Bozo people

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Bozo people


population = 132,100
region1 = West Africa, mainly the Niger River in Mali
languages = Bozo languages
religions = Mostly Muslim
related =
footnotes = The Bozo are a West African ethnic group located predominantly along the Niger River in Mali. The name "Bozo" is thought to derive from Bambara "bo-so", 'Bamboo house'; the people accept it as referring to the whole of the ethnic group but use more specific clan names such as "Sorogoye", "Hain", and "Tieye" themselves. They are famous for their fishing and are occasionally referred to as the "masters of the river." Their languages, belonging to the Soninke-Bozo subgroup of Northwestern Mande languages, have traditionally been considered dialects of one language, though in reality there are at least four distinct varieties (see Bozo languages).

Rock drawings linked to the Bozo date back as far as 6,000 years, but many aspects of their current culture took shape under the 10th century Ghana Empire, when the Bozo took possession of the banks of the Niger. The Bozo were the founders of the Malian cities of Djenné and Mopti.

Though the Bozo are overwhelmingly Muslim, they preserve a number of animist traditions as well. Their animal totem is the bull, whose body represents the Niger and whose horns represent the Bozo fishing pirogues.

A 2000 census counted the Bozo population of Mali to be 132,100.

Bibliography

* cite book
last = Ligers
first = Ziedonis
year = 1964-1969
title = Les Sorko (Bozo), maîtres du Niger: étude ethnographique (four volumes)
location = Paris
publisher = Librairie des Cinq Continents
* in ISBN: 3-570-19230-X: Geo Special Westafrika, Article: Sexualkunde am Fluss

Bozo people in Popular Culture

The Bozo people are included in the book Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, by Tom Robbins.

External links

* [http://www.ksafe.com/profiles/p_code6/415.html The Bozo of Mali]
* [http://www.wycliffe.ca/wordalive/archive/2005summer/HTML/maliliguist4.html More Facts about the Bozo] , Wycliffe/SIL.
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/50743594@N00/ Bozo photos] from Flickr member 'gobou'.