Origins

According to oral tradition, the Mossi come from the marriage of a Dagomba princess, Yennenga, and Mandé hunter.

Yennenga was a warrior princess, daughter of a Dagbon king, Naa Gbewaa, of present-day northern Ghana. Gbewaa's tomb is located in Pusiga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The story has it that while exploring her kingdom on horseback, she lost her way and was rescued by Rialé, a solitary Mandé hunter. They got married and gave birth to a son, Ouedraogo, who is recognised as the father of Mossi people.^[3]

Mossi Empire

Though Mossi records exist, primarily written using the Ajami script, the Mossi people's history has largely been kept by oral tradition. This means it is impossible to assign precise origin dates. ^[4] Nevertheless, historians assign the beginning of their existence as a state to the 11th century.^[5] The Mossi were able to conquer a vast amounts of territory thanks to their mastering of the horse, created a prosperous empire, and kept peace in the region until the Mossi Kingdoms were conquered by the French. The expansion of the Mossi empire was stopped in the 19th century with the initiation of intensive colonisation by the French.^[2]

Colonial era

The fast-moving Mossi cavalry once dominated large areas of what is now Burkina Faso

French rule affected Mossi society and weakened the power of the Mossi emperor, the Mogho Naaba. Despite colonization, the Mogho Naaba was given some authority over the Mossi during the French colonial period. He is consulted today for crucial decisions, especially those affecting the destiny of society. Two great events have affected the status of the Mogho Naaba during colonization:

• During the initial phase of the French invasion, he retired to the Mamprusi kingdom with which the Mossi have always kept brotherly relations.
• In 1896, the Mogho Naaba accepted the French protectorate.

The Mossi and several other peoples played a significant role in France's military during World War II. They constituted part of the corps in the military troops of French West Africa, known in French as the Tirailleurs Sénégalais.^[6]

Mogho Naaba and the Nakomse

The highest position in Mossi society is that of the Mogho Naaba, who is given executive power. The Mogho Naaba's role is to rule the entire population and to protect the kingdom. Today, he lives in Ouagadougou, the historical capital of the Mossi Empire and present capital of Burkina Faso. Though the political dynamic of the country has changed, the Mogho Naaba is recognised by his people and has substantial authority.

Naaba Zomb Wobgo, Andemtenga

Second to the Mogho Naaba come the nobles, Nakomse (“people of power”; sing. Nakoambga), who all are from the family of the Mogho Naaba, whether they be brothers, sisters, cousins, or otherwise. All dignitaries come from the Mogho Naaba's family. The Nakomse are often assigned territories in the kingdom as governorships and rule in the name of the Mogho Naaba. As in the past, the Mogho Naaba needs the support of the “ancient ones”, his Nyon-nyonse (or gnon-gnon-sse) subjects to fully exercise his power. The Nyon-nyonse are the peoples who lived in Mossi-controlled regions before the Mossi.^[7]

Mossi society is divided vertically into two major segments: the descendants of the horsemen who conquered the peoples on the Mossi plateau are called the Nakomse, and all Mossi Napa's (kings) come exclusively from the Nakomse class. These people use figures as political art to validate their rule over the peoples they conquered. The descendants of the ancient farming peoples who had occupied the land from the beginning of time and who, by right of first occupation, were and are the owners of the land are called the Tengabisi (“people of the earth”). These Tengabisi can be further divided into groups of smiths (Saya), groups of traders (Yarse) and, most important, groups of farmers (Nyonyose). Generally the smiths and the traders do not use masks, but the Nyonyose are the principal makers and users of masks in Mossi society.

Craftsmen and ordinary citizens

Arrival of a band of Mossi, 1892

They constitute the larger part of the population and are all subjects of the emperor. These two groups are generally fused but have internal subdivisions, each one having its own ruling family; they perform ceremonies and other important events. Mossi people often identify with groups; hence, at all levels, there is a hierarchy in Mossi society. In everyday life, the family hierarchy is most important, and family is often directly associated with the notion of hierarchy for the Mossi.

'Mogonaba' was what Leo Frobenius was told was the appropriate term for the emperor of Mossi at Wagadugu when he visited the country in 1904–6. His is one of the few disinterested reports as he was an anthropologist and not a missionary, representative of a European company, or military. He describes a court much like a European one (he may have an anti-aristocratic bias) with nobles in intrigues over commerce, power and industry. This report alone caused disbelief in Europe as no European source had ever considered Africans to be socially like Europeans. The lack of racism in Frobenius' report and his discovery of an industrious people and what some would describe as a glorious past interested W.E.B. Du Bois in Frobenius' other writings on Africa. Rudolf Blind's translation in English of the Voice of Africa, published by Hutchinson & Co., produced some racist comments he thought necessary to conform with English sensitivities — otherwise he believed no Englishman would consider the book realistic.

