Kopé Tiatie Cac (also Koh and Koope; in

Ndut language Ndut (''Ndoute'') is a Cangin language of Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senega ...

, meaning ''god grandfather'' or ''god the grandfather'') is the Supreme Creator in the

Serer religion The Serer religion, or ''a ƭat Roog'' ("the way of the Divine"), is the original religious beliefs, practices, and teachings of the Serer people of Senegal in West Africa. The Serer religion believes in a universal supreme deity called Roog ...

. Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité sérères : l’exemple de la région de Thiès", Éthiopiques, no. 54, vol. 7, 2e semestre 199

/ref> Éthiopiques, "Issues 55-56", Fondation

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...

, (1991), p 124 Kopé Tiatie Cac is the name used by the

Ndut people The Serer-Ndut or Ndut also spelt (''Ndoute'' or ''N'doute'') are an ethnic group in Senegal numbering 38600. They are part of the Serer people who collectively make up the third largest ethnic group in Senegal. The Serer-Ndut live mostly in cen ...

to refer to the

Supreme being In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

. Among the Ndut and followers of Serer religion, Kopé Tiatie Cac is associated with

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

and

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

(''pisti''). Echenberg, Myron J., "Black death, white medicine: bubonic plague and the politics of public health in colonial Senegal, 1914-1945", Heinemann (2002), pp 139, 160-161,

Ndut cosmogony

The Ndut people who adhere to the tenets of Serer religion refer to the supreme god as Kopé Tiatie Cac in Cangin-Ndut. The name Kopé Tiatie Cac probably derived from the god

Koox Roog or Rog (Koox in the Cangin languages) is the Supreme God and creator of the Serer religion of the Senegambia region. Thiaw, Issa Laye, "La Religiosite de Seereer, Avant et pendant leur Islamisation". Ethiopiques no: 54, Revue semestrielle ...

(var : Kooh). Ndut cosmogony posits that, the first humans did not die. The human species were not meant to die following the initial creation. The dog was the first to die at that primordial time. Having witnessed the death of the animal, the Ndut people gave the animal a

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

burial at the foot of a

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Trop ...

tree, and mourned its death. The women crying and wailing in sadness for the departed dog, attracted the attention of Kopé Tiatie Cac (or ''Koh'') God of death. The god angered by the mourning women unleashed death to human kind in the following terms:

Worship

The deity is worshiped through Serer ancestral spirits and saints. Various matrilineages (both on the paternal and maternal line) play a key role in its invocation. The name ''koh'' a variant of the god's' name, is the feminine form. The masculine form is ''ala''. Dupire, Marguerite, "Sagesse sereer: Essais sur la pensée sereer ndut", p 6

/ref>

References

Bibliography

* Dupire, Marguerite, "Sagesse sereer: Essais sur la pensée sereer ndut", KARTHALA Editions, (1994), pp 61–86,

*Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité sérères : l’exemple de la région de

Thiès Thiès (; ar, ثيس, Ṯyass; Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population officially estimated at 320,000 in 2005. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and St- ...

", Éthiopiques, no. 54, vol. 7, 2e semestre 199

*Éthiopiques, "Issues 55-56", Fondation

, (1991), p 124 *Echenberg, Myron J., "Black death, white medicine: bubonic plague and the politics of public health in colonial Senegal, 1914-1945", Heinemann (2002), pp 139, 160-161, *Dupire, Marguerite, "Totems sereer et contrôle rituel de l'environnement", p 39

Ndut cosmogony

Worship

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading