ndiata is told, after all, by such a griot, who was far more attached to the traditional African religious perspective than to Islam. As Niane writes,
. . . In ancient Africa, . . . 'griots' were the counsellors of kings, they conserved the constitutions of kingdoms by memory work alone; each princely family had its griot appointed to preserve tradition. . . . In the very hierarchical society of African before colonization, where everyone found his place, the griot appears as one of the most important of this society, because it is he who, for want of archives, records the customs, traditions and governmental principles of kings (Niane vii).
This tradition, with its roots in ancient African religions, stands in stark contrast to the Islamic perspective and its reliance on the written text of Muhammad. Sundiata's story, again, can be seen as a bridge between the tr
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