La chasse au lion à l'arc (1966) - full transcript

LION HUNTING

WITH BOW AND ARROW

A film made on the border

of Niger and Mali

in 7 missions by France's CNRS

and Niger's lFAN.

The film was begun in 1958

and finished in 1965.

Children, in the name of God,

listen!

Listen to the story of Gawey-Gawey.

Gawey-Gawey,

the story of your fathers

and grandfathers,

the story of those who hunt lions

with bow and arrow.

The country where this story

takes place is called

gandyi kan ga moru ga moru,

"the bush

which is further than far",

the Land of Nowhere.

To reach this land,

we must cross issa beri,

the "great river", the Niger.

The route to the Land of Nowhere

begins on the Gourma side

and heads north.

At first there are roads

and villages.

In each village we have to stop

to put water in the cars" radiators.

Then, after Bankilar?,

after T?gu?,

after Yatakala,

there are no more villages.

There's no more road,

only the bush.

If you make it past Erksam dune,

you enter

gandyi kan ga moru ga moru,

"the bush

which is further than far",

the Land of Nowhere.

This is a land of sand,

a land of dust and haze.

These are forests without tracks,

mountains whose names

have been forgotten,

which we call

"the mountains of the moon"

and "the mountains of crystal".

Here there is nothing at all.

And yet, a long time ago,

people lived here.

They left on the rocks

these pictures

which show what they were:

horsemen,

wearing two or three horns,

holding in one hand a shield,

in the other, a spear or bow.

Who were these men?

No one knows.

They were "the men of before".

The men of before

also left these circled crosses,

which might have been

magic symbols,

gandyi hau,

for mastery over the bush.

But they could

just as well be chariot wheels,

copied from the first chariots

which crossed the Sahara

to reach this place.

Or maybe they are traps,

which the men of before used

for catching wild animals:

crocodiles, wild sheep,

giraffes, buffalo,

antelopes...

The men of before may have vanished

from the Land of Nowhere,

but the wild animals

are still here.

And yet,

a few people manage to survive

around the waterholes

of the Land of Nowhere.

These are the people

of wind and space,

the great nomads,

like the Bella,

nomads who wander

from the centre of the Sahara

to the edges of sedentary life.

With their camels

they go as far as Taoudeni,

the mediaeval salt mines,

and sell their cakes of rock salt

in markets to the south.

Other nomads

are the Djelgolb? Peul.

They are herders,

the last Peul nomads

in this loop of the Niger.

At night they keep their herds

in pasture.

During the day, they take them

to the waterholes.

Alongside the Bella's

and Peul's herds

is moussoub?ri,

the lion.

The lion lives in close contact

with the herders.

He is a friend of the Peul.

From time to time

he takes a cow,

but always a sick one.

Thus he keeps

the whole herd healthy.

Every night, in the precarious camps

of the Bella and Peul,

the young animals are herded

behind fences of thorns.

Behind these thorns,

the young animals are safe.

When they are older,

they will spend the night

in the bush,

where it is cooler,

but where the lion might attack.

The herders, not in the bush,

hear the roar of the lions

and recognise them.

They call them by name,

recognise each one.

They know if they are married,

if they have eaten,

if they come

from the north or south.

They know, too, how to defend

themselves against lions,

by throwing stones

or beating them with sticks.

A lion, once attacked

with sticks or stones,

will never attack a man.

For the Peul children to sleep,

they need to hear

the roar of the lions.

Sometimes the lion goes too far,

breaking his pact with the herders,

and attacking healthy cows.

Killing for killing's sake.

Then the Peul call on the last

great bow-and-arrow lion hunters,

the Gow.

The Gow live on the banks

of the Goruol,

a sedentary people,

on the fringe

of the nomadic lifestyle.

They are millet farmers.

And sometimes,

in farming villages like B?dari's,

the Gow group together

to kill a lion at harvest time.

In the camp, a dried lion skin

with, through its nose, a baza,

the rope of captive animals.

Nearby, its skull.

And here are the great hunters:

Tahirou,

Issiaka,

B?dari M?laki,

Wangari Moussa,

Issiaka Moussa,

who's also a musician.

