Bakari Sumano (1935 – July 21, 2003) was head of

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

an association of

griot A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repos ...

s (wandering poet-musicians) from 1994 until his death.

Biography

Bakari Sumano left school in 1955 to become a mechanic's apprentice, but continued to take night classes in history and typing. In 1957, he received a position at the Social Security Office. He went on a career at the National Institute of Social Providence, where he became the principal inspector and regional director of

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Mopti Mopti ( Bambara: ߡߏߕߌ tr. Moti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the conflue ...

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, and

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

before his 1997 retirement. Along with his administrative career, Sumano also assumed the functions of a griot. In 1994, he became head of the Association of Griots of Mali and dedicated himself to restoring the griots (who he preferred to call ''jeli'') to a prominent role in Malian life. He began courtesy visits to foreign heads of state visiting Mali and won recognition for the Association of Griots in the protocol list of the Republic in many official ceremonies. He also began accompanying the family of Niaré, founders of Bamako, to the mosque for the

Tabaski Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's ...

prayer. Finally, he put in place official ceremonies for the naming of head griots in different cities, such as San and Naréna. Increasingly famous, Sumano acted as a consultant for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and participated in many seminars and colloquia on Malian traditions in African,

Europea Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

n, and US universities. According to Sumano, "The griot has a knowledge of the sociology and anthropology of this country, the whole of oral tradition. He cultivates it by his performances every day, on all occasions. He tries to maintain living values, he has the function of an educator."

References

*This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article from the French Wikipedia, retrieved on July 12, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumano, Bakari 1935 births 2003 deaths Malian poets Malian male writers Male poets 20th-century poets 20th-century male writers 21st-century Malian people