Serer people
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group. They are the third-largest ethnic group in Senegal, making up 15% of the Senegalese population. They are also found in northern Gambia and southern Mauritania.
The Serer people originated in the Senegal River valley at the border of Senegal and Mauritania, moved south in the 11th and 12th century, then again in the 15th and 16th centuries as their villages were invaded and they were subjected to religious pressures. They have had a sedentary settled culture and have been known for their farming expertise and transhumant stock-raising.
The Serer people have been historically noted as a matrilineal ethnic group that long resisted the expansion of Islam, fought against jihads in the 19th century, then opposed the French colonial rule. In the 20th century, most of them converted to Islam, but some are Christians or follow their traditional religion. The Serer society, like other ethnic groups in Senegal, has had social stratification featuring endogamous castes and slaves.
The Serer people are also referred to as Sérère, Sereer, Serrere, Serere, Sarer, Kegueme, Seereer and sometimes wrongly "Serre".
Demographics and distribution
The Serer people are primarily found in contemporary Senegal, particularly in the west-central part of the country, running from the southern edge of Dakar to the Gambian border. In The Gambia, they occupy parts of old "Nuimi" and "Baddibu" as well as the Gambian "Kombo". The Serer-Noon occupy the ancient area of Thiès in modern-day Senegal. The Serer-Ndut are found in southern Cayor and north west of ancient Thiès. The Serer-Njeghen occupy old Baol; the Serer-Palor occupies the west central, west southwest of Thiès and the Serer-Laalaa occupy west central, north of Thiès and the Tambacounda area.The Serer people are diverse and though they spread throughout the Senegambia region, they are more numerous in places like old Baol, Sine, Saloum and in The Gambia, which was a colony of the Kingdom of Saloum.
- Senegal: 1.84 million
- The Gambia: 53,567
- Mauritania: 3,500
Ethnonym
The meaning of the word "Serer" is uncertain. Issa Laye Thiaw views it as possibly pre-Islamic and suggests four possible derivations:1. From the Serer Wolof word reer meaning 'misplaced', i.e. doubting the truth of Islam.
2. From the Serer Wolof expression seer reer meaning "to find something hidden or lost."
3. From "the Arabic word seereer meaning sahir magician or one who practices magic ".
4. From a Pulaar word meaning separation, divorce, or break, again referring to rejecting Islam.
Professor Cheikh Anta Diop citing the work of the 19th-century French archeologist and Egyptologist, Paul Pierret, states that the word Serer means "he who traces the temple." Diop went on to write: "That would be consistent with their present religious position: they are one of the rare Senegalese populations who still reject Islam. Their route is marked by the upright stones found at about the same latitude from Ethiopia all the way to the Sine-Salum, their present habitat."
History
Professor Dennis Galvan writes that "The oral historical record, written accounts by early Arab and European explorers, and physical anthropological evidence suggest that the various Serer peoples migrated south from the Fuuta Tooro region beginning around the eleventh century when Islam first came across the Sahara." Over generations these people, possibly Pulaar speaking herders originally, migrated through Wolof areas and entered the Siin and Saluum river valleys. This lengthy period of Wolof-Serer contact has left us unsure of the origins of shared "terminology, institutions, political structures, and practices."Professor Étienne Van de Walle gave a slightly later date, writing that "The formation of the Sereer ethnicity goes back to the thirteenth century, when a group came from the Senegal River valley in the north fleeing Islam, and near Niakhar met another group of Mandinka origin, called the Gelwar, who came from the southeast. The actual Sereer ethnic group is a mixture of the two groups, and this may explain their complex bilinear kinship system".
Their own oral traditions recite legends on they being part of, or related to the Toucouleur people in the Senegal River valley area. Serer people resisted Islamization and later Wolofization from possibly the 11th century during the Almoravid movement, and migrated south where they intermixed with the Diola people. They also violently resisted the 19th century jihads and Marabout movement to convert Senegambia to Islam.
After the Ghana Empire was sacked as certain kingdoms gained their independence, Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar, leader of the Almoravids launched a jihad into the region. According to Serer oral history, a Serer bowman named Amar Godomat shot and killed Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar with an arrow.
. Reign : c. 1825 – 1853.
