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The Resurgence of Pawning in French West Africa during the Depression of the 1930s
Author(s): Martin A. Klein and Richard Roberts
Source: African Economic History, No. 16 (1987), pp. 23-37
Published by: African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3601268 .
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THE RESURGENCE OF PAWNING IN

DEPRESSION OF THE 1930S

FRENCH WEST AFRICA DURING THE

By Martin A. Klein
of Toronto
University
Richard Roberts
Stanford
University

The Depression
of the 1930s made itself
felt
in Africa
in 1931
and 1932 with a sharp drop in commodity prices,
which threatened
the
of many Africans
to sustain
and reproduce
themselves.
It
ability
also
threatened
colonial
saw thin resources
which
governments,
strained.
Faced with a dramatic
decline
in
the response
revenues,
of the
in West Africa was to tighten
French regime
tax collection
and cut back on staff
and services.l
a heavy
This, in turn, placed
burden on individuals
and households,
in varying ways
who responded
to the decline
in income and the persistent
demands for revenue.
In
cash crop
had difficulty
but generally
found ways to
areas,
people
taxes.
In many poor areas,
where migrant
labor was the
pay their
source
of
revenue
for
there were few ways to earn
taxes,
major
money, and many people were forced to pawn children,
girls.
usually
In some areas,
the administration
the practice.
clearly
encouraged
was
in
but
the
pre-colonial
Africa,
Pawning
widespread
functions
it filled
varied
to
the social,
and
economic,
according
of the
in which it was found.
political
dynamics
society
Writing
about Central Africa,
Mary Douglas has
argued that
pawning offered
the
men of
less
differentiated
matrilineal
societies
of Central
Africa a "special
of adaptation
kind
to the
basic residential
and
problem
authority
posed by matriliny."
Pawning provided men with
in the
form of
women and eventually
"enduring property"
dependent
which they
used to
lineage
segments,
keep hold of their own young
men and also to attract
the
young men from outside
lineage
group.2
Thus pawning
relations
between groups and facilitated
the
regulated
accumulation
of power.
The literature
on pawning
in
West Africa
is analytically
shallow
but
indicates
that
it
was widespread.
The greater
of the market in West Africa
penetration
clearly
shaped a different
kind of
institution.
Most accounts
link it to famine,
to debt, and
to economic inequality.
a matrilineal
Asante,
Among the
society
more complex
than
those
two
studied,
Douglas
pawning reflected
linked processes:
the increased
of control
over people
importance
and a progressive
erosion
of
based forms of subsistence
lineage
market activities.3
For the patrilineal
security
through increased
Yoruba, E. A. Oroge has argued that pawning developed
in response
to
monetization
and was stimulated
distribution
of
by an unequal
wealth.
that it was marginal
before the nineteenth
Oroge suggests
but expanded dramatically
the
Yoruba
Civil Wars.
century,
during
Parents pawned children
to
raise money to redeem kin who had been
taken prisoner.
Parents
also
offered
their
children
to Yoruba
who protected
patrons,
and provided
for
usually
leaders,
military
their pawns while training
them.4
in almost all parts of French West Africa.
It
Pawning existed
was particularly
in Mande areas
and in the Voltaic
widespread

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24

MARTIN A. KLEIN AND RICHARDROBERTS

It
was mentioned
in
of
and related
region.
surveys
slavery
made during
institutions
the
late nineteenth
and early twentieth
centuries.
a long established
but
institution,
Pawning was clearly
it was not of great concern to most French administrators,
who were
with slavery
not
and did
want
to get
involved
with
preoccupied
social
that
would
their
task.
complex
questions
only complicate
most did not
see
it
as an institution
should be
that
Besides,
The brief
available
in French documents for
changed.
descriptions
an institution
to a market
much linked
many societies
suggest
very
The Malinke term for pawning,
means the profit
economy.
tonomasigi,
or the value remains seated,
that is it
remains with
the creditor.
The Bambara
tonomada means
the
same thing.
This suggests
an
institution
in which market activity
the
value of the
helped define
pawn.5
as many
Pawning may have declined
during the colonial
period,
administrators
but it remained an important
for the
claimed,
option
unfortunate
famine
Several
Macina
informants
during
years.
mentioned
the "great famine" of 1913 and 1914 as a time
specifically
when many children
were
Paulme and Ortoli
that
pawned.6
suggest
in order
to get
during the same famine,
many Dogon pawned children
food.7
In the process,
that the children
would
they also guaranteed
be fed.
little
discussed
in
was,
Pawning
however,
relatively
administrative
until
the Depression
of the 1930s.
In 1931,
reports
it was one of the major headings
on a questionnaire
distributed
to
information
for a report to the League of Nations.8
provide
A pawn was a person
transferred
from one kinship
group to
another as security
for a loan.
The decision
to pawn a member of a
was traditionally
taken
lineage
segment
by the male head of the
were
conducted
in
the 1930s,
segment.
By the time French
surveys
the decision
was usually
taken by the household
head.
The decision
to pawn reflected
the authority
and the power of the
household
head
to dispose
of
the
collective
of
wealth
the
which
was
unit,
in
real
represented
moveable
equally
(fields,
property
houses),
and in people.
(livestock,
property
grain,
tools,
cloth,
etc.),
to Paul
whose
observations
date
to
the "great
According
Marty,
uncles
were quick
to pawn their nieces
famine,"
and nephews, but
were not always the ones to redeem them.
"The girl
is
redeemed by
her
the
"
redeemed
fianc6,
In the
boy is
by his age mates....
absence
of
clear
title
to
land
or any
other
mortgageable
possessions,
form of security.
people became the only possible
The vast
of
all those mentioned
majority
in
pawns, including
the two key cases discussed
in this paper,
were young
Most
girls.
colonial
sources
but
in the cases
say that
they were
pre-nubile,
cited
below, many were 14 to 20 years old.
Boys, younger unmarried
and wives
could also
be pawned.10
brothers,
slaves,
When a young
female pawn reached the age of marriage,
the
creditor
could convert
the loan into bride price,
sum if necessary.
topping up the original
This seems to have been
a frequent
occurrence.
In some cases,
to have
been a form of trial
pawnship seems
If the pawn
marriage.
was attractive
and became
a
was often
pregnant,
marriage
The creditor
did not, however,
negotiated.1"
have the right to act
and had to address himself
to the
debtor to transform
unilaterally
the relationship
into one of marriage
or to pass the pawn on to a
third party.
wrote in 1933:
Thus, one administrator

