Casamance, 1885-2014
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MAPPING A NATION: SPACE, PLACE AND CULTURE IN THE CASAMANCE, 1885-2014 A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Mark William Deets August 2017 © 2017 Mark William Deets MAPPING A NATION: SPACE, PLACE AND CULTURE IN THE CASAMANCE, 1885-2014 Mark William Deets Cornell University This dissertation examines the interplay between impersonal, supposedly objective “space” and personal, familiar “place” in Senegal’s southern Casamance region since the start of the colonial era to determine the ways separatists tried to ascribe Casamançais identity to five social spaces as spatial icons of the nation. I devote a chapter to each of these five spaces, crucial to the separatist identity leading to the 1982 start of the Casamance conflict. Separatists tried to “discursively map” the nation in opposition to Senegal through these spatial icons, but ordinary Casamançais refused to imagine the Casamance in the same way as the separatists. While some corroborated the separatist imagining through these spaces, others contested or ignored it, revealing a second layer of counter-mapping apart from that of the separatists. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Mark W. Deets is a retired Marine aviator and a PhD candidate in African History at Cornell University. Deets began his doctoral studies after retiring from the Marine Corps in 2010. Before his military retirement, Deets taught History at the U.S. Naval Academy. Previous assignments include postings as the U.S. Defense and Marine Attaché to Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Mauritania (2005-2007), as a White House Helicopter Aircraft Commander (HAC) and UH-1N “Huey” Operational Test Director with Marine Helicopter Squadron One (1999-2002), and as Assistant Operations Officer and UH-1N Weapons and Tactics Instructor with the “Stingers” of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267 (1993-1998). Deets has earned two M.A. degrees: one from Cornell in African History in 2013 and another in National Security Affairs (with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa) from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 2004. The latter led to designation as a USMC Foreign Area Officer for Africa. Deets earned his B.S. in History from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990. A native of Beloit, Kansas, Deets is married to Taryn (Rediker) Deets from Kerrville, Texas, and has six children. iv This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Taryn, and our children – Dillon, Katy, Faith, Danny, Joshua, and Grace – for their love, support, encouragement, and patience throughout this chapter of our lives together. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is humbling to reflect on the number of people who have contributed to this dissertation. Before coming to graduate school at Cornell, I thought of writing as a fairly solitary activity. I thought writing a dissertation would be something I would achieve as an individual. Now, however, I realize that good writing comes from collaborative community. I have been fortunate to be a part of outstanding intellectual and writing communities at Cornell. Judith Byfield, the chair of my dissertation committee, has walked this doctoral path with me the most. I will always remain indebted to her for the numerous article, chapter, proposal, and letter drafts she has edited, in addition to the caring support and encouragement she has given throughout this process. Her close, wise counsel, along with that of committee members Sandra Greene, Raymond Craib, and Ziad Fahmy, has been invaluable. Each of these committee members contributed an essential component to my dissertation, along with an uncanny sense of when to encourage, when to challenge, when to protect, and when to console. I can never repay the debt I owe them. Neither can I repay the other Cornell graduate students who read drafts and provided comments and encouragement along the way, starting with my dissertation writing group, formed with Jacqueline Reynoso, Tim Sorg, and Max McComb. Other graduate students, often through the Cornell Graduate History Colloquium, contributed to this work, including Ryan Edwards, Brian Rutledge, Alberto Milian, Chris Tang, Rebecca Townsend, Amy Kohout, Brian Cuddy, Mate Rigo, David Blome, Thomas Balcerski, Mari Crabtree, Andrew Amstutz, Jacob Krell, Kyle Harvey, Nicholas Myers, Joshua Savala, Fritz Bartel, Joseph Giacomelli, and Molly Reed. I also owe much to other faculty at Cornell who took an interest in my work and my professional development: Robert Travers, Mary Beth Norton, Suman Seth, Aaron Sachs, Lawrence Glickman, Derek Chang, Durba Ghosh, Rachel Weil, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ernesto Bassi, Mostafa Minawi, Victor Seow, Eric Tagliacozzo, Claudia Verhoeven, Penny von Eschen, Isabel Hull, Edward Baptist, and