Homme Peule

"Peule Man" (caption translation). Peule, which is the French term for Fula, Fulbe, Fulani among other variations, are among the largest nomadic pastoral communities in the world. This image depicts a Peule man from the Senegambia region, but these cattle herders exist across West Africa, especially in the Eastern and Central Savanna regions. According to Boilat, "this Peule man is shown in his everyday dress. He is wearing a small blue cap, decorated with a plume of horsehair; his hair style includes a pomade of curdled milk/rennet (lait caille) or white cheese. Around his neck are amulets (gris-gris) serving various protective functions, and crossed over his chest are other gris-gris to ward off bullets; he is also wearing a grigri on his right arm, while ornamental copper bracelets are worn on his left arm and right ankle. Slung from his waist is coufa, a horn which contains powder, bullets, and smoking tobacco. A Peule, the author notes, never travels without his spear" (pp. 25-26). David Boilat (1814-1901) was one of the first Catholic priests in the Senegambia region. His father was French and his mother a Signare, which was a term from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries used to describe a mixed-race, French-African woman. Boilat spoke Wolof and Serer; and made his drawings from life. The 24 plates based on these drawings are explained in an accompanying text. Boilat left Senegal around the age of 13, was educated in France and he returned to Senegal in 1842 where he lived for ten years working as a teacher. He returned to France where he completed his Esquisses sénégalaises in 1853. He also published a Wolof dictionary in 1858.