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PAWNINGIN FRENCHWEST AFRICA

25

There is
no selling
of
women and children
so
properly
called....
It
to note that the creditor
is important
cannot
in any case dispose
of the
a right to
pawns, he has only
their
labor....
of things
is nothing new:
it has
This state
more or less always existed.
It is
to note that
necessary
the misery
over the last three years
due to
poor harvests
had made this practice
increase.12
The creditor
fed and lodged the pawn, who worked for
him until
such time
as the
debt was repaid.
"The bonded person must pay the
amount of his bond to the last cowrie shell,"
Abbe Henry reported.13
In a sense,
the pawn's labor was the interest
on the debt.
The pawn
and the slave did similar
work, but the pawn was not a slave because
he or she remained a member of the original
Pawns could
lineage.14
be redeemed at any time, they remained or were supposed to remain in
the area,
and they kept their own names.1'
In contrast
to slavery,
in which
the
master
owned the
of
his
female slaves
offspring
of the progenitor,
the children
of a female pawn belonged
regardless
to her family.16
within
the restraints
of traditional
Nevertheless,
law, pawning
was an institution
that
could
be shaped
to meet the needs of
different
situations.
The Depression
was just
such
a period.
as a way for people
During the
Depression,
pawning became important
in poorer areas to cope
with
economic
distress.
In the 1930s,
relations
had not
to the point where land could
property
developed
serve as security
for loans,
and family heads
still
had substantial
control
over
their offspring.
The best possible
form of security
for loans remained people and not
As E. A. Oroge has
property.
7
"thrived
on calamity."
written,
pawning
largely
Surprisingly,
most reports
submitted
to
territorial
in 1931 suggested
governors
that the
institution
had disappeared
or had become insignificant.18
Arnaud on Upper Volta recognized
Only a detailed
report
by Robert
that
was widespread.19
assumed that
pawning
Many administrators
because creditors
could
use colonial
tribunals
pawning had declined
to collect
debts.
to recognize
that a pawn provided
They failed
to the creditor.
In explaining
the
absence of
greater
security
the
Lt. Governor of Dahomey wrote that it was "very difficult
data,
to track it down because it is considered
natural
and
by the natives
the parties
involved
are
in agreement
to hide it for fear of legal
action."20
He was probably
right.
French administrators
to the resurgence
responded
ambivalently
of pawning
to the
extent
that
aware of
it at all.
In
they were
their efforts
to reshape the economy of their West African
colonies,
many administrators
appear to have been confused
by the multivalent
character
of pawnship.
Some saw it as a form of slavery.21
Others
saw it
as the
of the contract
relations
which they were
beginnings
to establish.22
France had
seeking
Many administrators
argued that
a commitment to respect
African
customs and institutions.
For most,
this was an excuse not to get involved
with institutions
they did
not
understand.
Since
most pawns were girls
and women, a
fully
reform of pawning meant tinkering
with African
customs
of marriage,
household
and family structure.
When the administration
authority,
it found itself
forced
to regulate
acted,
both pawning and
finally
forced marriages.

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26

MARTINA. KLEIN AND RICHARDROBERTS

Pawning

Attracts

Attention

was thus
aware
The colonial
administration
that
pawning
but probably did not see it as a problem.23
District
level
existed,
did
not mention
before the end
pawning with any regularity
reports
of 1933 or the
of
1934.
The issue
to the
was brought
beginning
attention
late
in
1933
administrations's
the
by Mgr. Thevenoud,
Vicar Apostolic
of the White Fathers
in Ouagadougou,
one of
the few
successful
Catholic
Missions
in
French West Africa.24
genuinely
Since 1888, the Church had been
the most
important
group pressing
the colonial
administration
on the slavery
issue.
The Church was
also very concerned
about
the status
of women, particularly
about
forced marriage
and what
it saw as the "sale" of women. Thevenoud
wrote directly
to the governor general
in Dakar complaining
of the
sale of
of
thousands
the cercle
in
of Ouahigouya during the
girls
six months.25
previous
In the middle of 1934, a Catholic
Gustave Gautherot,
Senator,
wrote
to
the
Minister
of
Colonies
about a specific
case.
Using
information
from Thevenoud,
Gautherot
charged that a father had been
forced
to
sell
his
for
35 francs,
that
a chief
had
daughter
recommended other "sales",
and that guards tied up family heads and
did not
release
them until
after
had been sold and taxes
daughters
Most important,
he accused the local
Le Houx,
paid.
administrator,
of complicity
in these actions.
Gautherot
also pointed
out that the
sales
had occurred
even after
the White Fathers
had offered
to pay
the
tax
for
some families
if
not to sell
their
they
promised
threatened
to write the
daughters.26
Though Thevenoud and Gautherot
to put pressure
Anti-Slavery
Society,
they never did so, preferring
behind the scenes.
Pressed by Dakar and Paris,
du Fousset,
the lieutenant
governor
of the
the importance
of
Soudan, claimed that Thevenoud exaggerated
what had happened.27
He explained
how pawning
differed
from
Le Houx,
conceded
Thevenoud's
however,
slavery.
essentially
charges:
This was not exactly
a sale of a daughter by her father,
but
more of
a kind
of pawning (saisie-gag6)
at the
practiced
of village
chiefs.
The child was given by her
instigation
close
relatives
to a third party during the absence of her
father
who had gone to the chief
to pay his tax.
The amount
of the
a mere 20 Francs,
was used to pay the
agreed loan,
which the daughter was freed.28
tax, after
A lot of pawning would have taken place without
from
any suggestion
the
administrator.
The district
of Ouahigouya was particularly
It produced little
for market, relying
badly hit by the Depression.
on the
income of
who sought work in the
migrants
Ivory and Gold
Coast colonies.
With the sharp drop in commodity prices
in 1931 and
the
demand
for
Mossi
labor
1932,
was very
much reduced.
1931 was a drought year.
The same process
Furthermore,
was also at
work in Sangalan,
a district
of western Guinea.

