Silk in the Sahel Tuntun and Marka Faso Dan Fani in Northwestern Burkina Faso Genevieve Hill-Thomas ALL PHOTOS BY AUTHOR n many ways, January 18, 2010, started out as a day like guarded secrets. Further, as a toubab, or “white person,” I would any other. I was in Burkina Faso on a Fulbright fellow- definitely be seen an outsider by this close-knit profession. Thus ship; I spent my time researching traditional-style tex- for me, tuntun seemed to be a secret hidden in plain sight; those tiles of the Marka people in the northwestern part of who were initiated into the knowledge of wild silk were privy to the country. I had made great contacts in major weav- its mystery, while those born or educated outside the tradition ing centers, but had learned little about one of the Mar- seemingly would never learn anything substantive about it. ka’s most important textiles, tuntun fani: cotton cloth woven So as Abbé Doh’s car bounced across the dusty, pot-holed withI silk stripes. On that day, however, I was invited to the small tracks toward Sani, I had no hopes of learning anything new and isolated village of Sani to visit the women’s textile coopera- about tuntun. As we pulled in amongst the village’s red banco tive Yantoyɛrɛla. The man who introduced me to these women, buildings, the women of Yantoyɛrɛla greeted us with their char- Abbé Urbain Doh, is a Samo Roman Catholic priest who has a acteristic enthusiasm. As always, they were pleased with visi- remarkable zeal for educating people regardless of their back- tors and delighted with the primers. After a period of visiting, ground or religion. Sani is well off the beaten path, and although to my amazement they decided to show us some of their trea- it is entirely Muslim, Abbé Doh is helping the women of this sured textiles and—even more surprisingly—to talk about them cooperative learn how to read Jula. So when Abbé Doh invited openly. I am not sure what brought about this change. Perhaps me that day, I tagged along to deliver primers donated by the they were thrilled with Abbé Doh’s contribution of books to Diocese. This would be my third visit to see the cloth that their classes, or perhaps (but less likely) they were excited that Yantoyɛrɛla produced. Like other Marka weavers, they create this strange toubab was still interested in their work after two textiles collectively known as faso dan fani, or “country cloth.” It prior visits. Among the most fascinating objects they showed is by far the most popular traditional-style textile in northwest- were textiles dating back several decades. In particular, Ourokia ern Burkina Faso. Sako, a leader in the group, took out a beautiful pagne that she I wasn’t expecting to find people talking about tuntun fani in called sɔrɔ ti ku beira (“a rich person does not respect others”); Sani; up until that day, none of the Marka had wanted to dis- her grandmother gave it to her mother, who passed it down to cuss it in detail. There were plenty of traders (of all local eth- her (Figs. 1–2). Although the pagne was over fifty years old, I was nicities) who would point to cotton or kapok and tell me that shocked at how new it looked. Ms. Sako explained that it was it was tuntun. Likewise people would talk about tuntun and the strength of the tuntun that made the pagne last so long, and how important it was. But no one would actually sit down and that you could tell it was old because the tuntun was white from tell me exactly what it was, much less where it came from and repeated washing, and not the usual light but distinctive green- how it was processed. Given that Marka textile artists are part ish brown. of the endogamous ɲamakalaw—a closed group of Mande art- After looking at several other heirloom pagnes, two of the ists believed to have great spiritual power—I could only imagine women held out the most curious-looking objects I had ever that silk weaving was among their most precious and carefully seen in Burkina Faso (Fig. 3). Dripping with grayish liquid, they 58 | african arts SUMMER 2012 VOL. 45, NO. 2 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar.2012.45.2.58 by guest on 27 September 2021 hill-thomas_58-69.indd 58 2/29/2012 8:58:29 AM 1 Ourokia Sako and her grandmother’s pagne (sɔrɔ ti ku beira, or “a rich person does not respect oth- ers”), sani, burkina Faso, January 2010. 