Baoulé.wiki
The Baoulé people of Côte d'Ivoire: from Queen Pokou's crossing of the Komoé to goli masks, woven pagnes and the two great cities of Bouaké and Yamoussoukro.
An Akan people at the heart of Côte d'Ivoire
The Baoulé live in central Côte d'Ivoire, in the area known as the "V Baoulé" around Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. By tradition they descend from an Asante group that left the Kingdom of Ashanti in the eighteenth century under Queen Pokou and crossed the Komoé river at a terrible price: her own child.
Matrilineal, skilled in goldworking, weaving and sculpture, farmers of the yam, the cocoa tree and the coffee shrub, the Baoulé have given Côte d'Ivoire some of its most recognisable art — and its first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
Explore the Baoulé world
18 dossiers on history, society, culture and territory.
History
Origins & Migration
From the Akan forest to the lands between the Bandama and the N'Zi.
Read more →Queen Pokou
The queen, the Komoé river and the sacrifice that named a people.
Read more →The Kingdom & Sakassou
Akwa Boni, the royal seat of Sakassou and Baoulé chieftaincies.
Read more →Colonial Conquest & Resistance
The French conquest (1891–1911) and the resistance led by Blalè.
Read more →Complete Timeline
From the migration to the present: key dates, filterable by era.
Read more →Society
Society & Family
Matrilineal heritage, villages, elders and women in Baoulé life.
Read more →Spirituality & Beliefs
Niamien, the blolo world, protective spirits and ancestors.
Read more →Baoulé Names
Names by day of birth, birth order and circumstance — and how they differ from the Asante.
Read more →Land, Gold & Trade
Yams, cocoa, coffee, cashew, goldworking and weaving.
Read more →Land, Tutorat & Migration
The cocoa pioneer front, the tutorat system, the 1998 land law and ivoirité.
Read more →Culture
Art, Masks & Sculpture
Mblo portraits, spirit-spouse figures, gold weights and hunting statuettes.
Read more →Goli & Dance
The four masks of the goli, drums and the great dances.
Read more →The Baoulé Pagne
Hand-woven cloth, wawlé tanni and the road to a geographical indication.
Read more →Festivals & Rituals
Paquinou, funerals, the yam and the reunion of the villages.
Read more →The Baoulé Language
An Akan language: alphabet, numbers and how it relates to Twi.
Read more →Territory & Today
Baoulé Country: Regions & Towns
Bouaké, Yamoussoukro, Sakassou and the towns of the "V Baoulé".
Read more →Notable Figures
Pokou, Akwa Boni, Blalè, Houphouët-Boigny, Bédié and more.
Read more →Asante Cousins
What Baoulé and Asante share — and what sets them apart.
Read more →Glossary
Baoulé and Akan words used across the encyclopedia.
Read more →Queen Pokou and the river that named a people
"Ba ouli" — "the child is dead": the words from which the name Baoulé is said to come.
A story told in many versions, at the border of history and legend — and the founding story of a nation.
Read the legendMasks, drums and woven cloth
The goli dance, with its four masks, is one of the most famous performances of the Baoulé country, while the hand-woven pagne carries a language of patterns. Each Easter, the Paquinou festival brings the villages and their city-dwelling children together again.
Go further on baoule.ci
Baoule.wiki is the encyclopedia; baoule.ci is the community site: in-depth articles, infographics, dictionary resources, tales and the daily life of the Baoulé people.
Cousins of the Asante
Baoulé and Asante share a common Akan root — matrilineal descent, gold and weaving, related languages — yet each people has its own history, its own calendar of names and its own masks. Discover the Asante Kingdom on our sister site, ashanti.wiki.