Nic van de Walle. I am grateful to the Cornell History Department (especially the Walter and Sandra LaFeber research assistance fund), the Graduate School, the Institute for Social Sciences Contested Land Project, and the Society for the Humanities Mellon Dissertation Writing Fellowship for funding the research and writing of this dissertation. Contributors and companions from outside Cornell have included Cheikh Anta Babou, Peter Mark, Vincent Foucher, Jean-Claude Marut, Séverine Awenengo-Dalberto, Paul Diédhiou, Mamadou Diouf, and Robert Baum. I am especially indebted to Peter Mark for reading and commenting on this entire dissertation. He was the first “Casamançist” to welcome me into his community, and I will always remember that welcome fondly. I also thank the staffs of the Senegalese National Archives and the West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar and of the Gambian National Record Service in Banjul. At WARC, I am especially indebted to the Director, Ousmane Sène, and his assistant, Marianne Yade. My sincere thanks to my research assistant, Andre Badji, and the rest of the family of “Mama Bea,” Béatrice Badji, in Dakar and Bignona. In Ziguinchor, I am indebted to Manuel Gonzal for his friendship and professional assistance over many years. I must also thank the Catholic Diocese of Ziguinchor for allowing me to peruse their documents related to Father Diamacoune and the Casamance conflict. I must also thank my friends and colleagues from the History Department of the U.S. Naval Academy, who encouraged me to dream this dream: Richard Abels, Richard Ruth, Thomas Burgess, Anne Quartararo, Dan Masterson, Hayden Bellenoit, Lee Pennington, vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Wayne Hsieh, Ernie Tucker, Don Wallace, Brannon Wheeler, John Limbert, Marcus Jones, Jeff Macris, John Freymann, and C.C. Felker. Most of all, I am grateful to the many people in Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau who opened their homes to me, invited me in, and shared their stories. I wish them peace and prosperity. If I have done anything right in this dissertation, it is because of the encouragement of this extensive, kind, professional community of friends and scholars on three different continents. The errors that undoubtedly remain are mine. Finally, I thank my mother, Marcie, and my late father, Max Deets, for making me believe that I could do just about anything if I set my mind to it. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures x List of Tables xii List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: “The River” 35 Chapter 2: “The Rice Field” 80 Chapter 3: “The School” 130 Chapter 4: “The Forest” 186 Chapter 5: “The Stadium” 225 Conclusion 265 Chronology of Events 273 Bibliography 278 LIST OF FIGURES Figure I-1 Map of the Lower Casamance p. 1 Figure 1-1 Map of the Republic of Senegal, 1989 p. 38 Figure 1-2 Map of Senegambia by Guillaume de l’Isle, 1707 p. 44 Figure 1-3 Mungo Park’s Exploration of West Africa, 1810 p. 46 Figure 1-4 Map of Reis’s Concession, 1895 p. 59 Figure 1-5 Flyer on “the Particulars” of Reis’s Concession p. 60 Figure 1-6 Hand-drawn map of Casamançais ethnicities, LtCol Sajous, 1943 p. 63 Figure 1-7 Hand-drawn map of Casamançais agriculture, LtCol Sajous, 1943 p. 64 Figure 1-8 Map of Senegalese national administrative reform, 1984 p. 68 Figure 2-1 Photo of rice field south of Kandialang, 2014 p. 83 Figure 2-2 Photo of dried-up rice field in Fogny, 2014 p. 121 Figure 2-3 Photo of Casamançais women marching for peace, 2015 p. 126 Figure 3-1 Photo of entrance to Lycée Djignabo, Ziguinchor, 2014 p. 132 Figure 3-2 Photo of buildings inside Lycée Djignabo p. 144 Figure 3-3 Photo of Guèye and Senghor welcoming Maga to Senegal, 1963 p. 148 Figure 3-4 Map of Senegambian ethnolinguistic communities, 2002 p. 152 Figure 3-5 Photo of Assane Seck’sclass at the Ecole William Ponty, 1950s p. 157 Figure 3-6 Photo of disabled automobile after Bignona ambush, 1955 p. 163 Figure 3-7 Photo of Assane Seck and Emile Badiane, date unknown p. 170 Figure 3-8 Photo board of Seleky, Lycee Djignabo’s namesake village, 2014 p. 179 Figure 3-9 Map of the Casamance, Principal’s office, Lycée Djignabo, 2014 p. 180 Figure 4-1 Photo of the “sacred forest” near Diabir, 2014 p. 188 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4-2 Photo of Silkcotton tree near the “sacred forest” of Diabir, 2014 p. 201 Figure 5-1 Photo of Demba Diop Stadium, 2015 p. 226 Figure 5-2 Photo of Jules-François Bertrand Bocandé playing for FC Nice p. 254 Figure 5-3 Photo of entrance to Néma Stadium, Ziguinchor, 2014 p. 256 Figure 5-4 Photo of Balla Gaye 2 before wrestling match, 2012 p. 258 Figure 5-5 Photo of match avec frappe between Gaye and Yekini p. 259 Figure 5-6 Photo of boys wrestling in Diembereng, 2014 p. 260 Figure 5-7 Photo of girls wrestling in Diembereng, 2014 p. 260 Figure 5-8 Photo of champion wrestler in Kabrousse, 2014 p.