Cosaan Seereer : Part 2 of 2 : Exclusive interview with Professor Maara Jon (December 2015) by The Seereer Resource Centre and Seereer Radio

In December 2015, the Seereer Resource Centre in collaboration with our radio station (Seereer Radio) sent its research team to several parts of Seereer country to interview some notable and knowledgeable Seereer elders, historians / scholars on matters relating to Seereer religion, history and culture, so that we can document and preserve this before it is too late. This team was headed by Tamsier Joof and Demba Sene.

This is the second part of the interview they conducted with Professor Maara Jon (Aliou Dione) in Dakar, Senegal. This audio is in two parts.

Date of first broadcast on Seereer Radio : Saturday, 16th January 2016

Presenters : Tamsier Joof and Demba Sene

Interviewee : Professor Maara Jon

Other panel members : Momodou Secka and Njaga Gaye

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

Subjects covered : Seereer calendar, Seereer astronomy, Raampa script, Seereer ethnic group, Seex people, Saafi people, Ndut people, Noon people, Waro people, Laalaa people, Saafi-Saafi language, Palor language, Noon language, Ndut language, Laalaa language (Lehar), Seereer-Siin, Seereer origins, Seereer ancient history, Ancient Egypt, Jejamoon Juuf and Osara Seen.

Radio program : Cosaan Seereer

Radio station : Seereer Radio

Owner : The Seereer Resource Centre (SRC)

Collection : The SRC Collection

Date of recording : 19th December 2015

Location : Médina, Dakar, 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). The research team was headed by Tamsier Joof (founder of the SRC and Seereer Radio) and Demba Sene.

Information about Professor Maara Jon (née. Aliou Dione) : Professor Maara Jon (or Professor Mara Joon) is a linguist, historian, researcher and author. He graduated from the University of Cheick Anta Diop (French: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD) and since 1974 has been a prominent researcher and author of Seereer (particularly Saafi) history, culture and religion. Professor Jon also attended the Centre de Linguistique Appliquée de Dakar (CLAD) under the supervision of Professor Souleymane Faye, a professor of linguistics at UCAD and a member of the SRC team. Prior to his academic career, Professor Jon had success in acting. His name Maara derived from a film he was in where he played the role of a marabout. His real Seereer name is Jig Jam Jon.

Professor Jon has had several peer-reviewed papers under his name, and has authored, co-authored or contributed to several papers and books including assisting Professor David Maranz in his research on the Seereer-Saafi Raampa script (1992). Some of his work include :

• "Saafi, ɓoo fiisaat peɗmi ɓoo ɓap" (Saafi, lisons et écrivons notre langue maternelle), Société Internationale de Linguistique, BP 2075, Dakar, Sénégal, 2000 (réédité en 2004) (author: Rokhaya Seck, in collaboration with Aliou Dione, Carol Larsen and Jorunn Dijkstra)

• "Le mythe de l'origine de l'héritage chez les Saafi" ((in Saafi: Cosaan-in Iam Saafi) [in] Notes africaines, Issues 181-190, Institut français d'Afrique noire, Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire, Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire Cheikh Anta Diop, Institut français d'Afrique noire (1984) (see page 25 and from page 43).

• "Le thème de la mort dans la littérature Seereer: Essai", author : Amade Faye, Contributor : Agence de coopération culturelle et technique, Nouvelles éditions africaines du Sénégal (1997), Credit : Aliou Dione - page 212, note 306

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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