Yesterday I told you that we would continue with our talk about the Samban luŋa, and I would curve the talks to talk the side of Naa Zanjina. As we have been talking about the Gonjas, the war with the Gonjas started up again during the time of Naa Zanjina, and Naa Zanjina also fought the Gonjas. But truly, it was Naa Siɣli who fought the Gonjas and saved Dagbon, and so the talk of the Gonjas falls on the part of Naa Siɣli. But it is not good if we jump over Naa Zanjina to talk straightforward about Naa Siɣli. Yesterday I sat with Abukari Moro, the drummer from Yendi, and he also said that Naa Zanjina should have his own place in our talks. And he said that if you are asking many questions, we are ready to answer you. We are the people who can answer you and leave strength. And he said again that how you have caught me, that is why you are going to get the truth. If not that, you wouldn't get the truth. If it is that you are just going round and you meet somebody, if he knows, he will say he doesn't know. And the time we were sitting, we talked much about Naa Zanjina and how he got his chieftaincy. As for this talk, they like beating it at the Samban' luŋa, because it is very nice, and there is a lot of sense inside it. And there are some deep and hidden things inside the talk of Naa Zanjina, and his talk is very important on the part of our Dagbon and our chieftaincy. And so it is good we talk about Naa Zanjina before we come to finish the talk of the Gonjas.
After Naa Luro died, Naa Tutuɣri ate, and the time Naa Tutuɣri was sitting, Yendi was at Yiwɔɣu, getting to Yaan' Dabari. And so Yendi was here, in Toma here, and from Diari to this place was one place. And it was Naa Tutuɣri who took Yendi from this side to the place it is today, and I think it was because of the Gonjas that he went to that side. I last told you that some drummers say that it was Naa Zaɣli who moved Yendi. Nyologu Lun-Naa Issahaku told us that the Gonja chief told Naa Zaɣli that Naa Zaɣli should prepare, and he the Gonja chief would come, and they would wrestle. And Naa Zaɣli said, “Be patient. There is a child inside my stomach who will one day come out and wrestle with you.” And that son of Naa Zaɣli was Naa Siɣli. And Naa Zaɣli said, “But as for me, I don't want fighting,” and that was why he took Yendi to go and sit at where Yendi is today. And that is what Lun-Naa Issahaku said. As for that, I am not arguing with it, but I got up and what we all heard was that it was Naa Luro's zuu, Naa Tutuɣri, who took Yendi there. What I think is that if you hear somebody saying it was Naa Zaɣli, maybe it is because when Naa Tutuɣri died, it was Naa Zaɣli who came, and he sat at where Yendi is now. And so it is not a fault. When they moved Yendi, it was not all the Dagbamba who followed him there. These people whose towns are at Yendi side, Naa Tutuɣri went there before some of them went and sat there. Where Yendi is now, at that time the land was for the Konkombas, but I have not heard that they fought the Konkombas. And as some followed him from Toma here and went to Yendi, it wasn't that they all had their towns. As for a town like Gushegu, it was already sitting down, because Gushegu is an old town. But I think that the chieftaincies that are there on Yendi side, I think that they were all also on this side.
Why do I say that? There is Zugulana at Yendi side, and there is Zugulana on the Tamale side here: near Kumbungu, there is a Zugulana there. And so Zugu is two: there is Zugu near Yendi, and Zugu near Kumbungu. Gbulun: there is Gbulun at Yendi side, and there is Gbulun at Kumbungu side. Have you seen? Wariboggo: it's on the Tolon road, but there is Wariboggo at Yendi side, too. And so the Wariboggolana, it's the same thing. When Naa Tutuɣri got up and he was going, he was taking them and going. And he went and made Gbulun, Wariboggo and other towns at that side, and they are all there eating. But if you want to show any of these towns, you will show this side, because it was here that the starting was. And so for example, the Zugu in Toma is older than the Zugu at Yendi side. And the towns in Toma are stronger than the ones in Yendi. Yendi was not sitting there: it was Naa Tutuɣri who took it and went there. When Naa Tutuɣri was going to Yendi, some of the people refused to go. And I can show you that, and it doesn't matter. Those villages that I called at Yendi side are just some weak villages. A long time ago, Yaa-Naa's children were eating Wariboggo and were eating Gbulun, and we call their names. But now a Yaa-Naa's child doesn't eat there again. As for Zugu, a Yaa-Naa's grandson or son will eat it. Zugulana Asachia was Naa Zanjina's son. Yaa-Naa's children used to eat it, but now it is not always a Yaa-Naa's child who eats. Now these towns, as they are near Yendi, the chief is near the Yaa-Naa, but it doesn't show that the towns started there. Many of them — Bago, Gbungbaliga, Taginamo — they have moved with the Yaa-Naa. And so from Naa Tutuɣri and coming, Yendi has been in the east. And it was Naa Tutuɣri who gave birth to Naa Zanjina. And today I am going to talk to you about Naa Zanjina.
The reason why we are always calling the name of Naa Zanjina and praising Naa Zanjina is because it was Naa Zanjina who opened the eyes of Dagbon. To me, everything good that happens in Dagbon here, I am standing that it was Naa Zanjina who brought it. If you ask any drummer who knows more about drumming, he will tell you that it is true. We drummers are standing that it was Naa Zanjina who did more for Dagbon. And the respect of Naa Zanjina in Dagbon, it resembles the respect of drumming itself. Every Dagbana who boasts that he is from the family of chiefs, he boasts with the drumming. And every Dagbana whose eyes are open on the part of anything, he will say that his eyes are open because of Naa Zanjina. And so the respect of drumming and the respect of Naa Zanjina fall at the same place.
I have been telling you that anybody who is doing something on the part of playing music would have wanted to be a drummer, because it is our playing which has more respect than any other playing. Truly, they were beating the drums before Naa Zanjina came, but it was Naa Zanjina who came and brought about the respect of drumming, and the work of drumming on the part of festivals, funerals, and our Monday and Friday greetings to the chief. And so I can say that for us Dagbamba, our eye-opening on the part of beating the drums, it was Naa Zanjina who brought it. And even on the part of those who beat, it was Naa Zanjina who gave Akarima respect. You know that Akarima is the one beating the timpana, the two drums we got from the Ashantis, and it was during the time of Naa Ziblim Bandamda that all chiefs got this Akarima. But before that time, we had our Dagbamba timpana called dalgu, and it was only the Yaa-Naa who had it. It was Naa Zanjina who put these drums with all the big chiefs like Savelugu-Naa, Gushe-Naa, and the rest. And so in Dagbon here, you know, whatever you are doing, if you are doing it with the strength of chieftaincy, and you are standing with the chief to do it, you know that it will have respect. And so among all those who beat, we drummers have more respect. That is why someone who is playing something would prefer to be playing a drum. Naa Zanjina brought a lot of things that are standing inside the work of our drumming. Truly, if you compare the work of Naa Zanjina to all the chiefs of Dagbon, I don't think that you can see any chief who is like Naa Zanjina. How drummers are standing on the part of those who play, that is how Naa Zanjina stands on the part of chieftaincy.
The time Naa Zanjina was a prince, he was trading, and he traveled to many places. And it was on the part of his trading that he went to the Hausa land, and he brought maalams from the Hausa land to teach the Dagbamba about the Islamic religion. And it is because of the Islamic religion that our eyes have become open to so many things. Truly, there were a few Muslims in this Dagbon before the time of Naa Zanjina, but it was Naa Zanjina who came out and Dagbamba began to follow the Islamic religion. And truly, the Islamic religion has helped us a lot in our living, and it was Naa Zanjina who brought it here. And so we drummers call Naa Zanjina the light of Dagbon, and we say again that he lit a lantern and open the eyes of the Dagbamba. That is why I say that the respect of Naa Zanjina cannot be compared to anything. And so I want to count and show you some of the works Naa Zanjina did for us.
Before Naa Zanjina, we Dagbamba didn't know how to pray to God. It was Naa Zanjina who went to the Hausa land and brought the maalams. If the maalams were not here, how could we pray? And as Naa Zanjina taught us how to pray, it was also Naa Zanjina who brought our festivals. Naa Zanjina brought the Damba Festival on the part of the birthday of the Holy Prophet. And for the Praying Festival, before Naa Zanjina, as there were no maalams, how were they going to perform the Praying Festival? It was the maalams who came to bring the prayers after fasting. Even in the Ramadan, as we drummers beat the drum, it is because of the fasting that we are beating the drums. And it was also the maalams who brought the prayers during the Chimsi month. And so it was Naa Zanjina who brought all the festivals here.
Before the time of Naa Zanjina, we Dagbamba didn't know how to perform funerals. There was something we call buli chɛbu, and if they performed it, that was all they did for the funeral. What is this buli chɛbu? One week's time after they buried the dead body, all the parents and children and friends of the dead body would sit down at the dead body's house, and they would drink pito, they would cook food and eat. That was all.