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PAWNING
IN FRENCH
WESTAFRICA

27

Sangalan Scandal
The resurgence
of pawning would probably have attracted little
attention had all administrators
been astute
enough to keep their
distance
and if
they had ensured that chiefs had also done so.
The Sangalan case developed
Some, however, were quite indiscreet.
not because of missionaries,
but because of political
rivalry within
the Fulbe elite.
The basic
causes
of this
scandal
were the
of
commodity price
collapse of 1931-32 and the 1932 reorganization
the local
administration.
In hope of reducing
expenses, the
district
of Sangalan was divided up between
predominantly Diallonke
four Fulbe cantons.
In 1936, the African secretary
of the canton chief
of LabM
district
in Guinea wrote to the district
administrator about forced
of young girls.
In its subsequent
requisitions
inquiry into the
events
of Sangalan,
the administration
found evidence over the
of practices,
no longer exactly
preceding years of the "survival
but seemingly similar
to one of the larval forms of
characterized,
Most of the men of Sangalan migrated annually
to work
slavery."29
on the peanut fields of Senegambia. Migrants were not paid but were
Income brought home by the
given fields of their own to work.
workers was usually sufficient
to pay the annual tax with enough
left over to buy necessities.
in the
Sangalan farming was left
hands of women and old men and provided only meager returns.
With
the collapse of peanut prices in 1931-32, Daillonke
migrants found
less work and saw their income eroded by the collapse of prices.
Thus, the sharp drop in prices affected both migrant and landlord.30
time to plant, but drought
Many migrants returned home in sufficient
affected the region from March to August, and grasshoppers devoured
what survived.31
The tax still
had to be paid, and the Fulbe canton
who were the former slave owning class, were not sympathetic
chiefs,
to the plight of their Diallonke neighbors.
According to their own
the Diallonke
to
depositions,
possessed
"nothing except girls
marry. "32

When many of the Diallonke

could not pay their tax, the
De Cantelaar, put pressure on one of the chiefs,
Alfa
administrator,
MamadouDiallo
of Bara, to find some way to collect.
When Diallo
said they could not pay unless
they pawned their
daughters, De
Cantelaar responded "that the Diallonke had to manage as best they
could to find the money and that he did not want to know how they
Diallo
these instructions
as a gogot it."33
rightly interpreted
ahead and publicized what seems to have been a sort of auction among
Fulbe family heads.
He convoked those who could not pay to
furnish a number of girls to the market of Bara, where they
were united with the heads of Fulbe families
armed with
or cloth.
In the presence of their
money, livestock,
parents, these girls were delivered to their acquirers and
the product of these
sales
were given to the canton
chief ...34
Of the 45 girls brought to Bara,
Alfa Mamadou. The girls ranged
the case was investigated
in 1936,
had fled.
There were other
in total 74 according to
fathers,

24 were pawned, five of them to

in age from 7 to 16. By the time
two of them were married and four
girls
pawned separately by their
the lieutenant
governor.35

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28

MARTINA. KLEINANDRICHARD
ROBERTS

The Sangalan affair forced

the administration
to confront two
First, was pawning a commercial transaction
involving
questions.
If so,
it was a violation
the involuntary exchange of persons?
of
the anti-slavery
law of 12 December 1905, which prohibited any
was a more
The second question
of personal liberty.
alienation
Could women be pawned, presumably without their
complex one.
More importantly,
permission?36
young female pawns often were
sexually mature or grew into maturity while living in a creditor's
house.
Some of them were eventually taken as wives,
while others
were essentially
concubines.
This brought the Catholic Church into
the picture.
Perhaps the most important issue to the Church during
this period was the establishment
of marriage practices that were
sanctioned.
voluntary,
monogamous, and divinely
Though the
difference
between African custom and French law was probably not as
as the missionaries
made opposition
to
great
believed,
they
transactions
in women a central part of their program. "Although
slavery has almost completely
Holy Ghost Superior
disappeared,"
General A. Le Roy wrote,
"it persists
and is maintained
in
conditions all the more odious in that only the woman is subjected
to it."37
in women,
Pawning was seen in the context of transactions
which included
on which the
This was an issue
bride-price.
attitudes
of the Church converged with those of the French Left,
which came to power in 1936.
The administration
found itself
on marriage.38
looking not only at pawning, but also, at legislation
The Resurgence of Pawning:

Data from Elsewhere

cases.
Ouahigouya and Sangalan were not isolated
Pawning
but particularly
in the
expanded throughout French West Africa,
In Koutiala, pawning had increased
poorer areas of the interior.
sharply, and in 1937, there were at least 300 pawns. In Bandiagara,
there was a similar
increase after
1930, largely
among women and
The administrator
found no
girls and among both Fulbe and Maraka.
dissatisfaction
among the pawns, but he feared that many families
would never be able to redeem them.39
Oral sources
confirm the
Most of our Macina sources
importance of pawning in this period.
knew cases
of pawning.40
In Satadougou, Sikasso,
and Tougan the
same situation
there was no slave trade but there was an
prevailed:
increase in pawning. "During recent years of inadequate crops, some
have been sold by their parents,
who were pressed by
young girls
but these sales were often sanctioned by marriage."41
necessity,
In Segu in 1935, there were over 1,000
pawns and the
administrator warned that this constituted
"a return to slavery."42
In Koulikoro, the administrator reported that pawning was widespread
but rare among the Soninke, perhaps
among Bambara and Malinke,
because it was frowned on by Islam or because in mercantile
communities such as the Soninke there was greater availability
of
real property.43
In Mauritania, the acting governor could find only
one case,
the pawning of a slave by a Soninke in Guidimakha. Both
the borrower and lender
received two year sentences.
This harsh
because slavery
still
existed in
response was especially
striking
Mauritania and was openly tolerated by the administration.44
In a number of colonies
lieutenant
governors
denied or
minimized the importance of pawning. Thus, the lieutenant governor
of Senegal reported that pawning was "totally unknown or had long

