Rialé the Hunter

Rialé is the paternal ancestor of the Mossi royal lineages in the dynastic founding legend. He is portrayed as a solitary elephant hunter living in the bush north of Gambaga; some versions of the tradition recorded by Skinner and Izard make him a man of Mandé (Bisa/Boussansi) origin, so that the Mossi ruling houses unite a southern royal line through Yennenga with an autochthonous or Mandé hunter's line through Rialé. His union with the fugitive princess Yennenga produced Ouédraogo, whose descendants founded the kingdoms of Tenkodogo, Ouagadougou, Yatenga and the other Mossi states.

Children

• Ouédraogo, Progenitor of the Mossi Kingdoms

Domains

• hunting

Powers

• to track and hunt elephants alone in the bush

Relations

• spouse: Yennenga, Warrior Princess and Mother of the Mossi
• father of: Ouédraogo, Progenitor of the Mossi Kingdoms

Sources

• Elliott P. Skinner, The Mossi of the Upper Volta: The Political Development of a Sudanese People, Stanford University Press, 1964
• Yamba Tiendrébéogo (Larhallé Naba), Histoire et coutumes royales des Mossi de Ouagadougou, rédaction de Robert Pageard, Ouagadougou, 1964