griots were of a social caste, the art and important position of storytelling passed down from generations of griot families and as such, not just anyone could become a griot. In addition, griots were responsible for keeping all the births, deaths and marriages throughout the generations of the family or village. the griot (Koyaté) speaks of the weakness of the written word and the death of oral tradition, saying “Other peoples use writing to record the past, but this invention has killed the faculty of memory among them. They do not feel the past anymore, for writing lacks the warmth of the human voice” (Niane 41)