Allen Guest Blogs From Africa IV

Allen on common "transit", horse and cart, getting ready to transport the sheep.

Nomadic Peul herd flocks of sheep into the city of Kaolack to sell.

Nomadic Peul herder and salesman of sheep.

Tabaski in Kaolack, Part I: Sheep Shopping

The Muslim holiday of Tabaski occured last week, and I was fortunate enough to take part in my family's celebration. Being born in central Senegal in the city of Kaolack, my family annual returns to their home city to celebrate this important holiday. It is the most important Muslim holiday, and it occurs at a different date every year. The location of the moon defines when Tabaski will occur each year. Thus, next year could be in June, for example. The central part of the Tabaski celebration is the sacrifice, by each family, of a ram. One can also sacrifice a goat, cow, or even camel. Our family is very traditional, and sacrifices sheep.

My Senegalese father's father had two wives, and 16 children, all of whom are grown. You can imagine the annual size of Tabaski in our family! This year, my family sacrificed 10 sheep, and followed with a huge, delicious feast. We spent 6 days in Kaolack, with the first day spent entirely shopping for an affordable sheep.

Nomadic people, like the Peul and Maures (from Mauritania) herd, by foot, thousands of sheep into cities to sell. It took us all day to find a fat, relatively inexpensive ($60 USD) sheep. Once we found one, I insisted we take a horse and cart back into the city! Included are pictures of a Peul nomadic herder, sheep for sale on the street, and my sheep transport via horse and cart.

I will send pictures and another blog post of Tabaski in the coming days.