Mythologies of the Mossi Tribe

 

The Mossi are a Gur ethnic group native to modern Burkina Faso, primarily the Volta River basin. The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, constituting 52% of the population, or about 11.1 million people. The other 48% of Burkina Faso's population is composed of more than 60 ethnic groups, mainly the Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo, Bissa and Fulani. The Mossi speak the Mòoré language. The Mossi people originated in Burkina Faso, although significant numbers of Mossi live in neighboring countries, including Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo. In 2022, the estimated population of Burkina Faso was 20M+, over 11M of which are Mossi. Another 2 million Mossi live in Côte d'Ivoire. According to oral tradition, the Mossi come from the marriage of a Dagomba princess, Yennenga, and Mandé hunter. Yennenga was a warrior princess, daughter of a Dagbon king, Naa Gbewaa, of present-day northern Ghana. Gbewaa's tomb is located in Pusiga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The story has it that while exploring her kingdom on horseback, she lost her way and was rescued by Rialé, a solitary Mandé hunter. They got married and gave birth to a son, Ouedraogo, who is recognised as the father of Mossi people.

Mossi, people of Burkina Faso and other parts of West Africa, especially Mali and Togo. They numbered some six million at the start of the 21st century. Their language, Moore, belongs to the Gur branch and is akin to that spoken by the Mamprusi and Dagomba of northern Ghana, from whom the Mossi ruling class trace their origin. The Mossi are sedentary farmers, growing millet and sorghum as staples. Some artisans, such as smiths and leatherworkers, belong to low-status castes. Mossi society, which is organized on the basis of a feudal kingdom, is divided into royalty, nobles, commoners and, formerly, slaves. Each village is governed by a chief who, in turn, is subordinate to a divisional chief. At the top of the hierarchy is the paramount ruler, the morho naba (“big lord”), whose seat is located at Ouagadougou. Divisional chiefs serve as advisers to the morho naba and theoretically choose his successor. Usually, however, the paramount chief’s eldest son is chosen.

The Mossi Kingdoms, sometimes referred to as the Mossi Empire, were a group of powerful kingdoms in modern-day Burkina Faso which dominated the region of the upper Volta river for hundreds of years. The largest Mossi kingdoms was that of Ouagadougou and the king of Ouagadougou known as the Mogho Naaba, or King of All the World, serves as the Emperor of all the Mossi. The first kingdom was founded when Dagomba warriors from the region that is present-day Ghana and Mandé warriors moved into the area and intermarried with local people. Centralization of the political and military powers of the kingdoms begin in the 13th century and led to conflicts between the Mossi kingdoms and many of the other powerful states in the region. In 1896, the French took over the kingdoms and created the French Upper Volta which largely used the Mossi administrative structure for many decades in governing the colony. Some Mossi Kingdoms still exist today as constituent monarchies within Burkina Faso. Most notably, Naba Baongo II currently reigns as Mogho Naba of Wogodogo (Ouagadougou). The kingdoms of Boussouma, Fada N'gourma, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga currently co-exist in a similar fashion, each with their own monarchs. While they no longer hold sovereignty, they still retain some cultural and political influence.

The Mossi people are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso. Demographically, they make up 40 percent of the population, while diverse ethnic groups, such as the Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo, and Fulani constitute the other 60 percent of the country’s population. The Mossi live mostly in villages around the Volta River Basin, and are the product of a mampusi princess and Mande hunter. Their offspring, named Ouedraogo, is referred to as the father of the Mossi people. This narrative of their culture has been strengthened and carried through oral traditions of storytelling and song. The Mossi are recognized as a group capable of preserving their identity and social structure, despite external influences. Perhaps it is their group dynamic of upholding the state and family as the top of the hierarchy that has enabled the narrative of the group to grow stronger. Unfortunately, much like other ethnic groups that thrive in pre-colonial Africa, group dynamic and interpersonal relationships suffered heavily after independence.

