Different combinations of seeds in play represent different aspects of village life. The board often represents a village and each hole is a “hut”. The game also takes on a metaphorical meaning. It’s usually 48, which in a large majority of West African societies was traditionally a sacred, universe unlocking number. The number of pieces used to play is very symbolic. Villagers playing a mancala game in Yagba, Nigeria, by August Udoh. The nighttime spirits of the ancestors would participate in this “electoral combat”, influencing their preferred candidate to win, giving their seal of approval to the new chief through the result of one or several games. The Alladian and Baule peoples of Ivory Coast also used this game at night and behind closed doors to determine who would be the next chief. The players only play to cajole and distract the soul of the deceased and any other lurking spirits. Anyone playing at night takes perilous risks in attracting malicious spirits and offending them with mortal play… Their souls could be stolen, they could be cursed with sickness, their mother could die, etc.īut sometimes, people will take this risk for ritual purposes.ĭuring funerary wakes, mancala is played at night in Dahomey, for example. Nighttime brings out the spirits, and, just as the weaver leaves his loom, and the blacksmith his forge for the spirits to use, mancala players leave their game boards and pieces outside at night for the spirits’ entertainment. When a Fon girl of Dahomey has her first period, she secludes herself in her hut for seven days as part of her initiation, which includes playing mancala. Women who want to give birth to twins will play against pairs of girls or boys. Playing with a girl will increase the odds of the baby being born female, playing against a boy will inversely make it more likely their baby will be male. It’s thought to have an influence on the sex of unborn children, so the Baule women of Ivory Coast play a special variant of the mancala game in hopes of influencing their child’s development. In the Dogon game of in pere, the insults are even codified: a player who captures one piece from his opponent can say “I pulled your eye out”, for two pieces he’ll taunt “I gouged your eyes out”, acquiring three pieces spurs an “I’ll rub you” (he then hoists the loser on his back to rub his backside against a nearby wall), for four pieces, it’s “I cut your neck”, etc… Among the Wolof, the winner presses his folded index finger into the forehead of the loser until tears form.īut the game can also take on a more serious aspect. In some places, though, the loser is subjected to series of insults, teasing and mockeries on the part of the winner, to which he can’t respond or take offense. Generally, people don’t play mancala for any stakes, they don’t wager money over a game, and there is no reward to strive for. In the Dogon the cliffs of Mali, children in general are discouraged from playing mancala for fear that it will bring misfortune to the village, but the games of adults apparently don’t carry the same risk. The Wolof of Senegal, for example, traditionally forbid non-initiated boys from playing. Although mancala games have educational value in teaching arithmetic skills, some places forbid boys or girls from playing. In certain areas it is a man’s game, in others, men don’t deign to play, making it a female game. The rules of who is allowed to play vary from place to place. Other variations have special conditions for depositing, taking, or ending a turn in particular, “special” holes. Players who hoard all the pieces on their own side pay a steep price: when the opponent runs out of pieces on his side, they can take all the remaining pieces in play from the other player. The opponent can then take his turn.Īnother popular rule is to require players to “feed” their opponent, to make sure they have enough pieces on their side of the board to be able to take their turn. Once the player has sowed and reaped, his turn typically ends, although some variations allow the same player to gain an extra turn depending on the circumstances (like ending on a special hole for instance). In most variations, captured or eaten seeds are removed from play, but some variations allow their reintroduction under certain conditions. Capturing the seeds is called “eating” the seeds. Other versions allow capturing the previous holes that he has sowed as well, or even taking the seeds in the hole across from his end point. In some versions, the player can only capture the last hole that he sowed. If a hole contains two to three pieces at the end of a turn (or under other conditions), the player can take the contents of one or more of the holes.
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