People and Cultures of the 

Kingdom of Biffeche

Cultural Practices of the Biffeche continued

The women of Biffeche are famous for wit, beauty and style, which we maintain even in time of extreme poverty. Many a young Sénugal man comes to Biffeche looking for an ideal wife, and tales are told of the sad lovesick youths who leave the Kingdom rebuffed. In Biffeche, the woman has complete control of her person. This is evident in the rituals as in all things. We gather at the river to fetch water, socialize, and do our routines and cultural practices. The Biffeche woman often wears the most splendid West African dresses, even if she has little money.

 The Biffeche man is known to be strong, industrious, pious, shrewd, loyal and friendly. Our men dress in traditional robes or western clothes, much more subdued (except for certain Fula robes) than our women's finery. We wear the Muslim headwear, or else the knitted cap with the traditional Biffeche colors of blue and white; some outside the Kingdom may also wear it in solidarity with our King.

The traditional transport for the Kings of Biffeche was always by camel, but our current King prefers his elephants.  He has played elephant polo in Nepal and is saddened that there has not been a wild elephant sighting in Biffeche in some years.  His Majesty does find the Asian elephant to be more tractable and easier to ride than our larger African breed.

There are no serious disputes in our Kingdom and any contretemps are settled by consultation among our Council of Ancients and community consensus under the guidance of our Chefs and Sou-Chefs des Villages. This is the traditional African way. The King can make his wishes known, but that is rarely needed. For over 50 years, the Kings have rarely held majlis court in Biffeche, although officially any Biffeche person may call for it.

In a field in Biffeche there grows the great Sacred Gui (a large baobab tree), which is the center of certain beliefs, and is never cut or felled. From the fruits of this tree comes Biffeche Royal Bouille, a special delicious white powder used in ceremonial foods for babies.

Biffeche ancients had certain initiations for a boy becoming a man, and a girl becoming a woman, that remain undisclosed. Any bathing ceremonies of youth would be suffused with reverence for the body and wholly consistent with the religious pieties of Islam, Christianity, and the Great White Leopard. Outsiders ignorant of historic culture merely have difficulty in understanding. A system of certain deeper features of the Universe under traditional "Pangool" and Great White Leopard can be harmonized with both Islam and Christianity.

A special mark of honor for a guest in Biffeche is the "triple-tea ceremony." In a special sequence, the lady of the house pours a cup of tea for the guest three times, each more strong than the last, from an elaborate tea-heating and serving apparatus. We are very poor, so this elaborate ceremony carries a great significance of respect.  Some old French customs are popular in Biffeche, from the days when much of Afrique de l'Ouest was a French colony, especially the French bread (baguette) obtained daily from the boulangerie in nearby Saint-Louis, Sénégal. And the well-educated person speaks and cherishes the French tongue.

This is Peulh Ronald the smallest village in the Kingdom of Biffeche.  Pop Up Picture