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PAWNINGIN FRENCHWEST AFRICA

29

been abandoned,"45
was probably
true for most of the
which, in fact,
income in much of the
Wage labor and cash crops provided
country.
some poor
of
eastern
and the
Senegal
regions
though
country,
Casamance must have experienced
the same dilemma as the Diallonke
of
the Governor claimed in 1938 that
In the
Ivory Coast,
Sanagalan.
in four cercles:
Bobo-Dioulasso,
Tabou, Daloa,
pawning only existed
We are
of this claim not only because
and Bouafle.46
skeptical
but
pawning was widespread
among Akan and Mande-speaking
peoples,
because
seven
earlier
Robert
Arnaud's detailed
years
report had
underlined
the existence
of
of Upper Volta,
pawning in many parts
which had since been
into
the Ivory Coast.47
Arnaud
incorporated
had written:
In some regions,
and especially
in time of
pressed
by need
to
natives
their children
with more
famine,
agree
place
fortunate
as a guarantee
for loans which are given
neighbors
to them.48
But not
all pawning
resulted
from economic misery.
In 1927
Boufoune Coulibaly
brother Nama to Labasse
the
Fofana,
pawned his
chief of the Somonos of Koulikoro,
as a guarantee
an advance
against
of dried fish,
and spices
valued at 1,035 francs.
It
is not
salt,
clear whether he planned to redeem his brother with the profits
from
his commercial
but it was likely
he was no
that by 1933-34
venture,
to do so.
and eight other pawns, however,
His brother
longer able
took the initiative
in November 1933
and went
to the
resident
of
Koulikoro
and the
Bamako to complain of ill-treatment.
mayor of
into
road
construction
for
14 days
They were immediately
pressed
before being returned
to their creditor's
village.49
From both
oral and archival
sources
it is clear
that pawning
increased
The unrelenting
demand for cash to
during the Depression.
and to
which were no longer produced
pay taxes
buy necessities
led to greater
commercialization
of
both labor
and goods.
locally
The safety
net necessary
to West African
cultivators
was gone.
At
the
same time,
the
colonial
was ruthless
administration
in
taxes.
African
memories of
the period are filled
with
collecting
tales
of people being beaten or held hostage
till
taxes
were paid,
often forced
to sit
in the sun, or pastoralists
whose last animals
were sold at auction.50

Administrative

Action

In Ouahigouya,
the pawning
contracts
were
the girls
annulled,
were
returned
to
their
and further
was
parents,
pawning
In Sangalan,
the
were immediately
prohibited.5l
pawned girls
returned
to
their
families.52
The Fulbe chiefs
who arranged the
were stripped
of their positions
and imprisoned,
in some
exchanges
cases receiving
sentences
as
The next year,
long as twenty years.
the administration
and considerably
recanted
reduced the
however,
but
the district
was reorganized
Fulbe
sentences,
again to decrease
over
the Diallonke.53
In the Koulikoro
the nine
authority
case,
families
were called
before the resident
in February
pawns and their
1934 and were instructed
to repay their debts.
If
they were unable
to do so, they
were to
return to
the service
of their creditor.
one
of
the
administration's
to pawning,
Anticipating
responses

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30

MARTIN A. KLEIN AND RICHARDROBERTS

that
asked
the
Boufoune
wages his brother should have
Coulibaly
received
to discount
during the seven years of his pawnship be used
the original
loan.54
in diverse
Between 1934 and 1936, administrators
responded
ways
to the
increase
in
like
administrator
the
in
Some,
pawning.
the
defended
institution.
as in Sangalan and
Others,
Koulikoro,
and harshly
under pressure
from above, moved decisively
Ouahigouya,
it.
At the same time, there was an effort
to minimize the
against
Letters
moved up the
chain
of command,
political
consequences.
first
from the lieutenant
and then
governor to the governor general,
from governor general
to minister
of colonies,
each
to prove
trying
to his
that
was not
a morally objectionable
superior
pawning
institution.
Jules Brevie,
the governor
that the
general,
argued
Malinke tonomasigi,
of which
the Mossi
institution
was a variant,
was not slavery
and that there
was no alienation
of
It
liberty.
like poor families
in rural France putting
their
was, he suggested,
children
into service
with wealthier
families.55
it became clear to higher authority
that
however,
Increasingly,
some kind
of action
was necessary.
that he
Brevie became convinced
had to deal with pawning, but by transforming
rather than abolishing
it.56
was
a troublesome
issue
for
the
colonial
Pawning
administration
because it lay in a vague middle
ground between two
ideals
to
which the
colonial
state
was formally
committed:
free
labor and respect
for
African
institutions.
Many administrators
were
to
careful
differentiate
between
Before
pawns and slaves.
what to do about pawning, the administration
had to decide
deciding
what pawning
was.
There
no consensus
was,
however,
among
administrators
on this question.
The administrator
from Segu saw it
as
the
of
His
from Koulikoro
resurgence
slavery.57
colleague
it as a regularized
labor contract:
interpreted
Neither
the moral nor the material
situation
of
the pawned
suffer
Free they are and free they
persons
any diminution:
remain....
the people pawned are better
treated
and
Indeed,
better
considered
creditors
than the domestics
in
by their
other locations.
It is
not
rare
to
find
that
a child,
winds
of
the new family by marriage....
pawned,
up part
Because both people and goods are
is difficult
to
equal it
establish
a comparison
between
the
simple
pawning of a
contract
of
work....
This custom
person and the
simple
is
little
with the
of our
obviously
compatible
principles
civilization.
Under
the
of
regime
property,
people are
from goods....
The notion of property
always distinguished
is still
natives....
The land
is not
imprecise
among the
to appropriation,
but people are.58
susceptible
This
some awkward problems.
posed
The labor
interpretation
contracted
was that of a third and potentially
who
unwilling
party,
could not
leave and whose freedom
was therefore
constrained
until
the loan was repaid.
The length of
service
was indefinite,
and a
remain
with
his
or her creditor
for several
pawn could
years.59
the pawn did not receive
a wage, since the value of his or
Moreover,
her labor
served as interest
on the original
loan.
The
effectively
indefinite
term of
service
and the
lack
of
for labor
payment
rendered were
sources
of abuse and clearly
reflected
the
potential
unfree nature of the relationship
between the pawn and the creditor.

