Every year, as the rains are looming, the town of San gathers for their Sangue Mo festival, which loosely translated means ripe waters. It is a week-long, fishing festival held from Sunday to Sunday in the middle of June. The whole town, and residents from closely neighboring towns as well as the few who come over from Burkina Faso, gather to celebrate the harvesting of the Niger river. All week, the town is ripe with the sounds of motorcycles, blazing up and down the roads, louder than usual having taken off their tailpipes. The young men on the bikes have even taken all of their extra parts off so that they can go faster, popping wheelies and all sorts of other maneuvers. I can honestly say that I have never been so close to getting run over in my whole life.
On the Thursday of the festival week, everyone of the town gathers together at the edges of the Niger, waiting for the fishing to begin. Many people are dressed in the festival clothing, a blue and purple fabric with the images of the festival printed on it, as well as images of the sacred tree and well of San. First, we wait on the bank of the river, as the crowds begin to multiply, their nets and flags in the air. The dugutigi (village chief) comes forward with his net, into the water. It isn’t deep, but he trudges further in, until the water is to his knees. He makes a loud cry, swings his net up into the air and then back down to the water, a massive cheer rising up from the surrounding crowd. The nets that they are using are made from a wood frame, a circle with four pieces of wood rising up from the edges to meet in a sort of triangle. From this structure hangs a net made of rope. To catch the fish, the frame is pushed into the water and deep into the mud, then hands are used to find the fish in the net and trap it between the net and the ground.
As soon as the dugutigi had caught his first fish, the crowd erupted into a giant cheer, thee official fired his gun, and the rest of the crowd rushed the waters. The rest of the town spent the remainder of the afternoon in the water, the men and children catching fish, the women celebrating each catch and anointing themselves in the water. Many of the people continued the festivities late into the afternoon and evening. Everyone passing on the street wanted to know if we had caught fish, and were excited to hear that we at least went in the water.
On the Thursday of the festival week, everyone of the town gathers together at the edges of the Niger, waiting for the fishing to begin. Many people are dressed in the festival clothing, a blue and purple fabric with the images of the festival printed on it, as well as images of the sacred tree and well of San. First, we wait on the bank of the river, as the crowds begin to multiply, their nets and flags in the air. The dugutigi (village chief) comes forward with his net, into the water. It isn’t deep, but he trudges further in, until the water is to his knees. He makes a loud cry, swings his net up into the air and then back down to the water, a massive cheer rising up from the surrounding crowd. The nets that they are using are made from a wood frame, a circle with four pieces of wood rising up from the edges to meet in a sort of triangle. From this structure hangs a net made of rope. To catch the fish, the frame is pushed into the water and deep into the mud, then hands are used to find the fish in the net and trap it between the net and the ground.
As soon as the dugutigi had caught his first fish, the crowd erupted into a giant cheer, thee official fired his gun, and the rest of the crowd rushed the waters. The rest of the town spent the remainder of the afternoon in the water, the men and children catching fish, the women celebrating each catch and anointing themselves in the water. Many of the people continued the festivities late into the afternoon and evening. Everyone passing on the street wanted to know if we had caught fish, and were excited to hear that we at least went in the water.
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