Harvest Festival

Malians live in remote villages, sheltered by the steep cliffs that stretch 125 miles parallel to the Niger River. The environment is particularly harsh, and Malian farmers struggle to provide food for their families in this dry terrain. A successful harvest is therefore a time of celebration and the giving of thanks. Each year, on December 21, the solstice marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the half of the earth that lies above the equator. Malian people celebrate a plentiful harvest during the winter solstice with a ceremony called "goru."

The word goru is defined as humidity, richness, and abundance, all of which are seen by the Malian as blessings from the spiritual world. In order to show gratitude to the ancestors and to Amma the Creator, the head of a lineage offers pieces of goat and sheep meat as sacrifices to the family altar. These offerings are dramatically presented in the aduno koro, the monumental container that evokes the mythic “ark of the world.”