Each of them has killed

from 50 to 100 lions,

with just a bow and arrow.

Each time, old Hawa Adamou

sings the praises

of these hunters,

who can take on the lion

in hand-to-hand combat,

who can drag it to the village,

still alive, by its tail.

She sings the praises

of Tahirou Koro,

chief of the hunters,

she sings the praises of lssiaka,

the youngest and bravest,

she sings the praises

of these hunters" ancestors,

who stuffed their pipes

with buffalo.

All the Gow children practise

their archery skills every day.

They shoot at a bush

placed 50 metres away.

A bush for a lion...

This is how,

in the Land of Nowhere,

the lions, the Bella, the Peul

and the hunters live all year long.

To hunt lion,

you first need a fighting bow.

Wangari and Tahirou go into the bush

where the lions live

to cut a branch.

They choose a branch

which is already bow-shaped.

Wangari presents

his bow to the bush

saying,

"Beasts of the bush, look!

"Here is my new bow,

your new enemy!"

In the village, Tahirou

and Bellebia,

watched by little Ali,

bend the bows into shape

between stakes

driven into the ground.

Now they go to the blacksmith

to ask him to make an arrowhead.

Moukayla, the blacksmith,

makes an arrowhead for five francs.

A small piece of iron

is cut lengthways,

heated in the fire,

and twisted into a spiral,

so that the poison remains

in the iron spiral.

It's straightened on the anvil,

barbed,

flattened..

cooled in the sand

and sharpened.

The new arrowhead is given

to Tahirou Koro,

chief of the hunters.

The shaft is made of bush reed.

Wangari straightens the reeds,

cuts the end off,

carves out the nock

for the bowstring

and strengthens the two ends

with animal gut.

He inserts the arrowhead

into the arrow,

straightens it...

strengthens the bindings...

and fixes them with glue.

The arrow isn"t feathered,

but if it's straight

it will hit its target.

The poison, the nadyi,

comes from the fruit of a tree

not found where the hunters live.

They have to go

500 kilometres south,

to Handalaye forest, for example,

where Tahirou and Y?ya,

helped by the hunter Foudi,

go looking for nadyinya,

"the mother of nadyi",

a Strophanthus tree,

source of the poison.

Its twisted branches hold pods

which contain seeds,

and it's these seeds

that produce the nadyi, the poison.

Early one Saturday morning,

the hunters get ready

to make the poison.

It's a serious operation,

which takes place every four years,

and from which women are excluded.

They go off into the bush,

for that's where bad things

are made.

The hunters stop under a tree,

in the shade of which

generations of hunters

have always prepared the nadyi,

the arrow poison.

Tahirou and his assistant Sidiki

undress and put on benta,

shorts which, in theory,

should be leather,

the only garment worn by hunters

and the men of before.

Tahirou and Sidiki have shaved

their heads to purify themselves.

The hearth of the fire

is hollowed out,

and Tahirou, chief of the hunters,

uses ashes

to mark out a magic circle,

a keli, an enclosure...

No one can enter the magic circle.

No one.

And in particular, evil.

Only he and Sidiki

are allowed inside the circle,

to make the serious, evil thing,

the nadyi.

The great operation begins.

Sidiki circles crossed hands

seven times around the cauldron

placed on the hearth,

then drops in handfuls of nadyi,

seeds of the poison tree.

Thus the animal hit by the arrow

will have its paws tied

in the same crossed way.

Then he takes the cauldron

and, still with crossed hands,

turns it to

the four cardinal points,

around the hearth stones,

then he drops to the ground.

Thus the animal hit by the arrow

will drop to the ground.

With his hands also crossed,

Tahirou takes a gourd full of water

and circles it round the cauldron.

North, east, west and south.

The gourd stumbles and falls.

Thus the animal hit by the arrow

will stumble,

whether it runs

north, east, west or south.

The water in the gourd

was drawn from the well

by an extremely jealous woman,

specially selected

for her evil nature.

When the cauldron is full,

Tahirou drops to the ground

once again.

He lights the fire.

