The Bainuk people (also called Banyuk, Banun, Banyun, Bainouk, Bainunk, Banyum, Bagnoun, Banhum, Banyung, Ñuñ, Elomay, or Elunay) are an ethnic group that today lives primarily in Senegal as well as in parts of Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
The name Banyun is attributed to the Portuguese, who derived the word from Mandinka and applied it as a collective name for a number of groups settled at strategic sites along waterways, portages, and trade paths between the Gambia and Cacheu rivers....
The Bainuk as such may have been formed by a merger between original inhabitants who had lived in Casamance for centuries and newcomers from the Tenda areas to the east, pushed west by the rising Mali Empire.
[4] There is supposedly a curse on the Bainuk, laid by a tyrannical king upon his execution by his rebellious subjects, which pushes some people to downplay their origins and language.
[8] Many Bainuk are adherents of Islam, a process that began around the 17th century due to the influence of Muslim Mande scholars and merchants settling in the region.