It was Naa Zanjina who showed the Dagbamba how to perform funerals. How did he show us? The time Naa Zanjina collected the chieftaincy, he didn't stay at Yendi. He said he would go and pray to God at Sabali, because there were maalams there. The day Naa Zanjina arrived at Sabali, the Sabali Yɛri-Naa Yaamusah's first-born son died that very day. The first son of Yɛri-Naa was called Alibarka. When Naa Zanjina arrived there, the village of Sabali was very quiet, and Naa Zanjina said, “Why is it that I am the one for this village, and today I have arrived in it and everything is quiet like this?” And they told him, “It's something, and at the same time, it's nothing. And it is true. Sabali Yɛri-Naa Yaamusah's first son Alibarka is the one who is no more alive.” And Naa Zanjina found a hundred cowries and gave it that they should take it and buy white cloth to sew the cloth they will use to bury Alibarka very well. And Naa Zanjina found again another hundred cowries and gave to those who were going to dig the grave, that they should dig it to be fine so that they will bury Alibarka. And Naa Zanjina found another hundred cowries and gave to the village women that they should cry well and they will bury Alibarka. And he found another hundred cowries and gave that to the town's maalams that they should read the Holy Qur'an so that everything will be nice and they will bury Alibarka. And at that time, those women who were crying said, “If not Naa Zanjina, who will do this? Which chief ever held the land and bought white cloths to bury people? Which chief held the land and ever paid for the ground to be dug to bury somebody. Only he: Naa Zanjina. And so he is holding sense, and he is the one who can hold people, dead ones and live ones.” And they buried Sabali Yɛri-Naa Yaamusah's son Alibarka and finished. From that time, it is standing that whenever somebody dies, they have to buy a white cloth, and they have to give money to the people who dig the grave. And all that, Naa Zanjina was the one who started it. And this talk, if you beat Naa Zanjina's Samban' luŋa, you will sing all of it. As for what I told you about the buli chɛbu, that one doesn't come inside. They will only talk it that Naa Zanjina came, and everybody got to know how to perform the funeral. That is how they sing it.
And Naa Zanjina came and said that when someone dies, drummers must play drums at the funeral house. And the family would gather and fix a day for the final funeral. Before Naa Zanjina's time, even when a chief died, they would just go and bury the chief like that, and they would perform the buli chɛbu, and that was all. But when Naa Zanjina became the chief, he said, “If a chief should die, there should be a Limam who will lead the maalams to say some prayers for the chief before they bury him, and after that, Namo-Naa should come from his place and play the drums.” When they performed the buli chɛbu, they didn't do anything with money, but Naa Zanjina said they should be giving out money to perform the funeral, and they would give some of this money to the maalams who said the prayers and give some of the money to the drummers who were beating drums. And if they slaughtered a cow, then Namo-Naa or the chief of the drummers would take the head, and the maalams would take the lungs and the stomach. It was Naa Zanjina who started this.
And Naa Zanjina brought barbers, and he said that on the third day of the dead body, they would shave the funeral children, that is, the children and grandchildren and nephews and nieces of the dead body, barbers would shave their heads. And they would get the Gbɔŋlana, the one who was going to inherit the dead body, and the Gbɔŋlana would be sitting on the skins and acting for the dead body until they would perform the final funeral. What the drummers beat for the dead body while he was alive, that is the same thing they would beat for the Gbɔŋlana. On the seventh day, too, they would set down a day for the final funeral. If it was the Yaa-Naa, they would perform the funeral in one year's time. If it was the Savelugu chief, it was six months. The Nanton-Naa, the Mionlana, the Karaga-Naa, the Tolon-Naa, the Kumbun-Naa, the Kori-Naa, the Demon-Naa, the Sunson-Naa, the Malba: all these people, it was Naa Zanjina who showed that their funeral should be performed in six months. And Naa Zanjina showed that as drummers would be going to the chief's house on Mondays and Fridays and be beating to wake the chief, they would do the same thing for the Gbɔŋlana. They would do this for the six months, up to the time they would wake up the funeral. I have even heard drummers singing that before Naa Zanjina, if a man died and left his wife, sometimes she would not get a husband again. But when Naa Zanjina came, he said, “Whenever a person dies and leaves his wife, the wife should get another husband; and if a woman dies and leaves her husband, the man too should get another wife.” I have heard that. And so all this was brought by Naa Zanjina, because it was the maalams Naa Zanjina brought who showed us all these things.
Truly, as for the barbers, I didn't ask to know how they started, but I think that this barbering, it was the Hausas who started it in the time of Naa Zanjina. When we were growing up, we met Dagbamba barbers, but older people say the barbers were brought by Hausas. And so our eyes opened on Dagbamba barbers. We came and met them, but as for them, they are not, say, like the children of chiefs. The chief of the barbers is called Yidan' Gunu. And the work of the barber at the chief's house is that he shaves the chief, and the chief's children, and the chief's wives. But he has no pay in the chief's house; the chief doesn't give him anything. What the chief can give the barber, if the barber finishes shaving him, if the townspeople have come to greet the chief with, say, yams or guinea fowls, the chief can remove a guinea fowl and some tubers of yams and say, “Take this to Yidan' Gunu's house,” and it has become his food.
Again, if it is that someone is dead, in Dagbon here, when they want to shave all the hair of the funeral children, it is the Yidan' Gunu who will let barbers go and shave the hair. And as for that, they are paid money. The Yidan' Gunu doesn't say, “Pay this.” The one whose wife they are shaving, the husband can come and pay one cedi, two cedis, four cedis just because his wife's father is dead and they are shaving her. You the man, you will be following her and throwing money. And it is for the Yidan' Gunu. This is why he has no pay in the chief's house.
The barber again, when you bring forth your child, it is the barber who will cut the marks we have got on our faces. As for the barbers in Dagbon, when someone is what we call yokolgu, that is, he is not circumcised, it is this barber we call, and he will come and cut the penis. And it is the barber who will put medicine on him. Someone can get an accident, and blood will not come out, and the barber can cut it so that blood will come out. Sometimes your waist can be paining you, and the barber will come. The barber has got a horn, and he has cut off the tip. When he comes, he will take the horn and put it on you, and he will use his mouth and be sucking it; the blood will gather at one place, and it will all become round and lie there, and the barber will take a knife and cut small-small. And he will take the horn and put it again, and he will suck it again. You will see that all the blood will come out and fill the horn, and he will take something and be collecting the blood inside, and you will be seeing. And if your waist were paining you, it will become better. This is the work of the barbers in Dagbon here.
Truly, I think in my heart that before Naa Zanjina, we Dagbamba didn't know anything. Before Naa Zanjina, the chiefs were not dressing in clothes. As they didn't have clothes, some of them were able to get the skins of animals to wear. That was how they dressed in the olden days. And so a long time ago, the chiefs used to walk and wear only a skin, even a very big chief. Those who used to follow him were walking naked. It was Naa Zanjina who went to the Hausa land and brought cotton seeds and showed our people how to sow cotton. When the cotton grew, and they picked it, he brought people who knew how to spin cotton into thread, and he gave the cotton to women and showed them how to spin it into threads. And Naa Zanjina sent to the Hausa land, and they went and brought weavers, and the weavers used the thread to make pieces of cloth. And Naa Zanjina shared the cloth among the big chiefs, the chiefs of Savelugu, Nanton, Tolon, Kumbungu, Gushegu, and the others, and the cloth was sewn into big cloths and smocks. And during those days, when the weavers wove cloths, only the chiefs were wearing them. The common people were only getting small pieces, and those who had the means used the cloth to sew small smocks.
And again, before Naa Zanjina, Dagbamba women didn't know how to put beads around their waists. They were walking naked. We have a type of beads we call samarimavi, and it was Naa Zanjina who brought them. The seeds are from a kind of shrubs in the bush we call bibirituturi, and they bear some small fruits like seeds, and they collect the seeds and use them to make the samarimavi. Naa Zanjina said that it was not good that a woman should be walking naked. And he told them to put these beads together on a string and tie around their waists. And Naa Zanjina brought that. And when Naa Zanjina brought weavers and they wove cloth, the cloth was sewn again into something we call mukuru, and the women used it to cover themselves like a skirt. And the people were wearing these clothes and singing the praises of Naa Zanjina, and they said, “Naa Zanjina has made Dagbon fine.” And it was because of the maalams Naa Zanjina had brought.
Before Naa Zanjina, we didn't know sandals. It was Naa Zanjina who brought sandals, and he did that because of lepers. He said that their feet were not good for walking on stones, and so he was giving them the sandals to put on their feet. And on the part of the blind people, too, in the olden days, they didn't have the idea of holding a walking stick. If you became blind, then you would always be sitting in the house, and you would not go out. Blind people, if they happened to go out, they were walking and going without using a walking stick. When Naa Zanjina became the chief, he said that some people are still strong when they are blind, and they might want to go out and walk. And he said they should give walking sticks to blind people so that the blind people could be putting the stick on the ground in front of them in case of holes or stones. Then they could be walking outside a bit and doing some things before coming back to the room. And all this is the work of Naa Zanjina. And all these people, they were praying for Naa Zanjina that he should live long and last on earth.
