The Baule or Baoulé (Baule: Baule [ba.u.le]; [bawle]) are an Akan people and one of the largest ethnicities in Ivory Coast. The Baoulé are traditionally farmers who live in the centre of Ivory Coast, in a French braid shaped region (the Baoule “V”) between the rivers Bandama and N'Zi. This area broadly encompasses the regions around the cities of Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. The Baoulé have come to play a relatively important role in the recent history of Ivory Coast: the state's first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, was a Baoulé; additionally, since the Ivorian cocoa boom of the 1960-1970s, the Baoulé have also become one of the most widespread ethnicities throughout the country, especially in the Southern forests (the "Low Coast") where they are amongst the most numerous planters of cocoa, rubber, and coffee and sometimes seem to outnumber the local native ethnic groups.

Kingdom

thumb|Kingdom of Baoulé amongst other precolonial kingdoms.

The Baoulé Kingdom was established c. 1730 by Queen Abla Pokou. It lasted as a sovereign kingdom until 1893, with the incorporation of the Ivory Coast as a colony of France, making up a part of French West Africa. Its capital being the town of Sakassou in the center of what is now Ivory Coast, it remains a subnational monarchy in the present day.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Rulers of Baoulé

!Monarch

!Reign

|-

|Abla Pokou

|c.1730-c.1760

|-

|Akoua Bony

|c.1760-c.1790

|-

|Kouakou Djiê I

|c.1790-c.1820

|-

|Nanan Kouamé Toto

|c.1820-c.1840

|-

|Kouakou Anougblé I

|c.1840-c.1870

|-

|Nanan Toto Diby

|c.1870-c.1880

|-

|Anougblé Diêkê

|c.1880-c.1890

|-

|Kouamé Tchêkê I

|c.1890-1902

|-

|Kouadio N'Dri

|1902-1925

|-

|Nanan Kouakou Anoungblé II

|1925-1958

|-

|Nanan Kouakou Djiê II

|1959-1978

|-

|Nanan Kouakou Anougblé III

|1995-2016

|-

|Nanan N'Ga Tanou Monique

|2016-present

|}

Leisure

alt=|thumb|This Baoulé [[slingshot dates from the late 1980s/early 1990s. From the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.]]

One of the favourite pastimes is the game “Atté,” which is similar to the North American version of marbles: Ivorians utilize nuts, not marbles. An odd number of nuts are placed in a circular pattern in the centre of two opposing teams. The two teams, roughly 30 metres apart, take turns throwing nuts at the circle of nuts. Once a nut has been hit, it is eliminated, and the team that hit the respective nut gains a point. The game ends when all the nuts have been eliminated, and the team with the most nuts at the end of the game wins.

Religion

The Baoule religious world consists of three realities :

  • Domain of God (')
  • The earthly world: area of human beings, animals and plants, as well as supernatural beings with vast powers who reside in the mountains, rocks, rivers, forests, etc.
  • The beyond (') where the spirits of the ancestors reside

Ivorian children

Ivorian children begin aiding their parents with the everyday chores of life at very young ages. As soon as they are old enough, they either carry water from the village pumps or heavy loads of food and firewood to the village market. The boys, when old enough, may even help their father with clearing vegetation.

Like several other groups with Akan origin, Baoulé children are often named according to the day of the week or the circumstances under which they were born. For example, a male born on a Monday would be named Kouassi. However, there are slight variations in the spelling and pronunciation specific to the Baoulé. The Baoulé have a calendar that is different from the calendar of other Akan ethnic groups. This may be due to the circumstances of their departure from Ghana and the need for them to mark a separation with the Ashanti Empire. For ethnic groups such as the Ashanti, Abron, N'zima, Koffi may be a name for a boy child born on Friday. For the Baoulé, Koffi and Affoué are names for Saturday, the day being Foué. There is, therefore, a sound common to the day and the names.

