The Griot's Influence On American Culture

A city full of wealth, power, intellect and religious devotion is how I would describe this ancient city of Mali a thriving and well-known city in ancient Africa. The city had many things to attribute to its wealth and stature, like its trade of salt and gold, the known religious devotion that the kings had. This also shows how the city of Mali was rich powerful and very devout to their religion. For a city even in ancient times, a great city must have a way to prosper with knowledge, that has been acquired through the times. Griots are male storytellers that are the main source of knowledge for the ancient African city of Mali and many other places. They have helped the people by recapping events from long ago that that would most likely not

They have told the story of Sunjata Keita, the original Lion King and he was a boy that was kicked out of his land as a child. The Griots of the land told that this boy held the spirit of the lion so when he came back as a young man to defeat Sumanguru The Twisted, King of Soso who had killed his father. Sunjata Keita’s tutor and advisor and the chief ambassador was Bala Fasé Kouyaté the griot. This griot’s stories of Sunjata’s determination made him one of the common stories told by griots that not even Walt Disney could ignore his popularity (Poulton, "Griots – Mali's Historians and Musicians"). Men like Bala Fasé Kouyate have told stories that may not be a whole truth but using a way to keep the audience engaged was needed for stories like Sunjata Keita’s story. Methods they used was to make the character’s story they want to tell relatable. They made them weak in the start where people underestimated them. They made the characters worthy and men that the people would follow or want to meet in real life, they make these attributes for the people they talk about even if they are not totally

He was a spider that loved to eat with other creatures in the village. So one day he walked around and smelled Rabbit’s food and wanted some and Rabbit agreed so Anansi said to tie one end of some of his web to the pot and one end to his leg. Rabbit would then pull on the web when his food was finished. Anansi left him and smelled the monkeys’ food, after tying the web to his leg and the pot he left, he did this with Hog and many other creatures in his village. Waiting to see who finished first he started to feel Rabbit’s web pull then, he felt another. And another. Anansi was pulled three ways at once. "Oh dear," said Anansi as he felt the fourth web string pull. Just then, he felt the fifth web string tug. And the sixth. And the seventh. And the eighth. Anansi was pulled this way and that way, as everyone pulled on the web strings at once. His legs were pulled thinner and thinner. Anansi rolled and tugged himself into the river. Once the webs washed off he was sad when he saw his legs pulled so thin (Donn "AfricanStorytellers"). Stories like Anansi the Spider taught the village about not becoming greedy and wanting a bit of what everyone has or you might impose troubles upon yourself. Now this story did not just have the moral of not to become greedy but it also helped to explain how spiders got their skinny legs. This story may be fascinating on its own, but the Griots would have put