiny and prejudice under the western paternalism and severely limiting categorization standards of U.S. Historic Preservation which too often renders spaces and modes of African American cultural transmission, heritage, and memory insignificant.
The data will be compiled from my own existing research, and also extracted from Thomas Hale’s, Griots and Griottes.
Table of Orators by Country, Title, Ethnicity, Language, and Instruments
| Country | Orator | Instrument | Ethnic Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mali | Enad | Tehardent | Tuareg |
| Mali | Genene | NA | Dogon |
| Mali | Gawlo | Fule | Fulani |
| Mali | Djesere | Molo | Songhay |
| Mali | Gessere | Hoddu, Gun-Gon | Sarakule/Soninke |
| Mali | Laada-jalolu | Karinya, Jembe | Khassonke |
| Mali | Djeli | Ngoni, Kora, Balafon, Djembe | Bamana |
| Mali | Djelimuso | Vocal | Bamana |
| Senegal | Gewel/Guelwel | Xalam, Nege | Wolof |
| Senegal | Gawlo | Fule | Fulani |
| Nigeria | Marok’a | Kalangu , Trumpet | Hausakoy |
| Nigeria | Marok’iya | Vocal | Hausakoy |
| Nigeria | Gawlo | NA | Fulani |
| Mauritania | Iggiw | Vocal, T’bal | Moor |
| Mauritania | Tiggiwit | Vocal, T’bal | Moor |
| Mauritania | Gessere | NA | Sarakule/Soninke |
| Benin | Gesere | NA | Bariba |
| Gambia | Gewel/Guelwel | Xalam, Nege | Wolof |
| Gambia | Djeli ke | Kora, Koni , Balafon | Mandinka |
| Gambia | Djelimuso | Vocal | Mandinka |
| Guinea | Djeli | Kora, Balafon, Tama, Djembe, DunDun | Mande |
| Guinea | Gawlo | Fule | Fulani |
| Guinea | Djelimuso | Vocal | Mande |
| Burkina Faso | Bendere | Vocal | Mossi |
| Niger | Marok’a | Vocal, Trumpet | Hausakoy |
| Niger | Djesere | Vocal, Njarka | Songhay |
| Niger | Gawlo | Fule | Fulani |
| Cameroon | Gawlo | NA | Fulani |
| Ghana | Lunsi | Lunsi Drum | Dagamba |
| Algeria | Enad | Tehardent | Tuareg |
| USA & Caribbean | Griot | Banjo, Drum, Other | African Descendants |
| Note: | |||
| Data source: African Orators Data -Sara Maiga & Thomas Hale |
African Orators refers to the lineages of griots in Africa. Griot is the colonial term, but their accurate names in their various languages are highlighted in this table. One must be born into this caste to be one in the traditional since. However a woman can marry into this caste, traditionally too, the woman would be born of the same griot caste.
Interactive Map of African Orators
Hover and click on the purple markers to view the directory and information of African Orators. Click multiple times to see more than one. This map depicts the various names of Africa’s Orators based on country, language, sex, instrument, and title. (The missing Variable is the African Diasporic Griots, because they are dispersed throughout the Americas. I intended to highlight the United States specifically, however leaflet only highlights Cuba, because of a lat/long error.)
Distribution of Instruments by Griot Ethnicity
A Chart of Instruments used by the orators. Fun fact, these instruments are the ancestors of some classical instruments used in the west.
Ex: Ngoni became the Banjo. Njarka became the violin/viola. The Kora became the harp. The Balafon, became the xylophone.
Distribution of Griots by Societal Role & Country
If you ever heard that only men can be griots, then this and the following charts are here to dispel that myth.
Distribution of Griots by Sex, Societal Role & Country
Distribution of Griots by Sex
Summary Table
| Sex | Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 5 | 16.13 |
| Male | 20 | 64.52 |
| Unisex | 6 | 19.35 |
The MAAFA- TransAtlantic Slave Trade
Intangible heritage and cultural memory prevailed. Our traditions survived the crossing with us.We will never forget. Here I am, a descendant telling my ancestors stories. I am but One of Many. - Sara Maiga
The following slides represent how the African lineages of Orators surfaced and continued in America. This is a mere fraction of our story, because the true number is unknown and there are millions of people unaccounted for in existing documentation of the transatlantic human trafficking trade from Africa to America. The following maps will serve to show the dispersion of Africans into the Americas with knowledge, proximity, and exposure to these preexisting Orator traditions therefore a likeliness of some mimicry, retention, and evolution of the original practices as a means of forging new identities, family, and society post the African Holocaust stage 1 known as the Transatlantic Trafficking Trade of Enslaved Africans. I will not use the word slave or slave trade, because that word choice denotes a condition asserted through diabolical violence, but does not account for the human bodies, lives, souls, nor the identities of the people subjected to violence.
