Salémata

Salémata lies in the hilly Bassari country on the northern fringes of the Futa Jallon highlands. Villages and hamlets sit among terraces and rice fields, while wooded slopes rise above the cultivated ground. The Bassari, Bedik and Fula communities developed distinct ways of life in this varied landscape. The hills offered places of refuge as populations moved through the region over the centuries, and local farming and ritual traditions became closely tied to the terrain.