Tabaski

So I know you all are dying to hear all about the Tabaski Fete that I mentioned previously that happened like 3 months ago. I’ll give you all a little background information about the celebration. Basically, Tabaski is a Muslim holiday that occurs around the 10th of December ( the exact date varies based on the lunar calendar) in celebration of the story of Abraham and his son. Everyone think back a little to your days in Sunday school. You all remember the story when Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son Isaac? If you don’t, here’s a quick tell. Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar. Because Abraham was obedient and loved God so much he was actually going to go through with it. However, in the midst of the process he was stopped by God and was sent a goat instead to sacrifice as opposed to his son. Therefore, the Tabaski festivity is in remembrance of Abraham’s sacrifice. It’s one of, if not the most important Muslim holiday of the year and is certainly the most celebrated fete in Guinea.

In Guinea the celebration is about 2 weeks. Everyone anxiously spends the first week in preparation buying their new fabric for new complets, getting their hair done, you have to look good, and making plans for the sacrifice. This means that majority of my students miss about a week of school prior to the already scheduled week off in order to get things ready. All this preparation that everyone put in helps you understand why I was so excited to see what was going to happen. I mean if it’s normal for the students to miss an entire unscheduled week of school this must be really important. I was mainly excited about witnessing the sacrifice of the cow or goat and what other things were comprised in the celebration. This was my first time ever hearing or celebrating this holiday. A few days before I made sure to get my hair braided like all the other girls and get my feet and hands hennaed. That was actually my favorite part. I went with my female students and had a little bonding moment and it turned out to be really pretty. The day of Tabaski I put on my best complet and accompanied my host dad to the sacrifice. I was thrilled to be going to watch this. It wasn’t exactly what I thought in terms of ceremonial events. And by that I mean, I expected for the whole village to get together and have an actual sacrificial service of some sort. That wasn’t the case (or maybe I just missed it), however I did see them kill the cow, whose parts were then distributed to families’ throughout the village. Essentially, each family sacrifices a goat and if you have more money, or a joint sacrifice (more than one family) you sacrifice a cow. On the day of Tabaski the whole village eats meat.

The sacrifice was an interesting experience. That morning I woke up bright and early and went out to talk to my host father to remind him not to forget about me when it was time for the sacrifice. He was on his way to the mosque to pray. On the day of Tabaski all the men, women, and children of the village dress up in their best and go to the mosque. Prayer at the mosque lasts about an hour and then is followed by the sacrifice. For whatever reason, when the prayer was over my host dad was in a hurry to get to the sacrifice that afternoon. I jogged after him out the door, with camera in hand, as he briskly walked down the path that leads from behind my hut. He doesn’t know this, but I had this huge goofy smile on my face as I was jogging after him. I was so excited. A cow sacrifice! Anyway. Papisse, Ningke and Mory were trailing behind me as we were all trying to keep up. We finally arrived to the house located in the back. As we approached my host dad ran to the scene. I was now staring at about 8 men surrounding a distressed, screaming cow lying on its side, tied up at its hooves. I now understood why he was in a hurry. He was supposed to assist with the killing and help hold the cow down. The other onlookers were on the outskirts seated closer to the house. He instructed me to a place in which I could stand to take pictures and video. Ningke was standing next to me holding my hand. I turned my camera on, and started rolling the film. The cow was then gorged. Blood was everywhere. Ningke squeezed my hand as we both watched in astonishment. After some time, the cow finally took a long, slow, agonizing last breath and was put out of its misery. It was a long, painful death. But I was relieved once it was all over. Now it was time for the skinning and cutting. After the cow was dead leaves were placed underneath its limp body and 3 men went to work cutting into its flesh to expose the meat underneath. The body was then chopped into pieces and placed in separate piles located in an area next to the house. Once all the parts had been separated there was nothing but the giant rib cage of the animal that remained. After everything had been cut and divided each family took there portion of meat that was going to be dinner for the next few days. (video footage below.)

As for the rest of Tabaski in the village, there was a soccer match and soiree that same evening. I left that Wednesday to go to Kankan and attend the Mamaya. The Mamaya is a synchronized danced that occurs every year during Tabaski. People from the surrounding West African countries come in to watch the performance. It happens outdoors in the evening in the middle of the big round about in the center of town. It is essentially an organized dance of about 150 men and women dancing with canes for the men and handkerchiefs for the women in a line. It reminds me a lot of fraternity/sorority strolling. All of the dancers are wearing the same color complet, so it looks beautiful when everyone is dancing ensemble.

Other than that, there was nothing much else that happened during the week of Tabaski. However, I had a wonderful time seeing how things happen in the village and more importantly spending time with my family and students. It was a wonderful time.