Kopé Tiatie Cac (also Koh and Koope; in

Ndut language Ndut (''Ndoute'') is a Cangin language of Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the nor ...

, meaning ''god grandfather'' or ''god the grandfather'') is the Supreme Creator of the Ndut. Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité sérères : l’exemple de la région de Thiès", Éthiopiques, no. 54, vol. 7, 2e semestre 199

Éthiopiques, "Issues 55-56", Fondation

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...

, (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 wes ...

to refer to the

Supreme being {{broad-concept article A supreme deity, supreme god or supreme being is the conception of the sole deity of monotheistic religions or, in polytheistic or henotheistic religions, the paramount deity or supernatural entity which is above all other ...

. Among the Ndut and followers of

Serer religion The Serer religion or Serer spirituality (''Serer language, Serer:'' A ƭat Roog, meaning "the way of the Divine", "path of God", or "religious life"Kalis, Simone, ''Médecine traditionnelle, religion et divination chez les Seereer Siin du Sén� ...

, Kopé Tiatie Cac is associated with

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and plague (''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 semestriell ...

(var : Kooh). Ndut

cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony is the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in ref ...

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 of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...

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

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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 (; ; Noon language, Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population of 391,253 in 2023. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road (Senegal), N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and Saint-Louis, ...

", 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