A Few Words about the Village of Katiali

Cosmo Editor's Note:
This year's Thanksgiving Benefit dinner sought to raise money to help repair an old school building in the village of Katiali, Cote d’Ivoire. One of our senior residents, Moussa Konè, is from the area and brought this project to our attention. Moussa and another resident. Felix Autenrieth, will travel to Katiali during the coming summer to organize and oversee the project.

I first went to the village of Katiali in the summer of 1981. My husband Tom Bassett was already there doing research for his doctoral dissertation in geography. Tom and I lived in the village for a year, sharing a small round thatched roof house that had been generously given to us by Donnisongui Silue, our Jatigi (an official host/sponsor). There was no electricity or running water. At first the villagers were puzzled by our presence and by Tom’s endless questions about how they organized farm and household work and how farmers gained rights to land. Gradually we learned one of the local languages, Jula, and tried to understand the daily patterns of village life.

Katiali is a large village of about 2000 people. It is located in the northern part of Cote d’Ivoire, or Ivory Coast, in West Africa. The landscape is a savanna woodland. When the rains begin, usually in late May, the villagers plow their fields using plows drawn by oxen and hand-held hoes and plant their fields. They grow corn, rice, and peanuts to eat, and cotton to sell. The harvest takes place in December, when the rains end. Crops are harvested by hand. From January to April, when there is little rain, the farmers repair their tools and houses, and hold ceremonies, including funerals, which are often postponed until the dry season. This is also the time of year when potters and wood carvers do their artisanal work.

Katiali is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious community. The group that founded the village is the Senufo, who speak Senari, a Gur language. They are proud of their farming tradition. Most Senufo are animists; their spiritual life is centered in a sacred grove of ancient trees at the edge of the village. The male initiation society, or poro, is an important organizing focus of Senufo life. Young Senufo men spend seven years as initiates, learning about Senufo philosophy inside the grove and performing community service. In recent years some Senufo have converted to Islam or Christianity; many converts continue to participate in poro and some even hold leadership positions.

The second largest group are the Jula or Dyula, a Mande-speaking group. Mande speakers are spread all over West Africa. They are known as traders and their language is often used as a trade language or lingua franca; Katiali is no exception. The most common language spoken between groups in Katiali is Jula, the local Mande language. The Jula also farm. In addition to the other crops, Jula women grow tobacco during the dry season in small plots they irrigate by hand. They practice Islam and have a mosque in their side of the village.

A third group, the Fulani, immigrated south into this area in the 1980s. They are herders and usually live outside the village. They are semi-nomadic, moving with their herds of cattle to find pasture, especially during the dry season. They speak Fufulbe, although in the village, they usually speak Jula. They also practice Islam.

In general the three groups coexist peacefully. Sometimes there are conflicts between farmers and herders when cattle get into the fields at night and damage crops.

Subsistence farming is hard work and the women of Katiali work especially hard. During the rainy season they work from dawn until late at night because in addition to planting and weeding fields, they must collect firewood and prepare meals. Children work in the fields, too. There is an elementary school in the village. Unfortunately, many families cannot spare the work contributed by a child, so many children do not go to school. Sometimes, too, families cannot afford the costs of school—supplies, clothes, shoes, etc. Sometimes families choose one child to educate while the rest continue to work in the fields. Some children start the school year but have to withdraw when their family has no more money for school supplies. The few students who pass the rigorous tests and are admitted to high school must leave their families and move to the town of Korhogo, an hour away over bad roads. All schooling is conducted in French, the language used in government and business.

The farmers’ income comes from the cotton they sell. This small amount (about $300 a year on average) must pay for medicine, clothing, batteries, seeds, and if the harvest is not sufficient, for food to feed the family. When the cotton grown by Katiali’s farmers is sold, it must compete with American cotton, which is highly subsidized. These subsidies lower the world market price of cotton and so Katiali’s farmers receive less.

In September of 2002, a military coup attempted to take over the government of Ivory Coast. The coup failed but the country was divided into two zones. Southern Ivory Coast is controlled by the government, and the northern part of the country is controlled by rebel groups. Since that time it has been difficult to get news of the village, to send news or money, or to travel there. Banks are closed and the economy is failing as a result of the conflict. The farmers, whose lives were difficult before the conflict, now find it even harder to sell their cotton and provide anything beyond bare subsistence for their families.

At this time other African leaders are pressuring Ivory Coast to end the conflict, unify the country, and hold legitimate elections. We hope the president and the rebels will listen. While some people profit from the instability, the daily lives of the villagers of Katiali have become even more difficult.

I am sure I speak for the villagers of Katiali when I say, “I ni chay!” This means “Thank you!” The funds the Cosmopolitan Club Benefit Thanksgiving Dinner raised to rebuild the school will be much appreciated by the people of Katiali. In a place like Katiali, even a small amount of money is used carefully and can go a long way.

Carol Spindel is a faculty member in English and the Unit One Program. She and her husband, geographer Tom Bassett, have spent time in Katiali since 1981 and have a house there. Her book, In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove, tells the story of the first year they lived in Katiali.

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