Kingdoms and Monuments of Afre Kh: The ancestral wall at Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
In Burkina Faso, over 60 ethnic groups make up the entire population. Representing more than 40 per cent of the population, the Mossi ethnic group is the largest of Burkina Faso’s 6.2 million people. Like most of Africa, Mossi’s history is orally reconstructed, hence there is no formal documentation of their history. Despite this setback, historians estimate that the Mossi came into existence about the 11th century.
It is said that the Mossi trace their ancestry to Ghana from where they migrated to settle in Burkina Faso from northern Ghana around the turn of the 11th century. They displaced the original inhabitants known as the Nyon-nyonse. Their language, Moore, belongs to the Gur branch and is akin to that spoken by the Mamprusi and Dagomba of northern Ghana, from whom the Mossi ruling class trace their origin. The Mossi society is divided into royalty, nobles, commoners and, formerly, slaves. Each village is governed by a chief who, in turn, is subordinate to a divisional chief. The Emperor (Mogho Naaba) rules the entire population and protects the kingdom with his executive power.
The nobles (Nakomse) are second to the Emperor. They are royals from the Emperor’s family. All dignitaries are from the Emperor’s family. The Nobles (Nakomse) are often assigned territories in the kingdom as governors. They rule in the name of the Emperor (Mogho Naaba). In the past, the Emperor needed the support of the Nyon-nyonse to fully exercise his power. The Nyon-nyonse are the people original inhabitants of the land before the Mossi.
In the Mossi family, the husband and wives sleep in separate huts, the sons must leave the house as soon as they are circumcised. The wives have absolutely no status until they give birth, and when they do, their children are raised by the older wives.
The Mossi lost some of its power during the colonial period as did most of Africa. During French occupation, the Mossi were heavily exploited for labour, transported, essentially as slaves, into the rice plantations of what is now Cote d’Ivoire. Even after the abolition of the slave trade, there was political unrest, inter-regional tension in the society and a lot of strain on the community. It was in 1960 that the country of Burkina Faso gained its independence from the French. Since that time, the Mossi have been a dominant force in Burkina’s politics, and their influence runs throughout the country.
The Mossi today are spread out in a lot of French-speaking countries of West Africa and over 4 million people speak the Mossi language (Moore), the Mossi is a very influential political and social power in Burkina Faso. Although Burkina Faso has changed drastically in modern times, the Mossi people have managed to hold on to their beliefs, values and culture, unlike many African ethnic groups.
