The Seereer Resource Centre (SRC) in collaboration with Seereer Radio are pleased to bring you our new podcast website where you can catch up on our radio shows and interviews relating to the Seereer people of Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania.
For those of you who have been following the Seereer Resource Centre (SRC) for many years, you already know that the SRC is one of the leading organisations with an online presence that has been documenting and preserving Seereer religion (a ƭat Roog), Seereer history, culture and genealogy. You also know that it has been an old objective of ours to establish an online radio station that broadcast for the Seereer community. This objective of ours finally came to fruition when we officially launched Seereer Radio on Tuesday, 5th January 2016. Thanks to everyone who supported the Seereer Resource Centre over the years and we hope you will extend your support to Seereer Radio - the only online radio station as of 2016 that broadcast for the Seereer community. For those of you who only recently found out about us and the work we do, welcome and thank you for joining us. We hope you will find great content here that is both educational and entertaining.
The Mbot mask. Symbol of the Ndut rite of passage.
On this podcast site, you will be able to catch up on all of our exclusive interviews and radio shows relating to Seereer religion (a ƭat Roog), Seereer history and culture. You can listen to Seereer Radio live by visiting their website. Also check out their Frequently Asked Questions for the various ways you can listen. For historical documents and artifacts relating to the Seereer people, please visit the Seereer Resource Centre at www.seereer.org.
Who are the Seereer people
Ndut initiates
The Seereer people are an ethnic group found throughout Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania (in West Africa). The name Seereer with its spelling variations such as Sereer, Serer or Sérère are the same and refer to the same ethnic group. In the Seereer-Siin language, the proper spelling is Seereer (or Sereer). In English speaking Gambia, it is spelled Serer, and in French speaking Senegal and Mauritania, it is spelled Sérère.
As a group, the Seereer
people include: the Seex (or Seeh, following its pronunciation), Saafi, Ndut,
Palor (or Waro), Noon, Laalaa, Gyegem and Niominka. With the exception of the
Seex, Gyegem and Niominka who speaks Seereer, all the others speak one of the
Cangin languages : Saafi-Saafi, Ndut, Sili-Sili, Noon and Laalaa.
Traditionally, the Seereer
people are farmers, fishermen, boat builders, cattle herders and members of the
land owning class, a privilege they enjoyed since their lamanic ancestors. The
lamans were the ancient Seereer kings and land owning class of the Senegambia
region. In the modern era, Seereer people can be found in all major professions
such as law, politics, academia, science and business. The first and second
presidents of Senegal (Léopold Sédar Senghor and Abdou Diouf) were both members
of this ethnic group, so is the late Gambian historian and author Alhaji Alieu
Ebrima Cham Joof, and two of Senegal's prominent musicians Youssou N'Dour and
Yandé Codou Sène.
The Seereer precolonial kingdoms included the Kingdoms of Siin, Saluum and previously Baol prior to 1549. From the 11th century during the Almoravid movement to the 19th century Muslim marabout movement of the Senegambia, the Seereer people resisted Islamisation and held on to their religious beliefs and way of life. Today, there are many Seereer Muslim and Christian communities throughout the Diaspora. There are also those who adhere to ultra-orthodox A ƭat Roog (Seereer religion).
The Seereer people have a
very rich history and culture that has impacted the Senegambian landscape and
her people. In spite of their rich history and culture, they have also had a
somewhat turbulent history resulting in religious persecution and ethnic
discrimination. Today, the discrimination of the Seereer people is more subtle.
King of Siin :
Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoofeen Fandep
Juuf.
Reigned: 1898 - 23rd December 1923
From the Royal House of Bure Jeelane Juuf.
The second to last King of Siin
pictured here
with his coat riding his horse and
holding the
flag of Siin in his left hand.
Complementary services
Transcripts of our
audio and video files are available for download through the Seereer Resource
Centre (SRC). You can download the transcripts in Seereer-Siin, the Cangin
languages (Saafi-Saafi, Ndut, Noon, Laalaa and Sili-Sili), English and French
from our download page. Please bare
in mind that the SRC works with a limited but dedicated team of Seereer
volunteers and transcription of media files may take time before they are
uploaded onto our website. Not only does it take time to transcribe and
translate these media files into the various Seereer languages (Seereer-Siin
and Cangin), English and French, but each document has to be copy-edited by a
team of professionals familiar with the subject. If you would like to
participate in the SRC project, please e-mail us at info@seereer.com. You are
bound to find something you can do in order to help the SRC in its mission to
document, preserve and promote Seereer culture, history and traditions. Visit
our members page and scroll down to the section : What you can do.
If you wish to contact Seereer Radio, see their contact page. To find out how you can
become a presenter on their radio station, see their careers page.
Brought to you by
- The Seereer Resource Centre (SRC) | Preserving Seereer heritage for future generations
Website : www.seereer.org
- Seereer Radio | The Voice of the Seereer Community
Website : seereerradio.com