Introduction to Roundtable Commentary for West Africa’s Women of God: Alinesitoué and the Diola Prophetic Tradition

West Africa’s Women of God begins with an overview of precolonial Senegal in order to present the story of Alinesitoué Diatta, a young Diola woman who followed her call as a prophet in the mid-twentieth century. But, as the commentary to follow reveals, Baum has included a noteworthy summary of the history of Senegal between the lines of Diatta’s biography. This set of roundtable remarks together consider the impact of Baum’s latest work while offering a useful overview of the way the book addresses key theories and works in the study of Africana religion. The book also contributes new perspectives on broader issues such as gender, power and control, leadership, activism, environmentalism, war resistance, ritual and ethics, justice, colonization, the healing of disease—and the list goes on.

A synopsis of the book will help elucidate the impact of Baum’s work that the commentary to follow highlights. Baum begins the book with an accessible overview of Diola indigenous religions alongside a general review and his take on the more slippery terms, such as the word “prophet,” that he uses throughout the book. Here we learn that the Diola have a long history of Emitai (the supreme being) communicating directly with humans and giving them messages for the betterment of the community. Before the colonial period these prophets were exclusively male, yet during the colonial era the tradition changed into a predominately female one. The sudden transformation and the positioning of women as prophets are unique aspects of Diola religion. The close relationship between religion and the environment, however, is a steadier aspect of Diola religious life. The Diola live primarily as agricultural-ists and credit Emitai for providing them the knowledge and tools for successful rice cultivation in an area especially prone to drought. Even before taking on the role of prophets, women have historically come to the fore and acted as rainmakers by performing supplication rituals to Emitai when drought has hit.

With this general framework for understanding Diola religion in place, Baum moves into the early colonial era. The pressure of drought and shifting leadership away from local authorities to Muslim emissaries and European colonialists combine to make Diola people especially susceptible to and in need of some kind of drastic revitalization movement. Tensions come to a head by the end of the nineteenth century as drought intensifies. At this time a succession of women start receiving messages from Emitai with information about how to resist colonial authority and restore the land to a fertile state. The Portuguese, then later the French, take notice of these female prophets, regularly fining or temporarily imprisoning them as a way of stifling their influence.

Baum tells the story of Alinesitoué Diatta. As a young Diola woman in the early 1940s, Diatta begins to hear voices and receive visions from Emitai while working and living in Dakar as a housemaid. These revelations provide instructions for how the Diola can work their way out of the host of problems that colonization had caused their community. To be more exact, the Diola suffered from continuing drought; a seemingly endless demand for Senegalese soldiers, cattle, and rice to aid the French during World War II; and the growing influence of the Catholic Church and Mandinka Muslims who had partnered with the colonial administration.

Diatta eventually leaves Dakar to return home where she builds a sacrificial shrine. Rain falls as soon as she offers her first sacrifice and prayer. Diatta slowly makes the content of her visions public, telling the Diola that they need to prior-itize their ethnic identity before performing any duties as colonial subjects. She draws attention to pollution in the rice paddies and implements a Diola Sabbath every six days. She speaks of charity and works to alleviate hierarchy based on wealth, age, or gender. She confronts those who had converted to Catholicism and tells people to stop using currency introduced by the French. Naturally, French officials come to see Diatta as a threat and swiftly arrest her. She is moved from...