N’Datté Yalla
Head of State, resistance fighter, nationalist and educator, N’Datté Yalla was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Waalo. She would ascend the throne on the 1st of October 1846, upon the death of her elder sister. Her reign would above all be marked by constant defiance of the French, against whom she waged a fierce battle. In particular, she opposed Faidherbe by claiming possession of the island of Sor (today the city of Saint-Louis), which the Governor wanted to annex.
From 1847, she opposed the free passage of the Sarakole, who supplied the island of Saint-Louis with cattle. She then sent a letter to the governor expressing her determination to defend respect for her sovereignty over the valley in these terms: “it is we who guarantee the passage of herds through our country; for this reason we take a tenth of them, and we will never accept anything other than that. Saint-Louis belongs to the Governor, Cayor to the Damel and Waalo to the Brack. Each of these chiefs governs his country as he sees fit”. She therefore refused to pay compensation for the damage done, as the French demanded. She ended up asserting her rights over the island of Mboye and the island of Sor, which she affirmed she had never sold to anyone.
In a letter sent to Faidherbe on May 23, 1851, she expressed herself in these terms: “The purpose of this letter is to let you know that the Island of Mboyo has belonged to me from my grandfather down to me. Today, there is no one who can say that this country belongs to him; it is mine alone ”. Ndatté considered herself the sole sovereign of the Kingdom of Waalo
With this stance, war became inevitable. The French wanted to secure their trade in the river valley. And so, on February 5, 1855, Faidherbe launched the battle in Waalo. In the end, the colonial force defeated the Waalo troops on February 25, 1855.