An important contribution was made in the 1960s by the historian Elliott P. Skinner, who wrote at length about the sophistication of Mossi political systems in The Mossi of the Upper Volta: The Political Development of a Sudanese People. This was at a time when many African countries were gaining independence, and Skinner strongly made the point that African peoples were very clearly qualified to govern themselves.^[8]

Mossi language

The Mossi speak the Mooré language, of the Western Oti-Volta group of languages, northwestern sub-group. It is spoken in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.^[9][10] This language group is part of a larger grouping, Gur languages belonging to the Niger–Congo family. In the language there are a few dialects based mainly on region. For example, there is a dialect spoken in Yatenga (Ouahigouya), another distinct dialect in the northern region, a third in the southeast in Koupela, different from a fourth dialect in the same region called Tenkodogo.^[2] Despite these regional differences, the dialects are mutually intelligible.

Cultural values

According to the explanations of Marie Tapsoba, the former Cultural Counsellor at Burkina Embassy in Senegal and Mossi herself, Mossi culture can be divided into four main values characteristic of the ethnic group.^[11]

Mogho Naaba court

The Friday Mogho Naaba court ceremony derives from an event when the Moro Naba's sister fled north to the land of Yadega, the kingdom called Yatenga. As she fled north, she carried all of the amulets of power, or nam, with her. The Moro Naba had to decide whether to follow her and retrieve his sacred power objects or to remain behind to rule over his people. Three times he left his palace to mount a white horse, and three times he returned to the palace. In the end he did not pursue his sister, and to this day the kings of Yatenga claim that they hold the power of Mossi rule.

The political segment of Mossi society, the Nakomse (sing. Nakoambga), use art to validate their rule. Bridles, saddles, stirrups and other objects associated with the horse are very important. In addition, Mossi chiefs use carved wooden figures to represent their royal ancestors. These figures are displayed each year at royal festivals called na possum, when the heads of each household in the community reaffirm their allegiance and loyalty to the chief.^[12]

Mossi Masks

Mossi Mask

The Nyonyose (the ancient farmers and spiritual segment of Mossi society) use masks in their religious observances and rituals. The Nakomse (chief class) do not use masks. Masks in initiations and funerals is typical of all the Voltaic or Gur-speaking peoples, including the Nyonyose, Lela, Winiama, Nouna, Bwaba, and Dogon. Masks appear at burials to observe on behalf of the ancestors that proper procedures are carried out. They appear at funeral or memorial services held at regular intervals over the few years after an elder has died. Masks attend to honor the deceased and to verify that the spirit of the deceased merits admission into the world of ancestors. Without a proper funeral, the spirit remains near the home and causes trouble for his/her descendants.

Masks are carved of the wood of the Ceiba pentandra, the faux kapokier. They are carved in three major styles that correspond to the styles of the ancient people who were conquered in 1500 by the invading Nakomse and integrated into a new Mossi society:

• In the north masks are vertical planks with a round concave or convex face.^[13]
• In the southwest masks represent animals such as antelope, bush buffalo, and strange creatures, and are painted red, white and black.
• In the east, around Boulsa,^[14] masks have tall posts above the face to which fiber is attached.

Female masks have two pairs of round mirrors for eyes; small masks, representing Yali ("the child") have two vertical horns. All Nyonyose masks are worn with thick costumes made of the fiber of the wild hemp, Hibiscus cannabinus. In the old days only the northern Nyonyose in Yatenga and Kaya, and the eastern people around Boulsa allowed their masks to be photographed. The people in the southwest forbade photography because it did not conform to the yaaba soore, the path of the ancestors.

Mask characters include Balinga, the Fulani woman; katre, the hyena; nyaka, the small antelope; Wan pelega, the large antelope, and many others. Masks from all three areas appear at annual public festivals such as International Art & Craft Fair (Salon international de l’Artisanat de Ouagadougou or SIAO), Week of the Culture, and the Atypical Nights of Koudougou (Les Nuits Atypiques de Koudougou). Each Nyonyose family has its own mask, and they are charged with protecting the masks to this day. Masks are very sacred and are a link to the spirits of ancestors and of nature.