The straw used to light the fire

was gathered

by a woman who suffered badly

during childbirth.

When the water starts to boil,

Tahirou uses a gourd

with a long handle

to stir the mixture,

while chanting

the great spell

of the boto poison.

Evil, evil Boto

The ancestors gave you to Bio

Bio gave you to Sido

Sido gave you to Firsi

Firsi gave you to Boulassan

Boulassan gave you to Koro

And Koro gave you to me, Tahirou

Heart of fire

The heart is not a rag

Your heart

is hotter than boiling water

Your heart is hotter than fire

You burn like the cauldron

You want to escape

from the cauldron

Hit the cauldron,

break the cauldron

You, Boto, refuse shame

and know not gratitude

The sun is hot,

the shadow is hot

You cannot go forward

or backward

You cannot go down or up

Your day has come, Boto

The fire has burnt the three stones

On which rests the cauldron

In the cauldron is a fire

which will burn all the bush

Boto, your day has come

The female poison

which does more harm

Than male poison

You sting the flesh

You sting the lion's leg

You sting the elephant's ear

You sting legs and ears

It falls to its knees...

T ahirou falls once again.

Sidiki fetches the leaves

used as a filter,

through which

the first mixture is poured.

The seeds are carefully saved.

They"ll be used to make a second,

less powerful poison,

for less dangerous animals.

They will also be used as medicine.

To the first mixture is added

seven pepper seeds,

roots from a tree

which blocks a road,

and pieces of a herb

called "hyena grass".

Then Tahirou takes the hot cauldron

and, still making

the same ritual gestures,

boils once again

the boto poison.

Now the poison is ready.

With the long-handled gourd,

Tahirou pours out the poison

into pieces of broken cauldron.

Everyone used to help himself

from the same cauldron.

But if one of the hunters

broke hunting taboos,

for example, by having

relations with a woman,

the whole batch of poison

would be spoiled.

Now each takes his own risks.

All the Gow hunters,

Tahirou's apprentices,

in the shade of the tree,

get to work on the poison arrows.

They take a break at noon.

Tahirou Koro's wives

bring food:

a broth of millet

mixed with gansi leaves,

wild sorrel.

In the afternoon

works starts again.

Little boys come to watch

how the poison

is put on the arrows.

Wangari has all his arrows.

He keeps a careful count

of how many layers

are on each arrow.

It's a good poison:

completely black already.

Then, disaster!

Old Nyendou,

a Djerma from Weyzebangou,

sorts the seven cauri shells

and says,

"O woe! The hunt you"re planning

will be a bad one!

"You"re on the wrong track!

"One of you will ruin the hunt!

"You will have accidents!

"Hunters, in God's name, don"t go!

"The hunt will be bad!"

The hunters are afraid.

So lssiaka, the youngest,

takes his instrument

and plays the hunters" song,

Gawey-Gawey...

Next to him,

Wangari, his older brother,

sings along

to the hunters" song,

but also sings

the Songhai warriors" song,

a tune which fills them

with courage.

For real courage only comes

when you are really afraid,

and you have to conquer your fear.

Only hunters know how to do this.

Old Nyendou the soothsayer,

the seer of evil omens,

says nothing.

But he knows

that the cauri shells do not lie,

that the hunters might be brave,

but that the road ahead is bad.

The poison is now dry.

B?dari puts his arrows away

in his quiver.

And they break the pieces

of the cauldrons which were used

for preparing the poison

on the stones of the hearth

where the water was boiled.

On top, they place the leaves

which were used as the filter.

B?dari tramples them down,

as tradition demands.

And the hunters,

with their new arrows,

new poison and fighting bows,

go home.

One morning

they leave for the hunt.

The hunters of Yatakala

and Weyzebangou are together.

As tradition demands,

they will begin the hunt at Wazel,

where the herds come to drink.

There are several types of hunt.

The first entails digging

a small pond under a tree.

The hunter waits for the lions.

When they come at night to drink,

he fires an arrow,

and that's that!

The second consists

of building a hide

of wood and straw,

next to another artificial pond.

The hunter hides inside

and fires through the holes.

