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The 1997 Kamabolon Ceremony in Kangaba (Mali)

Bibliographic Data

ID3912988
AuthorsJan Jansen (0000-0003-2277-0586)
Year1998
Volume31
Issue2
Pages253
Publication date1998-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe International Journal of African Historical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-7882 • E-ISSN: 2326-3016
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/221083
OpenAlexW1516102184
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Every seven years the Kamabolon, a sanctuary in the form of a traditional mud hut, is restored and reroofed m Kangaba dunng a famous ceremony that some even consider to be "the official focus of Mandenka traditional rituals "' Part of this ceremony is the recitation of the Mansa Jigm ("the gathenng of the kmgs"), the narrative that has gained fame m Afncan literature as "the Sunjata epic " This recitation takes place in the sanctuary, and is accessible only for the performers, the Diabate gnots from Kela, and audible only for a selected group of people from the Kangaba region Other people are held at a distance There are two reasons this ceremony has always had a wide appeal for a large part of Mali's population as well as for researchers First, because it is generally beheved that Kangaba is the locus of ongm of various West Afncan ethmc groups The presumed thousands of people who "return to" Kangaba during the ceremony are said to mclude people from Kumasi 2 Second, because of the Mansa Jigin recitation, which has the status of being the "authonzed" version of the Sunjata epic, 3 although it can't be heard by outsiders and has never been recorded

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