SUNDIATA:
Teaching about the founding emperor of Mali,
an epic hero
The story of Sundiata is a classic in several senses. First, it is an important account—a
primary source—of the founder of one of the richest and most powerful empires of the
13th century world. Second, the oral epic, Sundiata, is a literary classic, a poetically and
powerfully written story of a young man who meets a number of challenges to be worthy
of founding an empire.
For many of our students, Africa as a whole is a blur of stereotyped images. The story of
Sundiata counters this, offering what any good story does: make a particular place, time
and people come to life and excite our attention.
Text choice: There are several versions of this oral epic. For ninth graders, with
sufficient time, the D.T. Niane version, Sundiata can work. Simpler versions include the
award-winning picture book by David Wisniewski, Sundiata. (The book concludes with
an interesting illstrator’s afterword about his need to change the illustrations in response
to Malians’ comments about nto showing emotions publicly.) Just published by Lerner is
the graphic novel, Sundiata: warrior King of Mali. Finally, there is a lovely wellillustrated French version of the epic, by Dialiba Konate, written for older children.
Teaching Ideas and Resources: In teaching a ninth grade class with my colleague,
Dorian Bowman, I have used the Wisniewski version very effectively. We used the
Wisniewski version.
1. Read the book aloud, with the students sitting in a circle, as if listening to a griot. If
there are two teachers or adults in the classroom, one of us reads the narrative while the
other one reads the individual voices.
2. Ask the students to answer two questions as they listen to the book being read, perhaps
for a 2nd time. I break them into two groups with each group listing for one question. The
two questions are 1) what makes this the "founding story" of Mali -- both of ancient Mali
and Mali today? 2) an epic hero epic heroes often need to prove himself. What makes
Sundiata an epic hero? Or to put it another way, what challenges does Sundiata need to
meet in order to prove himself worthy of becoming king of Mali?
3. Sundiata is oral history of a hero. Ask the students to prepare as homework: What story
does your family (or a family you know well) take pride from that has been passed down?
What does this story tell about your family?
4. We have a CD and teaching guide from Carnegie Hall of music of Mali, intended for
high school social studies classrooms. The first song on the CD is about Sundiata. The
second song is a reminder to Malians living abroad never to forget the greatness from
which they came. A deposit of $25 is requested for the safe return of this out-of-print
resource.
5. We own a CD and book of photos about griots: Jali Kunda.
6. We also lend out Keita, a wonderful video by a filmmaker from Burkina Faso about a
Malian boy today who learns from a griot that he is descended from the great Sundiata.
Excited by this knowledge, the boy neglects his school studies in order to study about
Sundiata -- much to the consternation of his western-oriented parents who reject African
traditions. This feature film has wonderful excerpts for high school classroom use and
discussion.
Barbara Brown, Ph.D.
Outreach Director,
African Studies Center, Boston University
February 2009