Tabaski: Goat heads and forgiveness

As I was going to bed at 2 AM Sunday morning, I could still hear the music bumping outside my window. I could hear the car and moto horns honking, the people yelling and clapping and the music blaring. Even after 3 AM, the people were still celebrating.

When I woke up randomly at 5 AM, many people were already up, preparing for the biggest day of the year. The women were sweeping the dirt in their compounds, and groups of people were getting ready to mass congregate to the nearest mosque to start the first prayer of today. The biggest day of the year is called Tabaski.

This is the first house I went to for Tabaski - Papa's house. Here, they're cutting up the goat for Papa's wife to cook for us.

Going through the good cuts of meat

Tabaski is a day I marked with goat heads and guts, well-dressed Malians mass congregating to the mosque after the Prayer Call sounds, and lots and lots of blessings.
Tabaski is one of the biggest days and celebrations of the year for Muslim countries such as Mali. Tabaski is a day for forgiveness, sharing and wishing your friends, family and neighbors the best for the coming year.

And they save the goat heads. I think they make a stew with it after Seliba.

Yeah, the innards. Goin' to eat them too.

Tabaski marks the celebration and feast after Ramadan, the month of fasting in the Muslim tradition. Back in August, Muslim Malians across the country fasted from 5 AM to 7 PM every day of the month. They couldn’t even drink water. Nothing. During Ramadan, you’d see a lot of Malians passed out during the middle of the day, exhausted, thirsty and hungry. At the end of the month, what they call Seli fitini, or “Little Prayer,” Malians feasted to commemorate their month long of hard work.

But they fasted not to feast. They fasted to put themselves in touch with those who have it worse than they do. No food, no water, no drinks of any kind, no nothing. No bad thoughts, no opposite sex.

About a month after Seli fitini, is Tabaski, or Seliba. Everyone who fasted during Ramadan is to cut the neck of a goat. So, some families may slaughter five goats, for example. They cut up some goats, save the heads for later, of course, and welcome neighbors and friends into their homes with blessing after blessing. They share the food, the goats, with anyone and everyone around. They give some meat to their family, neighbors, enemies, random kids, acquaintances.

This is the second house I went to - the post office guy's house. Here is his son gutting the meat. 

The post office tigi, Modibo, making the tea I brought.

Malian tea

Modibo's son, Adama. He's scared of white people, so this is why he look so scared here. 

Because Tabaski is the day of sharing and forgiveness. Literally, one of the main blessings they give is to forgive each other. It is said that Tabaski is they day when everyone forgives each other, and they are all equal and a family for at least the three days they celebrate.


It took me about an hour of constant studying to memorize all the blessings:
I san bee san bee (To another year)
I ba tigi Ala (May you continue to have a mother)
I fa tigi Ala (May you continue to have a father)
I muso/ce tigi Ala (May you continue to have a spouse)
I denw tigi Ala (May you continue to have children)
I modenw tigi Ala (May you continue to have grandchildren)
I so tigi Ala (May you continue to have a house)
I moto tigi Ala (May you continue to have moto/car/transportation)
I fini tigi Ala (May you continue to have clothes)
I bara tigi Ala (May you continue to have work)
I nafo tigi Ala (May you continue to have resources)
Ala ka san were yira an kene la (May God give us another year of health)
Ala ka san caman yira an kene la (May God give us many years of health)
Ala ka hine an ka taabow la (May our ancestors live on/be respected)
Ala ka yaf’u ma (May they forgive us)
Ala ka yafa an bema (May we be forgiven)

Modibo's wife. She's the one who is such a good cook! Here, she's making the goat brochettes.

Adama and his big sis

I wanted to post this pic because this is what kids play with here as their toys. They roll these tires down the street and run with the tire. Compared to the waste of money that is American toys, I've learned here that kids can get by without toys! I think our money is so much better spent on travel, for example, rather than Barbies and race cars. But, I digress.