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PAWNINGIN FRENCHWEST AFRICA

31

of the resurgence
In response to the discussions
of pawning,
Governor General Brevi6 suggested
making the hidden wages of the
the established
pawn reflect
wage rates in the colony:
To control these effects,
with
manifestly in contradiction
the most elementary notions
of equity,
it is necessary to
establish
bases to evaluate the level of profit resulting
to
the creditor....
Depending upon the regions, the daily wage
rate would be as follows:
minors 8-10
10-12 years
12-14 years
14-16 years
16-18 years
adults

years old
old
old
old
old

.25F/day
.40F/day
.50F/day
.75F/day
iF/day
1.50F/day

Thus, the person pawned will normally cease

of the creditor
as soon as the
disposition
acquired in payment for his services equal the
debt, plus the need for a certain percentage
The creditor,
having been paid in kind, the
paid.60

to be at the
total [wages]
amount of the
as interest.
debt shall be

If pawning were amenable to regulation as a labor contract,

then the
issue of unfree labor could be avoided.
But the sticky problem of
pawning as represented by the Ouahigouya and Sangalan scandals was
that it dealt
with women and girls.
How could the
primarily
administration
between pawning, outright
sales, and
distinguish
How could
the administration
between
marriage?
distinguish
bridewealth payments, loans, and commodity transactions?
Paris under the Popular Front reacted with a steadier hand.
The Minister of Colonies, Marius Moutet, did not doubt that some of
the practices
associated
with Sangalan were indeed difficult
to
reconcile with French concepts of "liberty
and the individual,
and
more generally,
of the dignity
of man." But Moutet argued that
close regulation of customary practice and broad interpretation
of
the notion of a labor contract missed the point:
Even if
[the cases] were "sales" or only "pawnings," we can
presume that only extreme poverty would bring the natives to
consider them. It is, then, the cause of the misery that we
must attack, and raise the standard of living of the masses,
in regions where acts of this nature attest to
especially
their misery.61
Between June 1936 and May 1937, the governor general issued two
circulars
which addressed the linked problems of pawning and forced
The first
in 1936, responded to the
marriages.
one, issued
raised
questions
by Thevenoud and Gautherot and by the Sangalan
affair and addressed the thorny problem of forced marriages and the
"sale" of girls.
In mandating changes in customary marriage, this
circular tinkered with the nature of household
and
organization
the authority
of the household head to control and
particularly
dispose of the labor and the physical person of those under this
the author of the circular,
was evidently
authority.
Brevie,

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32

MARTINA. KLEIN AND RICHARDROBERTS

of the need
but he was aware
ambivalent
about his recommendations,
to
criticism
at
where
came from both
home,
pressure
pre-empt
Catholic
women's groups and the growing
women's movement associated
with the
"It
is necessary
to remember," Brevie
Popular Front.62
wrote,
that our position
in this regard is most
delicate.
On the
one hand,
we formally
at the moment of
committed ourselves
- a commitment which we have oft repeated
- that we
conquest
will
the
and traditions
of our
mores,
customs,
respect
our
On the
other
action
hand,
subject
populations.
the contact
of our ideas within
and diffusion
civilisatrice,
the indigenous
milieu
has
raised
both
material
and moral
we can not repress
that
under the pretext
that
aspirations
with
some venerable
which
are no
customs,
they conflict
of new ideas and new
because of the pressure
longer relevant
needs....
new regulations
thus
born of the
[These
are]
of
a persuasive
action
and constant
towards
spirit
assuring
the
of the
individual:
1. no
superior
establishing
right
with girls
marriage can be contracted
younger than 14 years
and boys younger
2. the
the future
than
consent
of
16;
is
of the marriage;
to
the validity
and
spouses
necessary
3. the
of
consent
those
who exert
is
paternal
power
to
the validity
of the marriage if the [bride and
necessary
consent.63
groom] are under the traditional
age of legal
Brevie's
instructions
constituted
a radical
in policy.
departure
The position
of
the
senior
administration
had been to keep the
of women and the
of
at
arm's length.
rights
regulation
marriage
"The task
of
the
of the individual,"
wrote Governor
emancipation
General Brunet in 1920, "which our
incline
us
ideological
concepts
to follow,
risks profoundly
the native
order and loosening
troubling
a social
rests...."64
It is beyond
system upon which our domination
the scope
of this
article
to
the relationship
between the
explore
freedom to chose marriage partners,
its consequences
for
increasing
the structure
of African households,
and the long term relationships
between men and women, but the
of
the
locus of
processes
shifting
household
and the erosion
of the power of
production
away from the
the
household
head
are
central
in
colonial
social
questions
history.65
The second
issued
in May 1937,
the
circular,
analyzed
institution
of pawning and the role of the
in increasing
Depression
its use.
Brevie
underlined
the conflicting
of respect
imperatives
for
traditional
institutions
and
for
France's
"civilizing"
He suggested
that one approach would be for the pawn's
principles.
labor to be used to reduce the debt.
But that could
not be done.
It was necessary
to avoid any action
that consecrated
"a custom that
cannot be conciliated
with our conviction
on the respect
for liberty
and human dignity."
He therefore
that the courts use the
suggested
1905 law prohibiting
the alienation
of
individual
But he
liberty.
that
that they avoid rigidity
and
suggested
they do so prudently,
use persuasion
and education.
In other words,
he told
them not to
to use
if any at all.66
In fact,
if we
push hard,
light
penalties
read between the lines,
the message
to the
local
administrator
was
to do as little
as possible.

