The Baoulé People of the
Ivory Coast

The Baoulé people are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). They have played a central role in twentieth-century history of the country. They waged the longest war of resistance to French colonization of any West African people, and maintained their traditional objects and beliefs longer than many other groups.

The Baoulé belong to the Akan peoples who inhabit Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Their religion includes both ancestor worship and a heirarchy of nature gods. Nature spirits and spirit spouses are often represented in their art. The Baoulé are noted for their fine wooden sculpture and carved ceremonial masks.

According to a legend, during the eighteenth century, the queen, Abla Poku, had to lead her people west to the shores of the Comoe, the land of Senufo. In order to cross the river, she sacrificed her own son. This sacrifice was the origin of the name Baoulé, for baouli means “the child has died.” Now about one million Baoulé occupy a part of the eastern Côte d'Ivoire between the Komoé and Bandama rivers that is both forest and savanna land.

A Brief History of What is Now Known as The Ivory Coast

Little is known about the original inhabitants of Côte d'Ivoire. Historians believe that they were all either displaced or absorbed by the ancestors of the present inhabitants. The first recorded history is found in the chronicles of North African Muslim traders, who, from early Roman times, conducted a trade across the in salt, slaves, gold, and other items.

Slavery in Africa
Very few Americans know that slavery was common throughout the world as well as in Africa

Sandra Greene, Professor of African History at Cornell University has extensively researched the history of slavery in West Africa, especially Ghana, where warring political communities in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries enslaved their enemies.

While 11 to 12 million people are estimated to have been exported as slaves from West Africa during the years of the slave trade, millions more were retained in Africa. “It’s not something that many West African countries talk about,” says Greene. “It’s not exactly a proud moment because everyone now realizes that slavery is not acceptable.”

French Colonization
In the late 1800's there was a scramble for territory, primarily by France, Britain, Portugal, and Belgium. By the end of the 1880's, France had established what passed for effective control over the coastal regions of Ivory Coast, and in 1889 Britain recognized French sovereignty in the area. Côte d'Ivoire officially became a French colony on 10 March 1893.

Throughout the early years of French rule, French military contingents were sent inland to establish new posts. The French penetration and settlement encountered much resistance from locals.

Many local rulers in small, isolated communities did not understand or, more often, were misled by the French about the significance of treaties that compromised their authority. Other local leaders, however, thought that the French could solve economic problems or become allies in the event of a dispute with belligerent neighbors.

In the end, the loss of sovereignty by the local rulers was often the result of their inability to counter French deception and military force rather than a result of support for French encroachment.

Baoulé Society and Culture

Baoulé society was characterized by extreme individualism, great tolerance, a deep aversion toward rigid political structures, and a lack of age classes, initiation, circumcision, priests, secret societies, or associations with hierarchical levels. Each village was independent from the others and made its own decisions under the presiding presence of a council of elders. Everyone participated in discussions, including slaves. It was an egalitarian society. The Baoulé compact villages are divided into wards, or quarters, and subdivided into family compounds of rectangular dwellings arranged around a courtyard; the compounds are usually aligned on either side of the main village street.

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