Heritage of Ndeer: Performing Martyrdom as a Form of Women's Resistance and Self-Empowerment in Senegal

Abstract:In the former Wolof kingdom of Waalo, Senegal, in 1820, women of the town of Ndeer burned themselves to death in defiant resistance against a coalition of Futa Muslim clerics and marauding Moors. This article looks beyond the historicity of that event and examines the process by which its commemorations, through the lens of heritage, empower modern Waalo and Senegalese women in a prelude to International Women's Day. Observation, distance ethnography, and a textual analysis of Nder en Flammes, a play by Alioune Badara Beye, show how heritage as performance can unbury women's heroism and represent it anew to promote gender equality and women's social and economic empowerment. Artfully reperforming such a shocking event awakens strong emotions in participants and in particular helps mobilize resources for the town where the fatal encounter occurred. In evocative commemorations, Senegalese women draw from historical realities to assert their agency through cultural performance and heritage making in the present.