The Bozo are a West African ethnic group located along the Niger River in Mali.
Although overwhelmingly Muslims, the Bozo preserve a number of animistic traditions.
Their animal totem is a bull, whose body represents the Niger, and whose horns represent the Bozo fishing pirogues. The name Bozo is thought to derive from Bambara bo so “The people which means Bamboo house. The people accept it as referring to the whole of the ethnic group but use more specific clan names such as Sorogoye, Hain, and Tieye themselves.
They are famous for their fishing and are occasionally referred to as the “ Master of the River”.
Their language belonging to the Sonike-Bozo subgroup of Northwestern Mande languages, have traditionally been considered dialects of one language, though in reality there are at least four distinct varieties