And so Naa Zanjina brought all of these benefits that I have counted: praying, funerals, barbers, clothes, sandals, walking sticks. All of these things I have talked about, if a drummer is going to beat Naa Zanjina's talks at the Samban luŋa, the drummer has to mention all of them. And there are even more. If it were not to be there at the Samban' luŋa, how would people hear it? And so they will talk all of it. That is why Naa Zanjina's talks are hard.
And I think that all these things, it was the maalams Naa Zanjina brought who showed us. And so when these maalams came, we also gave them respect. One of these maalams that Naa Zanjina brought even became the chief of Savelugu. Savelugu-Naa Puusamli was a Hausa man. Is it not surprising that a Hausa man was made a Dagbamba chief? What brought that? When Naa Zanjina became the chief of the Dagbamba, the Dagbamba had no maalams. And when Naa Zanjina went to the Hausa land and came back, he brought maalams, and one of these maalams was Puusamli. He was a Hausa man, and he was called Afa Falli. “Fari” is Hausa for “white,” and we Dagbamba, when we talk, we say “falli”; and “afa” is Dagbani for “maalam,” and so he was called “white maalam.” And it was this Maalam Falli who ate the Savelugu chieftaincy. Because he was given the Savelugu chieftaincy, when we are going to praise a Savelugu chief with a drum, we praise him as Faliŋa Dabɔɣulana, that is, someone who remains in the home of a deceased person. And so Puusamli, older people also call him Afa Faliŋa, or Maalam Faliŋa: if you say “falli,” it only means “white,” but if you say Faliŋa, then people know whom you are talking about. Truly, I have gone far in asking questions about the particular time of Naa Zanjina and Puusamli, and there are many talks about it. I can't remember how much of it I have talked to you, but I will curve the talks and show you more about Puusamli. One time when you went to America, I was asking my senior brother Mumuni at Savelugu about Puusamli, and he was telling me much about him and how he became a chief.
It was Naa Zanjina who brought Puusamli here, and it was because of Naa Zanjina that Puusamli came to this Dagbon, and he was a friend of Naa Zanjina, and a friend of Naa Siɣli too. And on the part of the works that Naa Zanjina did for Dagbon, this Puusamli was helping him, and I think what when Naa Zanjina came and opened the eyes of Dagbon, he was standing on the shoulders of this Puusamli. When Puusamli came here, he first settled in a village called Zakpalisi. He was sitting there as a maalam, and he was doing the work of a maalam. And Puusamli told the people to give some of their children to him, and he was teaching them Arabic. As you have come here to learn and then go home and teach your people, that was what Puusamli was doing. And some of these children were able to learn Arabic.
During the war between the Dagbamba and the Gonjas, when the war with the Gonjas became hot again, Naa Zanjina let Puusamli tie a bow and arrow for him when he went to war, and Naa Zanjina fought the war. And Naa Zanjina died when the war was still strong, and Naa Siɣli ate the chieftaincy and took up the war. And Puusamli gave fighting things to Naa Siɣli, and Naa Siɣli was able to defeat the Gonjas and win the war. And Naa Siɣli ate Yendi. And it was after Naa Siɣli died that Naa Bimbiɛɣu became the chief, and it was Naa Bimbiɛɣu who gave Savelugu to Puusamli.
Naa Bimbiɛɣu was a son of Naa Zanjina, and I have already told you something about him and how he came to eat his chieftaincy. His real name was Jinli. The time Naa Zanjina was still there, before the war came, Naa Jinli Bimbiɛɣu was a prince, and he was going round greeting chiefs and people. And a disease we call jaɣa caught him — yaws. It leaves scars on the body like smallpox. And Naa Bimbiɛɣu became very ugly, and that is the meaning of his name Bimbiɛɣu, “ugly thing.” Whenever he reached a town, even though he was the son of a Yaa-Naa, no one respected him. You see Karaga: that is a Yaa-Naa child's town. He went to Karaga, and they sacked him. They told him not to sleep in the town. And he got up. What old people told us: Karaga people said that he shouldn't sleep there and the people would also collect the disease. And when he was going, he said that he will go away from Karaga, but it won't show that he is not going to sleep there and they would get yaws. He told them, “I will not sleep at Karaga, but you people at Karaga, you will get jaɣa. I am the son of a Yaa-Naa, and Karaga is a Yaa-Naa's town. Today I have come to this place, and you are sacking me.” And so when he was going out of Karaga, he cursed them. And anywhere he was, no one minded him. They would drive him away, that he was suffering from yaws.
How older people talk about it, he was walking like that, and he reached Zakpalisi. And he came to enter Maalam Faliŋa's house. When he was entering into that house, he saw the maalam's children who were learning how to read Arabic in the hall. And he walked inside and squatted down. And the children run inside and told the maalam that there was a stranger in the hall. And when Maalam Faliŋa came out, he saw his friend's son. And he gave him a place to sit. And Naa Bimbiɛɣu talked the reason why he was going round. And then this maalam welcomed him, and he told him that he should remain there, and bathe for two days. And the maalam told him that after two days when he bathed, then his body would be all right. The way older people talk it, that is what I am saying. And Maalam Faliŋa removed one of his sons from a room and sent Naa Bimbiɛɣu into the room. And he slaughtered a cock and made food for Naa Bimbiɛɣu. And he got soap and a sponge, and he let them fetch water and give it to Naa Bimbiɛɣu to bathe. And Naa Bimbiɛɣu bathed. And so Naa Bimbiɛɣu stayed for some days. And Maalam Faliŋa was giving him food to eat, and he was bathing him with the sponge and soap, up to the time that all the sores from the yaws got broken. And when Naa Bimbiɛɣu was leaving, Maalam Faliŋa bid him goodbye, and he got money and gave it to him and said that he should collect water and drink it on the way. And so here it is: you have been going places and people never minded you, and you come to a place where they slaughter a cock and prepare food for you, and they give you a soap and sponge to bathe. Is there any place that is better than that place? And so Naa Bimbiɛɣu did not forget of it.
When Naa Bimbiɛɣu got back to Yendi, he didn't hide it. The way he was gone, and he has returned to the house, won't he tell his father? And he told Naa Zanjina how they had disregarded him in all the places he had been to, and this was what Maalam Faliŋa had done for him in the end. And when he told Naa Zanjina what Maalam Faliŋa had done for him, Naa Zanjina said, “It doesn't matter. God is there. May God let us pay him back. And so it is good. Even if I am not able to pay him back, and I am no more there, and any of you who are my children happen to sit on the Yendi skins, if Maalam Faliŋa is still alive, you shouldn't say that he is not your family. It is because of me that he came here. And you, my children, he is doing good to you, too. And so you shouldn't forget about him. You should know about him.” And so Naa Zanjina told Naa Bimbiɛɣu everything about this Maalam Faliŋa.
And the time Naa Zanjina died, Naa Siɣli collected. And Naa Siɣli also died. And God blessed Naa Bimbiɛɣu, and when Naa Zanjina was not there and Naa Siɣli was not there, Naa Bimbiɛɣu ate the Yendi chieftaincy. And at that time Maalam Faliŋa was still alive at Zakpalisi. What did Naa Bimbiɛɣu do to Maalam Faliŋa? At that time, the chief of Savelugu died. When Savelugu fell, Naa Bimbiɛɣu called Maalam Faliŋa, that he should come. And Maalam Faliŋa went to Yendi. And Naa Bimbiɛɣu said, “This maalam has come here because of all of Dagbon. He has opened the eyes of all the Dagbamba. Because of that, we have nothing we can pay this maalam. As it is, Savelugu is for Dagbamba children, but because of the good this maalam has done, I will take Savelugu and give him. That is how I am going to pay this maalam for the good he has done.” And Maalam Faliŋa said, “Oi!” And Naa Bimbiɛɣu said again, “Yes, I am giving you Savelugu. The day you fed me is the reason they call puuni samli, stomach debt. The debt of the stomach, you cannot pay all of it. I was suffering with yaws, and I was the son of a Yaa-Naa. Anywhere I passed, they drove me away. I went to Karaga, and they sacked me. And when I came to you, you did everything for me. Everybody blamed me, but as for you, you never blamed me. And so this is the debt I am going to pay you. But I can't pay the debt. As for stomach debt, you can never finish paying it. Even if you are paying it year by year, you can't pay all. And so I am giving you Savelugu.” And this is why they call him “Puusamli”: the debt of the stomach cannot be paid in full. That is the meaning of the name Puusamli they call him. Naa Bimbiɛɣu gave him the chieftaincy, and he gave him that name. And so that is the beginning of Puusamli. And two days' time, Zakpalisi also fell. Maalam Faliŋa's zuu was called Abudu. And Naa Bimbiɛɣu gave Zakpalisi to Abudu, and he gave him a name. The rain that helps a tree to grow, that is the same rain that helps grass to grow. And so his father is a tree, and Abudu has become the grass.
