Cosaan Seereer : Xoy Special (2016) - Part 1 : Saturday, 18th June 2016

On Saturday, 4th June 2016 and Sunday, 5th June 2016, the Seereer Resource Centre (SRC) and Seereer Radio's Cosaan Seereer team (Tamsier Joof and Demba Sene) attended the annual Xoy ceremony at Centre MALANGO in Fatick, Senegal. The Xoy is an annual divination ceremony where the Seereer high priests gather once a year before the rainy season to divine the future - mainly about weather conditions, politics and social issues. It is an important festival in the Seereer religious calendar. This is part 1 of the coverage of the Xoy - first broadcast on the Cosaan Seereer show on Saturday, 18th June 2016. Internet connection in Gambia was poor hence why Cosaan Seereer show was cancelled on 11th June 2016 whilst Tamsier was in the Gambia. Following his return back to London, the show was broadcast on 18th June. The audio coverage of the Xoy is rather lengthy. Part 2 is scheduled for Saturday, 25th June 2016. As stated in this audio, the first part is a panel discussion held at Hotel Mindiss in Fatick attended by Dr. Erick Gbodossou (President of Prometra International (Senegal)), Amat Diop (President of CEMETRA), other members of the medical profession and the Senegalese media. The discussion was mainly about the effectiveness of traditional African medicine in curing illnesses. Some Seereer high priests (Saltigi)  also provide traditional Seereer medicine.  After the panel discussion, Tamsier, Demba and the panelists headed to MALANGO on that same night for the Xoy ceremony where the Seereer priestly class gather to deliver their sermons and divine the future in Seereer. Ablie Bop of Walfadjri Radio translated in Wolof. The Xoy was a two day affair which lasted from 4th to 5th June 2016. If using a computer, the picture to the right is the Seereer star Yoonir (known as Seeseen in Saafi). On the second day of the festival, it was circled by the priestly class and delegations from various parts of Senegal where ritual offerings were made. Visit the Seereer Resource Centre's YouTube channel for a video of this. 

Date of first broadcast on Seereer Radio : Saturday, 18th June 2016

Reporters: Tamsier Joof and Demba Sene

Presenters : Tamsier Joof, Demba Sene and Mamadou Fall 

Main speakers: Panel discussion: Dr. Erick Gbodossou and Amat Diop; Saltigi at MALANGO: Saltigi Ebrima Ndong; Saltigi Coumba Ndoffène Diouf; Saltigi Musa Tine; Saltigi Ousman Diouf; Saltigi Chombey Ndiaye (Ndiaye Ndiaye Fatick) and Saltigi Juma Thiaré. Wolof translator: Ablie Bop.

Source language(s) : Seereer, Saafi-Saafi, French, English and Wolof

Subjects covered : Seereer religious festival, Traditional Seereer medicine.

Radio program : Cosaan Seereer

Radio station : Seereer Radio

Owner : The Seereer Resource Centre (SRC)

Collection : The SRC Collection

Date of recording : Saturday, 4th June 2016 - Sunday, 5th June 2016

Location of interviewee : Fatick, Senegal

Medium : Audio recording

Additional information : This audio was recorded for the SRC Collection, with permission to broadcast granted to Seereer Radio  | The Voice of the Seereer Community (our 24 hour stream radio station). 

Note: You can have your say about this audio by leaving a comment below. Keep it clean and relevant. 

Download transcript « Télécharger la transcription » :

Visit the Seereer Resource Centre download page to download a transcript of this audio in English, French, Seereer a Sinig, Saafi-Saafi, Ndut, Sili-Sili, Noon and Laalaa.

Websites :

The Seereer Resource Centre (SRC) - www.seereer.org 

Seereer Radio - www.seereerradio.com