Yalunka people


The Yalunka, also called Jalonka, Jalonke, Jalunka, Jalunke, Yalanka, Yalonka, Yalonke, Yalunke, Dialanké, Dialinké, Djallounka, Djallounké, Dyalonka, Dyalonké, Djallonka, Djallonké, or Dialonké, are a Mande people who were one of the original inhabitants of the Futa Jallon, a mountainous region in Guinea, West Africa. According to Henry Louis they have lived there since about the eleventh century. The name Jalonke literally means "inhabitants of the Jallon ".
The Yalunka are a branch of the Mandé peoples and are closely related to the Susu people. Some scholars classify the two as one group, The Yalunka are notable for having first converted to Islam, but then renouncing Islam 'en masse' when Muslim Fula people began dominating their region. In the eighteenth century, many of the Yalunka's were displaced from the Futa Jallon. The Yalunka fought against the Fula jihads, left Futa Jallon, migrating either south to the foothills of the mountains in Mamou or east to live amongst the Mandinka of Upper Guinea, others migrated and established new towns such as Falaba near the region where Rokel River starts, while the remaining of the Yalunka went further into the mountains to settle among the Kuranko, Limba and Kissi people. Ultimately, The Yalunka were subdued and absorbed by the Fulani Empire.
They speak the Yalunka language, which belongs to the Mande branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Yalunka is mutually intelligible with Susu language.

Ethnonym

According to Montrat, The name 'Jalonké' is the French transcription of the said Mandinka word Jalunka, rendered in English as Jalunka or Yalunka. The suffix "ké" is the French transcription of what the Jalunka pronounce as "ka." Its meaning is "the people of" giving Jalunka the meaning "the people of Jalun." A Susu researcher, Mahawa Bangoura, is more specific as she writes, "In actuality, the term 'Djallonke,' referring to a people of Mandé origin, literally means 'inhabitants of the mountains.' Djallon, correctly meaning 'mountain' in the old Yalunka language and which name only Futa carries in contemporary, extended from the northeast of Siguiri to the mountainous massif of Futa. Jallon is a name that portrays a situation of pride, unlike authors such as André Arcin have maintained, derived from the surname Diallo of the Fulani. In fact, before the arrival of the Fulani, the Yalunka people Initially called themselves Mountain people – Djallonké."

History

The ancient history of the Yalunka people is unknown. The earliest evidence suggests that sometime around the eleventh century, the Yalunka people arrived in the hilly plateau region of the Futa Jallon in Guinea. The Futa Jallon was formerly called Jallonkadu by the Yalunka people. At first, the Yalunka accepted Islam. After the seventeenth century, Islamic theocracies supported by the Fula people began a period of Fula dominance and their version of Islam in the region traditionally occupied by the Yalunka. The Yalunka people, along with the Susu people, then renounced Islam. The Fula people and their leaders, such as Ibrahima Musa and Ibrahima Sori, launched a series of jihads targeted against the Yalunka in the eighteenth century. The Yalunka were defeated, subdued, and returned to Islam in 1778.

Religion and Society

The Yalunka are predominantly Muslim. At the same time, they have retained many pre-Islamic beliefs and practices, combining the two in a syncretic way. One of their traditional practice is Barinkiina, which involves making sacrifices in memory of their ancestors to gain power. They also make sacrifices for Suxurena and Nyinanna, or nature spirits, to gain powers. However, they are devoted Muslims and their fear of persecution have prevented them from converting to other religions.
The New Testament was translated into the Yalunka language by Pioneer Bible Translators's current president, Greg Pruett in 2013.
The Yalunka people commonly practice polygyny. Arranged marriages are their traditional practice, and they follow the Islamic law that a man may have up to four living wives. The first wife has seniority and authority over wives he marries later. The husband, according to Bankole Taylor, "has complete control over his wives and is responsible for feeding and clothing them".
The Yalunka society is patriarchal, consisting of households headed by a man, his wife or wives, and their unmarried children. Extended households form a compound, which may consist of two or more married men from the same father and their families, each living in a separate hut.
The Yalunka are primarily subsistence farmers, with rice and millet being their staple crops. Peanuts, sweet potatoes, maize, and beans are also grown. Chickens, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats are kept. Goats and cattle provide milk as a food source, which is used directly and processed for cheese and other products. This livestock, such as goats and cattle, is significant as a marker of wealth and because they serve as bride-price payments. The boy's family gives animals to the girl's family before the marriage takes place. These animals used as a means of economic exchange.
Among the Yalunka, herding is done by the children. The women milk the cattle, churn the butter, and help the men in some of the agricultural work.
The Yalunka live in larger settlements established since the eighteenth century. The Yalunka region is mixed savannah and forest. The country is hilly, and most of it is 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level. Most Yalunka settlements are located in the valleys between the hills. Since the 1950s, many Yalunka have migrated to cities to find work.
The Yalunka primarily live in contemporary Guinea, particularly in Faranah and northeastern Sierra Leone. Smaller communities are found in southeastern Senegal, southwestern Mali.

Notable Yalunka