PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR LOUIS CULTURE:
Introduction
I discovered Casamance with the wonder of a child returning to his native country after a long absence. This green and fertile land that we call the granary of Senegal, is teeming with life. There are all kinds of delicious fruits there, I immediately felt at home there as the resemblance with my native Guyana seemed so obvious to me.
I had to visit Senegal because my father Jean-François De Ville, a poet with a sensitive soul, had stayed there and got married there to the sweet Valentina. My job as an artist-musician, writer and poet encourages me to travel the world to discover distant lands and different cultures, which are an inexhaustible source of inspiration necessary for the development of my career. I literally blend into the morals and customs of the country which opens its doors to me, humbly and fraternally. I must admit that the welcome I received in Casamance was one of the warmest and most hospitable I have ever experienced.
Senegal and Guyana have a common historical past. Many Senegalese were sent to my land in the Amazon and if we refer to the period of slavery, I am perhaps one of them, at least part of myself.It is in Bignona, in Basse-Casamance, that I choose to settle. I lived there for three years during which I was kindly adopted by the Diola population who massively occupy the region.
Eager to learn about local customs, all those I met on my path of spiritual quest naturally led me towards the pillars of their common history. This is how I met various people, visited many villages, immersing myself in the original source of ancestral knowledge. I was introduced to extraordinary characters, the griots, veritable libraries of African myths and legends. But, for lack of writing, all these beautiful oral pages are heading towards the drawers of oblivion. The richness of these legends has all the merits of being highlighted, not only for wide dissemination but also and above all for their conservation because this historical and cultural heritage must be put at the service of schools and Senegalese tourism, a real economic lever. .
The real name of the Diola ethnic group is “Ajamat” which means “The Human Being”. The Diolas belong to the tribe of Dan, they originate from the Nile valley. Their long exodus through the Mali Empire led them to Casamance, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, they were the first inhabitants of these regions. They are a people who have always been fiercely opposed to any form of slavery, they have never been colonized.The Diolas have a sacred respect for their ancestral values ​​which are: equality between human beings, the freedom of each person, the protection and respect of people, ancestors and nature, the prohibition of exploiting one's neighbor, the prohibition of killing a human being, honesty, hard work, honor, courage, solidarity, fraternity, independence and autonomy, peace, social cohesion, individual success and community.
The Diolas believe in a single God “Atemit”, invisible power at the origin of everything, spirit and divine order of cosmic essence. They are very respectful of the principles enshrined in their religious life.
Certain stories, certain characters, without you knowing why, mark your mind. This was the case when I heard about a man called Bakolong Badji who lived in the 19th century in the village of Niankitte. The fabulous, multidimensional story of this King Diola has not been the subject of exploration by researchers and other specialists, which justifies the rarity, if not the non-existence, of the works associated with him. . As a result, the information allowing us to fully understand this subject and treat it with maximum accuracy has been collected only from oral sources, the main authors of which are, for the most part, members of the royal family of Bakolong Badji.The other sources used for the writing of this memoir are men and women who have always distinguished themselves by working to perpetuate the history of this man through various cultural events. Despite everything, the accuracy and reliability of the information variously collected are not inconsistent. These sources, far from being eyewitnesses, inherited this legend from their elders, fathers or grandfathers. Jealously guarded, this story is always and everywhere told in Casamance, by everyone, in the same vein, following the same pattern of historical facts relating to the life and work of Bakolong Badji.