Segu Book

A long time ago, I made a post wondering if it would be possible to make a restaurant based on Malian cuisine, since other cultures have made in-Canada restaurants based on their home food, adapted to Canadian taste. Well check this out, a list of Malian recipes:

http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/mali.php

I never ate most of that. And where's the Toh? The sour cake dipped in fish sauce. And under the spice list, where's the Pima? That hot sauce that would turn your mouth on fire.

And check this out, a Bambara Wikipedia:

http://bm.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ny%C9%9B_f%C9%94l%C9%94

My Segu book is pretty amazing. The main family is of the Traore tribe, which my host family belonged to. I've found out that our sacred tree is the dubale, in which the spirits of our ancestors rest. Our motto is "Traore, Traore, Traore--the long-named man need not pay to cross the river". Our totemic animals are the black monkey, the dog-faced baboon, the crowned crane, and the panther. So don't any of you let me kill those animals, or I'll be cursed!

I found out that the Samake tribe are our enemies, but since my nickname was "Elephant" and the Bambara word for elephant is "Sama", and "Samake" means "Son of Elephant", this means that my signature animal belongs to my enemy's tribe! This is what happens when you let a Diarra nickname you!

Oh, and Diarra was the name of a special lion, so the Diarra clan that lived with us in Karadie and with which we shared Cousinage is associated with the lion.

I've learned the reason why "Mali" is Bambara for "Hippo". Turns out the Malinke are a tribe that were represented by the hippo. In this book, the Malinke are a proud but defeated people, who once ruled the lands but were defeated by the Songhay, who were in turn defeated by the Segu. Funny how they don't acknowledge the fall of the Mali Empire, when it turns out they later make such a comeback.

Segu was the place of my counterpart's upbringing, too, and it's the starting place of the book. Also, he married a Samake woman, enemy of the Traore. Now the Segu Empire is reduced to being a region within the Malinke Empire.

Apparently the current political turmoil with Timbuktu being taken by the Tuareg is old news. In fact, Timbuktu is apparently named after a woman who originally ruled it, and the meaning is "woman with a big naval". It's history reflects a woman who is fought over by men, but who belongs to no one. It has been in the hands of the Tuaregs several times before and lost.

I may have already said this, but the ruler of Segu is Monzon Diarra, which  is the same name as the son of the chief of Karadie. And the wife of the person that the book originally centres on is of the Kulibaly clan, which is even more noble than the Traore. That left me a little bitter... Sedio is not better than I am!

The Traore, Diarra, and the Kulibaly were the three tribes to live in Karadie. Such a happy coincidence that they are such a focus in the book! With Traore being the main chaaracters!

I remember building stoves out of Banko and using it in the fields. It was so casually spoken on, that I thought it must be a regular building material. But coming back, no one knew what it was. Turns out, it's a Bambara word meaning a combination of water, clay, dung, straw, and sand.

And the word Pagne, which is a type of cloth you bring to the tailor so he can make your clothes!

I get to read about Toh, the food I spoke on above, courage sharing, and the concept of one person holding multiple names, which I've spoken on in this book.

So cool!