The last Serer kings
The last kings of Sine and Saloum were Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof and Maad Saloum Fode N'Gouye Joof respectively. They both died in 1969. After their deaths, the Serer Kingdoms of Sine and Saloum were incorporated into independent Senegal which gained its independence from France in 1960. The Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum are two of few pre-colonial African Kingdoms whose royal dynasty survived up to the 20th century.The Serer kingdoms
Serer kingdoms included the Kingdom of Sine and the Kingdom of Saloum. In addition to these twin Serer kingdoms, the Serers also ruled in the Wolof kingdoms such as Jolof, Waalo, Cayor and Baol. The Kingdom of Baol was originally an old Serer Kingdom ruled by the Serer paternal dynasties such as Joof family, the Njie family, etc. and the Wagadou maternal dynasty prior to the Battle of Danki in 1549. The Faal paternal dynasty of Cayor and Baol that ruled after 1549 following the Battle of Danki were originally Black Moors. Prior to the Faal dynasty of Cayor and Baol, these two kingdoms were ruled by the Serer people with the patrilineages "Joof" or Diouf, Faye and Njie, and the maternal lineage of Wagadou – members of the royal families from the Ghana Empire who married into the Serer aristocracy.All the kings that ruled Serer Kingdoms had Serer surnames, with the exception of the Mboge and Faal paternal dynasties whose reigns are very recent and they did not provide many kings.
Religion
In contemporary times, about 85% of the Serers are Muslim, while others are Christian. Some Serers still follow traditional religious beliefs.According to James Olson – professor of History specializing on Ethnic Group studies, the Serer people "violently resisted the expansion of Islam" by the Wolof people in the 19th century, and then became a target of the 1861 jihad led by the Mandinka cleric Ma Ba Jaxoo. The inter-ethnic wars involving the Serer continued till 1887 when the French colonial forces conquered Senegal. Thereafter, the conversion of the Serer people accelerated. By early 1910s, about 40% of the Serer people had adopted Islam, and by 1990s about 85% of them were Muslims. Most of the newly converted Serer people have joined Sufi Muslim Brotherhoods, particularly the Mouride and Tijaniyyah Tariqas.
The Serer's traditional religion is called a ƭat Roog. It believes in a universal Supreme Deity called Roog. The Cangin language speakers refer to the supreme being as Koox. Serer religious beliefs encompasses ancient chants and poems; veneration and offerings to Serer gods, goddesses, the pangool ; astronomy; rites of passage; medicine; cosmology and the history of the Serer people.
Society
Occupation
The Serers practice trade, agriculture, fishing, boat building and animal husbandry. Traditionally the Serer people have been farmers and landowners. Although they practice animal husbandry, they are generally less known for that, as in the past, Serer nobles entrusted their herds to the pastoralist Fulas, even today. However, they are known for their mixed-farming. Trade is also a recent phenomenon among some Serers. For the Serers, the soil is very important to them and they guard it with jealousy. They have a legal framework governing every aspect of life even land law with strict guidelines. Apart from agriculture, some occupations especially trade they viewed as vulgar, common and ignoble. Hence in the colonial era, especially among the Serer nobles, they would hire others to do the trading on their behalf acting as their middlemen.Social stratification
The Serer people have traditionally been a socially stratified society, like many West African ethnic groups with castes.The mainstream view has been that the Mandinka Guelowars of Kaabu conquered and subjugated the Serer people. That view has now been discarded as there is nothing in the Serer oral tradition that speaks of a military conquest, but a union based on marriage. A marriage between the noble Guelowar maternal clan and the noble Serer patriclans. This view is supported by Senegalese historians and writers such as Alioune Sarr, Biram Ngom and Babacar Sédikh Diouf. With the exception of Maysa Wali, this would explain why none of the kings of Sine and Saloum bore Mandinka surnames, but Serer surname throughout the 600 years reign of the Guelwar maternal dynasty. The Serer noble patriclans simply married Guelowar women, and their offsprings bearing Serer surnames reigned in Sine and Saloum. The Guelowars also viewed themselves as Serer and assimilated in Serer culture. The alliance was an alliance based on marriage.
In other regions where Serer people are found, state JD Fage, Richard Gray and Roland Oliver, the Wolof and Toucouleur peoples introduced the caste system among the Serer people.
The social stratification historically evidenced among the Serer people has been, except for one difference, very similar to those found among Wolof, Fulbe, Toucouleur and Mandinka peoples found in Senegambia. They all have had strata of free nobles and peasants, artisan castes, and slaves. The difference is that the Serer people have retained a matrilineal inheritance system. According to historian Martin Klein the caste systems among the Serer emerged as a consequence of the Mandinka people's Sine-Saloum guelowar conquest, and when the Serer people sought to adapt and participate in the new Senegambian state system.
The previously held view that the Serer only follow a matrilineal structure is a matter of conjecture. Although matrilineality is very important in Serer culture, the Serer follow a bilineal system. Both matrilineality and patrilineality are important in Serer custom. Inheritance depends on the nature of the asset being inherited. That is, whether the asset is a maternal or paternal asset.
