SunDiata, or Sundiata, or Sunjata, or MaliDjata…these are variants of the name of a great 13th century Mandingo king. Half-myth, half-historical, African oral histories tell how SunDiata, with his strong army and wise leadership, was able to unite 12 different tribes and languages into Mali, an empire that stretched from the Niger River to the Atlantic Ocean. While Europe languished during the Middle Ages, SunDiata led Mali to became a great economic power.
Diata or Djata or Jata means “lion” in Mandinko, and SunDiata was called The Lion King of Mali. Walt Disney Studios rewrote the story of SunDiata as the animated film, “The Lion King.”
Established in 1969, the SunDiata Basenji breeding line has been preserved by myself and my husband, Chris and Jim Maxka. We are currently members of the BCOA (Basenji Club of America), the Mid-Atlantic Basenji Club, and all 20+ generations of our dogs are AKC registered. Our 2023 crop of puppies represents the 25th generation of the SunDiata line, continuous back to 1969, and the first Basenji I ever owned. Breeding and showing beautiful, healthy Basenjis has been a lifelong avocation, and our Basenjis still preserve the classic type first presented to me by my mentors nearly 50 years ago. Our GChS SunDiata’s Winter Solstice Sun won Best of Breed at the Westminster Kennel Club show in 2017, and his grandson GChS SunDiata Tezeta’s T’ej again won the Westminster Best of Breed in 2022. Our old file cabinet is overflowing with records of litters and health testing certificates, and we participate in research that has led to the elimination or control of genetic disease.
We live with our small family “pack” of 4-5 Basenjis, and are able to trust them loose in the house with access to their yard via doggie door, even when we aren’t home. The younger dogs spend time on nice days in the protected kennel pen outside. This isn’t recommended for everyone though, our house is WELL basenji proofed and being retired, I’ve spent a great deal of time ensuring our dogs are reliable in the house unsupervised. As a result, our Basenjis are very comfortable with people in all phases of living and are wonderful companions, who would rather “hang out” with you than do anything else in the world.
In addition to our pack here at home in south central Pennsylvania, we have placed some of our very best puppies in exceptional homes around the area. We have retained stud rights to several of the males, and cooperative breeding agreements on several of the females. In various ways, we support the best puppies and their owners in obtaining their AKC championships if possible. In this way we include these dogs in our breeding program, yet each one has its own family and home.
