In this episode, we take a camel-back trip across the Sahara and discover how the Tuareg have immortalized their most beloved animal companion in word and song.

Tuareg camel names reflect their colorful variety and unique characteristics!

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Can’t get enough?

Watch

* Camel Dance

* Double Bell Music by Tuareg camel caravan drivers in Ténéré desert, Niger, Africa

References

* Andah, Bassey, et al. The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. Routledge, 2014. pp 65 – 66

* Camels, Sand, and Celebration: The Tuareg Festival

* Rasmussen, Susan J. “Within the Tent and at the Crossroads: Travel and Gender Identity among the Tuareg of Niger.” Ethos, vol. 26, no. 2, 1998, pp. 153–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/640675. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.

* Rennell, Francis James Rennell Rodd Baron, and Rennell Rodd. People of the Veil: Being an Account of the Habits, Organisation and History of the Wandering Tuareg Tribes which Inhabit the Mountains of Air, Or Asben in the Central Sahara. MacMillan, 1926. p195

* Rodd, Peter Rennell, et al. “Translations of Tuareg Poems.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, vol. 5, no. 1, 1928, pp. 109–12. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/607787. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024.

* Standifer, James A. “The Tuareg: Their Music and Dances.” The Black Perspective in Music, vol. 16, no. 1, 1988, pp. 45–62. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1215126. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.

* Stone, Ruth M., ed. The Garland Handbook of African Music. New York: Routledge, 2008. p269

* What Are Desert Blues? The Wonderful World of Tuareg Music

Songs/Sound Effects (in order of occurrence and with repetitions)

* Sandstorm - Gold Tape: 55 56 Weather Wind by Craig Smith of USC

* Camel moaning in distance and Camels grunt and call from SSE Library: Animals by Craig Smith of USC

* Mythological Africans by Phende

* Camel Song – Tuareg Music Of The Southern Sahara by Tuareg Folkways Records (FE 4470)

* Sandstorm - Gold Tape: 55 56 Weather Wind by Craig Smith of USC

* Akoli Daoel – Imzad solo by Ajjo a Tuareg musician from the Kel Tamesna tribe (Agadez region, northern Niger). She performs this tune in honour of the Nigerien MP and radio journalist, Akoli Daouel (1937-) who is also the chief of the Tuareg tribe of the Kel Tamesna.

* Untraced Tuareg Woman - Berceuse Touareg

* Tinde des Femmes from Hoggar - Music of the Tuareg by Nadia Mécheri & Jean-Louis Lamande

* Camel Song – Tuareg Music Of The Southern Sahara by Tuareg Folkways Records (FE 4470)

* Song of Tuareg Women from An Anthology of African Music: Chad-Kanem by Monique Brandily

* Sandstorm - Gold Tape: 55 56 Weather Wind by Craig Smith of USC

* Caravan Song – Hoggar - Music of the Tuareg by Nadia Mécheri & Jean-Louis Lamande

* Tinariwen Live at Neumos 2011

In this week’s episode, we visit with the Venda and Shona of southern Africa to talk about Ngano - folktales with a musical component.

The musical samples used in this episode showcase the ground bow, one of the many single string instruments popular across the African continent (and Evidence No. Seventy Hundred and Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Five of African people’s ability to make musical instruments out of anything).

Check out the reading resources for some great collections of Venda Ngano which include the stories and songs, the sheet music for the songs and commentary about the Ngano.  And if you want to hear a properly told Ngano, don’t forget to head over to Sarura Kids where Gogo – that is grandmother – Alice, a Shona Sarungano and professional educator, is telling stories and teaching!

Enjoy!

Musical/Sound Samples

(In order of appearance)

Sunrise by Phende (performed with a Kalimba/Mbira)

Children Laughing - Red Library: Voices Children by Craig Smith of USC

Phulu mutada phulu by Ronald Netshifhefhe and an unnamed Venda woman. Recorded by Jaco Kruger. From Rhodes University International Library of African Music

Mouth Bow by Basarwa/San Men. From: Traditional Music of Botswana by Tswana. Ethnic Folkways Library (FE 4371)

I ya vhuya (It is raining) by Ronald Netshifhefhe and an unnamed Venda woman. Recorded by Jaco Kruger. From Rhodes University International Library of African

Reading Resources

* The girls in the baobab : Venda stories from the Limpopo Valley

* The flamboyant rooster and other Tshivenda song stories 

* Preserving Africa’s musical heritage by combining traditional folk music with modern sounds

* Reclaiming a Traditional African Genre: The AfroSurrealism of Ngano

* Unraveling Shona Tales: A Crash Course on Ngano Traditions

* The Ground Bow in Zimbabwe and Beyond

* A Brief survey of African Harps

[Correction: In the previous version, when I talk about the Mvet from 17:01 - 17:10, I stated that the Mwindo Epic and the Epic of Lianja were the performed with the Mvet. That is incorrect. Mvets are used in mainly by Fang performers.]

