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Showing 18 results for “Community”
Folklore · StoryNinki Nanka: A River of Stories
The creature that lives somewhere between the river, the mangroves and the imagination.
The Gambia · River Gambia · Mandinka, Wolof, English
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Traditions · StoryJiidaano and Korondoo: When Communities Call on the Rain
Two traditional practices that connect people, nature and generations in The Gambia.
The Gambia · Lower River Region · Mandinka
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Traditions · VideoBasket Weaving in The Gambia: The Craft That Holds Everything
Palm leaf, grass and patience. Inside one of the oldest everyday crafts in The Gambia, filmed as a basket takes shape.
The Gambia · Nationwide · Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, English
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Place & History · StoryThe Meaning Behind a Village Name
Place names are compressed history. This one holds a description of the shoreline as it was two centuries ago.
The Gambia · West Coast · Mandinka
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Traditions · AudioThe Story Behind a Naming Ceremony
On the eighth day, a child receives a name — and a set of relationships that will last a lifetime.
The Gambia · Banjul · Wolof
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Traditions · StoryKankurang: The Guardian of the Grove
A masked figure in red bark and leaves who walks with boys through initiation, on both sides of the Senegal–Gambia border.
Senegal · Casamance and the Senegambia region · Mandinka, Wolof, French
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Music · StoryZaouli: The Mask That Cannot Stop Dancing
A Guro mask dance of impossible footwork, performed to a drum and flute ensemble that the dancer must match exactly.
Côte d'Ivoire · Guro country, central Côte d'Ivoire · Guro, French
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Folklore · StoryGèlèdé: The Mask That Honours Mothers
Night songs and daytime masks performed in honour of the power of mothers and elder women.
Benin · Ketu region and the Yoruba-Nago area · Yoruba, French
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Traditions · StoryEvala: The Wrestling Season in Kara
Each July, young Kabiyè men wrestle in the villages of the Kara Region as the final stage of becoming an adult.
Togo · Kara Region · Kabiyè, French
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Languages · StoryThe Vai Script: A Writing System Made in Liberia
An indigenous syllabary created in the 1830s and still written by hand in Vai towns, learned outside any school system.
Liberia · Grand Cape Mount and Bomi counties · Vai, English
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People · PortraitFatou Ceesay, Family Historian
Eighty-four years old, and the keeper of a lineage never written down.
The Gambia · Juffureh, North Bank · Mandinka
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Traditions · VideoThe Naming Day
Seven days after birth, a family gives a child its name and its history.
The Gambia · Banjul · Wolof
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History · VideoThe Stone Circles
A burial landscape more than a thousand years old.
The Gambia · Wassu, Central River · Mandinka
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History · AudioNames on the Coast
What the settlements were called before, and who remembers.
The Gambia · Tanji, West Coast · Mandinka
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Music · AudioSongs Sung Only at Night
Recorded with the community's permission, shared with their conditions.
The Gambia · Upper River Region · Mandinka
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Experiences · ExperienceSailing the River at Sunset
A pirogue journey hosted by a fishing community.
The Gambia · Central River Region · Mandinka
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Experiences · ExperienceFestival Season
A calendar of gatherings, with the families who host them.
The Gambia · Continental · Various
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Experiences · ExperienceThe Ninki Nanka Trail
Journey up the River Gambia with the communities who live beside it — boats, birds, village stays and the legend the river is named after.
The Gambia · River Gambia, The Gambia · Mandinka, Wolof, English
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Short facts, objects and traditions from the archive. Tap a card to read the full entry and its source.
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