The Jola Culture Examining the Jola Akonting music traditions

The Instruments of Jola Folk Music

The instruments that produce the Jola folk music are, the Bugarabu, the Gibonbolong, the Kalonkon, the Kabisa, the Furakaff, the Kaseenn and the Akonting. Jolas have work music, recreational music, funeral music, sport music, and religious music.

Jola music is fundamentally a collective art. That is it is a communal property whose social benefits are shared, experienced, and enjoyed by every member of the community. Traditional Jola musicians do not see themselves separate from the community they live in, nor do they use their music for individual personal gains, instead they see themselves as part and parcel of the community they live in and always use their music to fulfil their social obligations. This is why when in the Gambia as a tourist it is not easy to see a Jola music programme in the hotels because the Jola musician needs to go to the hotels with his fellow villagers who support him in clapping, singing, stamping, singing etc without which he/she will not be able to perform, because the music is communal and not
many hotels can afford this. You need to go to where the Jolas live to see a real Jola folk music programme.

The talented Jola musician does not reserve his musical talents only to his family or relatives, but is willing according to the social values, to share his this unique gifts to any one within his community and beyond who wants to learn the art.

Since Jola social institutions do not have social hierarchy, the Jola musicians, even the most famous in the community do not see himself or herself superior to others. Through out my fifteen years of intensive work with the Jola folk music I did not come across any traditional Jola musician who takes his musical profession as his sole means of live hood. I am still looking to see if I will find one before I die.

The Jolas and the Catholic Church

It is still sad to note that many people do not still know how long the Jola culture existed in the Senegambian region. The Akonting culture was present long before the catholic culture found its way to the Jola culture. If we look into African reliable oral history, we will learn that of all the ethnic groups found in the Senegambian region today, Jolas are among the first ethnic groups found in the region and an ethnic group that has kept its culture intact. The Jolas have developed a culture of acceptance of other cultures but not acceptance to change their own culture.

The Jolas are called BACHUKI by the Manjago ethnic group, another ethnic group that also was among the first settlers. Bachuki in Manjago means First. To the Manjago it means the Jolas were the first settlers they know
in the region.

Also a point to note here is that the sub Jola group that play the Akonting is the Jola Cassa. Of all the sub groups of the Jola people today, it is the Jola Cassas that still maintain 99 percent of all the old Jola traditional ways of doing things, still reject Islam and Christianity, and only a few of them go to church.

Most of the Jola Cassa who go to church to day do so because if they don’t their children would find it hard to secure a place in the Christian schools. African governments have no funds to build schools all over their countries. Most of the schools in remote places of Africa are built by the catholic mission.

There is no place in the Casamance where you will find Jola holy places of worship (Bakin) more than where the Jola Cassa live. In fact the most famous Jola holy shrines are in Samatit (it is called Kalemaku) and in Hasuka and in Mlomp (it is called Husana) and the people who run them are all Jola Cassas. To conclude I would like to say Akonting music and culture is 100 percent Jola Cassa culture and has nothing to do with Catholic Church culture.

Daniel Laemouahuma Jatta

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