Baule

Baule

people
      an African people inhabiting Côte d'Ivoire between the Comoé and Bandama rivers. The Baule are an Akan group, speaking a Tano language of the Kwa (Kwa languages) branch of the Niger-Congo language family.

      The ancestors of the Baule were a section of the Asante who immigrated to their present location under the leadership of Queen Awura Pokou about AD 1750, following a dispute over the chieftaincy, and assimilated many of the indigenous peoples. After 1790 quarrels between important families destroyed the unity of the Baule, though they continued to rule much of Côte d'Ivoire until the end of the 19th century.

      The Baule live in compact villages divided into wards, or quarters, and subdivided into family compounds of rectangular dwellings arranged around a courtyard. The compounds are usually aligned on either side of the main village street.

      Known as farmers, the Baule supplement their staple food, yams, with fish and game. Coffee and cocoa are major cash crops. The importance of the yam is demonstrated in an annual harvest festival in which the first yam is symbolically offered to the ancestors, whose worship is a prominent aspect of Baule religion.

      The foundation of Baule social and political institutions is the matrilineage; each lineage has ceremonial stools that embody ancestral spirits. Paternal descent is recognized, however, and certain spiritual and personal qualities are believed to be inherited through it. A headman and a council of elders representing the lineages handle village affairs.

      The Baule are noted for their fine wooden sculpture, particularly for their ritual statuettes representing ghosts or spirits; these, as well as carved ceremonial masks, were originally associated with the ancestor cult but are increasingly produced for commercial purposes.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • BAULE — On considère aujourd’hui comme étant le «pays baoulé» (ou «baule», prononcé de la même manière) une vaste région de plus de 32 000 kilomètres carrés occupant, dans le centre de la république de Côte d’Ivoire, un milieu naturel diversifié: au… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Baule — bezeichnet eine zu den Akan Sprachen gehörende Sprache in Westafrika, siehe: Baule (Sprache) die gleichnamige Ethnie, Siehe: Baule (Volk) eine Waffe dieser Ethnie, siehe: Baule (Waffe) Ortsnamen Gemeinde Baule in der französischen Region Centre,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Baule — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Baule País …   Wikipedia Español

  • baule — {{hw}}{{baule}}{{/hw}}, (evit.) baule s. m. 1 Cofano da viaggio in legno o cuoio, spesso rinforzato da bandelle o borchie metalliche, munito di coperchio ricurvo e di grosse maniglie | Fare il –b, riempirlo | Disfare il –b, vuotarlo | Fare i… …   Enciclopedia di italiano

  • baule — /ba ule/, merid. / baule/ s.m. [dallo sp. baúl, prob. der. del fr. ant. bahut, baiul ]. 1. [grande cassa con coperchio per trasportare biancheria, vestiti e sim.] ▶◀ cassone, (non com.) cofano. 2. (aut.) [vano delle autovetture, nel quale si… …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • Baule — is a commune of the Loiret département , in central France …   Wikipedia

  • Baule —  Ne doit pas être confondu avec La Baule. 47° 48′ 42″ N 1° 40′ 18″ E …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Baule — I Baule,   französisch Baoulé [bau le], Volk in Westafrika (nach umstrittener Auffassung zu den Akan gehörend), etwa 1 Mio. Menschen. Die Baule sollen im 18. Jahrhundert aus dem Gebiet des heutigen Ghana unter Führung einer Ashantiprinzessin ins… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Baule — Original name in latin Baule Name in other language Baule State code FR Continent/City Europe/Paris longitude 47.81084 latitude 1.67259 altitude 104 Population 1802 Date 2012 01 18 …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

  • baule — I. ˌbäüˈlā, ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun (plural baule or baules) Usage: usually capitalized 1. : a people of the Ivory Coast region of West Africa linguistically related to Ashanti and other peoples eastward and renowned for their carved statuary in wood …   Useful english dictionary

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