The great shaman Nana Miriam

Max Dashu

Another group of stories revolve around a woman with the islamicized name Nana Miriam. Nana is a widespread African title, given especially to eminent and older women, and in the Diaspora often became a name for grandmothers. In fact the Soroko regard Nana Miriam as their ancestress, and as you'll see she is associated with the Mother of All Hippopotami.

The story says that she was the only daughter of Fara Maka, a large, strong, and ugly man, who taught her all he knew about the natural world, lying on a sandbank. “In this way Fara Maka taught his daughter everything and his daughter learnt all her father's magic arts.” [525] However, she became a greater shaman than he was. He tried to defeat a hippopotamus (“Nile-horse” in the text) who was destroying rice fields and animals, but failed:

He went home and lay down in the shade. Nana Miriam lay by his side and said : " Tell me, father, canst thou, indeed, do nothing to the Nile-horse ? " Fara Maka said : " Even so, I can do it no hurt." Nana Miriam said : " I will go away for a little ; I will look at Gavo." Her father said : " It is well." She got up and went to where the river-horse was.

The hippopotamus said : " Good-day, Nana Miriam." She answered : " Good day ! " and girt her clothes tightly round her loins. The river-horse said : " I know thou art come to kill me. But no one can slay me with weapons. I devoured Fara Maka's spears, I devoured Kara-digi-Mao-Fosi-Fasi's one hundred and twenty dogs. No one can kill me." Nana Miriam said : " I am only a woman, but we will see what happens to-day. We will have patience."

The hippopotamus said : " We will see." Nana Miriam said: " Make thyself ready, either thou shalt kill me or I will kill thee this day."

Then the hippo lighted a mighty fire all round itself so that nobody could possibly have gone through it. But Miriam took her charm, murmured some incantations and strewed the powder over the ground. Then all the fire turned to water. But now the river-horse built up a high iron wall about itself so that it was again protected against all human attack. Then Miriam turned herself into a smith, seized bellows, hammer and anvil and very soon smashed up the ring of iron.

The Nile-horse was now overcome with a great fear. It wanted to run to the water, so it changed itself into a creek that escaped into the main stream. But Miriam again threw some powder into the water so that the water-course ran dry. Now the hippopotamus had to run on foot and Nana Miriam ran behind it. When it came near the Niger she caused a lofty wall to rise up which ran along the Niger so that the hippo could not break through it to reach the river. Now the frightened animal ran towards Fara Maka. Nana Miriam saw that her father might now capture it and so she leapt swiftly and caught the huge creature by the hind leg. She swung it round in the air and hurled it away. The beast flew so far that one had to march every day for ten years to cover the distance which the beast flung by Nana Miriam in the air flew through.

Fara Maka saw this. He said : " What a splendid daughter is mine! Nana Miriam, I thank thee ! " Then he summoned all the Kie (Dialli, or Troubadours, singers). He composed a beautiful song and taught the Kie to sing and play it. All the people in the land, all the singers, all the fishermen, all the peasants, all the Soroko sang the song of Nana Miriam.

 Then Nana Miriam sent word to all the villages of the Soroko, saying : " Leave all weapons and implements of the chase at your homes, but give good heed to all that happens in the great river and quickly bring every good catch to shore so that it be not lost. For ye shall have such great plenty of meat, such vast store of meat that ye shall not know how ye will be able to dispose of it." Then Nana Miriam asked her father Fara Maka to give her an egg.

She broke and, speaking words of power over it, flung it into the Niger. No sooner had she done this than the whole Niger from Gavo to Sansanding was so covered with dead hippopotami that the Sorokos were hard put to it to be quick enough to bring all the meat to land. Wherever there was a Soroko village there was an abundance of dead Nile-horses.

 And now all the river-horses but one, which lived very far up country, had been killed, and this particular one was a Nile-mare in foal. Nana Miriam knew this quite well. She went to her father and said : " Give me another egg.” Fara Maka asked : " What wouldst thou do with it ? " She made answer : " There is still one river-horse left alive. I wish to kill that one, too, for then are they all destroyed." Her father said : "Forgive me, Nana Miriam, my daughter. Thou hast done glorious deeds. But if thou kill this last hippopotamus heavy with young, the Soroko will have no river-horse flesh to eat in times to come." Then said Nana Miriam : " How farseeing thou art ! My father  thou say'st well ! "

She did this Nile-horse no hurt. The Nile-horse heard that Nana Miriam had desired to kill it, but had spared its life because it was with young and the last of the river-horse race at that time. It set out on the road and travelled to Nana Miriam, showed her honour and gratitude, saying : " Nana Miriam, I thank thee ! Thou hast given me my life: Now, I pray thee, let me still keep it."

Nana Miriam said : " Go thy ways, thy life is given thee." The pregnant river-horse went away and became the ancestress of all the now living Nile-horses. [528 begins]

And since that time the name of Nana Miriam has been reverenced by all the Soroko. Whenever anyone makes or uses a charm for hunting the hippopotamus he always mutters over it the name of Nana Miriam.

If you want to read more from this oral history of the griots as given
through Leo Frobenius about a century ago, go to:
http://www.archive.org/stream/voiceofafricabei02frobuoft/voiceofafricabei02frobuoft_djvu.txt

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