Le Gaani

One of the Princes breaking away from the starting line, the Line-up can been seen at the back.

A good way to get to know Benin is to mingle with the people, unknowingly when I arrived I was told that I should go to Le Gaani. Being a bit apprehensive as to what this is, yet also curious, I went.

I thought the drive up from Cotonou was a good introduction to Benin, well Le Gaani was better. Benin has many ethnic groups that make up their population. One of those tribes is the Bariba tribe which is several small villages here in the North of Benin. Each village has a king with one great king, this being the king of Nikki. The history behind this tribe is remarkable and be left for another story or book, which I shall leave for someone else to write. For the time being all you need to know is that there are kings and then there is the king. So as confusing as it sounds, that’s as confusing as it is.

The King with his entourage, making there way back to his house.

Despite this puzzle of kings and king, Thursday morning the 24 January 2013, we went up to the village of Nikki, to join in the celebrations. Not knowing what to expect we slowly mingled (in broken French) to the house of the king. Le Gaani happens once a year and is a momentous occasion for the Bariba tribe, kings and princes from all over northern Benin and North- West Nigeria come to partake in the festival. The festival is held in such high esteem that sometimes the president of Benin arrives and there was talk that he had arrived this time, although I did not see him.

One group of dancers. each dancing group came from a
 particular tribe.

The Jokers dancing and playing their drums before the
 visiting groups.

The celebrations start unknowingly and in true African style. Me being a mere spectator, I sat on the side lines trying to make sense of it all along with my trusted companions. While we sat, we watched different groups of people, some from far and some from near. They would make their way group by group into the King’s quarters; then would pay honour to the king and sometime present a gift. On one occasion a cow was taken around the back of his quarters as a gift. Each group would arrive in celebration, some would have a group of dancers dancing before the Kings house, and others would blow long trumpets, trumpets the length of two grown men. Group after group come through taking up the entire morning and into the afternoon. The groups that came were jostled by a small group of men playing a typical West African drum and dressed in elaborate yet worn robes. They were almost joker-like (best western term to describe them) in their habits, hustling the guests with music and singing. They would ease up and move onto the next group once the last group had given them some small gift. So for most of the morning we watched group after group arrive, some in fancy dress others in less fancy more worn dress. The King’s ground was “sacred” and so all women and children no matter how fancy the dress would have to remove their shoes when walking across his “quart yard”.  Everyone entering his house had to remove their shoes as a sign of respect to the king.

This went on for hours, one thing I should tell you are that the Bariba royalty take pride in their horse. If you see a horse in town you know it belongs to the king and his family. The festival recognizes a momentous event in the history for the tribe of Bariba. Their horses played a critical part in that moment and hence mark why only the Bariba royalty own horses. When the Bariba settled south of Niger River they dispersed and thus the festival brings kings and princes back together once a year at Nikki for the Le Gaani and they race their horses against one another. 

A Prince and his horse, displaying their elaborate dress.

Notice the red painted
 feet of the horse.

Once all the groups have met the king, the king then leaves his house on a horse and makes a trip around the village visiting places of significance to his people. His arrival back to his quart yard the excitement builds as horses with princes and kings race into the quart yard around the king and his entourage. The races start shortly after this as the crowds start to rumble with excitement.

One of the riders.

As the king prances back to his house on his horse with his entourage, there is some confusion (for the onlooker) as to where the horses start their lineup. After a while the horses are ready and so are the princes. Not all the horses race at the same time, some princes wait along the side to watch others race until they move up to the starting line to race. The princes and kings ride in pairs and race against each other. The horses are elaborate, dressed in cloth and linen matching up with the robes of their riders, the kings and princes. However the horses are jittery and buck in anticipation before they are about to race, leading off with jolt at the start of a race. The races are over quickly, with the two contestants often riding merely side by side when returning back to the line. The mood is jolly and the riders have more fun with the races than being uptight with each other. The races go on for over an hour and from a spectator’s point of view, no one really knows who wins and who loses.

Two riders racing back tot he start

Two riders competing, the white prince is from the town
I live in, Parakou.

After the races the king speaks to his people and at the end of each announcement an orchestra of long trumpets resonates out. The sound is like synchronized vuvuzela’s with a brass sound to it. This draws to an end and all of the horses’ line-up to watch the kings from each village along with their own entourage, on announcement parade out of the quart yard. The festival does continue onto the next day with more traditional functions. I just went up for the day to see the horse races and learn a lot about the local culture of the Bariba and other ethnic groups of Benin.