The next day he just follows

the tracks to the dead lion.

But neither will do in this case.

They happen at night

and, sometimes,

take a month or two.

The third is a real hunt,

where a herder tells a hunter,

"There's a lion in the bush,

a short distance away."

And the lone hunter, armed only

with a few arrows and his courage,

goes to face the lion.

To face a lion alone in this way,

you need all the magic charms

and lots of courage,

because the lion

takes a few minutes to die,

and the only way to avoid it

is by becoming invisible,

while the lion roars

and covers you in its dust.

Tahirou is all for this type of hunt,

but not Y?ya.

Fifty times

has he faced a lion alone,

making a noise to alert the lion

before firing,

then standing still

while the poison took effect!

Y?ya says, "No, it's impossible.

"The hunter must be alone

for that type of hunt.

"We have to hunt with traps."

The traps are made

a long way away, in Ghana.

In the bush, the traps

are attached to a chain,

and the chain to a tree trunk.

The trunk slows the lion down.

The idea isn't to anchor the trap,

but simply to stop the lion

charging too fast.

Y?ya, Tahirou,

Ousseyini and Wangari

pierce the lumps of wood

with iron staples,

which hold the chains

attached to the traps.

Then they open the trap,

and set the chock,

the safety pin.

The hunters are now ready

to go lion hunting.

In the bush a few kilometres

north of Wazel

there are lions.

The hunters head into the bush

they call "the lions" bush".

But you never see them

in daylight.

They could be there,

only metres away, behind a tree.

They see you,

but you don"t see them.

They hear you,

but you don"t hear them.

They smell you,

but you don"t smell them.

A lion was here yesterday.

Here are some droppings,

here a track...

A lioness and two cubs.

Here are the animals they ate...

They urinated in the bush here.

They"re not far away.

A hole is dug in a spot

where the lion might rest.

It's an old trap

and the iron plate is broken.

They replace it

with a piece of gourd.

The trap is put in place,

covered with small pieces of wood,

a few pieces of bark

and some ashes.

Then earth is spread over it,

leaving no trace.

The trap is ready.

Wangari sweeps away the smells,

taking care not to tread

on the trap.

Now it no longer depends

on the gawey,

on the hunters, on the men...

It depends on the bush.

The next day at sunrise

the hunters get ready.

Tahirou Koro, the chief,

distributes a guri to each man,

magic necklaces

to make them invisible.

If the lion spots them

and tries to charge,

they will turn into water,

into needles,

into birds...

The hunters take out

two or three arrows,

tug at their bows

and move slowly forward...

The story of the night

is visible on the ground.

The lioness was here

with her two cubs.

The tracks remain...

But the lioness smelt

that something was wrong,

smelt man, smelt a trap...

The lioness and her cubs

kept their distance.

The first trap wasn't sprung.

The hunters check the second...

The second wasn't sprung either.

Tahirou knows that the lions

jinxed the magic charms.

They are stronger

than the hunters.

Wangari collects the third trap.

The lions missed it.

They find the tracks,

they don"t lose them.

The lions went on to Zouroukan.

Four of them.

Here are the tracks.

They"re close by.

But what can be done

in all this sand?

Where are they?

Maybe they turned back.

Maybe they"ll come up from behind.

At the top of the dune

their tracks end.

They spent last night here.

"Look in the bush,"

says Tahirou Koro.

Wangari is puzzled.

He knows they"re hunting in vain.

Ousseyini examines the tracks.

Everyone knows it's hopeless.

The lions know they"re being hunted,

they've turned vicious.

They could attack at any moment.

What to do?

Wangari says carry on.

Tahirou says they"ll carry on

for a few more days,

see if they get lucky.

They hunt at Bouma, at Tokya,

at Karey-Goussou,

and everywhere it's the same.

In the dry land, the savannah,

the forests, the dunes,

for days and days,

they track the lions,

but every morning

the traps are empty.

One morning they find

a hyena's paw in a trap.

The hyena is

the bush's most dangerous animal,

for its soul can haunt hunters.

This hyena's paw means the bush

is tired of the hunters.

