You can buy ‘Chronicle of the Kwanana’ at our shop or at l’Harmattan.

Chronicle of the Kwanana. Memory of the Elders.

Published jointly by L’Harmattan and Tarbiyya Tatali, this work presents the history of the kwanana community, in the Dogondouchi region in Niger. It is rooted in oral tradition, gathered from numerous informants. Going back to the origins of the alliance between humans and nature’s forces, relating the legendary epic leading to the organization of various institutions with the help of the Queens of the Daura and of the Lougou, the colourful narrative flows, unbroken, through the days of colonization and independent Niger, until now. In the concluding chapter, the voices of the elders enable us to capture the personalities of three of the informants, and the rich and complex relationship between them and the author. The book ends on an appeal to representatives from other communities to undertake the same research.

The author

Born in 1952, Dangaladima Issa-Danni Soumana attended primary school in the Boys’ Mission School in Dogondoutchi. After his secondary and university studies in Burkina Faso and in Niger, he taught French and English in Niamey and in Dogondoutchi, and was the headmaster of secondary schools in Tchintabaraden and Bilma. From 1984 to 2006 he was director of the Examination Board in the Ministry of National Education, and later of Secondary Education, in Niamey. He retired in 2006. An active member of the kwanana community, he has discovered many secrets, puzzled out many mysteries, thanks to their trust. He generously imparts to us the fruit of his research.