African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

problem for its people for centuries. Because agricultural conditions are poor, 25
percent of the nation’s people now live in cities. Unfortunately, there are more people
than jobs and unemployment in the country has become increasingly problematic.
Despite such poor economic conditions, Somali industries include sugar refining, tuna
and beef canning, textiles, iron-rod plants, and petroleum refining. The country’s natural
resources are uranium, timber, and fish, while agriculture revolves around livestock,
bananas, sugarcane, cotton, and cereals.
Despite Somalia’s tumultuous economic and political history, the nation is renowned
for its poets. Scholars believe that the strength of the nation’s poetry is a reflection of the
strong oral traditions of Somali nomads, and poetry has played a vital role in the nation’s
social and political arenas.
JENNIFER JOYCE
See Spirit Possession
African Americans 835
SONGHAY
SONGS FOR CEREMONIES
The song is a widespread mode of expression in African societies. Although songs are
usually accompanied by music and dance when they are performed, numerous distinct
types of songs can be distinguished. Some songs are performed purely for pleasure, and
singers are in no way restricted by time or place. Examples of these types are cradle
melodies, children’s nursery rhymes set to music, and love songs, which are often
interpreted in many societies by young girls during the drought season. There are songs
associated with specific activities, such as hunting, farming, blacksmithing, warfare, and
so on. In addition, there are ceremonial songs produced solely, at least in principle, for a
particular celebration, of which the song is but one element of the whole ritual. It is this
last type of song that is the subject of this discussion.
Under the rubric of “ceremony,” it is helpful to distinguish the various types with
which certain songs are associated. First, there are ceremonies dependent on seasonal
events marked by the local calendar, such as ceremonies to mark the new year, the new
moon, the arrival of the rainy season, and the anniversary of a special celestial event.
There are also ceremonies linked to the different religious calendars, such as the end of
Ramadan or the feast of the lamb in Muslim societies. Songs are also associated with
masquerades and the rites associated with honoring ancestors.
Songs are also heard during ceremonies designed to celebrate the momentous stages or
moments of human life, or the rites of passage marked by each society. These include