It's time to stop the hunt.

What's more,

the rainy season has begun,

the trees are in blossom.

So the hunters go back south,

and as they approach Yatakala,

the Goruol is already swollen.

Now it really is time

to call off the hunt.

When the bush is wet

there's no point looking for lions,

which could be anywhere,

and don"t lurk around pasture land

or waterholes.

But Tahirou Koro, lssiaka

and Y?ya decide to find out

what happened.

They consult a man

who can read the earth,

a soothsayer from Doumba,

old Tina.

Tina casts 'stars" in the earth,

counting in pairs,

odd-numbered groups

and groups of four,

thus calling up

"the four moons".

In the sand

appears tadiga, "the way",

aldyama, "the encounter",

and yekala,

meaning "the young girl"

but also "death".

Now Tina does everything

in reverse.

He puts the figures in "houses".

The operation begins...

"The lucky day" appears in 3 houses,

that of life, the way and the word.

Aldyama, "death",

appears six times.

Adyangali, "departing victory",

appears twice.

The soothsayer says,

"Among you there is a hunter

"born under the same star

as a lion.

"He knows that if you kill a lion,

"he will die the very same day.

"l do not know his name,

"but he is black."

"Wangari?" asks Tahirou.

"No, not Wangari.

"All I know is, he farms land

to the south of the village

"and his mother is still alive."

The hunters know who it was

who ruined the hunt.

They say nothing,

but they are forced

to call off the hunt.

The hunter spoiled the bush.

A few years later

we receive a telegram from Tahirou:

"Trap catch lion at Yatakala, stop.

"Wait for you Ayorou."

This means the hunt

is possible once more.

We set off again

with ldrissa Maiga,

Damour? Zika, Lam and Talou,

for the Land of Nowhere.

Soon, in front of our Land Rover

the mountains of the moon

and the mountains of crystal appear.

At Yatakala the telegram's meaning

becomes clear.

In the cemetery

there's a new grave,

that of the hunter

who spoiled the hunt,

who "made the bush weary".

Now he's dead,

the hunt can start again.

But this time the hunters

want luck on their side.

That evening,

playing his instrument,

Issiaka calls on

the genies of the bush.

And Takoun, the genie who flies

round in whirlwinds, says,

"Go! The hunt will be good."

This year,

the Fitili waterhole is full.

This year the Peul

do not have to draw water

for their herds.

The herders spend every day

in the shade.

They bring the traditional gifts

of water and milk

to Wangari and the hunters.

The hunters are here,

with the Peul.

They don"t speak.

The young herders

who have been fighting lions

with sticks and stones,

know why the hunters have come.

They know it's for the lions,

which will only be discussed

when the Peul chief arrives.

The chief says, "There are lions."

Old Ali says,

"Lots of lions around Fitili!

"Hunters, just walk a short way

"and you can grab their tails!"

In the afternoon

the hunters go on reconnaissance.

Bellebia, Y?ya, Tahirou Koro,

Issiaka and Ali,

who wants to be a hunter,

but is not allowed a bow

until he's proved his courage.

Here are the tracks,

lion tracks,

so familiar to the hunters.

It's a strong, clever lion,

which the hunters name

"the American".

The American leapt...

Here is a bloodstain.

And, there on the ground,

a magic charm.

One tied around a camel's neck

to protect it.

The camel's body

is under the thorns.

The charm didn"t work,

the lion attacked.

This is a lion which doesn"t eat

the animals it kills.

As carefully as possible,

the hunters place their traps.

But the American knows

all the secrets of the hunt,

and lssiaka takes other precautions.

The genie Takoun tells him,

"Lions are like pretty girls:

"they like perfume.

"Open a small bottle

next to the traps.

"The lion's bound to come

"and call the other lions."

Issiaka buries

under a pile of pebbles

a small bottle of Soir de Paris.

Each of the hunters

comes and places a small pebble,

making the wish:

"Let the lions come tonight

and visit the traps."

At the camp, Y?ya prepares the head

of a cow killed by the lions.

The hunters stay

under the trees all day

with the herders.

They don"t talk about the hunt.