It was Maalam Faliŋa who ate the Savelugu chieftaincy, and if we drummers are going to call his name, we call him that he was a son of Naa Bimbiɛɣu, because Naa Bimbiɛɣu brought him back and paid back the debt of his father. If you ask any drummer, he will tell you what I am telling you. But not all drummers are the same, and many things are hidden on the part of drumming, and it's only that somebody might not know it. But a drummer who has cut his part and who knows, he will tell you this. And so this Puusamli was one of the maalams Naa Zanjina brought from the Hausa land. He was a Hausa man, and he ate Savelugu. At that time, the time the Yaa-Naas were holding their lands, if you suffer for the Yaa-Naa, and he gets any chieftaincy, he will give it to you. There was nobody to argue with him. And this Savelugu-Naa Puusamli, his family is still at Savelugu. They are many at Savelugu now. And many of the works Naa Zanjina did in Dagbon here, this Puusamli was inside them. And when Naa Zanjina died, and Naa Siɣli ate, Naa Siɣli was also a close friend to Puusamli, and Puusamli helped Naa Siɣli in the war. And so this is a short talk, but it is not a small talk. And that is the starting of Puusamli, and this is the end of my talk about him. Have you heard it well? And Naa Zanjina brought him here.
And so inside the Samban' luŋa, Puusamli's talk touches three chiefs. You can hear Puusamli's name inside all these chiefs. Naa Zanjina, when you are beating Naa Zanjina inside the Samban' luŋa, you talk about Puusamli, because Naa Zanjina brought him there. And if you reach Naa Siɣli, too, Puusamli's talk is inside, because he helped Naa Siɣli. But neither of them gave him Savelugu. And so Naa Bimbiɛɣu, too, his talk is inside. if somebody loves you, and he gives you a gift, when they are talking about him, why can't they talk about you? And so all these three, when you are beating, the talks of Puusamli are inside. It is inside Samban' luŋa. If not the Samban' luŋa, we wouldn't hear it. And how it comes, any of these chiefs, you can curve the talk to go inside, talk about Puusamli, and come out to beat the chief again. How you bring it, if you are talking about Naa Zanjina, you can just say that Naa Zanjina brought him, and when Naa Zanjina was going to any place, he was going with Puusamli. Then you take Puusamli's talk and finish, and you come out again. If you are beating Naa Zanjina, and you are in the middle, then when you finish what you are going to talk about Puusamli, then you come out, and then you join the rest of Naa Zanjina to finish. But if you finish Naa Zanjina before you enter inside Puusamli, then when you finish Puusamli, then it is the next chief you are going to beat, and that is Naa Siɣli. If it is Naa Siɣli or Naa Bimbiɛɣu, you can curve to talk about Puusamli. If you have sense, you will know the way they can fall. Inside drumming, this is how they beat it. Apart from those three chiefs, you won't mention his name again, unless you see some of his relatives or family, and you praise them. And so inside the Samban' luŋa, Puusamli's talk can come just the way I am talking to you here. That is how it is.
And again, it was Naa Zanjina who brought money. In the olden days, there was no money. If you wanted something from somebody, you would get something to exchange. You would only get something that the fellow might want. The white money that we had, the cowrie shells, even a Dagbamba chief would suffer a lot before he would get it. But when Naa Zanjina traveled to the Hausa land, he found cowrie shells there, and so he knew where he could get this white money. The Hausas said they would dig the shells from someplace where there was water, and there was a small creature inside, and they would boil the cowries in hot water to kill the creature before they could use the shells as money. When Naa Zanjina became a chief in Dagbon here, he was getting the Hausa people to give him cowries. And it spread among the Dagbamba in Dagbon here.
And again, it was Naa Zanjina who showed the respect of chieftaincy. Do you see the way people buy chieftaincy today? Many people say it was Naa Zanjina who brought it. But when there was no money, no one used money to get a chieftaincy. Some people say that when Naa Zanjina was a chief, if a chief died, Naa Zanjina would say, “I am going to sell the chieftaincy, and this is the price of the chieftaincy.” And people were using the cowries to buy the chieftaincy from Naa Zanjina, and so it was during the time of Naa Zanjina that the bribery started. But I haven't heard it like that. If it was because Naa Zanjina was greeting the elders, and people say he was buying the chieftaincy, I can agree. But it doesn't show that he was buying. You yourself know that in Dagbon here, if a child always greets elderly people, the elders will always support him. And so the way you know that you will follow and get something, that is the way you have to follow. How he was searching for the chieftaincy along with his mother's children, he knew the way he was going to be meeting the elders, and they would help him to get it. To go to an elderly person, you can't go empty-handed. And so the way he was going round to the elders giving them things, if someone uses it to say that he was buying the chieftaincy, then that is it. But the way old drummers talk, they don't show it plainly that Naa Zanjina brought the buying of chieftaincy. And so what they've told me is what I'm telling you.
If someone has asked and was told, and he learned it that Naa Zanjina was buying chieftaincy, you don't have to argue. It doesn't matter. I have already told you that everyone and where he asks, and so there is no fault. But the way old drummers talk, Naa Zanjina was respecting Gushe-Naa, and Gushe-Naa gave Naa Zanjina some sense about the way he will pass and get the chieftaincy. It means that Gushe-Naa showed him sense to give respect, so don't call it a bribe. In the olden days, they didn't know bribes: it was just that Naa Zanjina was a Yaa-Naa's child and he was respecting him. It is inside custom that you will give respect before you will get chieftaincy. And as I have talked to you about our chiefs and how we Dagbamba greet one another, you should know that to us, this giving of money and gifts is just the same as giving respect. As for that, that is why people have been saying that the way Naa Zanjina got the chieftaincy was bribery. And so if you like, you can say it is bribery, but in the way of our custom, giving of gifts is not a bribe. If you put it as a bribe, people will blame you. You can't take these modern times politics to compare to it. And so again, you should say it is giving respect. At that time, what was there and they will know something about bribes? At that time, to get money was hard. The giving of respect by giving things, tea kettles, sandals, a hat, too, at that time to get such things was also hard. And so what was there and they will know something about bribes? And Naa Zanjina was trading and he was getting things, and he was giving them to people. And so he knew how to take things and go and give respect to an elder. This is how it was.
And so it was Naa Zanjina who went and gave money and gifts to eat the chieftaincy of Yendi, and you will also hear this talk on the part of Naa Zanjina's Samban' luŋa. When we went to Savelugu for the Samban' luŋa, it was Naa Zanjina they beat, and they talked about how Naa Zanjina came to eat his chieftaincy. Do you remember it? The time that Naa Zanjina was coming to eat Yendi, there was a big quarrel in Dagbon, and this quarrel was about nothing but chieftaincy. When Naa Gungobli died, there were eight of Naa Tutuɣri's children who wanted the chieftaincy, and Naa Zanjina was the last child of Naa Tutuɣri, and he was the youngest. And they all came to want it. And Naa Siɣli also added himself. And so they were eight children of the same father, and Naa Siɣli was their junior father's son, because it was Naa Zaɣli who gave birth to Naa Siɣli. Have you heard? When they searched for the chieftaincy, Naa Siɣli's senior father's son was Naa Zanjina. Naa Luro gave birth to his first-born Naa Tutuɣri and gave birth to Naa Zaɣli. And Naa Tutuɣri gave birth to Naa Zanjina, and Naa Zaɣli gave birth to Naa Siɣli. And so Naa Zanjina was Naa Siɣli's senior brother. And when Naa Gungobli died, there were many of them looking for the chieftaincy, and the elders could not remove one of them and say, “You are for the chieftaincy.”
When Naa Zanjina and his mother's children were looking for the chieftaincy, already Naa Zanjina was somebody who used to go and greet Gushe-Naa every time. An example of that is the child who goes to kneel to an elder person, and he tells the elder that our father's house has fallen, and elder people are looking for it. And so Naa Zanjina came that he wanted to greet Gushe-Naa, and the way old drummers talk, they say that when he started greeting Gushe-Naa, he used to send some things to Gushe-Naa that Dagbamba people call gul'kurugu, that is, the cola that can get a kettle full. And a gown, and salimata, the sandals. Naa Zanjina used to take all this to go and greet Gushe-Naa, and he started telling him that he wants to eat his father's house. And the way he was greeting Gushe-Naa, Gushe-Naa also replied to him that the way he has taken the lead to come and inform him, he also has elders, and he will inform them. And he told Naa Zanjina that if he gets back to Yendi, he should inform Kuɣa-Naa, because those elders, they are many. And so when Naa Zanjina gets home, he should make sure that he will get Kuɣa-Naa informed. And so Naa Zanjina went home and informed Kuɣa-Naa and those elders who were in the positions that he should inform them.
I have told you when the time of the funeral comes, Gushe-Naa doesn't go to Naya until the day of the showing the riches, like today, Thursday. The day he is to enter Naya, when he arrives, that is when he is to go around the house and remove the grass. And the removing of the grass, at that place, there is quarreling. But it is not quarreling. The time he and his people are coming to remove the grass, those who will be standing in front of the chief's house will disagree that they shouldn't take the grass. It isn't Gushe-Naa himself who will come and remove the grass. He has his horse riders and his elders: somebody who can take the horse and run and come and remove the grass. Those elders are there. So the Thursday when the funeral came, they came to Yendi to remove the grass.
