Female Landowner Strategies in Pre-colonial Saint Louis, Senegal, 1758-1819

In pre-colonial Senegal, men politically dominated Wolof communities, but women played a significant role in the social and economic system through particular aspects designated to the female sphere, such as property ownership. This particular aspect of Wolof society was maintained on the island of Ndar (Saint Louis) between 1758 and 1819. Land in Ndar was singularly owned by a woman or by one particular family, in which case a female matriarch made the final call on all decisions pertaining to the property. Female landowners obtained, and at times lost their property through concession, inheritance, purchase, robbery and trade. Just as in Wolof society of the interior, land ownership gave the women of Ndar social and economic power within their community. Some historians treat female land ownership in Ndar as a special and uncommon case made distinctive from Wolof societies of the interior by the presence and involvement of Europeans (the French and British). Drawing upon notarial and court records, this paper argues that the experiences of Ndar women should be used to better understand the practice of female land ownership within Wolof society, as well as to destroy the myth that all land in Africa was communal property.