The Past Like Silk Cotton Trees: Oral Tradition and West African History

Abstract

This paper seeks to demonstrate the value of oral tradition to historical study by overviewing the ancient Jenne Jeno in West Africa. In many ways this city defies traditional theories of civilization and demands that historians incorporate such diversity as they strive to tell an inclusive story of the past. As Christian historians especially, we must celebrate this diversity as concomitant with our biblical calling.