The hierarchical highest status among the Serer people has been those of hereditary nobles and their relatives, which meant blood links to the Mandinka conquerors. Below the nobles, came tyeddo, or the warriors and chiefs who had helped the Mandinka rulers and paid tribute. The third status, and the largest strata came to be the jambur, or free peasants who lacked the power of the nobles. Below the jambur were the artisan castes, who inherited their occupation. These castes included blacksmiths, weavers, jewelers, leatherworkers, carpenters, griots who kept the oral tradition through songs and music. Of these, all castes had a taboo in marrying a griot, and they could not be buried like others. Below the artisan castes in social status have been the slaves, who were either bought at slave markets, seized as captives, or born to a slave parent.
The view that the jambur caste were among the lower echelons of society is a matter of debate. The jaraff, who was the most important person after the king came from the jambur caste. The Jaraff was the equivalent of a prime minister. He was responsible for organising the coronation ceremony and for crowning the Serer kings. Where a king dies without nominating an heir, the Jaraff would step in and reign as regent until a suitable candidate can be found from the royal line. The noble council that was responsible for advising the king was also made up of jamburs as well as the bur kuvel/guewel who was extremely powerful and influential, and very rich in land and other assets. The buur kevel who also came from the griot caste were so powerful that they could influence a king's decision as to whether he goes to war or not. They told the king what to eat, and teach them how to eat, how to walk, to talk and to behave in society. They always accompany the king to the battlefield and recount the glory or bravery of his ancestors in battle. They retain and pass down the genealogy and family history of the king. The bur Kevel could make or break a king, and destroy the entire royal dynasty if they so wish. The abdication of Fakha Boya Fall from the throne of Saloum was led and driven by his own bur kevel. After being forced to abdicate, he was chased out of Saloum. During the reign of Sanou Mon Faye – king of Sine, one of the key notables who plotted to dethrone the king was the king's own bur kevel. After influencing the king's own estranged nephew Prince Semou Mak Joof to take up arms against his uncle, the Prince who despised his uncle took up arms with the support of the bur kevel and other notables. The Prince was victorious and was crowned Maad a Sinig. That is just a sample of the power of the bur kevel who was also a member of the griot caste.
The slave castes continue to be despised, they do not own land and work as tenant farmers, marriage across caste lines is forbidden and lying about one's caste prior to marriage has been a ground for divorce. The land has been owned by the upper social strata, with the better plots near the villages belonging to the nobles. The social status of the slave has been inherited by birth.
Serer religion and culture forbids slavery. "To enslave another human being is regarded as an enslavement of their soul thereby preventing the very soul of the slave owner or trader from entering Jaaniiw – the sacred place where good souls go after their physical body has departed the world of the living. In accordance with the teachings of Seereer religion, bad souls will not enter Jaaniiw. Their departed souls will not be guided by the ancestors to this sacred abode, but will be rejected thereby making them lost and wandering souls. In order to be reincarnated or sanctified as a Pangool in order to intercede with the Divine , a person's soul must first enter this sacred place." As such, the Serers who were the victims of Islamic jihads and enslavements did not participate much in slavery and when they do, it was merely in revenge. This view is supported by scholars such as François G. Richard who posits that:
The Serer ethnic group is rather diverse, and as Martin A. Klein notes, the institution of slavery did not exist among the Serer-Noon and N'Dieghem.
Culture
The Serer's favourite food is called Chere in the Serer language. They control all the phases of this dish from production to preparation. Other ethnic groups, tend to buy it from Serer women market traders or contract it out to them especially if they are holding major ceremonial events. Chere is very versatile and can be eaten with fermented milk or cream and sugar as a breakfast cereal or prepared just as a standard couscous. The Serer traditional attire is called Serr. It is normally woven by Serer men and believed to bring good luck among those who wear it. Marriages are usually arranged. In the event of the death of an elder, the sacred "Gamba" is beaten followed by the usual funeral regalia to send them off to the next life.Wrestling and sports
called "Laamb" or Njom in Serer originated from the Serer Kingdom of Sine. It was a preparatory exercise for war among the warrior classes. That style of wrestling is totally different from the sport wrestling enjoyed by all Senegambian ethnic groups today, nevertheless, the ancient rituals are still visible in the sport version. Among the Serers, wrestling is classified into different techniques and each technique takes several years to master. Children start young trying to master the basics before moving on to the more advance techniques like the "mbapatte", which is one of the oldest techniques and totally different from modern wrestling. Yékini, who is a professional wrestler in Senegal is one of the top wrestlers proficient in the "mbapatte" technique. Lamba and sabar are used as music accompaniments in wrestling matches as well as in circumcision dances and royal festivals. Serer wrestling crosses ethnic boundaries and is a favourite pastime for Senegalese and Gambians alike.Music
The Sabar tradition associated with the Wolof people originated from the Serer Kingdom of Sine and spread to the Kingdom of Saloum. The Wolof people who migrated to Serer Saloum picked it up from there and spread it to Wolof Kingdoms. Each motif has a purpose and is used for different occasions. Individual motifs represent the history and genealogy of a particular family and are used during weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals etc.The Njuup and Tassu traditions both originated from the Serer people. The Tassu was used when chanting ancient religious verses. The people would sing then interweave it with a Tassu. The late Serer Diva Yandé Codou Sène who was the griot of the late and former president of Senegal was proficient in the "Tassu". She was the best Tassukat of her generation. Originally religious in nature, the griots of Senegambia regardless of ethnic group or religion picked it up from Serer religious practices and still use it in different occasions e.g. marriages, naming ceremonies or when they are just singing the praises of their patrons. Most Senegalese and Gambian artists use it in their songs even the younger generation like "". The Senegalese music legend Youssou N'Dour who is also a Serer, uses "Tassu" in many of his songs.
