"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 Bankilaré, after Tégué, 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 Djelgolbé 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 moussoubéri, 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 Bédari'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," "Bédari Mélaki," "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 Yéya, 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." "Bédari 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." "Bédari 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 Yéya." "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!" "Yéya 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." "Yéya, 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 gurl 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 Yéya 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," "Damouré 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, Yéya, 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, Yéya 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 gurl, 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 gurl, 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 Yéya 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 Yéya, 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"." "Yéya shoots." "And Yéya 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." "Yéya 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 Yéya 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 Damouré 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."" "Yéya places bark fetters around the lioness's head to show that it is no longer a bush animal, but now a village animal." "Yéya 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." "Yéya 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 Yéya, 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" "Processing by TÉLÉTOTA"