How old drummers talk about it, Gushe-Naa gathered all the mother's children and Yendi elders. And when he gathered all of them, he asked them, “Now that your father's house has fallen, whom do you measure to see that he should be the Yɔɣtolana?” And Yelizolilana Gurumancheɣu: he was the zuu of Naa Tutuɣri at that time. And he wanted it. Sunson-Naa Timaani: he too, he wanted it. Nakonlana Ŋunyuɣri: he too, he wanted it. Larabaŋlana Zanʒinʒɛɣu: he too, he wanted it. Warivilana Ŋmunyoo: he too, he wanted it. Kpogolana Bɛnyahin: he too, he wanted it. Gundowarilana Tusua: he too, he wanted it. And Goligolana Naapaɣ' Baŋgumaŋa, that is Naa Siɣli mother's name we use to call him: he too, he wanted it. We used to call Naa Siɣli like that: he wanted it.
And so now you see that all of them, when they come together, their mouths will be different. And when the elders of Yendi asked them, at that time you would see that everybody was fighting for himself. They didn't sit down and make one mouth to say that “Let us let our senior brother eat it.” This is what brought the talk that they should take the matter to Mamprugu, the Mamprusi land. And that time, all the elders of Yendi gathered. And they said, “The way this chieftaincy has come, we don't know the person who should be the Yɔɣtolana. And the way you people don't know who should be the Yɔɣtolana, in this Dagbon, any problem that comes and we can't solve it, we will send it to Mamprugu. And so how the matter has come now, we have to send it to Mamprugu.” And the Yendi elders, and the children, all of them agreed that it was true.
And so they were all coming to fight for the chieftaincy. And Gushe-Naa said they should take the talk to the Mamprugulana, and he would choose for them. Why did Gushe-Naa say that? As I have told you that Gushe-Naa is the senior among the elders, Gushe-Naa wanted Naa Zanjina, but because Naa Zanjina was the junior son, he could not easily give the chieftaincy to him. And it was in the talking of Naa Zanjina and the Gushe-Naa, because they had come to an agreement. And Gushe-Naa sent Naa Zanjina to the elders. And so it was something like a trick. That was why the Gushe-Naa sent them all to the Mamprugulana. Naa Zanjina's senior brothers were at home, looking for the chieftaincy, and Naa Zanjina was behind them. Old drummers used to say that Naa Zanjina had been greeting the Mamprugulana. Naa Zanjina gave cowries to Mamprugulana, and he gave gowns, and sandals, and a turban, and a red hat. That is what I heard. And Gushe-Naa also knew it. But Gushe-Naa put it that because of the confusion in Dagbon, they should take it to Mamprugulana. There were eight brothers struggling for the chieftaincy, and adding Naa Siɣli. All of them were searching for it. And the Yendi elders said they couldn't decide who should be the chief. And how the matter was hard, they would send it to Nalerigu, and so Gushe-Naa took the lead to carry all of them to Mamprugu. And so to me, it looks like an arrangement or a trick that Gushe-Naa and Naa Zanjina played on the others. But I can't prove that they made one mouth, or whether Gushe-Naa gave him that idea or not. Drummers say that Gushe-Naa called him privately and gave him sense, that these are the ways he will pass and get the chieftaincy. And so it means that he showed him sense on the part of giving respect. That is how it happened and the chieftaincy went to Mamprusi.
And so coming into Naa Zanjina's talks, Naa Zanjina's talks go here, and they go there, so that you don't know where you're going to stand. This is why many drummers are afraid to sing Naa Zanjina's talks. The reason why they are so difficult is because they go so many places. You don't know where you're going to come and stand and join them. And so the talks that I'm telling you, you will hear them in the Samban' luŋa, but it's not that they always follow the same way that I'm showing you.
And so they got up, and they went to Mamprugu. When they got to Mamprugu, when they were going, there was one elder of the Mamprugu chief. They called him Tundilana, and his position was something like Tolon-Naa. The way elder drummers talk about it, at that time, Mamprugulana's uncle was Nakpanzoo tindana: in Mamprugu land's Nakpanzoo, he was eating the position of tindana. And at that time, this Nakpanzoo tindana died. And according to old drummers, they said he had much wealth, and so Mamprugulana called him his uncle. And Mamprugulana told Tundilana, and that if Yobnabihi came — at that time Mamprusi people used to call Dagbon princes Yobnabihi — that when they arrive, he should spread them all on the ground. And he will come and perform the funeral of Nakpanzoo tindana. And when he finishes performing the tindana's funeral and he comes back, then Tundilana should bring them to come and greet. And this Tundilana, they called him Jirigubamba. That is why they say, when they come, he should spread them down. The time the Dagbon children of chieftaincy arrived, they greeted Tundilana, and he told him that Mamprugulana was not at home. And he said again that his uncle Nakpanzoo tindana died, so he is at the funeral. And told them, “He said that when you come, I should stop you people, and you should wait until he has finished the funeral, before I will bring you people to come and greet him.” And so they remained there and they were sleeping there.
About two days' time, Mamprugulana had finished the funeral, and came home, and he sent a messenger to come and tell Tundilana and that he should bring the Yobnabihi, that is, the Dagbamba princes. And Tundilana took them there. And so when the Mamprugulana came from the funeral, then the princes also came. When the Mamprusi chief is coming out, he has his own drummer, and the drummer should beat before he comes out. Inside Samban' luŋa, there is a way of beating it, and so when they are talking about this point, the drummers will beat the way they beat drums before the Mamprugulana came out to greet the Dagbon princes. And he greeted them how they performed the funeral. And the way they received strangers, he gave them water to drink. And they also told him the message they brought. And they said Tundilana had told them, “Mamprugulana said when they arrive, they should to be lying down waiting for him. He is at the funeral of his uncle Nakpanzoo tindana, and so when they arrive, they should lie down. When he finishes the funeral and he comes back, then I am to bring the people to come and greet him.”
And when they went there and greeted, and they finished greeting, they said the reason they came. That is what brought about the calling of the names. You know that everywhere has an elderly person, and the Mamprusi elders, they were following them, and going around greeting. Somebody will give ten cowries to an elder, so that when they are going to make the choice, the elder will say that the one who gave him is the one he wants. And if another one also goes to greet, and if they ask the elder. whom will he say that he wants? And so this is the way they all greeted.
The way old people talk about it, and when it was night time, and tomorrow was going to be Friday, Mamprugulana gathered all his elders, “The way you people see the Dagbamba princes here, whom do you think is fit for Yaa-Naa?” And the elder person who ate the Yelizolilana Gurumancheɣu said, “I see that Yelizolilana Gurumancheɣu is the one who is fit.” And he asked the next person, “You see these Yobnabihi: who is fit to be the Yaa-Naa?” And the one who liked Sunson-Naa Timaani said, “I feel that Sunson-Naa Timaani should be the Yaa-Naa.” And he asked the other one too, “The way you are looking at these Yobnabihi, who should be fit for the chieftaincy?” “Me, I feel that Larabaŋlana Zanʒinʒɛɣu should be the Yaa-Naa.” And he asked another one, “Who is fit to be the Yaa-Naa?” And he also said, “I see that Nakonlana Ŋunyuɣri should be the Yaa-Naa.” And he asked the next person, “Whom do you see to be the Yaa-Naa?” And he said, “I see that Kpogolana Bɛnyahin should be the Yaa-Naa.” He asked another person, and he said, “I see that Warivilana Ŋmunyoo should be the Yaa-Naa.” He asked again, “Whom do you see to be the Yaa-Naa?” And he said, “Me, I see that Gundowarilana Tusua should be the Yaa-Naa.”
So now you see that their mouths were not one. Everyone and the one he chose. At that time, Mamprugulana told them his elders, “As for me, I think that you people ate something. That is why your mouths are not one. And so the way you people ate something, and your mouths have separated, you yourself, you don't know who should be the Yaa-Naa. And the way I will take it, this Friday coming tomorrow, if all the chiefs gather, a human being's tongue is a ladder to the heart. And this is what you have to climb before you can go inside the stomach. And so when all the chief's children gather, you will ask them to call their names. When they call their names, the one who will call a name that will be good, then I will give the Yaa-Naa chieftaincy to him.”
And when it was Friday, they gathered, and then Mamprugulana said that they should tell Yobnabihi, that the way their chieftaincy has come, the one who will call a name and the name will be good, he should be the Yɔɣtolana. And when they went there and they asked them to call their names, Mamprugulana said, “If many children gather to do something, the seniors among them should do it before the juniors.” And at that time Mamprugulana's elder was there. In Dagbon, Gushe-Naa is the senior elder of Yaa-Naa, and the way Gushe-Naa is sitting down, Mamprugulana's elder too was sitting at the same position. They called him Saɣduɣulana, and he was something like the Mamprugulana Wulana. And that elder of the Mamprugulana was the one to call before Gushe-Naa. And so this Mamprugulana elder called a name, and he said, “Many birds can destroy a guinea corn farm.” The name that Mamprusi elder called was a proverb against Gushe-Naa, and so he used that name to insult Gushe-Naa. The way drummers talk about it, there was cheating inside it. When they were giving the elders, between Gushe-Naa and the Mamprugulana Wulana, one took more than the other. How they ate differently, when it was daybreak, the Mamprugulana elder was annoyed, and he called that name to insult Gushe-Naa. And so inside drumming, we beat it that: they chopped something and their mouths separated. That is why he called that name to insult Gushe-Naa. That is the extent of what elder people talked to us. And the way they talked about it, at that time, Gushe-Naa was very old, and the way he was old, he didn't have more sense. The time Mamprugulana elder called the name and insulted Gushe-Naa, Gushe-Naa became confused. And he didn't know the name he could call to reply to the Mamprusi elder. So he got up, and he left the chiefs' children there, and he started walking toward home. And if he doesn't call, then none the chief's children will be able to call.