Baoulé names:

  • Saturday: Kouamé, Amoin; the name of the day is Monnin
  • Sunday: Kouassi, Akissi; the name of the day is Kissie
  • Monday: Kouadjo, Adjoua; the name of the day is Djole
  • Tuesday: Konan, Amlan; the name of the day is Mlan
  • Wednesday: Kouakou, Ahou; the name of the day is Ouwe
  • Thursday: Yao, Aya; the name of the day is Yah
  • Friday: Koffi, Affoué; the name of the day is Foue

Baoule name exceptions

  1. The third girl or boy in a row is named I'nsan (often misspelled N’Guessan), independent of the child's gender.
  2. The 9th child is given the name N'Goran, independent of the child's gender.
  3. The 10th child in the family is always called Brou.
  4. The 11th child from the same mother is called Loukou.
  5. The 12th child from the same mother is called N'Gbin.

Education

Education in Ivory Coast is extremely competitive. Those families that can afford to give their children a private education to assure themselves that their children will receive a formal education. In the public schooling system, to progress beyond certain grade levels children must pass an exam regulated to allow a limited number of passing scores.

Most Ivorian children use a slate to practice their writing and other homework. Small notebooks are also widely available for doing homework and are turned in to be graded. Many homes have a wall with a large chalkboard where children are tutored or practice subjects that they have learned in class. In school, Baoulé children speak only French, but at home they speak their native language of Baoulé. French study begins in grade one.

Handwriting at Ivorian schools is always cursive, never printing.

Baoulé economy

With regard to the Ivorian economy, coffee and cocoa are referred to as the chief cash crop. Up until the present day conflict, Ivory Coast was the world's largest exporter of cocoa. With respect to the local Ivorian economy, resources such as firewood and yams are transported to local markets and sold to other Ivorians or even foreigners. Within the local marketplace, one can find a wide array of goods, including tailored clothing, boiled eggs, popcorn and lingerie.

Art

The Baoulé people have a wide array of artistic creations that play a major role in indigenous spirituality. There lies an onto-epistemological difference in the Western consumption of Baoulé art, and the indigenous application of their creations. As opposed to the Western focus of the physical stylization and technique of art, Baoulé people view their creation's significance through the lenses of linking the spiritual realm with the physical human world. bronze, Masks amongst the Baoulé people correspond to several types of dances: the goli glin, the kple kple, the gbagba (also known as mblo), and the bo nu amuin. Sculptures amongst the Baoulé people also include, but are not limited to: blolo bla, blolo bian, and bo usu.

Masks

thumb|250x250px|Example of a kple kple mask, with rounded horns and a rectangular mouth for the wearer to see through.

Goli Glin

One example of masks associated with dance is with the goli performance. It's said to be that the goli originated as early as the 18th century, but the addition of peoples to the goli family came from the assimilation of ethnic groups as a result of Western imperialism and colonization, which resulted in a growing number of peoples re-emphasizing their more ancient traditions. Translated, bo nun amuin means "god risen from the bush". This mask is a boxy helmet mask representing a menacing animal with bared teeth. Viewing the mask is restricted to men, and if a woman or child sees the mask they risk serious injury or death. It is danced in times of trouble to protect the village and at important men's funerals..The performance consists of a dance sequence, with the mask being worn with cloth drapery to cover the dancer. These masks in particular were designed to emphasize the beauty and authenticity of those whom it's meant to represent. They are carved to represent the honoring of those significant to the carver or commissioner. The carvings offer a style that displays things such as squinted or closed eyes, elongated noses, and low positioned, oval-shaped mouths.

Bo Usu

Bo usu refer to the spirits of the forest, and is said by Alain-Michel Boyer in his research, to have a particular meaning: "bo being the word for the forest corridors lining the banks of streams and rivers, as opposed to the open savannah; and usu denoted genies, pixies, and all manner of supernatural beings with magical powers".

Political structure

The Baoulé political structure is simple; several senior village leaders get together and discuss various issues affecting their village. Each village is ruled by a village-chief (for small villages) or by a queen or a king (for large villages) assisted by some notables or advisers. Queens and kings rarely speak in public, but via a spokesman. Villages were dependent on others to form a canton or a tribe. Each canton is also ruled by a queen or a king. Everyone has a say, even slaves, and everyone was friendly and social. Baoulé political organization is matriarchal and women's rights are very sacred.

See also

  • Baoulé language
  • List of cities in Ivory Coast

References

  • For spirits and kings: African art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman collection, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on the Baoulé people