Research Seminar: Bonnie McConnell

Singing the Rain: Kanyeleng Performers and Climate Change Adaptation in the Gambia

Bonnie McConnell
Sheikh Omar Jallow

In the Gambia, kanyeleng fertility society performers possess special knowledge about environmental wellbeing that includes a repertoire of rainmaking songs performed in response to drought. During the past decade, kanyeleng performers have increasingly applied their specialist musical and environmental knowledge in the context of contemporary climate change adaptation programs that aim to support farmers’ resilience to challenges such as unpredictable rainfall and salt-water intrusion in agricultural lands. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted since 2012, we use rainmaking songs as a starting point to suggest ways forward for an ethnomusicology of climate change that is attuned to the depth of indigenous musical and environmental knowledge, while also engaged with global issues of climate justice and collective action.

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Meeting ID: 864 9883 0235 Password: 116497