2 Detail of Ourokia sako’s sɔrɔ ti ku beira, Sani, Burkina Faso, January 2010. The white stripes of this old cloth are tuntun silk. The tuntun in new cloth appears to be greenish-brown due a mix of poorly absorbed indigo dye and brown sericin; both these colorants fade away with repeated washing and use. looked like gnarled wads of sticks and mud, or some tangled THE MARKA insect’s nest. They were in fact giant silkworm pods, wet from Despite the fact that over 200,0001 people residing in north- soaking in water. Ms. Sako told us that this is what tuntun looked western Burkina Faso call themselves “Marka,” there is a sur- like before it was fully processed; the more that you soaked and prising amount of scholarly confusion about exactly who these washed it, the whiter it became. By the end of the visit, they had people are. They are related to other groups of Mande peoples explained to us where to find wild silkworm pods, how to pro- who call themselves not only “Marka,” but also “Meeka” and cess them, what the silk looked like when woven, and how its “Maraka.” These groups are fairly populous and are spread appearance changed over time. throughout several West African countries: Mali, Guinea, and For many people in the Marka region, tuntun seems to be Burkina Faso. Generally speaking, these Mande groups are not more of an expressive indicator of luxury and rarity, indeed the considered to be the same people, and as such, alternate names ethereal stuff of myth, rather than an actual, tangible fiber. The have been given to them, allegedly to ease this confusion. The process of creating silk thread is kept relatively secret and gar- Marka of Burkina Faso are often called “Dafing,” “Dafin,” or ments of tuntun are rare and precious. Every woman in the area “Marka-Dafing,” but many Marka from northwestern Burkina wants to own tuntun fani, but not all of them actually know what Faso consider these terms to be pejorative.2 Like most names by it is or how to recognize it. For instance, a Bobo-Madarɛ woman, which a group is called by a neighboring people, it is commonly Philomène Esther Mossé, told me—while modeling her newest accepted that the term dafin (“blackmouth” in Jula) did not orig- tuntun fani outfit (Fig. 4)—“I do not know exactly what tuntun inate within Marka society and is not the actual name of their is, but I think it comes from a tree.” Her comment accurately ethnicity. Instead, it refers to the fashionable tattoos surrounding sums up the general knowledge of tuntun among the Marka’s the mouths of Muslim Marka women several generations ago, neighbors, and it is certain that most foreigners know even less. which were seen as marks of beauty and distinction but are very Although scholars such as Bernhard Gardi (2009) and Christo- rarely worn today.3 pher Roy (Roy and Chaffin 1987) have already included tuntun as To confuse matters more, and much to the chagrin of other part of large, encyclopedic studies, it is the goal of this article to Marka, some Muslim Marka refer to themselves as dafin, which focus directly on tuntun and the Marka textiles that are created leads many scholars to consider the term appropriate when with this wild silk. In addition, this discussion will address gen- referring to Muslim Marka only. For example, Annie Merlet, the der roles within textile production and touch upon some societal editor of Textes Anciens sur le Burkina (1853–1897), uses dafing in beliefs about the cloth, as well as the developing market for it. that text to denote only the Islamized Marka. When she speaks VOL. 45, NO. 2 SUMMER 2012 african arts | 59 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar.2012.45.2.58 by guest on 27 September 2021 hill-thomas_58-69.indd 59 2/29/2012 8:58:40 AM (clockwise from top left) 3 Large tuntun pods, Sani, Burkina Faso, January 2010. These large silkworm pods are made up of individual cocoons inside. 4 Philomène Esther Mossé wearing the pattern ɲuman ti lɔn (“ingratitude”), Dédougou, burkina Faso, February 2010. Ms. Mossé’s blouse is bazin of the entire ethnic group however, she uses the term Marka with faso dan fani appliqué taken from the lankandɛ (Merlet 1995).4 In addition, many scholars use the term Marka- that she wears upon her head. Dafin to differentiate between the Marka of Burkina Faso and 5 Small wild silk pods, unknown species, between the Marka of Mali or Guinea. However, in light of the aforemen- Sani and Da, Burkina Faso, February 2010. tioned issues surrounding the term dafin in Burkina Faso, I will exclusively use the term “Marka” in this article to indicate the Marka of Burkina Faso, unless otherwise specified. and dyeing are “techniques which they [the Marka] must have The history of the Marka in Burkina Faso goes back to the sev- brought with them from the north-west, for the groups among enteenth century.