Hello Friends!

It is so lovely to be back with you all. If you just joined the crew, welcome! I’m honored by your interest and I hope you find Mythological Africans entertaining and informative.

We’ll spend this month looking at African musical folklore which turned out to be even more fun than I expected. It’s hard to separate African storytelling from music and song so I hope this intro episode lays a good enough foundation for what we’ll be talking about.

The best part of putting together this episode was tracking down samples to include with the narrative. It’s different from what we’ve done before here at MA so feel free to let me know what you think in the comments!

(By the way - and I’ll talk about this more in this month’s newsletter - I am experimenting with different ways to be on social media. Part of this is focusing my attention only on what I put out and any questions or comments that come up. So if you don’t see MA on Notes, Chats etc., that’s why.)

Meanwhile, here are the sources of the musical samples in their order of appearance:

* Amapiano - Yuri Boyka (feat_ Mgiftoz SA & Mpura)

* Liquindi - The "Water Drum" Baka Pygmy Music from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

* Rock Drums - Lithophone by Frank Schulte

* Polyphonic Singing - Gabon: Musique des Pygmées Bibayak. Chantres de l’épopée

* Shekere - NateTraxShekere

* Balafon - Balafon playing from Mali by Afama dit Wulufiena

* Tuareg Imzad - “Tuareg music performed in the evening under a tent” from Musique Touareg et Haoussa de la Région d'Agadez

* Tuareg Women Tendé Drumming - The Rough Guide to Music from the Sahara

* Yoruba Hunter Flute - Photoshopian Benasay

* Mvet - Gabon: Musique des Pygmées Bibayak. Chantres de l’épopée

* Mbira - Mbira Trip by Ambuya Stella Chiweshe

* Ephat Mujuru on Mbira Music - Music Travel Guide YouTube Channel

Enjoy!

Mythological Africans is and always will be a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We’re in the last week of Librivox Magic. If you don’t know what that is, well, all this month, we’ve been digging into the LibriVox archive of African folktales.

This week, we’re going to hear three stories that feature plants!

 “How Mushrooms First Grew” is a delightful chain tale from the Ashanti people of Ghana. (Source: West African Folktales by William Henry Barker).

“The Crimson-striped Lily” is from the Ganda people of Uganda. (Source: The King of the Snakes and Other Folklore Stories from Uganda by Rosetta Baskerville).

“Why The Plantain Stalk Bears But One Bunch” is from the Mpongwe people of Gabon. (Source: Where Animals Talk: West African Folklore Tales by Robert Hamill Nassau).

If you know anything about African folktales with non-human characters,  you know they can be mindbogglingly fascinating and utterly silly but also, they demonstrate just how keenly observant people were of the natural world, and how they used that knowledge to craft stories which preserved valuable information but also said something about the human condition.

Two of these stories are “explanatory folktales” which propose explanations for why things are one way or another. Now these reasons are not exactly Carl Linneaus approved but that shouldn’t take away from the enjoyment of the stories. I find, often, that us modern humans, sitting on centuries of scientific knowledge (and this is not a bad thing), can be a bit dismissive of these kinds of stories. But the interesting thing is that the people who crafted these stories had a scientific knowledge which, in my opinion, spread wide more than it dug deep. So, they may not have known that mushrooms are fungi and produce spores, but they could probably name every kind of mushroom in their local area, tell you when in the year each kind shows up, and advise whether or not they are edible… you know the important things!

Interested in an MA discussion about the intersection of science and folklore? Go here.

You might also like this thread with some suggestions on how to read Mythology and Folklore.

All that being said, a quick notice that MA is going on a much needed break for the month of March. There will be no podcast episodes during this time and I will not be posting updates of any kind. When we return, we will be taking a look at music in African folklore!

Cheers!

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We’re going back to Zanzibar!

In today’s episode we’ll hear two stories from George Bateman’s “Zanzibar Tales Told by Natives of the East Coast of Africa” which was published in 1901:

-        The Hare and the Lion

-        The Lion, the Hyena and The Rabbit.

Zanzibari folktales are some of the most entertaining I have come across in African folklore and this might have something to do with the place where they come from: the island of Zanzibar itself! As some of you may know, Zanzibar is an island on the East African coast. It is part of the Tanzanian national territory but it might as well be a nation of its own – it is very unique, merging indigenous African culture with Arab, Indian, Portuguese and British culture. This is reflected in folklore from the island which features evil magicians, snake kings, eccentric teachers, wily rabbits and so much more.

