had the story ended in february 1930, yacouba sylla's revival would be little more than an important event in one town's history and an example of popular religious effervescence. But through the anachronism that makes all historical understanding possible, the actions taken after 1930 by Yacouba and some of his surviving followers changed the significance of those months in Kaédi. On the one hand, the coming into existence of a coherent, affluent “Yacoubist” community facilitated the codification and creative transmission of an oral tradition about Yacouba and the revival, in turn making research into the memories and experiences of individual “members” of that community possible. This changed drastically what could be “known” about the Yacoubists and their history and thus the significance that could be attached to them. On the other hand, the wealth and influence that the Yacoubists came to enjoy challenged everyone involved in their past – French officials, Tijani leaders, West African politicians, and not the least the Yacoubists themselves – to offer assessments or interpretations of those events. Thus while it is the violence and death of February 15, 1930, that stands as the formative moment in Yacoubist history, it is the subsequent development of a community of believers who take that event as formative that gives their history its shape.

A PRISON COMMUNITY

The administration moved quickly to restore control over Kaédi and to reassert itself as the only legitimate source of authority.