Caught the tail end of some people heading to the mosque at prayer call. This is around the 2 PM prayer call. You can hear the chants throughout the entire town in Arabic. And when it happens, a huge group of people congregate to the mosque. 

All day, wherever I was, people were calling people on the phone, giving variations of these blessings, most a lot longer, coming to people’s houses to give the blessings, and children saying them all in unison (to score some candy or money :). And on this day, all is forgiven. I was invited to a bunch of places so I decided to wander around and hit up all of my friends’ houses and surprise them. I brought milk candies, tea and sugar and pineapple soda to give to each family as a small gift.  

Here is a group of kids who came to give us the blessings. All the kids here wear sunglasses on Seli. They all wear their new, nicest clothes and walk around, give blessings and hope to get some free money and candy.

Some of the cous cous and red sauce with goat meat that Modibo's wife made for us. It was delicious!

These are the goat brochettes with globs of mayonnaise Modibo's wife cooked up for us.

I started by going to my friend Papa’s house. Papa owns a little restaurant in the middle of the village. We went to his house where he began by slicing off the good meat from the goat’s body. His son was cleaning out the intestines. For an appetizer, his wife brought us a platter of goat heart and liver, served with sauteed onions, sauce and bread.


Next, I went to the guy’s house who runs our post office. I hang out with him a few times a week while we sit and chat. His wife is an awesome cook, so I was excited to check it out. And his kids are super cute.
He made the tea I brought and his kids sucked down the boissons. Something small like a pop is a big treat for people here. His wife, a Fulani woman (known for herding cattle and liking milk), made us goat brochettes with globs of mayonnaise and something kind of like cous cous. It was so delicious!

At the third house, Fili's house. The kids wanted to show off their new clothes, so we took this pic. 

After that, I wandered over to the Alimentation, or Toubab store. I gave the owner my blessings and left. Then, I hit up the guy’s butiki and sandwich place where I go to get egg sandwiches and coffee in the morning. He was sleeping when I got there, but someone jabbed him in the leg to let him know I came to greet. We exchanged greetings.


For my final stop, I went to my friend’s house - Fili. Fili and I sit and chat while she works in the market. I sat and chilled with Fili and her huge extended family and multi-family compound while she washed dishes and watched after her brother’s kids.


Fili filled me up with a heaping plate of goat with the bones, fat and all and potatoes. Her “little sister,” who I’m not sure what real relation they are, but they’re all family here, made the tea. After we shared the plate of food, she bathed and changed into her new clothes.

The boissons and tea I brought as my Seliba gift, and the full bowl of goat meat and potatoes Fili gave me.

Getting ready to make some tea at Fili's house

This little guy is a twin. I took a pic of he and his twin in their new Seli clothes. He was dragging around this old gasoline tank as his toy. A bunch of kids do that here. The world is their playground.

Malians go nuts when it comes to their clothes on Tabaski. My tutor told me his family spent more than 100,000 CFAs on new, crisp, bazin clothes this year. That’s the equivalent to $200!!! And his family is not rich. This is just Malian culture, they go all out for Seli fitini and Seliba. It’s so important for them to be hospitable to their neighbors and friends and to look really  nice on this day.


After Fili’s house, I finally went home, greeting a bunch of my friends on the way. When I got home, my host mom had saved me a plate of more goat and potatoes!!! More people came over to exchange blessings and they were really humbled by the tea, boissons and candies I gave out. Then, one of the teachers from my women’s sewing school came over to greet me. He lives all the way across town, so it was awesome to see him.

The little guys and their twin and their new clothes

Another set of twins and their new clothes - bazin, the waxy fabric that Malians love. Bazin is the most expensive fabric here so it's what people like to wear for big occasions. 

Here is Fili in her new clothes

Fili and I in our Seli clothes

They laughed at me because of how white the flash made me. PS Yes, I have a mullet.

Fili in her Seli clothes. She looks so good!

Here is a rare photo - of the market completely empty!

And that was Tabaski. They’re going to do some more “partying” all week. :)

Peace, progress, adventures and mohawks,

Laura