Librivox is always looking for volunteer readers so, if you have the time, please consider signing up!

Meanwhile, if you can’t get enough of Zanbibari folklore, click here for another MA podcast episodes on the topic, or read this fascinating article on the extraordinary doors of Zanzibar.

Enjoy!

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This week, we take it all the way back to Ancient Egypt which cannot be excluded from the cultural brilliance that has come from the African continent. Today’s story, “The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor” was written during the time of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, so almost 2000 years before Christ. This means almost as much time has passed since the writing of this story and Christ’s time as has passed between Christ’s time and today. Amazing!

This version is read from a book called “The World's Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art” which was published in 1914 - reason why it is now in the public domain.

Librivox is always looking for volunteer readers so, if you have the time, please consider signing up!

Meanwhile, if you can’t get enough of Ancient Egyptian folklore, click here for another MA podcast episodes on the topic!

Enjoy!

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

For the month of February, we’ll be delving into what Librivox has to offer on African folklore. In this week’s episode, we’ll listen to three stories from the sky lore of different southeastern Nigerian peoples:

 “Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky.”

“The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder.”

“Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes.”

The stories come from Elphinstone Dayrell's Folk stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa published in 1910 (I say 1913 in the episode which is true for Elphinstone Dayrell's other book, Ikom Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, also in the public domain.)

You can listen to the other stories from the book here. I share the recordings as they are uploaded so there are some introductory statements, which you’ll hear with every new story, stating the source and the name of the person reading the story.

The different accents make listening very special and I have a dream that one day there will be many African accents on these recordings. Maybe even translations and readings in the story’s original languages one day!

If you can’t get enough of African sky lore, here are other MA podcast episodes on the topic:

Across African Skies Part 1: Mythology, Folklore and Symbolism of the Sun and Moon

Across African Skies Part 2: Mythology, Folklore and Symbolism of the Stars

Enjoy!

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We wrap up this month’s focus on folktales in modern African literature with Queen Pokou Concerto For A Sacrifice, Veronique Tadjo’s award winning retelling and analysis of the story of Abraha Pokou, Princess of the Ashanti (Ghana) and founding mother of the Baoule (Ivory Coast).

We will definitely revisit this topic again because I want to talk about folklore in Kintu by Jennifer Makumbi, The Fetishists: The Tuareg Epic by Ibrahim al-Koni, and a few others!

Mythological Africans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Hello friends,

We are continuing our exploration of folklore in modern African literature and celebrating the one year anniversary of the publication of The Runaway Princess and Other Stories in this week’s episode.

We read an excerpt from the book focused on the titular character: Yennenga. Yennenga’s story is a fascinating glimpse at the contradictions and complexities of African womanhood. Yennenga was the only daughter of Na Gbewa (AKA Nedega) a 12th century king in northern Ghana. Her rise to military might in and subsequent escape from her father’s kingdom has fueled numerous stories, works of art and poems.

In addition to the excerpt, read a praise song to Yennenga (also from “The Runaway Princess”) below.

Hello friends!

Welcome to the MA Podcast 2024 Edition! As I explained in the intro episode (which was an opportunity to vibe to the MA theme song composed by yours truly), we’ll spend this year exploring how to make MA happen without the winds of X/Twitter filling the sails. What that means is that these weekly podcast episodes, the monthly YouTube episodes, and quarterly blog posts will be the main way we communicate.

For the month of January, we will be looking at folktales in modern African literature and where better to start than with Chinua Achebe, the Igwe himself? Even more, we’re starting with a story about Igwe (which means “Sky” in Igbo) nestled in a story about an Igwe, Chief Okonkwo of Umuofia.

We read The Story of the Vulture and the Sky, a folktale of planetary beef, which is one of five folktales woven into the narrative of “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe’s debut novel published in 1958. The novel chronicles the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo chief and champion wrestler whose world crumbles as his traditionalist community is radically changed by European missionaries.

Of the 5 folktales woven into the narrative of Things Fall Apart, three (The Story of the Vulture and the Sky, Leaves and the Snake-Lizard and Mother Kite and Daughter Kite) are found in chapter seven. The Story of Mosquito and the Ear is found in chapter nine and The Story of How Tortoise Got His Bumpy Shell in chapter eleven. By including these stories in his book, Chinua Achebe ensured that the oral traditions of his people, whose continuity was under threat by the changes that colonialism was bringing, stayed in circulation.

The modern African writer is to his indigenous oral tradition as a snail is to its shell. Even in a foreign habitat, a snail never leaves its shell behind. – Solomon O. Iyasere

If you can’t get enough, click here for a detailed but not too long analysis of folktales in Things Fall Apart.

I hope you enjoy the episode!