The Yalunka, or Dialonké, are a Mandé-speaking people who were one of the original inhabitants of the

Futa Jallon Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call th ...

(french: Fouta Djallon, links=no), a mountainous region in

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

. The Yalunka people live primarily in

, particularly in

Faranah Faranah ( N’ko: ߝߙߊߣߊ߫߫) is a town and sub-prefecture in central Guinea, lying by the River Niger. As of 2014 it had a population of 78,108 people. The town is mainly inhabited by the Malinke people. History Sékou Touré was born i ...

, while smaller communities are found in

Kouroussa Kouroussa or Kurussa (N’ko: ߞߙߎ߬ߛߊ߫) is a town located in northeastern Guinea, and is the capital of Kouroussa Prefecture. As of 2014 it had a population of 39,611 people. A trade center and river port from at least the time of the Mali ...

. Additional Yalunka are also located in northeastern

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, southeastern

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

, and southwestern

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. Ma ...

. The Yalunka are a branch of the

Mandé peoples The Mandé peoples are ethnic groups who are speakers of Mande languages. Various Mandé speaking ethnic groups are found particularly toward the west of West Africa. The Mandé Speaking languages are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé ...

and are closely related to the

Susu people The Susu people are a Mande-speaking ethnic group living primarily in Guinea and Northwestern Sierra Leone, particularly in Kambia District.Fula people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region ...

began dominating their region. In the eighteenth century, many of the Yalunka's were displaced from the Futa Jallon. The Yalunka fought against the

Fula jihads The Fula (or Fulani) jihads ( ar, جهاد الفولا) sometimes called the Fulani revolution were a series of jihads that occurred across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, led largely by the Muslim Fula people. The jihads and ...

, left Futa Jallon, migrating south to the foothills of the mountains in

Mamou Mamou (Pular: 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤥𞤵𞤲) is a city and sub-prefecture in a valley of the Fouta Djallon area of Guinea. Population 376,269 (2018 est),and the city is almost 98% Fulani tribe. Mandinka people The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic g ...

of Upper Guinea, others migrated and established new towns such as

Falaba {{Infobox settlement , official_name = Falaba , other_name = , native_name = , nickname = , settlement_type = , motto = , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

near the region where

Rokel River The Rokel River (also Seli River; previously Pamoronkoh River) is the largest river in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The river basin measures in size, with the drainage divided by the Gbengbe and Kabala hills and the Sula Mountain ...

starts, while the remaining of the Yalunka went further into the mountains to settle among the Kuranko, Limba and

Kissi people The Kissi people, are a West African ethnolinguistic group. They are the fourth largest ethnic group in Guinea, making up 6.2% of the population. Kissi people are also found in Liberia and Sierra Leone. They speak the Kissi language, which bel ...

. Ultimately, The Yalunka were subdued and absorbed by the

Fulani Empire The Sokoto Caliphate (), also known as the Fulani Empire or the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the F ...

. They speak the

Yalunka language Yalunka (also spelled Yalunke, Jalonke, Kjalonke, Dyalonké, Djallonké, or Dialonké) is the language of the Yalunka people of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, and Senegal in West Africa. It is in the Mande language family. Yalunka is closely related ...

, which belongs to the Mande branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Yalunka is mutually intelligible with Susu language.

Ethnonymy

The Yalunka people are referred to as Jalonga, Jalonka, Jalonke, Jalunka, Jalunke, Jellonke, Yalanka, Yalonga, Yalounka, Yalunga, Yalonka, Yalonke, Yalunke, Dialanké, Dialinké, Dialonka, Dialonque, Djallonké, Djallonka, Dyalonké, Dyalonka, or Dialonké. The meaning of the term Dialonké," literally means 'inhabitants of the mountains.' Jallon meaning 'mountain' in the Yalunka language and which name only Futa carries in contemporary extends from the northeast of

Siguiri Siguiri ( N’ko: ߛߌ߯ߙߌ߲߫ ; Arabic: سِجِرِ ِ) is a city in northeastern Guinea on the River Niger. It is a sub-prefecture and capital of Siguiri Prefecture in the Kankan Region. Its population was estimated at 28,319 in 2008. It is ...

to the mountainous massif of Futa. Jallon is a name that portrays a situation of pride, unlike authors such as André Arcin have claimed, derived from the surname Diallo of the Fulani.

History

The Yalunka people originated in the mountainous

Koulikoro Koulikoro (Bambara language, Bambara: ߞߎߟߌߞߏߙߏ tr. Kulikoro) is a town and Communes of mali, urban commune in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, downstream from Mali's capital Bam ...

along the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mal ...

valley. According to Susu oral tradition, they Identify the Yalunka with the medieval Sosso Empire of

Soumaoro Kanté Soumaoro Kanté (also known as Sumaworo Kanté or Sumanguru Kanté) was a 13th-century king of the Sosso people. Seizing Koumbi Saleh, the capital of the recently defunct Ghana Empire, Soumaoro Kanté proceeded to conquer several neighboring stat ...

