The word “Wolof” also refers to the Wolof language, as well as to the states, cultures, and traditions of the Wolof people. Older French books often use the spelling Ouolof. You can also find Wolluf, Volof, and Olof, as well as rarer spellings like Yolof, Dylof, Chelof, Galof, Lolof, and others, up to the 19th century.
Wollof and Woloff are both used to talk about the Gambian Wolof in English, but Wollof is closer to how the name is pronounced by people who speak English. Jolof is also often spelled as Jolof, but this is usually in reference to the Jolof Empire and Jolof Kingdom, which were in central Senegal from the 14th to the 19th centuries. In the same way, Jollof rice is the name of a rice dish from West Africa.
WOLOF TRIBE HISTORY
The voyages of Ca da Mosto, which took place between 1455 and 1457, are credited with providing the first significant documentary information on the Wolof language. Oral traditions claim that the Wolof people became unified into a political federation known as the Dyolof Empire, with its capital located in the northwestern part of Senegal, perhaps during the century that immediately preceded the present one.
This empire began to break apart into its component sections somewhere about the middle of the sixteenth century, which resulted in the establishment of the four major Wolof kingdoms of Baol, Kayor, Dyolof proper, and Walo. The succeeding histories of these kingdoms are fraught with political intrigue, rebellions, exploitation, and warfare, both against one another and against the Moors. This was true throughout their entire history.
It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that interactions with Europeans took on a truly significant role, with the exception of the slave trade. Along the coast, a few commercial cities sprouted up over time, the most important of which were the vital slave ports of Saint Louis and Gorée. Other smaller economic hubs also emerged.
Around the year 1840, peanut cultivation was first introduced to Senegal, and the crop quickly became the country’s primary export. In the 1850s, the French made their first major attempts to capture the Wolof kingdoms. The primary motivation for these efforts was to safeguard the French nation’s economic interests.
The Wolof put up a fierce resistance, but by the turn of the century, they had been totally conquered. French colonial administration continued until Senegal attained its independence in 1960.
During this same time period, the Wolof, a people who had a lengthy and conflicted relationship with Islam (which was frequently antagonistic), became rapidly and completely Islamicized. The French were instrumental in fostering the growth of urban centers, which proved to be one of the most important contributors to westernization during the twentieth century.
WOLOF TRIBE SETTLEMENT
The majority of Wolof tribe, perhaps between 70 and 75 percent, live in rural villages; the remainder of the Wolof population is a key component in many of the bigger metropolitan towns of Senegal as well as in Banjul, the capital of the Gambia. Villages of Wolof people are typically fairly tiny in size, with an average population range of approximately 50 to 150 people; however, some political centers can have as many as 1,000 to 2,000 people living in them.
The majority of Wolof communities adhere to one of two primary layout designs for their residential areas: a village that is composed of two or three distinct groups of residential compounds and has no central focus; or a nucleated village in which the residential compounds are grouped around a central plaza, which is typically where a mosque is situated.
In either form of village, the compounds often take the shape of square huts (traditionally round, as is still the case in Gambia), with walls constructed of millet stalks or banco (a material similar to adobe), and conical roofs that are thatched. Millet stalks have been used to construct a perimeter fence around a number of small huts that have been used for cooking, storing goods, and housing animals.
Villagers that are better off financially may own one or more contemporary, multiroom, rectangular buildings made of cement blocks and topped with tile or corrugated tin roofs. These residences may have one or more garages. In many Wolof communities, there is also a Fulbe encampment or hamlet located nearby. These Fulbe “belong” to the community and are responsible for herding its cattle.
WOLOF TRIBE KINSHIP
Kin Groups and Descent: Residential groups, which typically share a single compound, function as the most fundamental element of a village’s social structure. These groupings typically consist of a patrilocal extended family at their center, although they may also have individuals who are not related to one another. Every one of these kinds of business organizations is led by the eldest male member of the primary family unit.
Patrilineages are typically what make up residential groups that are next to one another. It’s possible that the larger and more significant patrilineages have branches in more than one community. Patrilineages have historically been the most influential family branches at the political-legal level, particularly with regard to the control of land and political posts. This has been the case for many centuries.
The most senior male of a patrilineage takes over as laman, the position of official head of the family. The Wolof people also acknowledge the meen, which is a matrilineal line of descent. There is a great deal of debate in the academic community regarding the question of whether or not the meen actually is a matrilineage and, consequently, whether or not the Wolof have a system of double descent (refer to Diop 1985 and Irvine 1973 for two opposing viewpoints, pro and con, respectively, on this matter).
In today’s world, the Meen does not exist in the form of a corporate entity, nor does it play any role in the political or legal system. It is essential to have a strong moral compass because it is thought to be the primary source of one’s moral character and because it contains one’s maternal relatives, to whom they can turn for assistance in times of need, such as when they are ill or when they are having financial difficulties.
Kinship Terminology: The Wolof have bifurcate-merging kin terms in the first ascending (parental) generation (i.e., father’s brother and a mother’s sister are called by the same terms as father and mother, respectively, while a father’s sister and a mother’s brother are called by separate terms).
This occurs because the Wolof do not distinguish between the siblings of the same parent. The use of the cousin label does not correspond to any of the conventional categorizations. Cross cousins are differentiated both from parallel cousins and from one another, but they are not given their own names. Parallel cousins are referred to by the same terms as one’s siblings.
Cross cousins are distinguished from one another and from parallel cousins, but they are not given their own names. The correct names for these individuals are “child of the sister of the father” and “child of the brother of the mother,” respectively. According to the joking relationship that exists between cross cousins, one’s matrilateral cross relatives are referred to as “master,” and one’s patrilateral cross cousins are referred to as “slave,”
WOLOF TRIBE LIVELIHOOD
The Wolof people have always lived in established agricultural and artisanal communities. Millet has traditionally served as the primary source of nutrition, with rice coming in as a close second when the rains are abundant. Cassava is also grown, but its value lies in the fact that it has historically provided Wolof farmers with a source of income. Peanuts have been the most important crop for exportation ever since the colonial era.
The Wolof culture is patrilineal, and members of the caste that owns agricultural land pass it down through the generations. Farmers in a hamlet typically offer the landowner rent in the form of waref in exchange for the right to cultivate the land.
Farmers of Wolof descent typically supplement their diet with fish that has been either dried or smoked, as well as the chickens and goats they raise themselves. Cattle are also kept, but not for consumption; rather, they are used for milk production, for tilling the ground, and as investment vehicle.
People who live in rural Wolof communities do not eat beef very often, and when they do it is often as part of a ceremonial meal. Some modern-day towns collaborate on the sale of their peanut harvest by using shared agricultural equipment and operating as a cooperative.
Those Wolof people who are members of artisan castes are the ones who work with metal, weave and dye textiles, produce leather items, make pottery and baskets, tailor clothes, produce thatch, and engage in other forms of economic activity. Another set of Wolof smiths specializes on making gold jewelry, whereas the first group creates implements for agricultural use.
Caste and gender have always been used to determine one’s vocation in life. There are distinct castes of men who work as blacksmiths, leatherworkers, and weavers (now the profession of former slave descendants).
Men have traditionally been responsible for religious and political duties, while women have traditionally been responsible for domestic duties such as bringing water from wells or rivers and keeping the household running smoothly. In addition, women are responsible for the planting, weeding, harvesting, and collecting of firewood. Women who belong to the pottery caste group assist with the many procedures involved in the production of pottery.
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