Gambia

Located in Western Africa, "The Gambia" is the smallest country in Africa. It is a narrow strip of land, sliced in two by the River Gambia. Bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, Gambia shares much of its culture and history with Senegal as Senegal surrounds Gambia on 3 sides. Its capital is "Banjul". Gambia was Britain's first and last colony and gained independence in 1965. Islam is the religion of its majority. Approximately 90% of Gambians are muslims. It is a Republic headed by its President, Yahya Jammeh.

The Gambia today, is a multi ethnic and multi cultural society of over 1.3 million people belonging to eight ethnic groups. The main tribes include Mandinka, Wolof, Fula and Jola (each having its own language and traditions). Gambia has unique qualities, which add colour to the richness of its culture. This country paper will describe the following five aspects of its culture.

* Value Systems and rituals, * Social organization, * Leisure activities, * Marriage and * Death

1*Value Systems and rituals

No matter how busy, Gambians always greet eachother. Their value systems revolve around this ritual of greeting and business always comes second to greeting a person and inquiring into his health and family.

The extent to which Gambians attach great importance to traditional greetings is seen through the Wolof and Mandinka people who greet one another with a ritual that lasts upto half a minute. Their traditional Islamic greetings “Salaam Aleikum” ('Peace be with you), go on to inquiring after the family and even commenting on the weather.

The Gambians value this very much. Getting down to subject matter without greeting and inquiring is not common among its people as it is considered rude and disrespectful to the value system of the people.

Handandshaking is done with the right-hand while it is customary to shake hands using the left-hand when travelling out of the country. When Gambians are at work and their hands are not free, they offer their arms in greeting. It is only when angry or hurt that Gambians refrain from greeting each other in this traditional way.

The people of Gambia are friendly and hospitable. Their value systems reflect respect and concern for the welfare of eachother. When eating, it is considered rude to smell food. Giving and receiving food or money or any other item is always with the right hand.

Valuing respect for one another is expressed through the removing one's shoes before entering the house as a mark of respect to the persons inhabiting the home. When knocking on another's door, the words "Kunk kunk" are said. Moreover, pointing fingers at eachother is unaaceptable in Gambian Culture.

Gambians value privacy and courtesy. Taking pictures would never take place without due permission from the one another, no matter however informal a setting it may be.

Gambian families tend to be large and three generations may live together in one household. However it's quite normal in Gambian society to call more than one person 'mother' or 'father'. People with no apparent blood ties are called 'relatives'.

Gambians value educating their sons before their daughters and women are most often employed in some kind of farming endeavors. The father is the head of the house and the wife runs the household. Numerous childbirths are a norm in Gambia as family is valued to the point of being a symbol of status.


2* Social organization

Social organization among the people of Gambia, occurs according to the 8 main ethnic groups. Each of these communities speak their own language. The social organizations naturally evolve according to their occupation.

* The Mandingos - the single largest ethnic group in Gambia, are socially considered to be the agricultural group as they have nobility. The country of the Manding is in the Niger Valley.

* The Wolofs are another prominent group, socially considered to be the traders. They live mostly in the capital city of Banjul. The language of the Wolofs is used in trading centres.

* The Creoles are another social organization of Christians, who are descendants of freed slaves who came to The Gambia from Sierra Leone. Socially ranked among the bureaucratic elite, Creoles are prominent in preofessions.

* The Jola are organized around the cultivation of rice and are mainly based in the Foni district. This group is unique as it never has a paramount chief. Their traditional location is in swamps and deep forests.

* The Fulanis mainly engage in herding cattle and running shops. Because of their lighter skin, their origin is said to be more European. However, they are socially accepted for their role in the herding of cattle.

* The Serahule people are involved in farming, trade and property development. They can be found in large numbers in the Basse region and speak a number of dialects

* The other ethnic groups are the Serer who are predominantly involved in fisheries. The Serer have customs and a language which resemble that of the Wolof.

* The Tukulor share strong ties with the Fulani's culture, history and traditions and are mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.

These social organizations among the people, have minimum inter-tribal friction. Each social organization preserves its own language, music, cultural traditions and caste systems while yet interacting with one another. This peaceful interaction is unique to the Gambian people.