Too much talking

might affect the bush charms,

and turn the genies of the hunt

against the hunters.

Ali, the apprentice,

repairs his sandals with

an old piece of army clothing...

Bellebia prepares a guri,

a magic necklace

to make him invisible to the lion.

It consists of

a strip of leather, a strip of fur

and a strip of rope,

wrapped in a sheath of skin.

The arrows wait in their quivers.

On Tahirou's bow

there are more guri,

four small bags containing

all the secrets of the hunt.

In the morning

one of the traps has been sprung.

But it's only a jackal,

the lion's slave.

A jackal is gandyi ham,

"bush meat".

The second trap has caught a serval.

A serval, too, is bush meat.

Once slaughtered,

its fur can be made into a quiver.

The third trap has caught a civet.

The civet is used to try out

the three-year-old poison,

the boto.

Wangari fires into its shoulder

and Y?ya chants

the poison's spell...

Your day has come, Boto

The ancestors gave you to Tahirou

Tahirou took you viciously

Whatever you sting

has eyes open but doesn't see

Here comes the trail,

here comes death

I've followed the trail of blood,

the trail of death

Do your evil, Boto!

Asking its forgiveness,

Ali slits its throat,

turning "bush meat"

into 'village meat".

And Y?ya, apologising also,

cuts beneath the civet's tail

for the pocket of musk,

used to make perfume.

Now, in Fitili bush,

there is the trail of blood

which leads to death.

But the lions

have attacked the herds.

The favourite cow of a Peul herder

was wounded last night.

As the lion attacked,

the herder drove it off,

but any wound from a lion

is dangerous.

The herder's wife cries for the cow,

for the Peul herders

love their cows like children.

Tahirou Koro, the hunters" chief,

who knows how to kill lions,

sprinkles dust on the wounds,

pronouncing the magic words

which heal lion wounds.

Now the traps are set every night

and checked every morning.

This morning one has moved.

The hunters, Tahirou, Bellebia,

Ali, Wangari and lssiaka

follow the trail.

Maybe it's a small lion,

maybe a hyena.

It's dragged the trap a long way,

among the wells.

There it is!

They approach slowly.

It's a hyena,

trying to reach the water.

The hyena is the most terrible

animal of the bush,

an animal that feeds on carrion,

a 'soul-eating demon".

Y?ya shoots.

And Y?ya and Wangari

chant the boto verses,

to make the poison work faster.

Issiaka shoots another arrow.

"Die quickly, hyena!

"Die as quickly as you can,

carrion beast!"

Issiaka is afraid.

All the hunters are afraid

of this animal's evil soul,

which could drive them insane.

Issiaka says,

"lt won"t get up again."

Tahirou approaches the body

and they pull it from the water.

Tahirou begs

the hyena's forgiveness,

then hits its head three times

with his bow

to make the dangerous soul depart.

Issiaka cuts its throat:

it is no longer impure.

Its dried flesh and skin

will be made into magic charms

which will be sold in the south.

The arrow which brought it down

is beyond repair.

But, despite all the precautions,

isn"t the death of this hyena

a bad omen?

A stroke of bad luck...

One trap caught a lion

- the wood bears

the marks of its jaws -

but the lion managed

to break the trap and escape.

The hunters are worried.

Are the magic charms

on Tahirou's bow powerful enough?

Has the hyena's soul

spoilt the bush?

Tahirou just says,

"Fix the trap,

"re-arm yourselves with courage,

continue the hunt!"

From now on, it's "bush war".

The hunters find trace

of the American,

the track of the paw

wounded by the trap.

The American is accompanied

by two lionesses and a cub.

Last night the lions

came to Tokya-Bolia,

near a Tuareg camp.

They attacked a donkey.

As if laying down a challenge,

they didn"t eat it all.

Wangari questions the Tuareg chief.

"Yes, the lions

circled the camp all night,

"roaring.

Old Ali says,

"They"ll come back."

Issiaka says, "Let's put traps

all around the dead donkey."

Wangari, replies,

"The American is smart,

"but we"re as smart as he is!"

