ONCE UPON A TIME
African Storytellers - Keepers of the Flame
Ken Brisken
Wisps of Magic
It wasn’t a particularly cold night but the old storyteller made a fire anyway. The flickering light on the surrounding trees brought a wisp of magic to his tale about the fearless lion king, Sundiata, who had started life as a cripple, but who later saved his kingdom, Mali, from the clutches of an evil sorcerer. At a critical point in the story—Sundiata’s griot sneaked into the sorcerer’s inner sanctum to steal the evil sorcerer’s power object, a magical stringed instrument called a balafon. The storyteller suddenly leaped up making his hands into claws, and all the listeners, especially the enraptured children, screamed in fear and delight.
Even though the singing of the story took hours, no one fell asleep. The story built up to the final denouement when Sundiata found out that the only way the sorcerer could be killed was by using his own magic against him. Since the source of the sorcerer’s evil magic was from the rooster, Sundiata fashioned an arrow containing a white rooster crest and in the final battle killed the evil sorcerer.
History as Entertainment
This particular story telling was quite recent—but there was a time, long ago, before books or newspapers, when you could  hear past events recounted accurately only from a storyteller or griot whose job it was to reenact and dramatize history using tone of voice, gestures, and song to make events come alive on the inner movie screen in the minds of entranced listeners.
In much of Africa, storytellers still play important roles as keepers of the collective memory. These highly respected men and women storytellers carried prestigious titles, varying with place, sometimes called djeli, but now are mostly known as griots—a title of unknown origin. Much more than just memorizers of dates and historical events, griots usually train under their mothers or fathers for many years to become proficient in the verbal art of poetry and reciting. If they are naturally talented they become master griots and exquisite singers and musicians.
Singing Library
As griots sing their praise, fascinated listeners sit mesmerized by epic historical tales or stories and poems about human foibles sometimes illustrated with caricatures of animals such as greedy spiders, tricky reptiles, or brave squirrels. A recital by a griot, accompanied by a harp-like instrument called a kora, and drumming or handclapping, can go on for hours or even days. Their encyclopedic knowledge is so great that people say: “When a griot dies, it’s as if a library has burned to the ground.”
Master of Many Roles
Griots, entertainers by nature, also fill roles as a historian, genealogist, advisor, translator, spokesperson, mediator, musician, composer, teacher, exhorter, warrior, witness, and praise-singer. Powerful and wise kings kept griots by their side for support and advice during important deliberations.
A griot not only memorizes a clan’s significant events, but he or she also has the difficult job of providing an interpretation of past events and values based on their own cultural perspective. They tailor the past to fit into the present. This could help the king make a decision based on historical precedent balanced with present needs.
Fountain of Wisdom
Because wisdom is cumulative, each successive generation of griots has the opportunity to build upon the wisdom of past griots. Wisdom does not come easily and sometimes the best path to knowledge is to have an overview of history, of relationships, of failed decisions and successful ones. The stories, mythologies, moral tales, and historical interpretations of the past, add to griot’s ability to give impeccable advice. Sometimes the advice is blunt and sometimes subtly given as in this short bridal song:
Stop crying, bride,
Stop crying, and listen to me.
If your mother-in-law abuses you,
Just cry, but don’t say anything.
If your sisters or brother-in-law abuses you,
Just cry, but don’t say anything.
If your husband abuses you,
Just cry, but don’t say anything.
But leaving your house is not a crime.
People, Places, Events
A griot, as genealogist, needs to memorize critical facts and events about several dozen different clan heritages—in addition to memorializing individuals who were important figures in each clan’s collective memory.
People sometimes wonder if these storytellers could possibly keep accurate accounts of the past. A griot generally will not waste his breath on people who didn’t do anything—so characters and events can frequently be corroborated as having actually existed as opposed to being imaginary. Even though a griot, at times, interprets events subjectively, their interpretations are based on a demanding discipline bordering on science. A griot’s abilities enables them to create sense from a complicated web of events.
Change History with a Song
Besides documenting past events and memorizing a clans’ genealogy, a griot—as historian, needs to track a clans’ relations with other clans. When considering a prospective groom, the brides’ family can consult a griot to find out if the groom’s family and clan would be a good match. Most important is the groom’s character, but a prestigious lineage can also add value to his resume. Bravery could be measured by facing off fierce lions or by killing valiant enemies. But a person might also be memorialized for courageously enduring a long journey seeking employment in a foreign land and coming back victorious and able to share his new wealth. By successfully praising a prospective groom griots can influence tribal and clan relations.
Weaving the News
Many griots traveled constantly, and being privy to distant events, brought current news to local clans. Griots could tell them about rainfall and crops, deaths and births, and about how relations were going between other clans. But because current news of today soon passes into yesterday—the present soon becomes history. And history, to the griots is a continually evolving tapestry—past, present and future are inextricably woven together and interactive—weaving current news into the past tapestry is a continuous process and means that a griot’s important job is never done.
Whispering in the King’s Ear
Griots maintain an overview of history which conspicuously highlights the shakers and movers—mostly kings of powerful clans. A griot’s identity becomes linked to the star of a noble family, sometimes going back hundreds of years to the founder of an empire such as the father of Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali empire, and the Kouyate griots who served the Keita.
Having the king’s ear in nearly all matters meant that people seeking redress would come to the griot first. Wielding influence perhaps only second to kings, there are, perhaps, opportunities for payoffs and secret agreements, but the griot needs a sense of equanimity in making sure all parties are satisfied. His or her reputation is on the line. Because griots mastered the art of persuasiveness, they become effective mediators in handling truces and agreements.
Greedy Griots?
From births and coming of age, to weddings and funerals and advice for kings, griots’ specialized abilities became indispensable to community welfare—their importance, and profits—grew to the point where some influential people called them a blight on the community. This, in spite of the fact that griots carry  the burden of safeguarding some of the oldest and most important cultural treasures which link diverse families and clans. Griots became an artistic glue uniting people and cultures by elucidation of their common roots.
Still Weaving Their Spell
Griots are still around. Some of them are world renowned musicians in the vanguard of a new synthesis of old music, old ways—and new music, new ways. Contemporary Malian living legends are: Kandia Kouyatá, who some call Mali’s greatest living female singer, and the most famous Malian kora player, Toumani Diabaté. There are dozens more, incredibly talented, musician-scholars from all parts of Africa. Perhaps their role as the only keepers of cultural heritage is not quite the same as it once was, but instead they are still time jumping and weaving their spells between past, present and future. This time the entire world is the beneficiary, as these singers with an ancient heritage find new ears to mesmerize with their carefully woven musical journeys.
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