'Seliba' festivities and my 'Malian family'

Malian men and boys are currently in the fields every day, harvesting ‘ɲo’ (millet). Unlike the machinery found in the West, Malians perform all of their agricultural duties with simple, antiquated tools. This is a small blade used for harvesting the millet grains from the stalk. I helped my 'jatigi' Koka for a day, and the work is painstaking and repetitive. Millet is the Malian staple grain in most dishes, such as 'to' and 'basi,' which are both generally served with sauce.

Currently we are in the midst of the harvest season and most of the village men spend every day cutting ‘ɲo’(millet) in the fields, while the women pull peanut plants from the field, bring them back to the concession, and pick them off the roots. The rice harvest season is just beginning, and some of the men in my village are spending time in neighboring villages to help with that harvest, as we do not have rice fields in our village.

My 'jatigi' (host-father) Koka, and two of his young boys, Lassana and Abdoullaye, working in the ‘ɲo’ fields.

A village woman 'susu(ing),' or pounding, ‘ɲo’ to separate the grain from the stalks.

With all of this work, the arrival of the Muslim holiday of Tabaski, also known as Eid al-Adha in Arabic, or ‘Seliba' in Bambara, was a welcome distraction. ‘Seliba’ was Wednesday, November 17th. I have previously described ‘Selideni,’ the holiday commemorating the end of Ramadan, and generally, ‘Seliba’ is celebrated in exactly the same way, with a few subtle differences.

The day before 'Seliba,' five 'misi' (bulls) were slaughtered throughout the village. Normally, 'Seliba' involves the slaughter of mainly 'saca' (sheep), but they apparently were not as available in the markets as usual. Refer to my end of Ramadan ('Selideni') pictures for the more gruesome details. I bought two large piles of 'misi sɔgɔ' (beef) to give to my 'jatigi muso' (My host-father's wife) Mama to cook for the next few days, including the breakfast I hosted on Thursday.

My spiffy 'Seliba' threads - an outfit I got tailored in Ségou out of the fancy 'baizan' fabric. It is stiff, waxy, and uncomfortable, but stylish in this country.

Although Muslims always pray five times a day, the main prayer for 'Seliba' takes place in the morning at 9AM. I joined the villagers, lined up in several rows facing East on rugs, in the field between the two school buildings to participate.

My homologue Lassana's twin brother Lassini leading one of their sheep by the ear to be slaughtered just after prayer.

Instead of the slaughtering of ‘misi’ (cow), ‘saca’ (sheep) are generally slaughtered. At least one ‘saca’ is normally slaughtered in each concession (extended family) for the feasts of ‘Seliba,’ although five bulls were also slaughtered in addition to the sheep this year, as sheep were harder to come by in the surrounding markets.

Around 10:30AM, after the morning prayer service, and just after my homologue slaughtered his sheep, all of the village men gathered in one family's concession for lunch of ‘kini ni tiga dɛgɛ na ni misi sɔgɔ.’

Additionally, like ‘Selideni,’ the three mornings after ‘Seliba’ are spent eating several breakfasts each morning at several different concessions. But while every meal is the same during ‘Selideni,’ ‘kini ni tiga dɛgɛ na ni misi sɔgɔ’ (rice with peanut sauce and beef), the meals for ‘Seliba’ are a sort-of ‘best of Malian cuisine.’ We were served a small variety of dishes from the ‘kini ni tiga dɛgɛ na ni misi sɔgɔ,’ to ‘kini ni jaba ji na ni saca sɔgɔ’ (rice with onion sauce and sheep meat), to ‘woso ni saca sɔgɔ’ (sweet potatoes and sheep meat, my personal favorite), and to ‘chau ni saca sɔgɔ’ (beans and sheep meat). ‘ɲo’ (millet), the staple of Malian cuisine, takes a back seat for holidays, although I have grown to really enjoy the grain.

A quick picture as I crouched down for a lunch of 'kini ni tiga dɛgɛ na ni misi sɔgɔ' (rice with peanut sauce and beef) with some elder men during the Muslim holiday of 'Seliba.' In the foreground is a man washing his hands, with soap, after I explained to them the importance of doing so - '...Safini bɛ banna faga.' (Soap kills illnesses).

So my main intention behind this post was to provide these pictures. Wednesday and Thursday, the villagers put on their finest threads for the event, and I took the opportunity to take some pictures with my host family, and some of the other people I will be spending these two years with…

A picture of myself with the 'cɛ kɔrɔbaw' (village elder men) just after lunch. My homologue, Lassana, is the man standing directly to my left.

A picture with most of my 'jatigi('s)' family. My 'jatigi' Koka is the man seated directly to my left, and his one wife Mama is seated beside him.

A picture with my 'Seliba' breakfast party. This is the group of men I joined for three mornings as we took turns going to each one of our concessions to eat. This was just after eating a breakfast (the fourth of the morning) 'ɲogomi ni misi sɔgɔ' (millet pancakes and beef) in my concession on Thursday. Aisseta, the woman in the picture, delivered the food from my jatigi's concession.

Another picture with my 'jatigi('s)' family, including my host-mother Mama to my left, my host father Koka to my right, and Bintu, a woman in the concession who alternates cooking duties with Mama and another woman, Kaja (she dodged the camera), to my left in the yellow shall.

Some young village girls in their matching 'seliba' attire.