A Drummer's Testament
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The Dagbamba invasion of Ghana; the conquest of the indigenous peoples; Tɔhiʒee, Nimbu, Ʒipopora, Kumtili, Naa Gbewaa, Naa Ʒirli
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Supplementary material
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Contents outline and links by paragraph
Introduction: issues and problems of the origins talks
- 1. difficulty of the old talks: fear and lack of clarity
- 2. differences among drummers who talked; confusion still in Dagbon
- 3. talk should reflect custom and be consistent with training from elders
- 4. not many drummers know the old talks; only those who have to know them
- 5. we will use talks by senior drum chiefs: Namo-Naa, Palo-Naa, Nyologu Lun-Naa
- 6. these drum chiefs are major authorities; shouldn't challenge them much
- 7. main issue: the taboos based on covering chieftaincy's mother's house from tindanas
- 8. main points: Dagbamba came from somewhere else; mixed with other tribes; Naa Gbewaa's talk will follow these early talks
Namo-Naa Issahaku: how the Dagbamba come to their present land
- 9. Dagbamba came from Gbamba in Hausa land; no Dagbon at that time
- 10. Hausas say they are related to Dagbamba; how Mamprusis call them
- 11. came as warriors; roamed; passed Biɛn in Guruma land, came to Pusiga, then to Dagbon area
- 12. no Yendi chieftaincy; Nimbu their leader, started chieftaincy; meaning of the name Nimbu
- 13. not many people in region; tindanas ruled; made sacrifices
- 14. Namo-Naa's omission of Ʒipopora; Dagbamba at Yendi Dabari; living with tindanas
- 15. tindana (Sosabli) gave daughter to Nimbu; Nimbu gave birth to Kumtili; Nimbu took chieftaincy after Sosabli died
- 16. Nimbu the chief, Sosabli's son as tindana; the chieftaincy was weak; Dagbamba not many
- 17. Nimbu's son Gbewaa with Guruma woman; sent for him when Nimbu died; origin of Tuɣrinam; Kumtili as Yiwɔɣu tindana
Palo-Naa Isaa: Tɔhiʒee, Nimbu, and the early chiefs
- 18. join to Palo-Naa's house talks: included Tɔhiʒee and Ʒipopora
- 19. how Palo-Naa made the sacrifices
- 20. Palo-Naa's comments to John as Lunʒɛɣu
- 21-26. Tɔhiʒee in Guruma; kills a wild cow at water-drinking place
- 27-30. Tɔhiʒee gives cow tail to Guruma chief; chooses a girl and goes to bush
- 31-34. birth of Nimbu as Ʒinaani; the death of Tɔhiʒee and the woman; Nimbu grows and goes to a river
- 35-40. tindana's daughter finds Ʒinaani, who takes him home and becomes his wife
- 41. the birth of Yɔɣu Soɣbiɛri, Ŋmɛrgili, and Namʒishɛli
- 42-44. Ʒinaani kills the tindana and takes his place
- 45. after Ʒinaani dies, Yɔɣu Soɣbiɛri collects; the starting of Yendi
- 46. Ŋmɛrgili eats
- 47. Namʒishɛli eats; the meaning of Namʒishɛli
- 48. Yɔɣu Soɣbiɛri's child Kpɔɣunimbu eats
- 49. Ŋmɛrgili's child Yɛnuunsi eats
- 50. Namʒishɛli's child Tuhusaa eats
- 51. Tuhusaa'a child Ʒipopora eats
- 52. no eye-opening then; Ʒipopora started chieftaincy; went to Guruma
- 53. Guruma chief gathered twelve girls, Ʒipopora took youngest
- 54. Ʒipopora's children Kumtili and Gbewaa from a Guruma woman Sohuyini; took Gbewaa to Guruma and returned; Ʒipopora died
- 55. Kumili ate but no child; when Kumtili died, Gbewaa ate and separated chieftaincy from tindanas
Nyologu Lun-Naa Issahaku: Ʒipopora and the Gurumas
- 56. Dagbamba from Hausa land; Nimbu the leader; sat in different towns: Biɛŋ, Pusiga, Bagli, Yɔɣu, Yaan' Dabari
- 57. Nimbu's married tindana's granddaughter (Shiasabga) and gave birth to Ʒipopora; Kpɔɣunimbu equated to Nimbu; when Nimbu died, Ʒipopora became chief
- 58. Dagbamba did not go to Guruma to fight; Ʒipopora married daughter of Guruma chief (Soyini) gave birth to Kumtili and Naa Gbewaa
Interpretation of the origins talks and sacrifices: chiefs' mothers' house as tindanas
- 59. this history is not part of Samban' luŋa; not sung in public; no names for them
- 60. fear based on chiefs as tindanas; new Yaa-Naa hears it, goes to Yiwɔgu to sacrifice
- 61. tindanas eat through the mother's house; custom compared to drummers' daughters
- 62. chiefs who have an old thing from mother's side collect it but continue to eat chieftaincy
- 63. the sacrifice at Yiwɔɣu is important because of mother's house talks
- 64. the sacrifices for chieftaincy old talks are tindana's sacrifices; do not resemble Muslim sacrifices
Naa Gbewaa: the separation of the tribes
- 65. the early chiefs who killed tindanas were weak; Naa Gbewaa separated chieftaincy from tindanas
- 66. Naa Gbewaa brought from his mother's house in Guruma; avoided the women in chief's compound
- 67. as a chief, had many wives and children; the children started Mamprusi, Mossi, Nanumba; Naa Gbewaa's children