"Yes," is all Tahirou says.

They cover the donkey with thorns

and surround it with traps.

In the morning,

one of the traps has gone.

There's a trail:

the trap caught a lion.

It's a young male,

maybe the American's son.

The hunters salute the lion.

Tahirou, their chief,

calms the small lion

for it isn"t good

to kill an angry lion.

Tahirou slowly swings his axe

to and fro.

He speaks to the lion in his heart.

Y?ya and Wangari chant

the hunters" song,

and praise the lion.

The small lion calms down.

Issiaka, the youngest hunter,

is chosen to kill it.

He knows that whoever kills

a small lion might lose a son.

But hunting is a serious business.

Everyone knows the risks.

Tahirou, the chief,

speaks to the lion in his heart,

asking him to forgive the hunters

and to die as quickly as possible.

With three taps,

Tahirou sets the lion's soul free.

The hunters get back on the trail

of the American and his females.

One morning, at Karey-Goussou,

a flag indicates that a lion

has been caught near the Bella camp.

Wangari says, "Watch out!

"The trap only has part of its paw.

"He could get away."

Issiaka picks his three best arrows.

And Tahirou gives the cry

that inspires courage: Moukaga!

The lion is hit by Wangari's arrow.

Wangari sings the praises

of the hunters,

of courage and skill,

and of the dying lion...

And Y?ya chants the spell

of the boto poison...

Evil, evil, evil Boto!

These are the difficult days

Do your evil, female poison

worse than the male

Poison Boto

The arrow strikes, the animal dies

The arrow stays, the animal dies

The arrow falls, the bones are dead

The legs are dead, the blood is dead

Your day has come,

the sun is hot

The shade is hot

You cannot go forward

or backward

Your heart is fire,

your belly is fire

Your blood is fire,

your belly smokes

Your blood begins to boil

Evil, evil, evil Boto!

Whoever leaves you, starves

Whoever takes you, dies vomiting

T ahirou repeats

the words of courage to the lion.

" Lion, now you must die."

Issiaka pulls the animal's body out.

An adult lioness.

Tahirou uses his magic charms

to free the lioness's soul.

He puts powdered bark

in its nose, mouth and anus.

Then he strokes the lioness

and begs her forgiveness.

If he didn"t, the lioness's soul

could drive

one of the hunters insane.

The hunters recover the three arrows

which killed the lioness.

They are great trophies.

Then Tahirou gives the earth

its trail of blood and death.

He throws a little earth

on the lioness's head,

to make her soul depart

once and for all.

Now the bush war intensifies.

The American attacks

almost every day.

One morning, a Tuareg announces

a trap has caught a lion,

to the north, near the Fitili camp.

Despite the hunters" advice

and Tahirou's orders,

the herders

want to watch the lion killed,

as they"re not allowed to kill one.

Suddenly, catastrophe!

The lion charges

and catches a herder.

I stop filming but

the tape recorder keeps turning.

A miracle!

Just as the other herders attack,

the lion dies.

The wounded herder is freed.

It's the one whose favourite cow

was recently attacked.

The ground is stained

with his blood and the lioness's.

The hunters insult the herders

and the herders insult the lioness.

Wangari says,

"Wife of the American,

"yesterday you attacked herds,

today you attacked herders.

"Now look at you!"

Bellebia sings the praises

of the poison,

faster-acting than a charging lion,

of the hunters who didn"t flee,

and of the lioness,

who showed courage,

though caught in a trap.

The wife of the herder

is crying.

The other day she was crying

for her favourite cow,

now it's for her husband.

The herder's daughter also cries

for her father.

She keeps crying,

until the old women tell her,

"Your father's

been wounded by a lion.

"These things happen every day.

There's no shame."

However, it's to hide the shame

that they hold up a blanket,

behind which Damour? Zika

tends to the herder's wounds.

They"re only little jabs.

The first is for tetanus.

The second is penicillin.

This is the best jab of all,

against gangrene.

And Tahirou says to the herder,

"You must have done bad things

for a lion to pick you out twice.

"ln God's name,

you"re lucky not to be dead!"

