[The driving force of belief: Contemporary issues in an ancient Mossi ceremony.]

The use of cultural resources can provide a key for understanding politics in an urban agglomeration and unraveling the intricate conflicts and shifting discourses having to do with its history. The cultural resources related to the group who founded Koudougou, Burkina Faso's third largest city, resurfaced during crises there. Earth custodians (priests) and membership in secret (initiation) societies are topics that have been long studied in rural areas. Now that the prevailing trend in urban anthropology is, quite rightly, focusing on the momentum of globalization and technological innovation, it is important to show to what degree the social organization of a middle-sized city in west Africa involves local factors and history. Analyzing the importance of spiritual and political tools in shaping a political community is indispensable for understanding the city. Studying the foundation of a community gradually urbanized and transformed in a collectivity of belonging raises place of organizational and political questions related to the groups formed by the first settlers in the area.