Kumpo
Encyclopedia
The Kumpo, the Samay and the Niasse are three traditional figures in the mythology
of the Diola
people in the Casamance
(Senegal
) and in Gambia.
Multiple times in the course of the year, i.e. during the Journées culturelles, a folk festival
in the village is organized.
The Samay
invites the people of the village to participate with the festivity.
The Kumpo is dressed with palm leaves
and wears a stick on the head.
At the start of the dance, a young lady binds a coloured flag on the stick.
He dances for hours with the stick and the flag on the head.
He speaks a private secret language,
and communicates through an interpreter with the spectators.
He promotes everybody to participate to the community life,
and wishes that all people are enjoying the feast.
The festival is a stimulus for the social community live.
Not participating to the feast is seen as anti-social behaviour.
Nobody has the right to be lonely.
The whole community enjoys to perform rythmical music
and to dance.
According to the tradition
, the Kumpo is not a person but a ghost
.
There is a strong relationship with the bois sacré
.
It is not done to ask about the real identity of the Kumpo.
He may not be touched, and it is considered as a sacrilege
to look into the palm leaves.
Therefore he defends himself against intruders with his stick by smashing and pointing.
At the end of the feast, he says goodbye to the community
and revokes into the bois sacré.
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
of the Diola
Jola people
The Jola are an ethnic group found in Senegal , The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. There are great numbers on the Atlantic coast between the southern banks of the Gambia River, the Casamance region of Senegal and the northern part of Guinea-Bissau...
people in the Casamance
Casamance
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance and Haute Casamance...
(Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
) and in Gambia.
Multiple times in the course of the year, i.e. during the Journées culturelles, a folk festival
Folk festival
A Folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music.-Canada:Alberta*Calgary Folk Music Festival*Canmore Folk Music Festival*Edmonton Folk Music Festival*Jasper Folk Festival*Wild Mountain Music FestOntario*Barriefolk...
in the village is organized.
The Samay
Samay (mythology)
The Kumpo, the Samay and the Niasse are three traditional figures in the mythology of the Diola in the Casamance and also in Gambia.Multiple times in the course of the year, i.e...
invites the people of the village to participate with the festivity.
The Kumpo is dressed with palm leaves
and wears a stick on the head.
At the start of the dance, a young lady binds a coloured flag on the stick.
He dances for hours with the stick and the flag on the head.
He speaks a private secret language,
and communicates through an interpreter with the spectators.
Social background
He encourages the community to act as good villagers.He promotes everybody to participate to the community life,
and wishes that all people are enjoying the feast.
The festival is a stimulus for the social community live.
Not participating to the feast is seen as anti-social behaviour.
Nobody has the right to be lonely.
The whole community enjoys to perform rythmical music
Rhythm in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan African music is characterised by a "strong rhythmic interest" that exhibits common characteristics in all regions of this vast territory, so that Arthur Morris Jones has described the many local approaches as constituting one main system. C.K. Ladzekpo also affirms the profound...
and to dance.
According to the tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
, the Kumpo is not a person but a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
.
There is a strong relationship with the bois sacré
Sacred grove
A sacred grove is a grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves were most prominent in the Ancient Near East and prehistoric Europe, but feature in various cultures throughout the world...
.
It is not done to ask about the real identity of the Kumpo.
He may not be touched, and it is considered as a sacrilege
Sacrilege
Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. In a less proper sense, any transgression against the virtue of religion would be a sacrilege. It can come in the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things...
to look into the palm leaves.
Therefore he defends himself against intruders with his stick by smashing and pointing.
At the end of the feast, he says goodbye to the community
and revokes into the bois sacré.