And the hunters tell the herder

what he must do

to appease the bush's anger.

The hunt is now called off

because a man has been wounded,

and the hunters return

to Yatakala village.

The lioness's body

has been put in the Land Rover,

and Wangari sings

all the way back...

I sing for real hunters,

not hunters of dead animals

Our chief's name is Tahirou

Husband of Kombi,

father of llyassou

I salute you, the bravest of all

The hunter of morning,

evening and all time

O hunters! Who will die,

who will live till tomorrow?

O lion, I saw the fur on your paws

I saw the fur on your head

I'd never seen a lion so big

O my brothers,

take your boys' places

You without courage,

go back with the women

We boys know how

we are going to kill the lion

We are tired and happy

We are the Gow hunters,

the Yatakala lion killers

Our name is known

from sunrise to sunset...

The whole village

runs towards Boseydo,

in the shade of the tamarind tree,

where, traditionally,

the hunters perform the lion ritual.

When everyone is there,

Wangari says,

"Look, here is Tahirou our chief.

"Tahirou had luck on his side,

he prepared the poison.

"And here is lssiaka,

the best marksman."

The women say, "Our husbands

are like the warriors of yore,

"they are braver than the lions."

Y?ya places bark fetters

around the lioness's head

to show that it is no longer

a bush animal,

but now a village animal.

Y?ya pulls its tongue.

And Tahirou

once more distributes the powder

which lets its soul depart.

Then the lion's throat is cut,

to make its meat edible.

Y?ya removes the trap.

The paw wasn't even broken.

Wangari and Bellebia

stroke the lion.

Bellebia puts his finger

in the wound.

Then it is butchered.

Because lions also get eaten.

There's no meat better than a lion

killed with a poison arrow,

and it can also cure rheumatism.

Wangari tells the women

the story of the hunt...

"The lioness is thin,

"a young girl

who hasn"t eaten for a week,

"a trollop with no husband,

"a bad girl looking for boys...

"When a girl gets up to mischief,

that's what happens to her!"

Now the herder's miracle

is explained.

They find lssiaka's arrow

in the lioness's heart.

And, as tradition demands,

it is given to the hunters" chief,

Tahirou Koro.

The lioness's heart

is also given to Tahirou Koro.

The heart will be dried

and sold in the south

to an important man,

whom it will fill with courage.

Today, in Yatakala,

the drums sing the praises

of the lion hunters,

they who have brought meat

to the village,

they who have chased shame

into the bush...

In the afternoon, the drums

call the boys to the river

for the traditional miming

of the hunt by the hunters.

Wangari relates how the hunters

approached the small lion,

how they killed it...

And Wangari says, "Children!

"When you stand before a small lion,

don"t be afraid.

"Just aim well."

Now the roles are reversed

and Wangari plays the part

of the Fitili lioness.

Wangari approaches, roaring.

Sidiki plays a hunter,

approaching a child

representing a bush.

He moves slowly

and shoots the lioness.

The whole day

is dedicated to the hunters.

And that evening,

as tradition demands,

before returning to their village,

the hunters gather

round the skin of the lioness.

Issiaka, the best marksman,

has picked up his instrument

and plays Gawey-Gawey,

the hunters" song.

Wangari tells the story of the hunt

to the whole village.

Children, that is the story

of Gawey-Gawey,

of they who hunt lions

with bow and arrow,

the story told by Wangari,

the story of the jackal,

the story of the small lion,

the story of the lionesses

of Karey-Goussou and Fitili,

the story of the American

who's still in the bush,

the story of lssiaka,

the best marksman,

the story of Tahirou Koro, chief

of the hunters, chief of poisons,

the story of Y?ya,

his little brother

who sings the praises

of boto poison,

the story of Ali the apprentice,

now a fully-fledged hunter,

the story of Bellebia, the best

tracker in the Land of Nowhere,

the story of the lion,

who now has the baza,

the captive rope, in its nose...

A story like this, children,

you may never experience,

for when you are grown

no one will hunt lions

with bow and arrow...

There, the story of Gawey-Gawey

is finished.

Subtitles by Howard Bonsor

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