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PAWNING
IN FRENCH
WESTAFRICA

33

Conclusion
It is not clear whether the Depression had the same effects
in
other parts of Africa.
the institution
of
Mary Douglas treats
one.
Her discussion,
is
however,
pawning as a pre-colonial
Much of her data dates from the inter-war
ahistorical.
period, but
she is not concerned with change during that period.67
Oroge speaks
of it as waning in the third decade of the century, but his data
suggest that pawning in Yorubaland was still
important in the 1930s
and continued into the post-war period.68
Yoruba areas were like
where other sources
of revenue were available.
Paul
Senegal,
Lovejoy thinks that in Northern Nigeria, an area which resembles the
French Soudan, pawning probably increased during the Depression.69
It is also
not clear
how important pawning was before the
colonial conquest.
Pre-colonial
sources often speak of the sale of
children, but it is not clear whether pawning or slavery is meant.
Nor is it clear whether unredeemed pawns became slaves.
If, as we
a high percentage
- probably a majority - of those
believe,
enslaved in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries remained within
the distinction
Africa,
may not be important.
Pawnship was an
institution
that transferred labor from the poor to the rich as
as sale did.
We do not know how widespread pawning was,
effectively
but it clearly existed in most pre-colonial
West African societies.
With the end of the slave trade, it may have become more important
as a source of concubines
and domestic
labor.
Our informants,
it as a characteristic
of periods
of disaster and
however, treat
suggest that it was not widespread during normal years.
The Depression was a different
kind of disaster,
but it created
a similar need for money. As exports declined in value and revenues
cut back on administrative
decreased, the administration
costs,
At the
reducing the number of both French and African employees.
same time, the peasant's taxes were increasingly
essential
to local
were under pressure to maintain
budgets, and local administrators
the flow of revenue.
There is no doubt that many administrators
told chiefs
to have people "sell"
or pawn their children.
On the
other hand, it was probably not necessary for them to do so.
In
societies
where famine was a regular
occurrence, pawning was a
traditional
survival mechanism.
Pawning seems to have been rare in areas where the hardThe difficulty
was that in much
pressed peasants had other options.
of the interior
the options
were few and drought compounded the
Given the data cited in this article,
it is
peasants' problems.
number of pawns was in the tens of
probable that the total
thousands.
Some of these pawns were returned to their families,
but
the administration
had neither
the will
nor the capacity to track
down every case.
Such action
came only when there was a scandal.
Chiefs and contracting parties were punished, but in most cases, it
was light punishment, a month's suspension or a reprimand. There is
no evidence
of any penalty
levied
the administrators
against
involved.
The problem, however, was in the process of resolving itself.
Incomes were already rising,
and they were to rise even more after
World War II.
For Yorubaland,
Pawning was a counsel of despair.
in the late
Oroge cites
prosecutions
1940s, but none after that.
Our oral sources
have suggested
that in French West Africa it
There were probably isolated
disappeared quickly after the war.70

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34

MARTINA. KLEIN AND RICHARDROBERTS

cases during
and after
the war, but we have no data on them and our
sources
of
the
all
in
terms
of
speak
phenomenon
drought and
When disaster
struck again
in the
depression.
1968,
years after
a serious
to
those in need.
pawning seems not to have been
option
no longer had the same control
fathers
over their
time,
By this
were
relief
and for
families,
available,
most, other
supplies
sources
of money were available.

NOTES

1.

2.
3.

4.

5.

Catherine
"Mutation
de l'imperialisme
Coquery-Vidrovitch,
dans les
African
Economic
Annees
4
francaise
30,"
History,
and her
coloniale
et la
(1977),
103-152;
francaise
"L'Afrique
crise
de 1930:
crise
structurelle
et
du sousgenese
Revue Francaise
d'Histoire
63
d'Outre-Mer,
developpement,"
386-424.
(1976),
and Pawnship
in
Central Africa,"
Mary Douglas,
"Matriliny
34 (1964),
301-313.
Africa,
Robert
Ashanti
Law and Constitution
(Oxford, 1929),
Rattray,
ch. 3 & 6; A. Norman Klein,
in Asante:
a Study of
"Inequality
the Forms of Slavery
and Social
in
Servitude
Pre- and Early
Colonial
Akan-Asante
and Culture,"
Ph.D.
Society
unpublished
of Michigan,
1980.
dissertation,
University
E. Adeniyi Oroge,
"Iwofa:
An Historical
Survey of the Yoruba
Institution
of Indenture,"
African
Economic History,
14 (1985),
75-106.
is the best historical
treatment
we
Oroge's analysis
have seen of pawnship.
was also
elsewhere
Pawning
widespread
in
southern
See
also
Charles
K. Meek, Law and
Nigeria.
in
a
Tribe
Authority
(London,
1937),
Nigerian
205;
G. T. Basden, Niger
Ibos (London, 1938),
253; Daryll Forde and
G. I. Jones,
The Ibo
and Ibibio-speaking
of SouthPeoples
Eastern Nigeria
24.
(London, 1950),
For more on the
of the relationship
between the
complexity
creditor
and the pawn, see Roberts interviews
with
Fama Keita,
18 Jan. 1977,
27 Feb.
Segu; Bamakan Kulubali,
1977, Segu; Al
Baba Soko, 9 Jan.
Hajj Mokhtar Mangane, 19 Feb.
1977,
Segu;
Amadu
8 Jan.
Klein
1977,
Segu;
1977,
Sanogo,
Sinsani;
interviews
with
Mantala
and Yakubu Santara,
Feb.
Coulibaly
conducted
1981, Bamako; and interviews
by Aly Kampo for Klein
in Macina.
All
of
these
interviews
are
available
at the
Institut
des Sciences
Roberts interviews
are
Humaines, Bamako.
also
available
at
the
Archives
for
Traditional
Music,
of
Indiana
and at
the
Green
Stanford
University
Library,
See also
Maurice
University.
Delafosse,
Haut-Sen6gal-Niger
Vol. III,
(Paris,
Les Handing et
1911),
55-57; Henri Labouret,
Leur Langue (Paris,
Henri
"Le Gage des
1934),
59;
Ortoli,
Personnes
au Soudan Francais,"
Bulletin
de 1'Institute
Francais
I (1939);
Montserrat
Paulau
d'Afrique
Noire,
Marti, Les Dogon
Abbe Joseph Henry, Les Bambara (Munster,
(Paris,
1957),
81;
see
B. Holas,
1910); on the Minianka and Senufo
Les Senoufo
see Robert Rattray,
(Paris,
1966),
119; for the Voltaic
region,
Tribes of the Ashanti
Hinterland
Vol. I, 263,
(London,
1932),
The Web of Kinship among
268, Vol. II,
349, 582; Meyer Fortes,

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PAWNINGIN FRENCHWEST AFRICA

6.

