Eastern Maninka in Guinea


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The Eastern Maninka are the second largest people group in Guinea. They are the descendants of the Mande people of the once great Mali Empire. The empire amassed a great fortune taxing the gold and ivory trade in the region. Before becoming a part of the empire, the Mande were credited with revolutionizing agriculture in the area; they discovered the use of millet, one of the most important grains in the diet of West Africans.


What Are Their Lives Like?

A typical Maninka meal consists of steamed rice covered with a spicy stew of vegetables and meat or fish. Mangoes, bananas, oranges, papayas, and cashews add balance to their diet.

The Eastern Maninkas live in large, walled-in villages. Within the villages, families live in separate, fenced-in compounds. Their homes are round, thatch-roof huts made of mud and sun-dried brick. Few of the homes have electricity or running water. The Eastern Maninkas primarily work as farmers, miners or merchants. They also raise cattle, but only to gain prestige within the community or to use in ceremonies.

There is a clear social order among the Maninka peoples that ranges from nobility to commoners. While each village is ruled by its own chief, the oldest descendants of the first Maninka settlers are counted as nobility and also have a certain amount of authority. The lowest and most despised class consists of craftsmen and former slaves. Maninka society is patriarchal, or male-dominated. The line of descent is traced through the fathers, and inheritances are passed down through the males. Men commonly have more than one wife.

Some of the Maninkas prefer living in cities where they can develop a trade or work in a service occupation. While living in cities, they usually remain attached to their villages.

The Maninkas value such characteristics as honesty, logical thinking, and the ability to speak in public. Ironically, many Maninkas use manipulation and deceit as methods of getting ahead in society. For this reason, they are a very suspicious people. Men rarely have close personal relationships with each other because they expect even their closest friends to be cunning and deceitful.


What Are Their Beliefs?

The Eastern Mandinka people in Guinea have adapted the doctrines of Islam to their own beliefs, resulting in a wide variety of sects. Islam was first introduced in West Africa by Muslim merchants. Since the Maninka peoples were not required by Islamic leaders to abandon their old customs and mystical beliefs, they mixed Islam with their traditional religions. Divination, healing and the casting of spells are all important parts of their religion. In fact, Maninka Islam approves and even encourages certain magical procedures-particularly those directed towards healing the sick, preventing misfortunes and ensuring prosperity.

Fear plays a big role in the spiritual lives of the Eastern Mandinka people. Someone will first pray in the village mosque and then sacrifice a chicken to the spirit of the land on which his village rests. Every villager has at least one or two charms.


What Are Their Needs?

With permission from Maninka elders, people can show the JESUS Film in their communities and use it as a way to help them see what Christ can do for them. Almost no Eastern Maninka people have taken the step to follow Christ, perhaps partly because they think doing this will alienate their families and friends.


Prayer Points

Pray for workers who will try to win entire Maninka families to the Savior, so they can worship him together.
Pray for the few Eastern Maninka believers to take seriously their role as Christ's ambassador to their people.
Pray for the effectiveness of the JESUS Film and gospel recordings among the Maninka.
Ask the Lord to bring about a church planting movement among the Eastern Maninka people throughout West Africa.


Scripture Prayers for the Maninka, Eastern in Guinea.


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Maninka, Eastern
People Name in Country Maninka, Eastern
Natural Name Eastern Maninka
Pronunciation mah-NEENG-kah
Alternate Names Konyanke; Mandingo; Mandinka; South Maninka; Wangara
Population this Country 3,404,000
Population all Countries 4,337,000
Total Countries 10
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 68
People ID 13511
ROP3 Code 106265
ROP25 Code 305137
ROP25 Name Maninka
Country Guinea
Region Africa, West and Central
Continent Africa
10/40 Window Yes
Persecution Rank Not ranked
Location in Country Widespread and in all urban areas.   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Country Guinea
Region Africa, West and Central
Continent Africa
10/40 Window Yes
Persecution Rank Not ranked
Location in Country Widespread and in all urban areas..   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Map of Maninka, Eastern in Guinea Ethnolinguistic map or other map

Primary Religion: Islam
Religion Subdivision: Sunni
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.00 %)
0.02 %
Ethnic Religions
1.98 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
98.00 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %

Primary Language:  Maninkakan, Eastern

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (1931-1964)
Bible-New Testament Yes  (1932-1993)
Bible-Complete No
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Audio Recordings Story of Jesus audio Jesus Film Project
Film / Video God's Story video God's Story
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Maninkakan, Eastern Jesus Film Project
Film / Video World Christian Videos World Christian Videos
General Bible for Children Bible for Children
General Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  International Mission Board-SBC  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source People Group location: IMB. Map geography: ESRI / GMI. Map design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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