One of the last days we held a council and the main issue was to get our own camp where we could share and practice the things we had learned in an atmosphere that was more like Africa and less like a class - and without paying an arm and a leg!Brahm and Madu took the next step. They had become friends with the Mendoza family who owned land in the Mendocino National Forest and wanted to open the land for gatherings. This was the beginning of a symbiotic relationship out of which Dunun Village has grown to be the hub in the West African community on the West Coast.
The first gathering at the Morning Star Ranch in October 97 was called West African Village Gathering though we now think of it as the first Dunun Village. It was small, maybe twenty people, but it had a good feeling.
A second gathering was announced for June 98 under the name The Pacific Village West African Community Gathering, but it had not been well advertised and it coincided with the Health And Harmony Festival. I went with my friend Dominic, but we were the only ones and the river was too high to cross. We camped before the crossing and next morning Madu arrived and told us that everybody else were at the Health And Harmony in Sebastopol, so we turned around and went there too, and the PVWACG didn’t happen.At the Rainbow Gathering in Arizona in July 1998 the Dunun Village was again quite far from the rest of the gathering in a beautiful meadow near the Hare Krishna kitchen. The showing was strong and it was at this gathering that the name Dunun Village was extended to the gatherings at Morning Star. I decided to make sure the next gathering was well advertised and collected a list of more than 60 names and addresses and sent them out with a newsletter. Another newsletter brought the invitation to the equinox gathering, the second Dunun Village at Morning Star. At this gathering we had our first African guest, Mustapha Berete from Guinea. The playing happened by the family’s fire near the house.
From here on, there have been two gatherings yearly at Morning Star and most years a camp at the national Rainbow Gatherings.
Dunun Village grew rapidly in 99 and got somewhat out of hand. Too many inexperienced drummers, some, to put it bluntly, plain hippie thunder drummers, made it hard for the dancers. At the spring gathering Kenyatta from L.A. did a lot to save the situation. In the autumn Dramane Kone from Burkina Faso was the first African drummer to visit Dunun Village.We decided to give the gathering more structure by doing workshops and by signing people up for the chores necessary to keep everybody happy. In the spring of 2000 we built the first dance floor with a parachute for shade. It was made out of scrap wood and was a bit wobbly but it helped to give a focus and the shade was a great improvement.
I was a big job to build the dance floor and also to dismantle it, so in the spring of 2001 we went back to dancing on the ground and build a canopy with teepee poles and tarps for shade. That is how it has been since with the exception of one time when Camp Mandeng left their beautifully made dance floor for Dunun Village to try out. There was some controversy about the dance floor that I shall not go into, and in the end, for the sake of simplicity, it was decided to enhance the ground with sand instead of using the floor.
Many of our African teachers have graced the gathering with their presence. I want to mention Mamady Wadaba Kourouma who has come to every gathering with his wife Keio Ogawa since he came to the States.The gatherings now attract from 80 to 150 people and the quality of the music and the dance is exceptional. They have also done a lot to cement the community all over the Western U.S. from Seattle to San Diego, from Oakland to Boise. The folks in Boulder, Colorado have started their own affiliated Dunun Village.
We have the joy to see the next generation at the gatherings. Every year there are more children and some of them learn fast!
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