Visiting an African Disneyland-like Museum of our Modern Beliefs

God wanted to give human beings their fullness right from the beginning, but they were incapable of receiving it, because they were still little children.

Against Heresies

St. Irenaeus (125-203 A.D.)

 

Chief Jean Keita, Bedik tribe, Senegal, Africa.

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Bedik tribe, Iwol village

Chief Jean Baptiste Keita:

-->"Our village was founded more than 900 years ago.  It was the first village which have been settled all around here.  The first one here.  And it has been in continuous existence until today.

(While the Bedik had a designated historian who I met on my first Bedik trip, it wasn’t until very recently they had any written language, French. I don’t know how the chief arrived at 900 years and forgot to ask for an explanation. But if Chief Keita was accurate about the age of Iwol village, that’s about the time Angkor Wat was completed and the second crusades got underway. )

"What makes the village so different is the specificity of the place. It is really wonderful here. You can see it is surrounded by big mountains, with big trees, sacred trees. 

"And you see, there are many sacred symbols here. You heard yesterday about the baobab tree, and the sacred Fromager tree here.

Sacred site, Bedik tribe, Iwol village, Senegal, Africa.

"We are Bediks. We are animists. And for that, we preserve our ancestor’s way of life. And Iwol is the only village which has preserved its tradition.  It’s been the same since ages.    It hasn’t changed.

 

"We are the only people that have remained rooted in their traditions. We are the only ones who have preserved in tact our tradition. 

"And we live only in this place.  We are quite restricted.  We are not numerous, we Bediks."

Bedik village of Iwol, Senegal, Africa.

Personal journal thoughts: 

  

Was this the religion of our ancient ancestors? Did storytellers like Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad and Constantine whisper their variations of the Bedik stories I heard into followers’ ears just like players in the telephone game?

My being tingled with the pure joy of mystery. There was more here than I could see and immediately understand.   

I certainly was in a Disneyland-like museum of our modern beliefs.

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Bedik tribe dilemma: tradition or religion

Keep one foot in tradition so the other foot can wander.
Thomas Merton 

Christianity presents a soul-searching conflict for the Bedik tribe hidden in the most remote corner of Senegal. A Christian cross and view of the large church with a newly-thatched roof in the background are the first things visitors encounter in the Bedik tribe village of Andyel.

Bedik tribe village Andyel (sometimes spelled Andjel). Senega, Africa.

The chief of Andyel struggles with the tribe's dilemma: follow ancient traditional animist beliefs or the teachings of the Christian missionary. 

Chief of Andyel weaves a new basket, a typical job for the village men.

On the one hand, the chief stresses the importance of holding on to traditions. In fact, when I asked him what advice he would give world leaders, he replied: "Traditions. Tell them to hold on to traditions." 

But then there is the helpful generosity of the missionary. "He has helped build a school, and provided a machine to peel rice," reports the chief. "And with his own money and car, he takes our sick people to the hospital in Tambacounda and even Dakar."

So the Bedik balance on a tightrope between traditional beliefs and the new Christian teachings. And all of this cultural and spiritual battle in a very Muslim country, Senegal. (More about how Muslims attacked the Bedik to convert them in a future post.)

All photographs and text © 2015 Janis Miglavs

www.jmiglavs.com

janis@jmiglavs.com

Could our kids survive this African Initiation?

I was texting with my oldest grandson—aged 19—while reviewing photographs from my first Senegal trip to study with the remote Bedik tribe. We were texting about using drugs and his plans for the next couple of months. He seemed so clueless about surviving, let alone thriving.

The photographs were of the Bedik in the tiny village of Iwol. I happened to be in the village while the 12 and 13-year old boys were in the first month of initiation. For one month, they run around the village in a very prescribed way from sunrise until sunset. I personally can tell you it was more than 110 degrees F hot.  The boys did get a short mid-day lunch break in the shade of a tree.

For one month of their initiation, these 12 and 13-year old boys run like this from sunrise until sunset through the village.

Then, after the month of running, the initiates would spend another five months in the bush by themselves, living on their own.  Occasionally, elders would visit each boy to give guidance and instructions on how to survive, understand their dreams and thrive.

When I asked Chief Keita why this initiation, he thought for a long time, then replied: "To learn the Secrets of Life."

No small task. This Bedik initiation was definitely not a classroom for the meek. This was not your fraternity drink-booze-until-you-pass-out initiation or the gang style shoot-another person test. Rather the Bedik want to test the boy's inner courage, to face their fears and to experience the mystical.

I could only imagine the thoughts that these Bedik boys experience during those six months of initiation. Then, while replying to my grandson's text, I tried to imagine him going through the Bedik initiation for six months.     What, no iPhone, no video games,.... no electricity?

Part of learning the "Secrets of Life" includes spiritual lessons.