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WOLOF 857
practical help and emotional support in time of trouble, whereas the father's side
of the family is held responsible for training and discipline.
Wolof social organization is highly stratified. People are divided into freeborn
(ranging from high-ranking noble lineages to ordinary peasant farmers who
lack real power), those of slave descent (whose status depended on the families
to which they were attached; the slaves of a ruler, for example, often being rich
and powerful, and the executive arm of the ruler) and a low-caste group of
artisans, with three major subdivisions: smiths (blacksmiths and goldsmiths),
leatherworkers, and musicians and praise singers, the latter having many subdivisions
depending on the instrument played or the role performed. Artisans of
other ethnic groups, woodworkers of Laube (Fula-speaking) origin, or weavers
of Fula origin, are incorporated into the Wolof ranking system. The major lowcaste
groups are endogamous units and formerly could also own slaves. Intermarriage
across ranks is still rare, even in heterogeneous urban populations,
though intermarriage across ethnic boundaries at an equal level has always been
common. The families of renowned Muslim scholars are accorded high rank and
prestige. Terms derived from Western thought such as class, rank, caste and
status group can be applied only to part of the total system, which is maintained
largely through the roles that members of each group play in the major rites of
passage: naming ceremonies, circumcision of boys, marriages and funerals. The
situation is complicated by some regional variations and changes through time.
Certain occupations, such as weaving and woodworking, have virtually disappeared
among the Wolof, having been taken over by people of different ethnic
origins.
The history of the Wolof states is a story of conquests, revolutions, invasions,
usurpations and struggles against colonial powers and Islamic warriors. The
memories are kept alive in the songs of the griots, but many items in the narrations
are adjusted to accommodate the audience sponsoring the performance.
The typical rural Wolof village is small, consisting of several hundred people
living in fenced-off compounds grouped around a central square shaded by
baobab and silk cotton trees. In the center is a platform on which the men can
rest, and public meetings are held near that point. Dancing and wrestling matches
take place in the square. On the eastern side is to be found a mosque, and behind
it the cemetery. Women meet at wells on the outskirts of the village.
The traditional Wolof house is circular with walls of reed or millet stalks,
thatched with long grass or palm leaves. In recent years rectangular or square
forms are commonly made, with mud walls and corrugated sheeting as roofing
material. Just behind the entrance is a short fence, which prevents strangers from
seeing directly into the compound. The house of the compound head is opposite
the entrance; to the sides are separate houses for the women and their children
and, near the entrance, houses for unmarried men and strangers. At the back
are storerooms and sheds for goats and sheep. Within the compound lives an
extended family—a man, his wives and children, his brothers and their families,
and his unmarried sisters. About a quarter of the Wolof men have more than