- 68. Naa Gbewaa's son Fɔɣu was his favorite; Ʒirli and his brothers killed Fɔɣu
- 69. Naa Gbewaa informed of the death by yua, luɣ' nyini, and guŋgɔŋ; how Naa Gbewaa died
- 70. quarrels among children; the group was separated into the tribes; Tohigu to Mamprusi; Ŋmantambu to Nanumba; Nee Gbewaa's daughter to Mossi
- 71. Naa Ʒirli's became mad, died without children; Naa Shitɔbu ate Yendi
- 72. Naa Gbewaa's success in separating chieftaincy from tindanas; Naa Shitɔbu and Naa Nyaɣsi followed to broaden the chieftaincy; Naa Gbewaa is most known of the early chiefs
Differences or discrepancies in drumming talks
- 73. differences in the versions regarding Tɔhiʒee, Nimbu, and Ʒipopora; also different genealogies
- 74. drummers have extent of knowledge from their learning; learning from the father's house
- 75. differences from learning in different towns; drummers travel to other towns to learn more
- 76. differences among learned people; compared to learned people in other countries; listen to all and evaluate
- 77. the different versions of Dagbamba origins will not be aligned
- 78. drummers learn by memory, not by writing; confusion is normal even with writing; difficulties
- 79. Muslim religion: arguments about contemporary writings about the Holy Prophet; compared to how drummers hold knowledge
- 80. drummers who have knowledge but don't sing; singers move through talks differently
- 81. example: calling timpana during Naa Luro is an anachronism; a style, not faulted
- 82. small differences do not spoil a talk; drummers don't argue; the larger points are not affected
Explanation of how drummers merge and combine generations in genealogies
- 83. in drumming talks, someone's child can be taken as someone else's child; can skip generations in praising
- 84. example: in linking a family, can even call Naa Gbewaa's grandfather as his child
- 85. this information is an important secret of chieftaincy and of drumming talks
The importance to traditon in learning and teaching correctly
- 86. example: knowledge to Nimbu countered an attempt to remove Naa Abila Bila
- 87. not everyone has knowledge; drummers ask and learn
- 88. responsibility not to lie; importance of the elders
Conclusion
- 89. continuation to Naa Shitɔbu and Naa Nyaɣsi
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Proverbs and Sayings
If you try to follow a snake to see its ears, you will be tired.
If there is no fear, then what is darkness?
A cow that is in the house, no one fears its horns; but a cow that is in the bush, even if it has no horns, they fear it.
If a child is arguing with old people's talks, there is no benefit.
There is a limit where you will take this talk and end.
Learning drumming is like going to school.
If you are asking too much, you will come to mix it up with lies.
If a talk is small and it's good, it's better than it will be plenty and it will be useless.
As for truth, it is never small.
Truth always goes forward, and lies always come back.
Truth doesn't finish, but as for lies, they finish.
It is the mother's side talks that eat a human being.
Our drumming talks are on the part of our Dagbamba chiefs, and this is what we are holding.
This drumming is what our fathers asked to know, and they put it down for us.
Our drumming is different from stories.
“Chieftaincy doesn't know anything.” If you have people, and those who are not good people do something bad, and those who do good are there, then you will take those who are good to add to those who have done bad. And you have not seen anyone's fault: that is Namʒishɛli.
I have no child. My child is my brother.
In our drumming custom, we don't show that a Yaa-Naa has no child.
Someone will not love somebody more than himself.
Between a mother and father, the mother's talk is stronger than the father's.
Everything, when it's going to happen, it starts in a small way.
It is better they throw spears at you than they tell lies about you.
These talks we talk, we learn them from our fathers, and we were not there at that time.
Tradition is: “I got up, and my father said this.”
The meat you meet inside your father's kitchen is what you eat.
Drumming is just like a classroom.
Those who talk, it is not that they don't know. They know, but it is the way they know it.
It is good that you hear about something, and you go to that place and ask of it.
Every drummer has the extent he has learned.
It is good that you hear about something, and you go to that place and ask of it.
You will go to see the place, and you will meet the old people of the town, and they will show you.
Our way is: knowledge is more than one another.
Nobody will talk this talk and it will become one.
You need patience to learn the talks of drumming.
