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An African tribal storyteller and musician is called a griot. The griot’s role was to preserve the genealogies and oral traditions of the tribe. They were usually among the oldest men in a tribe. In places where written language is the privilege of the few, the place of the griot as cultural guardian is still maintained. In Senegal, for example, the griot—without resorting to fantasy—recites poems or tells stories of warriors, drawing on his own sources of inspiration.
Examples of griot in a Sentence
Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 27 July 2024
Born in Bamako in 1965, Diabaté descended from a long line of griots—West African historian-musicians who maintain oral traditions, often with the accompaniment of the kora or the xylophone-like balafon.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 26 July 2024
The 29-year-old was born in Mali, the oldest of five siblings in a family of griots, or West African storytellers.
—Samantha Chery, Washington Post, 26 July 2024
For many Black people in Miami, Enid Pinkney was a griot; a gatekeeper of our journeys that always welcomed people in because of her knowledge of the Black diaspora relative to Miami.
—Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 18 July 2024
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“Griot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/griot. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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griot
noun
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