A Drummer's Testament

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Chapter II-9:  Samban' Luŋa, the Drum History

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The social context of the drum history performance at the chief's house; the performance format of the drum history; learning to sing it; the chief's responsibility for sacrifices; Baŋgumaŋa; the lessons of history and main themes of particular chiefs; Dagbamba historiography; objectivity and divergent pathways within the Samban' luŋa



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Dakoli N-Nyɛ Bia

Samban' luŋa (Tolon 1981)

Drum history, part 1



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Contents outline and links by paragraph

Introduction

Starting the Samban' luŋa:  pounding the soup

The extent of the Samban' luŋa

Drummers who beat the Samban' luŋa are distinguished

Learning to beat and preparing to beat the Samban' luŋa for the first time

The Samban' luŋa performance space

How people show themselves at the Samban' luŋa

What the chief does for the drummer

Baŋgumaŋa

Main themes in the Samban' luŋa of different chiefs

Lessons from the Samban' luŋa

Narrative strategies in the Samban' luŋa:  example of Naa Garba

Historical discrepancies in the Samban' luŋa

Significance of written and oral traditions for drummers and Muslims

Conclusion



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Proverbs and Sayings

“This child should go and pound the vegetables so that the old woman will cook the food.”

“A bachelor is a child, and a married person is the elder.”

As I have been telling you that wisdom doesn't finish, and drumming doesn't finish, no one can know everything in the Samban' luŋa.

Every drummer will learn it [Samban' luŋa] only to his extent.

One drummer's knowledge is greater than another's.

Samban' luŋa talks follow many paths.

The Samban' luŋa is only for those who learn it.

"I'm going to do the work of my father.  And so it is my father who gave me this work.  I don't say that I know too much.  It is by force that I am going to do it."

As for the Samban' luŋa, its talks are too much.

How we are sitting down and I am talking to you, that is how learning the Samban' luŋa is.

Some friendships are more than others.

If your tongue is going to get tired, then your heart will also get tired.

These dead chiefs we talk about are not people who die and remain in the ground.  They are roaming.

If you are going to talk about them, you will have to give them something.

Dagbamba say that you don't have to love someone more than yourself.

If a stone is falling from the sky, everybody will put his hand on his head.

The dead chiefs the drummer will talk about want blood to come out, and that is why the chief will slaughter the animals.

We don't beat Baŋgumaŋa without blood coming out.

When we sit for the Samban' luŋa, we look at the olden days' talks, and so it is something like reading.

“They will search for me, but they will not see me.”

A chief who hears the talk of Naa Luro will get to know what is inside chieftaincy.

As the drummer has showed the chief that his grandfather did something great, the chief and all those who have gathered will get to know it, and they and the chief will know how a chief is also standing in our Dagbon.

Naa Zanjina ate the chieftaincy and left his brothers.

Before Naa Zanjina, Dagbon was in darkness, and it was when Naa Zanjina came to eat Yendi that Dagbon's eyes were opening.

We drummers gave Naa Zanjina a name that he lit a lantern and opened the eyes of Dagbon.

If you are going to talk about anything on the part of our customs in Dagbon, you are only going to stand on the footprints of Naa Zanjina.

Naa Zanjina was the lantern of the Dagbamba.

The reason why they are beating the Samban' luŋa is because they want to show the chiefs how chieftaincy is.

It is the Samban' luŋa that will show a chief how he started.

In Dagbon, if they call somebody and say, “This man is a Dagbana,” then he will have some family with the Yaa-Naa.

Everybody in Dagbon here who opens his mouth and speaks Dagbani, he is a grandchild of a Yaa-Naa.

All Dagbamba are grandchildren of a Yaa-Naa.

If you listen to the Samban' luŋa, you will get to know more about your grandfathers and what work they did.

Anyone, even a typical Dagbana, if you follow him very well and get into the details of his family, you will find that at one time his grandfather was the paramount chief.

Their fire died on the way.

If women should come out and listen to this, they will get to know that from the olden days, their heads were strong, and they were proud.

There are many ways a drummer can come and pass inside the Samban' luŋa.

As a drummer is singing the Samban' luŋa, he is looking for the road he is going to pass and his talks will fall nicely.

She didn't want to marry and give birth only to women who would carry the kuŋmani, and not give birth to children who can dig the grave.

No one is writing this down.

We get all of it with our ears and in our hearts.

Everyone holds what he got up and met.

The Samban' luŋa is one.

“An ugly thing has come to the open and will not go and hide again.”

“Water from honey, no one will spit it out.”

“No matter how big a water yam is, it can never conquer a monkey.”

“Fire made at the edge of a river; it was made by somebody who has medicine.”

An old person does not die.

In Dagbon here, someone who hears is an old person.

Everyone has the extent of his knowledge, and everyone has the place where he learns, and that is what has let our talks become different.

There was only one point our grandfathers put down about it, and they said that there shouldn't be any refusing.

As the Samban' luŋa follows different forms, it doesn't mean that it is lies.

If it were lies, it wouldn't be standing as our tradition.

Our drumming is one tradition.

Namɔɣ' yili mali kpiɔŋ kpam:  The house of Namɔɣu has strength, plenty!

We don't have any book, but in our beating, we have only one beginning.

It is good, if somebody opens his stomach for you, you too will also open your stomach for him.

The one who knows the quality of the material, even if the material is very dirty, he will still buy the material.

Had it not been for us drummers, Dagbamba custom would have died off a long time ago.

We drummers say that because of us, Dagbon is standing.

We drummers are the paper of Dagbon.

If somebody wants to know something about Dagbon, then you have to see a drummer.


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