The Mossi are a Gur ethnic group native to modern Burkina Faso, primarily the Volta River basin. The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, constituting more than 40% of the population, or about 6.2 million people. The other 60% of Burkina Faso's population is composed of more than 60 ethnic groups, mainly the Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo and Fulani. The Mossi speak the Mòoré language. The Mossi are the most prominent ethnic group in the modern nation of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta). They are also well known in the anthropological literature as a society with an especially high rate of labor migration to neighboring countries. They are noted historically for their resistance to the regionally dominant Islamic states and missionaries, although their culture shows numerous Islamic influences. The traditionally Mossi areas expanded at the moment of French conquest (1896-1897) from the central core, or so-called Mossi plateau, of Burkina Faso. There are also significant numbers of Mossi in Ivory Coast (where they are the second-largest ethnic group) and in Ghana. The core area, however, is approximately 11°30′ to 14°00′ N and 0°00′ to 3°00′ E. Names and boundaries of local government units have changed repeatedly in the modern era; Mossi country can be defined generally as the area of Burkina containing the cities of Ouahigouya, Kongoussi, Kaya, Koudougou, Ouagadougou, Manga, Tenkodogo, Koupela, and Boulsa. The Mossi states were well placed for trade; they were "inland" from the great bend of the Niger River, where the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay rose and fell. At the same time, they were north of Asante and the other Akan states that come to prominence as trade shifted from transSaharan toward European outposts on the coast.

The Mossi make up the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso. Because of extensive migration to more prosperous neighboring countries, Mossi also are the second-largest ethnic group in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The Mossi occupied the interior lands within the “boucle de Niger” (“great loop of the Niger River”) and thus controlled trade between the empires along the great Niger River and the forest kingdoms to their south. The three Mossi kingdoms were known for their resistance to Islam in a region where all other kingdoms and empires were Muslim, at least in their ruling elites, after about the 10th century. Mossi culture nonetheless shows Muslim influences. The Mossi's story of their origins involves the conquest of native farming peoples by immigrant cavalry soldiers from the northeast, toward what is now northern Nigeria. From the beginning, the Mossi people moved, and their idea of society included people moving in, out, and around. Mossi migration increased notably after the French conquest of the Mossi in 1896–97; the Mossi were one of the last peoples in Africa to be brought under colonial rule. Like the other colonial powers, the French wanted their colonies to generate money for their European homeland. In less than 10 years after the first conquest, the French demanded that the Mossi pay taxes in French francs. Traditional Mossi taxes to chiefs and kings had been paid in goods, and cowrie shells had served as money. By making the Mossi pay in French money, the colonial government required them to grow, dig, make, or do something the French were willing to pay for. As little was grown or mined in Mossi country that the French wanted to buy, many Mossi were forced to migrate to the Ivory Coast (then a French colony) and the neighboring British Gold Coast (now Ghana) to earn money there. The demand for labor on the mainly African-owned coffee and cocoa farms in the coastal forest in those countries coincided with the dry season in the savanna of Burkina Faso, so Mossi men could migrate south between growing seasons and bring money back to their families. Mossi men also traveled widely as traders and as soldiers in the French army.

There are three major components to Mossi religion. One is the general African belief in an otiose "High God," who created the universe but has no role in its daily life. There are lesser, but more relevant, supernatural powers that govern the two major elements of life: soil fertility and rainfall. They are worshiped by conducting rituals at specific sites, often trees (or sites where one grew) or rock outcrops. Lastly, and most immediately, are the ancestors in one's patrilineage, who play an active role in regulating the behavior and success of their descendants. In the interests of the lineage, the ancestors link the past, present, and future. Because of the close ties between Mossi religion and political organization, most Mossi—apart from the Yarsé long-distance traders—did not become Muslims. The French conquest in 1896-1897 undermined the traditional religion by implying that it was no longer effective in the face of superior outside forces. The French sent Catholic missionaries, and, very reluctantly, admitted U.S. Protestant missionaries in 1921, but cultural differences and the demands of Christianity have limited its impact. The first African cardinal in the Catholic church is a Mossi, however. Islam has a long-standing presence in the region, and, because its proselytizers are Africans, Mossi have been converting to Islam at an increasing rate. The lack of ethnic statistics at the national level makes numbers imprecise, and the more traditionally Muslim areas (west of the Mossi) would affect the totals, but the current estimate that Burkina is 50 percent Muslim suggests a clear trend toward conversion.

Mossi states, complex of independent West African kingdoms (fl. c. 1500–1895) around the headwaters of the Volta River (within the modern republics of Burkina Faso [Upper Volta] and Ghana) including in the south Mamprusi, Dagomba, and Nanumba, and in the north Tenkodogo, Wagadugu (Ouagadougou), Yatenga, and Fada-n-Gurma (Fada Ngourma). Though Mossi traditions held that ancestors came from the east—perhaps in the 13th century—the origins of the kingdoms are obscure. The Mossi, unlike their forest neighbours, relied on long-ranging light cavalry with which they harassed the empire of Mali to the north and that of Songhai, with which they vied for control of the Middle Niger. From about 1400 they acted as trading intermediaries between the forest states and the cities of the Niger. Confined by Songhai after 1600 to a more southerly region, they nevertheless remained independent until the French invasions of the late 19th century. 