And so Gushe-Naa left the Mamprusi chief and went back to the house where he was staying. When he got home, he was sad, sitting down without a word. When Gushe-Naa was going to Mamprugu, he was carrying his grandson to look after his horse. And this grandchild was cutting grass with an adze, and he saw Gushe-Naa, and the boy asked, “My grandfather, what happened? Why have elders and chiefs gathered at chief's house, and you have come home and you are standing. And you are the elder of Dagbon.” And Gushe-Naa was quiet. And the child asked him again, “You are the elder of Dagbon, and now they have gathered at the chief's palace for something important, and you have come home. Why should you come home and be sitting down?” Then Gushe-Naa didn't mind him, and the child asked him again. And that time he said to the grandchild that his mouth was big, “You modern children — you — you don't fear to ask and hear. And you the same children, any small thing, you will go and say it somewhere. And you don't stop going to tell others.” This is how the old drummers talk about it. And the child said, “My Grandfather, you should say what is wrong.” And Gushe-Naa replied that when he went there, the Mamprugulana Wulana called a name to insult him. And he told the child, “The Mamprugulana's elder called name against me.” And the grandchild asked him, “How did he call the name? What is inside?” And Gushe-Naa told the child that the Mamprugulana's elder called his name that, “Many birds will be able to destroy a guinea corn farm.” And so the name this Mamprugulana elder called, he used that name to insult Gushe-Naa.
And then this small boy told his grandfather, “My grandfather, you are old, but I — had I known, it's not in your stomach again. This simple thing the chief called for himself, and you don't know how to reply him, and you have come home? Go back. If you go back, tell him that, “They farm, and they sow. And they don't farm, and they don't sow.” And he said again, “They will plant the guinea corn, and it will germinate, and it will grow, and it will give birth, and many birds will come and destroy it. And I don't go to farm to farm, and I don't sow the guinea corn. The birds should know what they are coming to destroy.” Have you heard what I am saying? What the child told Gushe-Naa to go and say, it would push down the name of the Mamprugulana's elder.
The way old drummers talk about it, Gushe-Naa collected some sense, and he got up and went back to Mamprugulana's house. When he reached there, he asked the Mamprugulana's Wulana again: what name did he call for himself? And Mamprugulana's elder said, “I called my name as ‘Many birds will destroy a guinea corn farm.’” And Gushe-Naa replied to him, “They have farmed, and sowed, and a partridge will come and spoil the place. And if you don't sow, the bird will come and see. Unless somebody farms and sows, can the bird come to eat from the ground? And so the many birds, they should come and eat.” That is how Gushe-Naa called his names to reply to the Mamprugulana's elder. And it stood at that point. The elders' names talk was finished.
And so chiefs have called, and then it was left to the princes — Naa Zanjina and his brothers — to start calling their names. Truly, the way they took the chieftaincy talk to this Mamprusi chief so that he will look inside it and separate it, he didn't want them to quarrel. And the Mamprugulana came out and he was sitting. As he doesn't know them, what is he going to say first? Is he not going to tell them that they should call their names? That is what the Mamprugulana did. They told Yobnabihi that they should also come and call their names.
And Yelizolilana Gurumancheɣu was the elder. He got up and called his name: a chisel can easily spoil iron. And Mamprusi people got to know the way the name fell, and they told him that the way he called his name, it is a bad name. And they said that if he collects the chieftaincy of Yendi, the Mamprusi people will get problems. He will spoil Dagbon and add Mamprugu. And so he is not among the Yɔɣu chieftaincy, and he would not be Yɔbtolana.
Then Sunson-Naa Timaani was next to him. Sunson-Naa Timaani called his name that if you have a skin rash, and you are hiding it from people, if it worries you for a long time, at one time you will have to bring it out and show it to elders, and they told him that the name wasn't good. It means that because they gave Mamprusi people a chance, their eyes want to enter everybody. And again he said that they didn't kill Timaani, and Timaani is easing himself. And so it means that you are killing him but he is still alive. And the Mamprusi people told him that the name he called means that if he collects the chieftaincy, he will sell Dagbon and sell Mamprugu in addition. And so he should not be Yɔbtolana.
And so these two people, this is how the Mamprusi people interpreted their names to them. How we are sitting, I am not going to show all of the names they called. Even the way drummers beat, there are some drummers who will call some of their names but they won't call all. As for that, it is not a fault. Then Larabaŋlana Zanʒinʒɛɣu, he came and called his name, and they told him the name was not good. He is not Yɔɣtolana. Nakonlana Ŋunyuɣri, he came and called his name. They told him the name was not good. He's not Yɔɣtolana. Warivilana Ŋmunyoo: he called his name, and they said it was not good. Kpogolana Bɛnyahin: he called his name, and they said it was not good. Gundowarilana Tusua called his name, and they told him the name was not good, and so he is never going to be Yɔɣtolana. And so it was Naa Zanjina's senior brothers who called their names first. And anyone who called a name, Mamprugulana would say, “Truly, your name shows that if you get Dagbon, this will happen, and that will happen, and so you should go and sit down. Go and sit down.”
And Naa Zanjina called before Naa Siɣli called. And drummers, when they are beating, they used to say that that is the day the secret was going to tear. And how they called and called and called all the names, and coming, was it not Naa Zanjina who was junior among them? And it came to Naa Zanjina, and they asked him that he should also stand up and call his name. And old drummers used to say that he took tears and wore them on his neck like beads. And he took a sneeze and used it to be a good luck. And as for him, he is only a child looking after a horse. And so how is he going to get the sense to call a name? The way old drummers talk about it, that is what I am saying. And the Mamprusi chief said, “Ey, my mother's child: you don't have a name to call for yourself, but you have a name to look for a chieftaincy.” And he said, “A child who has no sense to call a name, how can he get the sense to look for a chieftaincy?” And so that day, old people say that that was the day the secret got torn off. The Mamprusis told the rest of the mother's children that they should know that their brother was looking for a chieftaincy a long time ago.
And Naa Zanjina said that time does not matter. He will call he-is-looking-after-the-horse's name. And he will call a name again, that he is a child who will always go to the bush and carry firewood home. And that time, he was crying with tears falling. And when he got up and stood, he said: A chest that is wide can collect every kind of dresses. And that: many kapok pods, hanging on the tree, can never know who is the elder. And that: they will gather many newborn babies, and they are all lying down, you can never look at them to know who is foolish among them. And that: he is an anvil stone that will roll and never break.
And the Mamprusi people said, “The child has called a name and broken everyone's name. First, he said his chest is big to wear any dress: if you collect the chieftaincy of Dagbon, you can hold Dagbon and Mamprugu together. And the way he said that many kapok pods can hang on the tree, and none of them can know which one is older: if he holds Dagbon, Dagbon and Mamprugu won't know who is older. And when he said Setaŋ' kuɣli, the anvil stone, it will roll and will never break: if he collects Dagbon, they will hold Dagbon up to Mamprugu, and there will be one mouth among us. And so the names he called are the best, more than his senior brothers.” And so they said at that point that he should be the Yɔɣtolana. This is where it started. That day, they gave him Yendi.
And when Naa Zanjina called his names and finished, Naa Siɣli was the one next to him. And he too, he is his junior father's son. And they said Naa Siɣli should also call his name. And drummers say that Naa Siɣli was a very strong man. He said, as for him, he was very proud. He said, “The dog that comes and eases feces will come and collect his feces.” Its meaning too was that if he gets Dagbon, he will gather people, and add Mamprusi, and they will all gather, and their mouths will be one. And they told him that he shouldn't be annoyed, and so he should sit down and cool his heart. And he sat down. And they asked him to call again. And he said, “Tiny grains of millet will gather many chickens.” And he said, “A good place for blacksmiths will gather many iron rods.” And he said, “The cry of a lion will wake up every village.” And the Mamprugulana said that he should keep quiet; it's all right. And he said that of all the names Naa Siɣli called, only two are good. The way he said very little grains of millet will gather many chickens, and that a good place of a blacksmith will gather many iron rods: those two names, they are good. And Mamprugulana said that if he gets Dagbon, he will be a good chief: if he gets Dagbon, he will gather Mamprusi and Dagbon. And Mamprugulana said that inside the calling of the names, he do not want them to quarrel. And he told Naa Siɣli, “Your brother Zanjina's name is nice. You should follow your brother.” And so he should go and take Naa Zanjina's sandals. And Mamprugulana called a name for Naa Siɣli, he said that “‘A child whose hands are clean, he should be the one to skin an elder person's goat, and he will take all the meat, and he will leave only the stomach and the liver to give to the elder.’ And so follow Naa Zanjina.” And so he should go and take Naa Zanjina's sandals. If God agrees, if his place of making the blacksmith is good, one day it will gather iron rods. This is how it happened. Mamprugulana didn't want them to quarrel. And so the Mamprugulana showed that Naa Siɣli should have patience, that one day he would also eat the chieftaincy of Yendi.
