Soninke in North America

The Soninke are historically the most well-known traders of West Africa. As their trade spread throughout West Africa, they settled in areas within the modern-day countries of Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, and the Gambia. Their reputation as traders continues today where they own small businesses in New York City, Cincinnati, and elsewhere. An estimated 30,000+ Soninke live in North America, with half of those living in New York City.

From roughly the 6th to 13th centuries, the Soninke people controlled the first great empire of West Africa. It is mostly known as the Ghana Empire, but the Soninke called it Wagadou. They were wealthy, sitting on such large deposits of gold that North Africans called the empire “the Land of Gold.” Gold dust became currency and geographers described seeing gold-embroidered caps, saddles, swords, and even dog collars in the Ghana Empire. With a valuable commodity in abundance, the Soninke traded gold for salt through desert caravans, and they became merchants throughout West Africa and the Muslim world. Coins that were minted in Baghdad have even been discovered in excavations of the empire’s old capital.

While the Ghana Empire deteriorated in the 13th Century, the Soninke retain pride in their significant place in African history. The Bambara, the dominant ethnic group in Mali today, call the Soninke maraka in their language, which can be translated as “keepers” or “rulers.” In places like the Gambia, the Soninke are more often called Sarakole (also spelled Serecole). The Soninke have a common language that is labeled by the same various names, and it has two major dialects. In North America, the Soninke mainly come from Mali, who speak the eastern dialect, and the Gambia, who speak the western dialect.