The Mossi [Mole, Moose, Mosi] are the largest tribe living in Burkina Faso. They number 2.2 to 3.5 million and are the only tribe of Inland West Africa to have a centralized governing body, in addition to clans and professional corporations led by elders known as zaksoba. The Mossi King, the Mogho Naba, is seen as the face and voices of the people of Burkina Faso. While traditional kings and queens have vanished in Gambian social and political life, Burkina Faso’s Mossi King Mogho Naba played a crucial role in ending the 2015 standoff between the regular army and the State Guards. The King who played a neutral broker made sure the regular army and the will of the people prevailed. Mogho Naba is the title of the reigning monarch of the Mossi ethnic group and reigns over a traditional kingdom that dates back to the 12th Century. The title means the “king of the world” in the language of the Mossi community. The influence of the king in modern political matters is based on the fact that the centre of power in Burkina Faso, the capital Ouagadougou, lies at the heart of his kingdom – the Mossi Plateau. Out of respect for tradition, it is customary for powerbrokers seeking to establish a foothold in Ouagadougou to seek his symbolic approval.

The Mossi are a Gur ethnic group native to present-day Burkina Faso, primarily the Volta River basin. The Mossi people are the largest tribe or ethnic group in Burkina Faso, constituting over 40% of the population or about 6 million people. The other sixty percent of Burkina Faso’s population comprises more than 58 ethnic groups, mainly the Gurunsi, Lobi, Senufo, Bobo, and the Fulani. The Mossi people speak the Moore language. The Mossi people originated in Burkina Faso, although significant numbers of the Mossi people reside in neighboring states, including Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, and Togo. In the late 20^th century (1996), the estimated population of Burkina Faso was more than 10000000. 5 to 6 million are probably the Mossi. Over 1 million Mossi live in Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire). According to oral traditions, they came from a Mande hunter’s marriage and a Mamprusi princess. Yennenga was a warrior princess and a daughter of a Mamprusi King or ruler in upper East Ghana. While exploring her Empire on horseback, Yennenga lost her way, and Riale rescued her. Riale was a solitary Mande hunter. They got engaged or married and gave birth to the 1^st authentic Mossi (Ouedraogo), whom people acknowledge as the Mossi group’s father. The Mossi people originated from the Mamprusi people and similarly resided in upper East Ghana with Nalerigu or Bawku’s capital. These legendary origins apply to the Nakomse or the ruling class. The Tengabisi and other Mossi people don’t share these origin myths.

The Mossi people constitute the largest single people group in Burkina Faso, occupying a large area in the center of the country. The historic Mossi Kingdom ruled the land until French colonial powers arrived in the nineteenth century. The Mossi people are most numerous in West African countries, especially Burkina Faso. They also live in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. A smaller number have migrated to Western Europe or North America. Wrestling, going to the market, and visiting neighbors are other common recreations for the Mossi people in West Africa. They celebrate many traditional festivals that include dancing, drinking and singing. Funerals, marriages and circumcisions are important ceremonies, as are mask festivals, a harvest "Feast of the Chief," and an enthronement ceremony to crown a new Chief or King. A King still rules and influences the Mossi people today, although he has lost all legitimate political power.

 The Mossis speak Moore and are very proud of their mother tongue. Publications in the vernacular include the entire Bible, song books, pamphlets on health care and culture, and university linguistic reports. There are many primary schools, and some can read in French or Moore, but there is a great need for an extensive literacy effort.

The Mossi are the largest tribe living in central Burkina Faso, West Africa. Burkina Faso is the new name of Upper Volta/Haute Volta as of 1983. They live mainly on the central plateau of Burkina Faso. The Mossi cultivate millet and cotton, and rear cattle in the northern Savannah regions. Some artisans, such as smiths and leatherworkers, belong to low-status castes. The society, organized on the basis of a feudal kingdom, is divided into royalty, nobles, commoners and, formerly, slaves. Each village is governed by a chief who, in turn, is subordinate to a divisional chief. At the top of the hierarchy is the paramount ruler, the morho naba (“big lord”), whose seat is located at Ouagadougou. Divisional chiefs serve as advisers to the morho naba and theoretically choose his successor. Usually, however, the paramount chief’s eldest son is chosen. The art of the Mossi tends toward a simplification that is not found among their neighbors, among them being the Dogon people. Mossi and Dogon art, however, shows many similiarties, such as the creation and use of plank masks—face masks with a high vertical superstructure. They are also known for their wooden dolls, crest, and brass figures. Examples of such art are held in numerous public collections.

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