A junjung (or variously jung-jung, gungun, dyoung-dyoung etc.) [1] is the royal war drum of the Serer people in Senegal and the Gambia. [2] It was played on the way to the battlefield, on special state occasions as well as on Serer religious ceremonies.
It is also the progenitor of the music of the same name found in the Caribbean. [3]
The Kingdom of Saloum was a Serer/Wolof kingdom in present-day Senegal. Its kings may have been of Mandinka/Kaabu origin. The capital of Saloum was the city of Kahone. It was a sister kingdom of Sine. Their history, geography and culture were intricately linked and it was common to refer to them as the Sine-Saloum.
The Serer-Ndut or Ndut also spelt are an ethnic group in Senegal numbering 38600. They are part of the Serer people who collectively make up the third largest ethnic group in Senegal. The Serer-Ndut live mostly in central Senegal in the district of Mont-Roland, northwest of the city of ancient Thiès.
The Senegambia is, in the narrow sense, a historical name for a geographical region in West Africa, which lies between the Senegal River in the north and the Gambia River in the south. However, there are also text sources which state that Senegambia is understood in a broader sense and equated with the term the Western region. This refers to the coastal areas between Senegal and Sierra Leone, where the inland border in the east was not further defined.
The music of the Gambia is closely linked musically with that of its neighbor, Senegal, which surrounds its inland frontiers completely. Among its prominent musicians is Foday Musa Suso. Mbalax is a widely known popular dance music of the Gambia and neighbouring Senegal. It fuses popular Western music and dance, with sabar, the traditional drumming and dance music of the Wolof and Serer people.
The sabar is a traditional drum from Senegal that is also played in the Gambia. It is associated with Wolof and Serer people.
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group. They are the third-largest ethnic group in Senegal, making up 15% of the Senegalese population. They are also found in northern Gambia and southern Mauritania.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Senegal:
Laba Badara Sosseh; Labba Sosseh or Laba Sosseh was a Senegalese son and salsa singer and composer. According to Abdoulaye Saine of Miami University, Sosseh is regarded as "the greatest salsa singer of his generation and perhaps of all time in Senegambia Major."
The Serer-Laalaa or Laalaa are part of the Serer ethnic group of Senegambia. They live in Laa, the Léhar Region, which comprises eighteen villages north of Thies and whose inhabitants are Serer-Laalaa. Although the people are ethnically Serer, their language Laalaa is not a dialect of the Serer-Sine language, but—like Saafi, Noon, Ndut and Palor, one of the Cangin languages.
The Serer-Noon also called Noon are an ethnic people who occupy western Senegal. They are part of the Serer people though they do not speak the Serer-Sine language natively.
The prehistoric and ancient history of the Serer people of modern-day Senegambia has been extensively studied and documented over the years. Much of it comes from archaeological discoveries and Serer tradition rooted in the Serer religion.
The medieval history of the Serer people of Senegambia is partly characterised by resisting Islamization from perhaps the 11th century during the Almoravid movement, to the 19th century Marabout movement of Senegambia and continuation of the old Serer paternal dynasties.
Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof was the last king to rule the Serer Kingdom of Sine, now part of independent Senegal. Maad a Sinig means king of Sine in the Serer language. He reigned from 1924 until his death in 1969. After his death, the Kingdom of Sine was incorporated into independent Senegal.
Joof or Diouf is a surname that is typically Serer. This surname is also spelt Juuf or Juf.
Tukar a large village in Senegal. Attached to the rural community of Ngayokhem, it is located in the area of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Sine, west of Senegal. The population is overrun by the Serers. As of 2006 to 2007, the population was estimated at 3000. Ndokh, which was a colony of Tukar, is now a separate village.
This is a timeline of the history and development of Serer religion and the Serer people of Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania. This timeline merely gives an overview of their history, consisting of calibrated archaeological discoveries in Serer countries, Serer religion, politics, royalty, etc. Dates are given according to the Common Era. For a background to these events, see Roog, Serer religion, Serer creation myth, Serer prehistory, Lamane, States headed by Serer Lamanes, Serer history and Serer people.
The Njuup tradition is a Serer style of music rooted in the Ndut initiation rite, which is a rite of passage that young Serers must go through once in their lifetime as commanded in the Serer religion.
Musa Ngum was a singer and songwriter who was very popular in Senegal and Gambia. He was one of the pioneers of mbalax music, and "helped to define the mbalax style of popular music in the Senegambia" and "had a strong influence on Youssou N'Dour and other mbalax pioneers". He was "something of a cult icon back in the Senegambia region, and a pioneer of the mbalax fusion style". The mbalax, which originated from the Serer religious and ultra–conservative njuup music tradition sang during Ndut rites by circumcised boys was the foundation of Ngum's music career. He mastered many of the njuup classics and built a name for himself while at the same time developing his voice.
Babacar Sedikh Diouf or Babacar Sédikh Diouf is a Senegalese historian, author, researcher, campaigner against "Wolofization", a Pan-Africanist, and former teacher. He has written extensively about the history and culture of Senegal, Africa, and that of the Serer ethnic group to which he belongs. He usually writes by the pen name Babacar Sedikh Diouf.
Wolofization or Wolofisation is a cultural and language shift whereby populations or states adopt Wolof language or culture, such as in the Senegambia region. In Senegal, Wolof is a lingua franca The Wolofization phenomenon has taken over all facets of Senegal and encroaching on Gambian soil. This phenomenon has caused other Senegambian ethnic groups great concern and resulted in taking steps to preserve their languages and culture. In this regard, the Serer ethnic group who have had a long history fighting against Islamization and Wolofization have been taking active steps in the past decades by setting up associations and other organisations in order to preserve their languages, culture and "ancient religious past." Haalpulaar speakers, namely the Fula and Toucouleur have also been taking steps to preserve their language.
