Culled from the Arts and Culture column of The Daily Observer of March 28, 2002, this article by Baba Ceesay of The National Council for Arts and Culture makes interesting reading. I hope you enjoy it. My apologies, in advance, for any typographical and/or grammatical errors in the article, as I had to retype it myself.
To Mr. Lamin Sanyang, I say thank you for your knd words in your today's quote of the day. A happy Easter and best wishes.
Have a good day, Gassa.
The battle of Sankandi – A dance-drama production
The 1900 land debacle between the villages of Sankandi and Battelling has gained currency in European historiography on The Gambia as the “Battle of Sankandi”, with allusions in some quarters that it was a purely African crisis in which the good-willed British negotiators fell victim. However, an objective re-examination of the genesis of the crisis reveals that it was more than a simple battle over land between two African villages.
Ordinarily the dispute that led to the crisis could have been easily settled by the traditional ‘Council of Elders’ without generating the furore and devastation that resulted from it. In fact, at the dawn of the crisis attempts were made at the traditional level to resolve the conflict, but all failed because of what appears to be European meddling in what was a purely internal affair.
The NCAC Dance-Drama Production on the Sankandi crisis of 1900 is an attempt to re-interpret the crisis from an African perspective. Firstly, the killing of two commissioners (Sitwell and Sylva) who led the mediating party demonstrates the high level of resentment that persistent European interference had generated in the society. Secondly, it is noteworthy that the period coincided with increasing European involvement in Africa following the Partition of the continent at the Berlin Conference of 1887, which ushered in the formal establishment of colonial rule. The British colonial administration policy of “indirect rule” among other things led to the creation of leaders and chieftaincy titles which had no claim to traditional authority, and as sure were not wholly acceptable to the subjects.
It is certain that the driving force behind European mercantilism in Africa from the pre-slavery to post-slavery times has always been the exploitation of the continent’s resources. Thus in this period, taxes were imposed on a society more familiar with batter trade and subsistence agriculture than with the accumulation of cash. To earn money to pay taxes one was compelled to farm groundnuts for the new export economy. Hence the increased demand for farmland was what triggered the crisis.
This production is therefore aimed at provoking reflection on the Sankandi crisis. Oral history abounds with evidence highlighting the hidden agendas and simmering disputes raging at the time. This range from the undue mobilization of intervention forces from Bathurst, to the veiled desire to shift the chieftaincy from Battelling to a more central and accessible location. Added to these are the foreboding predictions of a marabout to the Chief of Battelling when he was leaving his village to join the mediating party, as well as the premonition of doom decreed on the party from Bathurst by Sheikh Mahfooz Hydara when they passed through Faraba and ordered his host the Chief of Faraba to expel him from the territory.
The relevance of the production to the present times is therefore not farfetched.
Several lessons can be learnt from the Sankandi experience, not least, the need to look inward for solutions to our problems. There is no gainsaying that Africans require African solutions.
The NCAC is therefore calling on all Gambians and Africans in general these tumultuous times to pause, look back and learn from our history and culture, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Traditional African societies had inherent conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms that deserve more study and appreciation to take their rightful place in addressing present day concerns.
In The Gambia, these mechanisms are manifested in the covenant relations between ethnic groups and between cousins; in respect of the elderly and wise guidance of the ‘Council of Elders’, and in traditional institutions such as initiation/circumcision that prevail among most ethnic groups.
The contention is that all these factors should serve as binding forces, allowing us to build on our commonalities rather than harp on our minor differences. It is only in this way that we can work together and forge a better future for all and sundry.
The idea of a theatrical production based on the Battle of Sankandi emanated from a training workshop for the National Council for Arts and Culture (CEPAD) staff organized with support from the World Bank. Research was conducted, a scenario developed and a script prepared within a short period of time.
The cast consists of performers (actors, dancers, musicians and technicians) drawn from the National Council for Arts and Culture personnel and from various Gambian cultural and artistic groups.
Rehearsals have been going on satisfactorily under the directorship of Mrs. Janet Badjan-Young, a renowned Gambian dramatist.
The Battle of Sankandi has been scheduled as a major event in the Roots Festival Programme (to be presented on Monday June 3rd at 8.00 pm).
Dance choreography is a major component of the production and Nii F Yartey, a leading African choreography and Artistic director of the National Dance Company of Ghana, is to assist in the choreography of the Battle of Sankandi.
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PS: Anyone who wishes to get in touch with the writer of the article who is a Director at the NCAC about any aspect of the cultural or artistic dimension of the Roots Homecoming Festival, slated for June 1st to the 9th, may contact me by private mail and I will provide you with his email address.
A happy Easter to all and may we live to celebrate many more. Cheerio.
There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve. -Mike- Levitt-