7.
8.
9.
10.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

16.

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

25.
26.

35

See
138-39.
also
the
Tallensi
Deherme,
1949),
(London,
en A.O.F.,"
Archives
de la Republique
du
1906,
"L'esclavage
"Coutumes juridiques,
(henceforth
ARS) K 25;
Coste,
S6negal
Cercle
de Segu,"
1 April
ARS 1 G 229; Inspecteur
des
1897,
"Contrat des mises
en gage,"
14 June 1934, Archives
Affaires,
du Mali (henceforth
There is also a
Nationales
ANM) 1 D 211.
of pawning in
discussion
F. J. Clozel
and Roger Villamur,
Les
Coutumes Indigenes
de la C6te d'Ivoire
1902).
(Paris,
of Seno spoke of two periods,
the "great famine" and
Aly Diallo
the Depression.
See
also Amadou Guinda Ba of Bandiagara
and
Bada Bocoum, Mopti.
Denise
sociale
des Dogon (Paris,
1940),
Paulme,
Organisation
320.
106; Ortoli,
"Gage des personnes,"
ARS, K 113 (26).
Paul Marty, Etudes sur l'Islam
du Soudan (Paris,
et les tribus
Vol. IV, 177-78.
1920-21),
Gallieni
a man might
noted
that
pawn his wife when she no
him.
to a
new cash in contrast
longer pleased
Pawning provided
which
of bridewealth.
the return
See
divorce,
might require
du Haut Niger:
Mission
Joseph Simone Gallieni,
d'exploration
et Pays de S6gou (Paris,
Voyage au Soudan Francais:
Haut-Niger
427.
1885),
Klein interview,
Mantala Coulibaly,
1981.
Bamako, February,
des
femmes et
des
de
cercle
Rapport sur le trafic
enfants,
16 Jan. 1933, ANM 1 D 210.
Bandiagara,
Les Bambara, 254.
This is
stressed
in
French reports
and by informants.
Klein
interviews:
Mantala Coulibaly
and Yakubu Santara.
There is, however,
one report from a Minianka
a pawn
area of
outside
her
At this point,
being taken
village
by a trader.
the pawn would no longer have
been protected
by a network of
social
relations.
Report by M. Lem, ARS 2 K 13.
Claude Meillassoux,
de l'Esclavage.
Le Ventre de
Anthropologie
Fer et d'Argent
ch. 1 and 5; Martin Klein,
(Paris,
1986),
"Women in
in
the Western Soudan," in Martin Klein and
Slavery
Claire
Robertson
Women and Slavery
in Africa
(eds.),
(Madison,
Martin Klein
and Paul Lovejoy,
in West
1983),
67-88;
"Slavery
in Jan S.
and Henry Gemery
The
Africa,"
(eds.),
Hogendorn
Uncommon Market.
in
the
Economic
of the
Essays
History
Atlantic
Slave Trade (New York, 1979),
181-212.
76.
Oroge, "Iwofa,"
ARS 2 K 5 (26).
en Haute Volta,"
26 Nov. 1931, ARS 2 K
"Rapport sur l'esclavage
5 (26).
Lt. Gov. Dahomey to Gov. Gen., 4 Dec. 1931, ARS 2 K 13 (26).
Gov. Gen. to Min. Colonies,
17 Nov. 1936, ANFOMAff pol 541-4.
Res. Koulikoro
to Comm. Bamako, 17 July 1935, ANM 1 D 200.
See reports
ARS K 113 (26),
2 K
prepared for League of Nations,
1 and 2 K 6; ANM 2 E 134 (1931) and 2 E 135 (1935).
had been
divided
between
colonies
in
Upper Volta
neighboring
1932 as
an economy measure.
This may explain
why the Lt. Gov.
of the Soudan discussed
events
of the
among the Mossi in terms
better
known Malinke institution,
the tonomasigi.
Msgr. Thevenoud to Gov. Gen., 21 Dec. 1933, ARS 2 K 8 (26).
Senator Gautherot
to Min.
12 June
Colonies,
1934, ARS 2 K 8
(26).

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36
27.
28.
29.

30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.

39.
40.

41.
42.
43.

44.

45.

46.

47.
48.
49.