And at that time, Naa Zanjina's senior brothers became annoyed, and they said they would sit in their chieftaincies and they would not look for Yendi again. Naa Zanjina's brother Yelizolilana swore and said, any time any Yaa-Naa child will reach Yelizoli, he should rather struggle for strength, and he shouldn't be struggling for Yendi again. As for Yendi, it has passed him. And Sunson-Naa also said the same thing. And Kpogolana Bɛnyahin, he also swore it the same way. Larabaŋlana Zanʒinʒɛɣu, he talked like that. And Warivilana Ŋmunyoo, he also said it. Nakonlana Ŋunyuɣri, he said it. Gundowarilana Tusua, he said it. And so what I have told you about Sunson and Yelizoli on the part of the Yendi chieftaincy, this was the time it started. Yelizolilana Gurumancheɣu was Naa Tutuɣri's first-born son, and he looked for the chieftaincy but didn't get it. Sunson-Naa Timaani was a senior brother to Naa Zanjina, and he also did not get Yendi to eat. All the other brothers, as for them, they swore before they left.
And on the part of child who told Gushe-Naa the name, the way old drummers talk about it, when they finished calling their names and Gushe-Naa went back to the house where he was staying, Gushe-Naa said, “This small boy who give me that reply to go back, if I don't kill him, this child will go home and talk to people that he gave me that advice to go and reply to Mamprugulana's elder.” And Gushe-Naa didn't want to be disgraced. And he let them take this small boy who was looking after the horses, and they went and cut off his head and put it into a well. And when they were going to kill this Gushegu stable boy, he said some words, and they use those words to praise Gushegu. When they were going to cut off the boy's head, he called the name, Mal'tima Naa, that he made it well. Was it not the child who called the name and made it well for the grandfather? He made it well for the grandfather, and he is going home alone. And they use that name to praise Gushegu people. That is how it is.
And so Naa Zanjina ate the chieftaincy at Nalerigu in the Mamprusi land. And that time, Naa Siɣli went to Zuloɣo Kpaliyɔɣu and settled there. And Naa Zanjina also went home. But he didn't go to Yendi. When the Mamprusi chief caught Naa Zanjina and Naa Zanjina ate the Yendi chieftaincy, Naa Zanjina didn't come to Yendi. He took the road to Sabali. There were maalams at Sabali. He brought them and let them sit at Sabali. That is why he went to Sabali. And Naa Zanjina was sitting there, and he didn't die at Yendi. He died at Agbandi. This is what I have asked to know, and I am telling you. The talk I just talked now, don't you see that it is a long talk? It goes to many places, and it has many things, and it is a long talk. I told you that a drummer can take Naa Zanjina's Samban' luŋa and reach daybreak, and so there are even more talks inside. That is why it's hard for any drummer who wants to talk it. Since the starting of Yendi, nobody's talk is harder than Naa Zanjina's Samban' luŋa.
And so this talk of Naa Zanjina, Gushe-Naa and Mamprugulana, how drummers talk about it, on the part of those who call the word “bribe,” we drummers don't put it inside. I have been telling you that Dagbamba say that a child who sits with elders will get sense. When a child gets near to old people, the old people will give him advice about how to do things. Naa Zanjina was close to Gushe-Naa, and Gushe-Naa was an elderly person. Gushe-Naa showed him the way to pass behind to go and see Mamprugulana. And so as for that, we say that Naa Zanjina was closer to elderly people, and they showed him sense that he could take to go and catch his father's place. And his brothers were not having somebody like that. That is why some drummers say that Naa Zanjina took a kind of bad sense to eat the father's place. But if you are going to say something about him, you have to say that he was close to elderly people, and they showed him sense, it was through that sense he ate the chieftaincy. That is the way drummers talk about Naa Zanjina. If you say something like that, anybody who sees it, whether a drummer or whoever, can never blame you. But if you call it politics or bribery, you spoil it. I told you that at that time, there was nothing like politics. If you are going to talk something about the olden days, you don't take it and give it to our present-time lies-talks. How this talk has now gone through and reached to our chieftaincy as we are sitting today, as for that, this time is politics time. Somebody whose heart wants can look at this talk and take today's politics to compare to it. But at that time, there was nothing to compare to today's politics. And so the way I'm repairing this talk, if you understand my talks, or the way I talk, inside your head, you will know how it is falling.
Inside the talks of chieftaincy, I have been telling you about a zana mat, that heavy woven mat Dagbamba use to divide a room or separate something. If they hang a zana mat, you on the outside cannot just take your idea to know what is happening. And so this talk of Naa Zanjina, inside our drumming, it's like a zana mat that they use to cover the place. The sense Gushe-Naa gave him to show him his way, that he should bypass everyone to go and greet Mamprugulana, when it came to the time of calling the names, did you see his hand inside? The sense Naa Zanjina used to call his names, it wasn't politics. It looks as if the sense they showed him was what he used to call his names. And it looks as if the senior brothers called foolish names. And at that time, they gave Yendi to him. And so when they beat Naa Zanjina's Samban' luŋa, they show that it was sense that gave him Yendi, not politics.
And that is the secret, or that is the zana mat, that is covering it. Naa Zanjina was giving. Can you go and greet an elderly person with nothing? You know our Dagbamba greetings. As you have been going around and greeting people in Dagbon here, do you go with empty hands? When you greet an elder, and you give cola and add some money or some gifts, does it show that you are giving a bribe? No. You are showing respect. And so if you are the son of Yaa-Naa, and your junior father is Mamprugulana, today-today as we are sitting down, and it is not searching for chieftaincy, if a Yaa-Naa's child goes to Mamprugu, he will give cola to put into the kettle, and he will add some money to put on the skin. It is standing like that today and tomorrow. And so when Naa Zanjina and his brothers were going and greeting Mamprugulana, one by one, the cowries Naa Zanjina gave were more than the others.
And the way the Mamprusi chief made it to stand was the calling of names. Naa Zanjina's senior brothers were there, and if Mamprugulana had come out plainly in front of them to say that Naa Zanjina is going to be the chief, it would not stand. That is why he said that a human tongue is the ladder that you can climb to go into the heart. When they call the names, the one whose tongue is not nice, that is what he is going use to deny him the chieftaincy. That was why he too he put it that they should call the names. And how they didn't call good names, that is what denied them the chieftaincy. Then Naa Zanjina called names that showed that he will hold Dagbon well, and he will hold Dagbon and Mamprugu together. And so Mamprugulana's hands were clean, and it was not his wish. And so it was standing that Naa Zanjina's tongue gave him the chieftaincy. That is how it is. And so that is why I said that the calling of names looks like a trick, and that Gushe-Naa and Mamprugulana and Naa Zanjina made one mouth to give Naa Zanjina the chieftaincy over his senior brothers. In the Samban' luŋa the drummer is singing old talks about things that happened in the past. How they took the chieftaincy to Mamprusi is an old talk that happened only once, at the time when Naa Zanjina got his chieftaincy. It is not the same as the custom.
And what I am telling you now, any drummer will tell you that I am telling you the truth. As our Dagbon has spoiled, this talk is inside the spoiling, because those who have written about our old talks have taken the story of how Naa Zanjina ate Yendi, and they have said that it is inside our Yendi customs. Inside the committees of inquiry, they have also said the same thing. This time we are sitting, truly, everybody has left his talks to be following somebody's talks. Somebody will take his custom and leave it. And I can say that Dagbamba have taken their custom and thrown it away. If it were not for us drummers, and women, Dagbon would have been dead. I am telling you that. And the reason why I say this: if somebody is looking for knowledge, it is because he wants to come and repair his house. You repair your house before you go and repair outside.
And we Dagbamba, when a Dagbana reads English, that is, when he is educated, if it is not that he takes it to drink and go and walk in the street, then he takes it to break his own house. If it were not that, then every educated Dagbana would know the way of the custom of Dagbon. And those among them who say that they know the custom, if not from books that they have seen it, they have not heard it. They haven't asked of it, and they haven't gone to the Samban' luŋa to sit. And so to talk a talk and message it will not do any work. And that is why I have said that the books in which there are Dagbani talks inside, some of them are true, and some of them are not true. They have taken the talks to do the work their hearts want. Every day, I have been telling you this.
And so I want you to use your sense and look. As they have said that it is soothsayers who catch the Yaa-Naa, that the Kuɣa-Naa consults soothsayers to catch a Yaa-Naa, we drummers will ask, “Why did they go to Mamprusi? Was a soothsayer not there?”
