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The Mossi Myth

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Who are the Mossi? The Mossi are a diverse people whose population are greatest in ,what they consider their homeland, the central part of Burkina Faso and they also live in Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana. The Mossi is the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, making up forty percent of the population totaling over 6 million people. The Mossi are the second largest ethnic group in D’Ivoire totaling over 1.2 million people. A smaller population of about 160,000 Mossi live in Ghana (Mossi). The history of the Mossi is very interesting. There are different ideas about how the Mossi originated. Because there are few written records about the Mossi, they rely on special singers called griots to pass on their traditions orally. According to folklore by the Mossi, the following myth represents the origin of the Mossi. “Over forty generations ago, a king named Naba Nedega had a daughter whom he would not allow to marry because she was a great warrior. So Princess Nyennega took a horse and fled north into what is now Mossi country. She married a local man. Their son, named Ouedraogo (stallion), was sent back to his mother's homeland to be raised by his grandfather, Naba Nedega. When he grew up, he returned to the north with cavalry from his homeland and conquered his father's people, the Bisa. The marriage of Ouedraogo and his troops with Bisa …show more content…

In addition to everyday chores, men trained for the military using bows and arrows, swords, and spears. Today one might engage in bicycle racing and soccer which are the national sports of Burkina Faso. Besides dancing, music and conversations, there are not many other forms of recreation. People enjoy listening to the radio and sending personal messages to others over the air in other parts of the country. Television is not popular. According to the most recent study in the ninties, there were only just over 40,000 televisions in a country of over ten million

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