MARTINA. KLEIN AND RICHARDROBERTS

Lt. Gov. du Fosset
to Gov. Gen.; 20 July 1934, ARS 2 K 8.
Admin. Le Houx to Lt. Gov. Soudan, 2 June 1934, ARS 2 K 8 (26).
Gov. Gen., confidential
to Minister
of
17 November
Colonies,
Archives
Nationales
de la
Section
1936,
France,
Outre-Mer
(henceforth
ANFOM), Aff. Pol. 541-4.
ch. 2.
David, Les Navetanes
(Dakar, 1980),
Philip
30 December
ANFOMAff
1936,
Dakar,
Inspector
Cheruy, Report,
pol 541-4.
See ARS 2 K 7 (26) and ANFOMAff pol 541-4.
The major source
is the Cheruy report cited
above.
Gov. Gen. to Min. Colonies,
17 November
ANFOM Aff pol
1936,
541-4.
Gov.
Gen.
to Min.
17 November 1936, ANFOMAff pol
Colonies,
541-4.
Lt. Gov., Guinee Frangaise
to Gov. Gen., 27 Feb. 1937, ARS, 2 K
7.
317-19.
Ortoli,
"Gage des personnes,"
Note of 12 March 1933, Holy Ghost Archives,
62 B 1.
Gov.
Gen.
to
Lieutenant
25 June 1936,
Circular,
Governors,
ANFOMAff
541-4.
On mission
in
see
pol
policy
Senegal,
Archives
of
the
Holy Ghost Fathers,
France,
Chevilly-Larue,
Of particular
concern
are reports
to
esp. 62 B and 649 A.
Catholic
women's
the Superiorgroups
by Mgr. A. Le Roy,
General.
Rapport of 16 Jan. 1933, ANM1 D 210.
Of 14 Macina
two knew of
no cases,
but were
informants,
familiar
with
the institution.
A third suggested
it was rare,
but the others
common.
Some vividly
spoke of it as something
described
the
financial
and coercion
pressures
by the guards
sent around to collect
taxes.
from Tougan,
23 Jan.
19 Jan.
Report
1934;
Sikasso,
1934;
15 Jan. 1934, ANM 1 D 210.
Satadougou,
Extrait
du proces-verbal
de passation
de service
concernant
le
cercle
de Segu en date de 30 Avril 1935, ANM 1 D 211.
Res. Koulikoro
to
Comm. Bamako,
17 July
ANM 1 D 11.
1935,
like
the Soninke,
a slave
Among more orthodox Muslim
peoples
could be pawned, but the pawning of kin was much less likely.
to Gov. Gen., 12 Oct. 1937,
ARS 2 K 13
Acting Gov. Mauritania
See E. Ann McDougall,
(26).
"A Topsy Turvy World:
Slaves and
Freed Slaves
in the
Mauritanian
Adrar
in Suzanne
(1910-1950)"
Miers and Richard Roberts
The End of Slavery
(eds.),
in Africa
1988).
(Madison,
Lt. Gov. Senegal to Gov. Gen. 6 Oct. 1937, ARS 2 K 13
A
(26).
of
10 December
ARS 2 K 5 (26), suggested
report
that
1931,
in Senegal.
pawning had once been very important
Lt. Gov. Cote d'Ivoire
to Gov. Gen., 27 Jan.
1938, ARS 2 K 13
The cercles
(26).
that reported
pawning are in very different
parts of the country.
en Haute
Arnaud, "Rapport sur l'esclavage
submitted
to
Volta,"
Gov. Gen. 26 Nov. 1931, ARS 2 K 5 (26).
Arnaud, "Rapport sur l'esclavage."
Boufoune Coulibaly,
cultivator
from Kaboulabugu,
Canton of Fani
to Res. Koulikoro,
7 Feb.
Nama Coulibaly,
of
1934;
village
Lt. Gov. Soudan Francais,
17 Feb. 1934, ANM1 D
Kaboulabugu to
211.

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PAWNINGIN FRENCHWEST AFRICA

50.

51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.

57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.

63.
64.
65.

66.
67.
68.
69.
70.

37

run through many of our interviews.

The bitterest
These tales
memories of
both forced
labour or tax collection
were of the
African
who
were
to
do the
guards,
employees
expected
administration's
dirty work.
Admin. Ouahigouya
to Lt.
Gov. Soudan,
2 June 1934, ARS 2 K 8
(26).
Lt. Gov. Guinee Francaise
to Gov. Gen., 9 June 1937, ARS 2 K 13
(26).
Gov. Gen.
to Lt. Gov. Guinee Francaise,
1 June 1937, ANFOMAff
pol 541-4.
Nama Coulibaly
to Lt. Gov. Soudan Francais,
17 Feb. 1934, ANM 1
D 211.
Lt. Gov.
Soudan Francais
to Gov. Gen., 20 July 1934; Gov. Gen.
to Min. Colonies,
6 Oct. 1934, ARS 2 K 8 (26).
Gov. Gen. to Min.
6 Oct.
Colonies,
1934, ARS 2 K 2; many of
same arguments
were
made in
Lt.
Gov. Soudan to Gov. Gen.,
20 July 1934, ARS 2 K 8; and in a note of 4 Sept. 1934 from the
which
held that
the act of pawning a third
Procureur-General,
a violation
of the 1905 law.
person was clearly
Extrait
du proces-verbal
des passation
de service
concernant
le
cercle
de Segu, 30 April 1935, ANM 1 D 211.
Koulikoro
to
Comm. Bamako,
17 July 1935, ANM 1 D
Jouve, Res.
200.
des
Aff.
"Contrat
de mise
en gage,"
Inspecteur
Indigenes,
14 June 1934, ANM 1 D 211.
Gov. Gen. to Lt. Gov. Soudan Francaise,
n.d. 1934, ANM 1 D 211.
Min. Colonies
to Gov. Gen., 30 Dec. 1936, ANFOMAff pol 541-4.
Eve Currie
and the
Feminine kept pressure
on the
Organisation
for
women in
Popular Front, which produced
legal
safeguards
French colonies
in 1939.
The file
on the meetings
of women's
movement leaders
with the Minister
of
Colonies
was filed
with
the pawning scandals
in ANFOMAff pol 541.
Gov.
Gen.
to Lieutenant
25 June 1936,
Circular,
Governors,
ANFOMAff pol 541-1.
Gov. Gen. Brunet to Lieutenant
5 October 1920, ANFOM
Governors,
Aff pol 541-1.
See Claire
the Same Bowl:
A Socioeconomic
Robertson,
Sharing
of Women and Class in Accra, Ghana (Bloomington,
History
1984);
R. Roberts,
"Women's Work and Women's Property:
Household
Social
Relations
in the Maraka Textile
of
the 19th
Industry
Studies
in
Comparative
and History,
Century,"
26
Society
229-50.
(1984),
Circular
ARS 2 K 13 (26).
296, AP/2, 10 May 1937,
and Pawnship,"
301-302.
Douglas,
"Matriliny
96-99.
Oroge, "Iwofa,"
Personal
communication.
See Klein interviews,
Mantala
and Yakubu Santara,
Coulibaly
Feb. 1981.

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