And again, they have said again that it was the Mamprugulana who set it down that Mion, Karaga, and Savelugu were going to be the doors to Yendi. And I want you to know that if somebody comes to tell you that, you should tell the person that he is a liar. Even Naa Zanjina himself was not eating any chieftaincy when Mamprugulana gave Yendi to him. When Naa Zanjina died, Naa Siɣli was eating Singa, and he came and ate. When Naa Siɣli died, Naa Bimbiɛɣu was only standing as Naa Zanjina's Gbɔŋlana, and I have told you how he came and ate. When Naa Bimbiɛɣu died, Naa Garba was eating Tampion, and he came and ate. When Naa Garba died, Naa Saa was eating Kpatinga, and he came and ate. The time you saw the Karagalana eating Yendi, have you seen it? Is it not far? Naa Kulunku, Naa Zoli, and Naa Alaasani left Karaga to eat Yendi. And the year a Savelugu-Naa ate Yendi, is it not far? Naa Andani Jɛŋgbarga and Naa Andani: they moved from Savelugu to eat Yendi. And have you seen it again. And what of Mionlana? They were many. As for the Mionlana, he is near the Yaa-Naa. As I have talked to you about it, truly, somebody can be there and he is not an old person. And they will take an old person's name and call him. And he answers an old person's answering. That is Savelugu-Naa. That is Karaga-Naa. If Karaga-Naa is a grandson, and Savelugu-Naa is a grandson, and a Yaa-Naa dies, they cannot refuse to go and say that they want the chieftaincy. They will go and interfere. But they won't get it. And if someone is a Yaa-Naa's child and he is eating any town's chieftaincy, when his father's place falls, he will search for it. And if the custom catches him, they will give it to him. They won't say that because he's eating Tampion or Kpatinga, he cannot eat. But if he's a grandchild, he may interfere and search for it, but he won't get it. This is how it is. The Mamprusi chief didn't put any law for Karaga, Mion, and Savelugu. There is no law standing like that. A Mamprusi chief has no way to show his strength in Dagbon. Since the time they took the chieftaincy to that place, nothing has been taken to the Mamprugulana again. That is why I can say that even if a Yaa-Naa's messenger is very weak, he is more than the Mamprusi chief. And so you cannot take Yendi and go and mix it into Mamprusi. It does not work like that.
And again, if the Mamprugulana were the one giving the Yendi chieftaincy, do you think he would have told them to call their names? Have you ever heard that in the eating of the Yendi chieftaincy, they call their names? Have you ever heard that they tell them to call their names? And so if somebody comes to ask you, you should use this question and ask him, “Somebody will not have something, and when he is going to give it to him, he will tell him to call a name.” Have you ever heard that from the time our chieftaincy began up to the time of Naa Zanjina, that a chief has ever called chiefs to tell them to call names? Has any chief ever gathered Dagbamba chiefs to tell them that? No. It is not there like that.
And so this is enough for you to take and watch. How they sing about Naa Zanjina in the Samban' luŋa, you should know that when he went there, he was making a trick. I told you that Naa Zanjina was very wise, and he knew that the Yaa-Naa's house elders who catch the chiefs would not give him the chieftaincy if it were in Dagbon here: his senior brothers were there, and his uncles were there, and some of his senior fathers were there. And so Naa Zanjina went to Gushe-Naa and turned it and sent it to the Mamprusi land. When he went to the Mamprusi chief, he gave greetings. If not that, he wouldn't have got the chieftaincy. And what they sing in the Samban' luŋa, they say that when we reached the Mamprusi chief, the Mamprusi chief said they should call names before he will make someone a chief. The one whose name is not nice, they will refuse him. And the one whose name is nice, they will take the chieftaincy and give him. That was what he said, and it was a trick. The Mamprusi chief cannot just come out and say that he and Gushe-Naa and Naa Zanjina have made one mouth, and Naa Zanjina has been greeting him before. That was why he said they should call their names. And from that time up to now, we haven't seen anything like that again. This is how it is, and that is all.
The way I am talking to you, the talk I am talking to you, there is no elder in Dagbon whom you will talk to and he will want to talk to you about this. And we will not agree to talk this talk to somebody. And why I am saying this is that in the olden days, when they wanted to tell these things, they used to say that they should not open the anus of Dagbon for them. And I told you the other time that as they were afraid to talk, they didn't want the opening of the anus of Dagbon. During the olden days, anyone who heard a talk and went to meet a different person, that other person would tell him something different. Have I not been telling you that? And so what I am telling you today, this talk I am giving you, you will take around the whole of Dagbon, and I don't think you will find any talks that have been put down and can be compared to this one in the way that I am telling you. Somebody may tell you this talk, but it won't look like this. And other drummers won't talk about it at all. But I want to talk the truth and it will repair our Dagbon, and you can't take lies and repair anything.
As for me and you, we are like the eye and the nose. The eye and the nose are near one another, and the eye doesn't cry and the nose will keep quiet. As the eye is crying, the nose is also running. And so we are taking the way of truth to follow you. We are fearing that they will come and see it outside. Those who see it and say that it is wrong, they will ask who has showed you. And they will look at those who showed them, and those who showed them didn't show them well. If you don't like somebody and he does any work, you won't like that work. If he is swimming, you will say he is putting dust on you. This is our work. As we are talking, there is no talk. We are talking a clean talk to you.
And so the Mamprusi chief doesn't have anything to say on the part of Yendi customs and how the Yendi chieftaincy is eating. Because of this talk, some people have even said that the Mamprugulana is senior to the Yaa-Naa. But the Mamprugulana is never senior to the Yaa-Naa. Mamprugulana Tohigu was a son of Naa Gbewaa, and he ate the Mamprusi chieftaincy. And Bimbila-Naa Ŋmantambu was a son of Naa Gbewaa. Naa Shitɔbu was their elder, and they were his junior brothers. And Kuɣa-Naa Subee, and Karagalana Beemoni, Sunson-Naa Buɣyilgu, all of them were junior brothers of Naa Shitɔbu. And I want you to think inside your heart. Tohigu was a son of Naa Gbewaa, and Ŋmantambu was a son of Naa Gbewaa. What have they become? The Yaa-Naa's son is eating Mamprusi. His son is eating at Bimbila. As it is, Naa Zanjina is a Yaa-Naa's son, and a Yaa-Naa's son goes out from Dagbon here and goes to Mamprusi. Has he gone because they are the same mother's children, or is it that he went to his friends? He went because all of them are the same family. And so when Naa Zanjina went to the Mamprugulana, it was: “We are going to quarrel because of chieftaincy. But you are our mother's child. You will separate the chieftaincy for us, and this argument will stop.” And this is the going that they went. It doesn't show that the Mamprugulana was giving the Dagbamba their chieftaincy. This is how it is. Since Naa Zanjina up to now, has any Mamprugulana made a Yaa-Naa again? Have you heard it again? Are the Yaa-Naas not eating? And are the Mamprusi chiefs not eating? If it were that they were for it, they would have done it again.
And so on the part of what they talked, and the way the educated people and the committees of inquiry have taken it, you should know that it is not like that. As for the government committees, their talk doesn't come inside here. How can a government tell the Dagbamba how to eat their chieftaincy? There was chieftaincy before government came, and chieftaincy is older than government. When Dagbon wanted to spoil, don't you see that they took the chieftaincy to the government? When they took it to the government, up to now, has Dagbon been well? So if you giving to Dagbon or custom, you have to remove their hands from inside. And the only thing you have to say is that what they did has never happened before, and now that they have made it happen, what is going on now? And so if you want to know the talks of Dagbon, throw away the government talks. How they took chieftaincy talks to Mamprusi in Naa Zanjina's time, and how they have taken chieftaincy talks to the government committees, the two look alike, but they are not the same. In Naa Zanjina's time, they went in a traditional way. They took the talk to their junior father, Mamprugulana, to separate it. That is inside their family. Is government their father? There is a very big difference. Those who took the chieftaincy to the government took it outside their house.
The talk I want you to put inside the talk of the Yendi chieftaincy: I want you to say that I Ibrahim Luŋa is telling you. If somebody comes to tell you that Mamprugulana is senior to the Yaa-Naa, you should tell that person that he is a liar. You should write it like that inside. The talk I have stepped on and I am talking, a Mamprugulana's son has never eaten Yendi, but Naa Gbewaa's son has eaten the Mamprusi chieftaincy. I want you to put it there. And so do your work: somebody who looks here and looks there, he doesn't catch a slave. I am telling you that. Didn't you hear my brother Moro telling you that it is because God likes you that you saw me. I have been telling you every day. I am not somebody who beats the Samban' luŋa, but I am somebody who talks truth in Dagbon. And I don't want to break Dagbon. And if people like us were in Dagbon, and if those who were hearing the truth had added themselves to us, Dagbon wouldn't have been broken as it is broken now.
And truly, how I have talked, I have gone far, and so I think we will stop here, and tomorrow we will continue with the talk of Naa Siɣli.