. The earliest evidence suggests that sometime around the eleventh century, the Yalunka people arrived in the hilly plateau region of the Futa Jallon in Guinea, since the disintegration of the Sosso Empire. The Yalunka people were agricultural animists and among the first settlers in Jallonkadu, the former name in what eventually became Futa Jallon. At first, the Yalunka accepted Islam. After the seventeenth century, Islamic theocracies supported by the

Fula people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region ...

began a period of Fula dominance and their version of Islam in the region traditionally occupied by the Yalunka. The Yalunka people, along with the

Susu people The Susu people are a Mande-speaking ethnic group living primarily in Guinea and Northwestern Sierra Leone, particularly in Kambia District. The Fula people and their leaders, such as

Karamokho Alfa Karamokho Alfa (born Ibrahima Musa Sambeghu and sometimes called Alfa Ibrahim; died c. 1751) was a Fula religious leader who led a jihad that created the Imamate of Futa Jallon in what is now Guinea. This was one of the first of the Fulbe jiha ...

and Ibrahima Sori, launched a series of jihads targeted against the Yalunka in the eighteenth century. The Yalunka were defeated, subdued, and returned to Islam in 1778. The jihads contributed immensely to the Solima Yalunka state's creation in Guinea and Sierra Leone's northeastern boundary in the nineteenth century. In the time of the Yalunka's desolation, Almamy Samori Touré collaborated with the Fulani, French, and Toucouleur allies, to exploit and oppress the Yalunka people, In the process Samori Touré sold many Yalunka captives to the Fulani and Europeans. The Yalunka people were considered strongly "pagan" and violently anti-Muslim.

Society and culture

The Yalunka are predominantly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. At the same time, they have retained many pre-Islamic beliefs and practices, combining the two in a syncretic way. One of their traditional practice is ''Barinkiina'', which involves making sacrifices in memory of their ancestors to gain power. They also make sacrifices for ''Suxurena'' and ''Nyinanna'', or nature spirits, to gain powers. However, they are devoted Muslims and their fear of persecution have prevented them from converting to other religions. The New Testament was translated into the

Pioneer Bible Translators Pioneer Bible Translators is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) mission organization focused on Bible translation in languages that do not already have a Bible. History Pioneer Bible Translators has its roots in the Restoration Movement. The organizatio ...

's current president, Greg Pruett in 2013. The Yalunka people commonly practice

polygyny Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

. Arranged marriages are their traditional practice, and they follow the

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

that a man may have up to four living wives. The first wife has seniority and authority over the wives he marries later. The husband, according to Bankole Taylor, "has complete control over his wives and is responsible for feeding and clothing them". The Yalunka society is

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...

, consisting of households headed by a man, his wife or wives, and their unmarried children. Extended households form a compound, which may consist of two or more married men from the same father and their families, each living in a separate hut. The Yalunka people also utilize practices of the Bondo secret society which aims at gradually but firmly establishing attitudes related to adulthood in girls, discussions on fertility, morality and proper sexual comportment. The society also maintains an interest in the well-being of its members throughout their lives. The Yalunka are primarily subsistence farmers, with rice and millet being their staple crops. Peanuts, sweet potatoes, maize, and beans are also grown. Chickens, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats are kept. Goats and cattle provide milk as a food source, which is used directly and processed for cheese and other products. This livestock, such as goats and cattle, is significant as a marker of wealth and because they serve as bride-price payments. The boy's family gives animals to the girl's family before the marriage takes place—these animals are used as a means of economic exchange. Among the Yalunka, herding is done by the children. The women milk the cattle and help the men in some of the agricultural work. The Yalunka live in larger settlements established since the eighteenth century. The Yalunka region is mixed savannah and forest. The country is hilly, and most of it is 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level. Most Yalunka settlements are located in the valleys between the hills. Since the 1950s, many Yalunka have migrated to cities to find work.

Yalunka patronyms

Some Yalunka surnames are: *Niakhasso (var : Nyakhasso) *Dansokho *Yattara *Diawara or Jawara *Camara *Sankhon *Yansané or Yansaneh *Kounda *Singoura *Keira (var : Keran) or Keyra *Samoura *Danfaga (var : Danfakha) *Kalabané *Bangoura (var : Banghoura)

Notable Yalunka people

*Manga Kindi Camara, the founder of Kindia *Mangala Camara, Malian musician *Katy Gouly, Guinean musician * Tibou Kamara, Guinean politician * Oumar Kalabane, Guinean footballer *Alpha Ibrahima Keira, Guinean politician * Fodéba Isto Keira, Guinean minister * Karim Keira, Guinean politician *Manga Labé, the founder of Labé *Balla Samoura, Guinean military officer *Solimanga Samura *

Sorious Samura Sorious Samura (born 27 October 1963) is a Sierra Leonean journalist. He is best known for two CNN documentary films: '' Cry Freetown'' (2000) and ''Exodus from Africa'' (2001). The self-funded ''Cry Freetown'' depicts the most brutal period of th ...

, Sierra Leonean journalist *Manga Sewa, was a great Yalunka chief in Northern Sierra Leone *Soumba Toumany, was a Yalunka elephant hunter and founded the Kingdom of Dubréka *Mata Vieux, Guinean musician

References

External links

*https://www.academia.edu/7580380/Barriers_and_Bridges_for_the_Gospel_among_Yalunka_Folk_Muslims_in_West_Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Yalunka People Indigenous peoples of West Africa Ethnic groups in Guinea Ethnic groups in Senegal Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone Ethnic groups in Mali Mandé people Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation by country