3 * Leisure Activities

The Gambian people have a variety of leisure activities.

“Crazy eight” is a unique card game that Gambians enjoy playing during relaxation. Each card has an African meaning to it. The Gambians play the heart as a love sign, the diamond as a biscuit, the spade as a black card and the club as the foot of a bird

Apart from engaging in a game of cricket or handball, Gambians also enjoy watching wrestling as a leisure activity. Wrestling is the traditional national sport of Gambia and contests are eagerly watched in most towns and villages.

Gambians love music and cultural leisure tools, like songs, dances and drama, help the Gambian people to maintain unity and lightheartedness of spirit. Music and cultural dancing is very much a part of their leisure activity. The Jola tribe engages in cultural dance while a more modern dance style is engaged in by the Wolof.

The Kumpo Masked Dance from the Jola is enjoyed thoroughly when Gambian Jolas decked in grass, dance whilst carrying poles on their head. People gather around and join in and the happiness felt during this activity makes it a significant activity of leisure to the Gambian people.

The Fulas enjoy dancing to flutes and string instruments and music is a veritable part of the leisure activites of the Gambian people.

Thus sport, gaming, music and cultural dancing is very much a part of Gambian leisure activity


4 * Marriage among its people

While the different ethnic groups conduct marriages in their unique way, Islam is the guide in all ceremonies of marriage. When a Christian woman marries a Muslim man, the ceremony is held in the Mosque with a civil ceremony in Banjul.

While inter marriage among its eight ethnic groups occurs frequently, there is no engagement period in Gambian culture.

Marriage among Gambians follows a tradition. If a man is interested in marrying a woman, after informing his parents the family of the male visits the woman's house. The presentation of Kola nuts expresses the groom’s interest. If the woman's family is agreeable, a date is set for the wedding and this announced to all relatives.

The wedding is held at a mosque or at the woman's home.

Only men are allowed at the mosque. At the ceremony more Kola nuts are handed over. The dowry money is exchanged and speeches and prayers follow. The process at the mosque is called “Takka” which means” to tie”.

Divorce is not considered to be a norm. If marriage turns to talk of divorce, it is considered to be the man's responsibility to write to his wife's parents and say in the letter that he is divorcing his wife giving an explanation of the reasons why. There is discussion among the families before the decision is made. This is something that has to be done under by tradition and the Gambians value discussion.

5 * Death

To the Gambian people, death is believed to be an event in which family partakes and gathers around the deceased. Thus an individual who discovers a death would soon inform the rest of the family in the house and elders would soon inform the wider relatives and friends. It is also custom, that the body be buried within 24 hours.

Burials in Gambia are referred to as “dech”. Gambians believe in the importance of carrying out all muslim practices and rituals that the Islamic Sharia requires of them. However, some of the Gambian communities, adopt variations of the muslim burial rites.

Gambians believe in the need to purify the dead loved one. The corpse is washed out for one last time, by a member of the same sex who then wraps the body in white whilst crossing the hands of the dead of the chest.

Women related to the deceased, sit on a sheet at home while only the men follow the procession. The wooden coffin is always re-used for the next occasion of death. The body is placed on its side, in the direction of Mecca and it is the family that throws soil over the body until fully covered. Finally, branches and leaves are placed as simple markers.
The Gambian people frown upon the use of tomb stones. Gambians believe that money that ought to be used for the living in the community, should not to be wasted on elaborate symbols of death.

Thus Gambia is a colorful African country, rich with tradition and many more facets to the way of living of its people that make it a truly unique culture. Gambian culture is one of diverse ethnic groups closely knit together by cohabitation. "Progress, Peace and Prosperity" is the motto of the country.

In Conclusion, a Quote :
“Don't overlook the Gambia - it's small but full of delights” - The Lonely Planet (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/africa/gambia)

As the “Lonely Planet World Guide” states. The Gambia is truly a uniquely African experience, with good-humoured people and a streetside cultures that have a unique charm different to the daze of glitzier cities the world over.

© Slow Chills