This settlement is no other than the famous Bundung. It occupies a land that historically belongs to Sabiji but today, the settlement is under the authority of the Kanifing Municipal Council.  Please read on to discover the interesting historical developments leading to the establishment of this community.

In our encounter with the current custodian of the community of Bundung, Alkalo Alhagie Abdoulie Trawalley, we uncovered that the name Bundung is used to refer to the aboriginal settlers simply because they came from a place called Bundu in the Far East probably in Mali. Hence, the name Bundunkakunda means home of those who came from Bundu. According to our sources, the land that today hosts this community belongs to Sabiji but later in history, that part of the land was sold to the colonialists. 

We could not confirm the name and identity of the original founder of Bundung as historical facts about him remains  scanty, but we manage to  established the fact that the first people to  transform Bundung from a jungle to a human habitation were the Tilibonkas who emigrated from Bundu in the Far East. The family that spearheaded this Tilibonka settlement is the Sankareh family.  They were the Sankarehs from Mali. According to our sources, when the Tilibonkas arrived, the land was under the authority of Sabiji.  

Upon their demand for a settlement blended with their farming  activities and hard, the people of Sabji decided to give them part of their land to practice agriculture; this is the simple reason why the settlement of Bundung is as large as it is today. These Tilibonkas migrated together with the aborigines that today occupy Bakau Wasulu Kunda. Our sources further revealed that during those  days , the community of Bundung and that of Serrekunda were the same and that  they performed community functions together. But as the place developes and expands , both decided to have separate alkalolu and Imams. 

During the early days of settlement, the ‘Tilibonka’ community of Bundung was a small one, a good percentage of the land was for agricultural use. Then the community was divided into three major families or ‘Kabilos’; these ‘Kabiloos’ were Sankereh, Konareh and the Keita. The entire governance of the settlement rested upon the shoulders of these three kabilos, they consulted each other in times of need and decisions were centrally made. But as time passed , more and more Tilibonkas came to join their counterparts, and the village grew in size; other families outside that of the Easterners’ were also not left behind in this historical development. Migration  was to be part of the  factors for  the growth of a new settlement  of Bundunkakunda and today the community is among the largest in Kombo. 

Just like many other traditional settlements, the community of Bundunkakunda enjoyed a smooth traditional hierarchy and ascendance to the throne of alkalo. However, we discovered the fact that though the Sankareh were the people who masterminded the transformation of the community of Bundung into a habitation, yet today the Trawalleh’s are the alkalos. Alkalo Alhagie Abdoulie Trawalley sums it all up in this way: “ when the community started, it was very small. There were few families. “When the white men came, they decided to select someone to look after the land. According to what my grandfather told me, the first alkalo of Bundung was a woman. She was the daughter of Alhagie Trawalley; this woman was called Mojareh Sankareh. After  ruling for a while, the people decided that a woman could not be a ruler of the village. Then the alkaloship was taken from her and given to one Sambu Konareh. After his demise, my grandfather  Makang Trawalley was made the alkalo and he was succeeded by Modi Konteh before it was returned to us”. 

As a Tilibonka community, it was obvious that the community of Bundung cannot do without a rich African tradition.  According to our sources, the community of Bundung once had a big fig tree ‘Sootoo”; this fig tree was at the ground that currently harbors the ‘silent ones’. This ‘Sootoo’ tree was the center of rituals in Bundung. Our sources stated that whenever the community was in need, before wrestlers of the community staged any combat and before circumcised boys were reintegrated back into the community, they usually gathered under the ‘Sootoo” with a white calabash to perform rituals. When the rituals were performed, the white calabash would be mysteriously filled with water and that water was used to bath the person concerned. The old tradition that places importance on age was also observed and the heads of the ‘kabiloos’ consulted among themselves to make an implement decisions.