I was immediately told initiation is just the beginning, for a hunter. One never stops learning, and should be always looking for experienced hunters to ask tips and tricks to. Consistently with what I read, apprenticeship with a teacher (donsokaramogo) can last for years. During this period the student (donsokalanden) will pay a few visits per month to his teacher, and perform some tasks for him. For example Lasso, the person who introduced me to the hunters of Karankasso, worked in his teacher’s fields and helped to build one of the houses in his compound, during the dry season.
His teacher is Adama Sogosi Traoré, from Samogogwan. It was natural that he brought me to him, as a sign of recognition of his authority. Adama normally lives in a compound with his extended family, his four wives and some of his many children. The place is called Nyawali, and it is not exactly easy to reach. On the dirt road that goes from Banzon to Samogogwan, once past the bridge on the Black Volta river, one has to follow a narrow path for about two kilometres. If it rained the path can be very difficult to follow for, given the proximity to the Mouhoun river, some traits are transformed into swamps. But today it made sense to me, as if the difficult path to reach Adama mirrored the long way to the initiatory knowledge he teaches. Adama is a thin but energetic old man, that I estimate to be in his sixties. When I arrived with Lasso he offered us corn to with gban sauce and fish soup. One of his sons is a fisherman, and during our visit his son-in-law was making fish-traps.After lunch we moved to serious matters. The first thing he told me, in Jula, is that hunting is mostly about suffering. It is not fun, and involves a good degree of hard work. Then he said at this stage, after initiation, I should choose and commit myself to a teacher, visit him frequently to learn from him. He never claimed to be better than others, but warned me that many donsoba around do not deserve this title. In any case I was already decided to ask him to become my teacher, for he formed most hunters in the area and is well-known and respected by everybody. So I asked him in a poor Jula if I could become his student, and he accepted. This is it, now I have to get more kola nuts, another hen and a cock, to make another sacrifice that will mark my commitment to him. In the meantime the task I have to perform for him is to find some 10.75 rifle cartridges, anyone knows where to buy them online? He uses them to kill hippos, but don’t tell this around, they’re protected.
I asked him to pose with is rifle, and went to get his donsofani, his hunting outfit. These clothings have an interesting story, I’ll probably make a post about them when I get mine next month. He also went to fetch his hunting trophies, a buffalo a hippopotamus skull. The old man, from these few hours I spent with him, is a strange mixture of sweetness and harshness, kindness and authority, embodying the many contradictions of hunters in the Mande world I read about. At the end of the day he gave me a roasted bird as a present. I’ll meet him again next month.