Diola

The Diola (also called Jola) are an African people found in the area of Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. It is believed that the Diola migrated to the Casamance region of Senegal during the 11th and 12th centuries in an effort to escape the increasing Islamic jihads. Man de-speaking (Dioula) and Fula-speaking people followed the Diola to the region. Diola are not to be confused with the Dioula or Doula people; these are separate and distinct people.

Unlike some of their neighbors, the Diola do not have a hierarchal system of governance. There are no djeles, nobles, or kings. The Diola do not have a class system that divides people by leather workers, farmers, iron workers, and so forth. Indeed they have created a community based on the large family settlement form of organization. Many of these families give their own names to their communities, such as Jola Jamat, Jola Brin, Jola Kabrouse, Jola Foni, and Jola Karon. Like the Baga, Balanta, Konyagia, and Serere, the Diola have remained tied to the village as their largest political organization.

Most authorities agree that the Diola have a long history of fishing, farming, domestication of animals, palm wine harvesting, and the processing of palm wine; they have a comprehensive and intensive engagement with the rich natural environment in which they live. They are most well known for rice production. This is the key to much of the structure of their thought, celebrations, holidays, and responses to the environment.

The Diola were the last of the Senegambia people to succumb to Islam. Their ancestors had handed down to them the idea of one God, supreme and omniscient, who was called Emit. The deity Emit was associated with the natural phenomena of [Page 203]Earth, rain, storms, sky, and night. When Emit referred to the Sky God, he was often called Ata Emit. This was the creator God, not an ordinary, daily deity. Among the Diola, ancestral spirits, nature spirits, and various sacred lands and forests filled with energetic spirits were at the core of the religious experience.

It is believed that the Diola accepted the power of the spirits to prevent them from being influenced by Islam or Christianity, as well as to provide protection for their rice farms and families. These spirits (Bakin) are found in all places in the community. One does not have to go far to discover the Bakin. Actually, the Diola understand the Ata Emit as being the creator, but the ancestral and nature spirits are responsible for daily life. Even the Kajando, an instrument used in rice farming, is ritualized as a sacred tool in farming.

Because the ancestors are central to the continuation of society for the Diola, the funeral ceremony is most important. In fact, the Diola believe that the dead person's soul cannot go to its final destination properly unless the funeral is carried out in a respectful manner. For the soul to enter the presence of the ancestors and the Ata Emit, the family seeks to ensure that the good life of the deceased is represented to the ancestors. If a person does not live a good life, one that is based on character, then that person is punished and will become an exiled spirit, lost forever, and separated from the ancestral world.

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