Map of Africans Captured and Sold into Chattel Slavery in the United States
This interactive map highlights the departure of African victims of human trafficking and chattel enslavement. Hover or click on the blue markers to see where the points of purchase were before the Africans were stolen from the continent.
This map indirectly conveys the exact locations Africans were captured and trafficked from. Therefore some of the countries where Orators are found are not listed here. Africa at that time did not have the countries and colonial borders we know today, as there were vast empires. This map does represent an estimate of where the Africans trafficked to the United States were purchased, and then shipped away from corresponding ports. Many of the ports no longer exist, therefore the countries are used for estimation. If you were captured in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, or a landlocked region, you were forced to walk hundreds of miles to reach the dungeons and ship holds on the coast line. Many did not survive the trek, just as many did not survive the ships crossing. The numbers are used here to convey an idea of what happened, but again millions are unaccounted for and the data is insufficient.
Map of Captive African Disembarkation in the United States
This interactive map highlights the arrival of African victims of human trafficking and chattel enslavement. Hover or click on the red markers to see where the ships disembarked before the Africans were purchased and sent to various plantations.
This data does not list all African arrivals, because the data is very vast and still insufficiently detailed. Also, it should be noted that after Britain banned the direct trafficking of Africans from Africa to the United States, American slave traffickers began to purchase and import Africans via the Caribbean and South America. That data is not represented here either, because it is so vast. I recommend the Slave Voyages database to learn and research more (but know their information is limited also).
(The red marker in the Kansas is a long/lat error by leaflet, but the numbers and country are accurate)
Restoring Identities, Names of the Captives Stolen From Africa
Using data from the Slave Voyages database, I cleaned the data and mined the names of the Africans who were listed on the embarkations. There were over 67,000 names in total, however that is but a fraction represented, out of the millions of of people stripped of their sovereignty, nations, identities, and personhood. Despite the inhumane treatment the captive Africans and their descendants were subjected to, they never were stripped of their humanity. We should acknowledge this and stop referring to them as the condition they were subjected to. One is not born and does not die a “slave”. Let us acknowledge the sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, scholars, masons, scientists, innovators, artisans, griots, nobles, and everyone in between by giving them back their identities. This wordcloud allows a moment of acknowledgement for the few that could fit in this image. Hover over the wordcloud and read their names, as an intentional act of respect and identity restoration.
Table Of Roles
| Job Description for Griots in Africa | Job Descriptions for African American Self Proclaimed Griots | New Age Griots of Africa and America |
|---|---|---|
| Geneaologist | Geneaologist | Filmmakers |
| Historian | Historian | Musicians |
| Adviser | Musician | Politicians |
| Spokesperson | Orator | NA |
| Mediator | Anthropologist | NA |
| Interpreter | Social Activist | NA |
| Translator | Teacher | NA |
| Musician | Family Elder | NA |
| Teacher | Museum Curator | NA |
| Exhorter | Writer/Author | NA |
| Warrior | Historic Preservationist | NA |
| Witness | Cultural Preservationist | NA |
| Praise-singer | Folklorist | NA |
| Ceremony Participant | Pan-African Community Leaders | NA |
| Namings | NA | NA |
| Initiation | NA | NA |
| Courtship | NA | NA |
| Marriages | NA | NA |
| Installations | NA | NA |
| Funerals | NA | NA |
| Oral Narratives | NA | NA |
From Africa to the Diaspora, there are the Roles and Responsibilities of African Orators. The data on this table is a compilation of roles extracted from the text, “Griots and Griottes”, with additional roles added from my work and observations as a Anthropologist, Preservationist, & Diasporic African Orator among African Orators.
References
Anniki, Sara. 2023. A History of Historic Preservation from Africa to the Diaspora.
Anniki, S. 2024. Firsthand Experience. personal.
Hale, Thomas A. 1998. Griots and Griottes : Masters of Words and Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
TEDxUnilorin. (2019, December 17). History keepers: The Griots of West Africa. Medium. https://medium.com/@chattedxunilorin/the-griots-of-west-africa-768d01e40fd0
Trans-Atlantic slave trade - database. Slave Voyages. (2008, December 5). https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/database
*Not bad for a first project, but I was disappointed that some live videos of griots I recorded in Mali could not be uploaded. I hope you learned information of value, and you may see a better version of this rudimentary storyboard in the far future (Both me and my laptop need a break from R).
About the Author