Serer relations to Moors
In the pre-colonial era, Moors from Mauritania who came to settle in the Serer kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Sine, etc., were ill-treated by their Serer masters. If a Moor dies in a Serer kingdom, his body was dragged out of the country and left for the vultures to feast on if there is no family or friend to claim the body and bury it elsewhere. They were also never accompanied by grave goods. No matter how long a Mauritanian Moor has lived in the area as a migrant, he could never achieve high status within the Serer aristocracy. The best position he could ever wish for within Serer high society was to work as a Bissit. Apart from spying for the Serer Kings, the Bissit's main job was to be a clown – for the sole entertainment of the Serer King, the Serer aristocracy and the common people. He was expected to dance in ceremonies before the king and liven up the king's mood and the king's subjects. This position was always given to the Moors. It was a humiliating job and not a title of honour. According to some, the history of this position goes back to an early Moor in Serer country who had a child by his own daughter.Joking relationship (Maasir or Kalir)
Serers and Toucouleurs are linked by a bond of "cousinage". This is a tradition common to many ethnic groups of West Africa known as Maasir in Serer language or kal, which comes from kalir. This joking relationship enables one group to criticise another, but also obliges the other with mutual aid and respect. The Serers call this Maasir or Kalir. This is because the Serers and the Toucouleurs are related – according to Wiliam J. foltz "Tukulor are a mixture of Fulani and Serer" The Serers also maintain the same bond with the Jola people with whom they have an ancient relationship. In the Serer ethnic group, this same bond exists between the Serer patronym, for example between Joof and Faye.Many Senegambian people also refer to this joking relations as "kal" and "gamo". "Kal" derives from the Serer word "Kalir" a deformation of "kurcala" which means paternal lineage or inheritance and is used exactly in that context by many Senegambians. The word gamo derives from the old Serer word gamohu – an ancient divination ceremony.
Serer languages
Most people who identify themselves as Serer speak the Serer language. This is spoken in Sine-Saloum, Kaolack, Diourbel, Dakar, and in Gambia, and is part of the national curriculum of Senegal. Historically the Serer people's unwillingness to trade directly during the colonial era was a double edged sword to the Serer language as well as the Cangin languages. That resulted in the Wolof language being the dominant language in the market place as well as the factories. However, the Serer language, among other local languages, is now part of the national curriculum of Senegal.About 200,000 Serer speak various Cangin languages, such as Ndut and Saafi, which are not closely related to Serer proper. There are clear lexical similarities among the Cangin languages. However, they are more closely related to other languages than to Serer, and vice versa. For comparison in the table below, 85% is approximately the dividing line between dialects and different languages.
| Cangin languages and Serer proper | % Similarity with Serer-Sine | % Similarity with Noon | % Similarity with Saafi | % Similarity with Ndut | % Similarity with Palor | % Similarity with Lehar | Areas they are predominantly found | Estimated population |
| Lehar language | 22 | 84 | 74 | 68 | 68 | N/A | West central, north of Thies, Pambal area, Mbaraglov, Dougnan; Tambacounda area. Also found in the Gambia | 12,000 |
| Ndut language | 22 | 68 | 68 | N/A | 84 | 68 | West central, northwest of Thiès | 38,600 |
| Noon language | 22 | N/A | 74 | 68 | 68 | 84 | Thiès area. | 32,900 |
| Palor language | 22 | 68 | 74 | 84 | N/A | 68 | West central, west southwest of Thiès | 10,700 |
| Saafi language | 22 | 74 | N/A | 68 | 74 | 74 | Triangle southwest of and near Thiès | 114,000 |
| Serer-Sine language | N/A | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | West central; Sine and Saloum River valleys. Also in the Gambia and small number in Mauritania | 1,154,760 ; 31,900 and 3,500 |
Serer patronyms
| Some common Serer surnames |