When they sing the Samban' luŋa, every drummer has the way he will pass from this section or this chief to the talk of another chief. Someone will talk and curve the talks, and someone will talk and jump some parts, and someone will come and add some styles to his talk to make it nice. It's just like the way we beat the drums. Someone will beat a drum straightforward, and someone will be beating and changing, and someone will beat a dance and mix another dance inside it.
As these small differences are there, it is still one talk.
You are joining the family.
If anybody gets sense, he gets it from somewhere, and he takes it to his hometown, or he will be in his hometown and the sense will come from some place and reach him.
No one knows the ways of drumming more than a drummer.
If somebody doesn't know something and he is going to do it, he is just going to do it with I-don't-know doing.
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Dagbani words and other search terms
- Chiefs of Yendi
- Fogu (Fɔɣu)
- Kpogu (Kpɔɣu)
- Kpogunimbu (Kpɔɣunimbu) or (Kpɔɣ'nimbu)
- Kumtili
- Naa Luro
- Naa Abilabila
- Naa Darizhegu (Naa Dariʒɛɣu)
- Naa Gbewaa
- Naa Mahamadu
- Naa Nyagsi (Naa Nyaɣsi)
- Naa Shitobu (Naa Shitɔbu)
- Naa Zanjina
- Naa Ziblim Bandamda
- Naa Zhirli (Naa Ʒirli)
- Namzisheli (Namʒishɛli)
- Nimbu
- Nmergili (Ŋmɛrgili)
- Tohizhee (Tɔhiʒee)
- Tuhusaa
- Yaa-Naa
- Yenuunsi (Yɛnuunsi)
- Yogu Sogbieri (Yɔɣu Sɔɣbiɛri)
- Zhinaani (Ʒinaani)
- Zhipopora [Sipopora] (Ʒipopora)
- People and titled persons
- Baatanga
Beemoni
- Bimbilalana Nmantambu (Bimbilalan' Ŋmantambu)
- Bugyilgu (Buɣyilgu)
- Dr. (Kofi) Busia
- Fatyagu (Fatyaɣu)
- Kachagu (Kachaɣu)
- Kpasaawulo
- Mamprugulana Tohigu
- Nmantambu (Ŋmantambu)
- Tohigu
- Nanton-Naa Sule [Gushie-Naa Sule]
- Pakpong Kachagu (Pakpɔŋ Kachaɣu)
- Salagalana Kayilkuna
- Shiasabga
- Sohuyini
- Sosabli
- Soyini
- Subee Bila
- Subee Kpɛma
- Tugrinam (Tuɣrinam)
- Yaantuuri
- Yenyoo
- Yobtolana
- Yogtolana (Yɔɣtolana)
- Drum chiefs and drummers
- Ashagu (Ashaɣu)
- Blemah
- Kosagim (Kosaɣim)
- Logambalbo (Loɣambalbo)
- Lun-Naa
- Lunzhegu (Lunʒɛɣu)
- Mumuni Abdulai [Alhaji Mumuni]
- Namo-Naa
- Namo-Naa Issahaku
- Nyologu Lun-Naa Issahaku
- Palo Lun-Naa
- Palo-Naa
- Palo-Naa Issa
- Saakpuli Lun-Naa Issa [Tailor] Karimu
- Savelugu Yiwogu-Naa Karimu (Savelugu Yiwɔɣu-Naa Karimu)
- Wumbie
- Zingnaa (Ziŋnaa)
- Miscellaneous terms
- baobab [Adansonia digitata]
- bagyuli (baɣyuli)
- bia
- bugli (buɣli)
- dang (daŋ)
- daantalga
- Dagbani
- Dangomba
- Dang Gbamba (Daŋ Gbamba)
- gungong (guŋgɔŋ)
- lug' nyini (luɣ' nyini)
- maalam, maalams
- moglo (mɔɣlo)
- Oueh
- pakpong (pakpɔŋ)
- pito
- salimata
- Samban' lunga (Samban' luŋa)
- timpana
- tindana, tindanas
- tinga lana (tiŋa lana)
- tua [Adansonia digitata]
- Yeltabli gari kpani
- yogu (yɔɣu)
- yua
- Yu-u-u, yu-u-u
- zuu
- Zhirli ku Fogu (Ʒirli ku Fɔɣu)
- Towns and places
- Bagli
- Bawku
- Bieng (Biɛŋ)
- Bimbila
- Dagbon
- Diari
- Dipali
- Fada N'Gourma
- Gbamba, Gomba
- Gushegu
- Gushie
- Karaga
- Kpuhiga
- Kumbungu
- Mion
- Nanton
- Nyologu
- Pigu
- Pusiga
- Savelugu
- Tolon
- Tunaayili
- Yaan' Dabari
- Yendi Dabari
- Yiwogu (Yiwɔɣu)
- Zong-cheguni (Zoŋ-chɛɣuni)
- Cultural groups
- Ashantis
- Busanga
- Dagbana, Dagbamba
- Dagomba
- Guruma, Gurumas
- Mamprusi, Mamprusis
- Mossi, Mossis
- Nanumbas
- Yoba