A Drummer's Testament: chapter outlines and links
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Volume III: IN OUR LIVING
Part 3: CHILDREN
Chapter titles above go to chapter outlines on this page.
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Volume III Part 3: Children
Why Dagbamba value children; role of children in the family; Dagbamba resistance to family planning; how children help their parents
Introduction
- 1. talk of children connected to talk of family
- 2. talk of children connected to householding and eldership
- 3. the scope of the topic
Having many children benefits the parents
- 4. more benefit from many children; at least some will help the family
- 5. children help in farming or buying food
- 6. family planning kills the family
Raising many children
- 7. have to care for all of them; don't know which will be good
- 8. buying clothes; both husband and wife help
How children help the family
- 9. as older ones grow up, they will help with farming and feeding the younger ones
- 10. children can help in the market or trading
- 11. children who farm or trade can help the father get wives for them
- 12. example: how Alhassan helped when he married his wife
The character of children
- 13. a good child respects himself
- 14. a child's character is from God
Training children
- 15. train children with work: farming and trading
- 16. mothers train daughters to respect husbands and in-laws
- 17. a child or grandchild will take up custom work, like drumming or butchering
More types of benefits of children
- 18. respect; someone with many children gets respect like a chief or a wealthy person
- 19. children help parent perform festivals
- 20. children can build a house for parents to live in
- 21. children can dig a well for the family
- 22. unexpected good works that children do for their parents: car, horse, cows, pilgrimage
Differences
- 23. some girls only help mother and not father; some help both
- 24. boys do more to help the parents
Other benefits
- 25. God helps and protects the world because of the innocence of children
- 26. children bring luck: good luck and bad luck
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Pregnancy and mid-wifery; bathing a newborn child; naming a child; the suuna ceremony; the child in the mother's family house; how a child grows in infancy; differences between Muslims and non-Muslims
Introduction
- 1. childbirth and infancy is a long talk
Pregnancy among typical Dagbamba
- 2. length of pregnancy
- 3. pregnancy is not something to be openly discussed
- 4. for first pregnancies, maalams' medicines and talismans; informing the in-laws; “putting the calabash” custom
- 5. husband's sister relationship to child; completing the pregnancy
Childbirth
- 6. calling the midwife; delivery
- 7. childbirth is women's work; maalams' medicines to ease delivery
- 8. some women do not have difficulty, even give birth without midwife; example
- 9. men do not become involved or witness childbirth
The newborn baby
- 10. cutting the cord and treating the navel; burying the afterbirth; cooking naanzubee soup
- 11. bathing the child with kulkula
- 12. new mothers: preparing the new mother's breast milk while another woman nurses the baby
- 13. the first week before the naming, the mother's family sends foodstuffs for cooking; the naming day
Names and the naming day (suuna)
- 14. typical Dagbamba consult soothsayers; newborn child's name is “stranger”
- 15. soothsayers show the grandparent the child “inherits”; takes that name
- 16. getting the name from the mother's side is unusual
- 17. examples of Dagbamba names for boys and girls
- 18. how parents will address the child as the grandparent
- 19. the name can also come from what the parent wants
- 20. Suuna: the naming ceremony: soothsayer shows the sacrifice; shaving the head; circumcize the boys; prepare food for family and visitors; sometimes drummers beat for dancing
Barbers and their work
- 21. how barbers circumcize babies and treat the sore; their payment
- 22. how barbers cut scars and marks on people
- 23. types of marks; some show the town
- 24. types of marks; some show the family or the circumstances of the person
- 25. types of marks; if the family's children have been dying
- 26. types of marks; "for life" or just because the person wants the mark
The mother goes to her parents' house with the baby
- 27. the wife's parents "beg" for the child; carry the baby to their house
- 28. the room where the baby sleeps
- 29. bathing the child by older woman; shaping the head and features
Restrictions on sex
- 32. medicine to protect the unfaithful wife
- 33. different from an unfaithful woman who conceives from a man outside the house
- 34. if a new wife comes to the house with an outside pregnancy; what husbands do
- 35. "crossing over the child's head": having outside sex while at the parents' house can kill the child
- 36. no sex while at parents' house, even with husband; no new pregnancy until the child walks; quarrels
- 37. white people and Arabs do not restrict sex after childbirth; babies who are not breastfed
- 38. if a newborn dies, the wife also goes to parents' house for some months; no sex during that time, otherwise miscarriages and death
How a child grows
- 39. teaching the child to sit, to crawl, and to walk
- 40. how the child gets teeth
- 41. children who cry or become sick; soothsayers show what they want: rings or bangles (nintua, bangari)
How the wife returns to her husband's house
- 42. when child walks, husband sends foodstuffs to in-laws; cow forelegs; husband begs; they delay
- 43. no actual time or schedule, unless the child walks
How Muslims give birth to and name their children
- 44. differences between those who read and those who pray; no talisman or other customs; use midwife; maalam prays into newborn's ear
- 45. all children given name, even those who die
- 46. no soothsayers for naming; use Holy Qur'an for day names; those who pray consult maalam for name choices
- 47. those who pray can choose grandparent's name from the Holy Qur'an
- 48. also give name to someone who decides to become Muslim
- 49. examples of Muslim names for boys and girls; preparing for the suuna
- 50. suuna: prayer, naming, shaving, circumcision for boys, food
- 51. wife goes to parent's house until child walks; no particular customs like typical Dagbamba
- 52. when wife returns, some men wait for wife to menstruate before sleeping with her
Conclusion
- 53. other childhood topics to come
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Difficulties of children; children and bad spirits; twins, orphans, relation to mother's house
Introduction: different types of children
- 1. children can affect the parents' lives; wealth and poverty
A bad spirit: alizini
- 2. child can be an alizini, or bad spirit
- 3. alizini is not normal; changes itself, threatens parents
- 4. soothsayers or someone with medicine will recognize the alizini
- 5. an alizini can come to a child; babies not left alone in a room
- 6. example: the alizini child of Sumaani
- 7. example: medicine man took the child; no funeral, no mourning
- 8. alizini can be like a snake; need for medicine
Twins
- 9. bring different luck to parents; many people fear twins
- 10. differences: for typical Dagbamba, twins bring issues: constant soothsaying, slaughter goats; Muslims do not do anything special
- 11. twins from family lines
- 12. soothsaying for twins' names; twins as “people of the god”; check to see if twins will go to mother's family house
- 13. soothsaying to find what the twins want: nintugari, begging in the market
- 14. buying and maintaining goats for the twins
- 15. many issue for typical Dagbamba, but not for Muslims
- 16. special difficulties if one of the twins dies; don't say the twin is dead
- 17. special difficulties if twins are male and female
- 18. parents sometimes use medicine to kill twins
- 19. if child dies, image of a pot that has spilled water but not broken
The importance of the mother
- 20. problems of taking care of children all fall on the parents
- 21. mother's love is more than father's love
- 22. strength and importance of mother's side; also with other tribes
- 23. mother suffers more for a child; strengthens the bond
- 24. in Dagbon people don't ask or talk about someone's mother's house
- 25. similar strength of the uncle, especially the mother's brother with same parents
Orphans
- 26. if a newborn's mother dies, soothsayers know which side will care for baby; respect for orphans
- 27. after a funeral, funeral elder shares the children on the father's side
- 28. small children stay with mothers; if remarry the step-father will take good care of the orphaned children as blessing; some people gather and take care of orphans
- 29. when the children grow, they return to father's side house
Conclusion
- 30. continuation to next topics
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How children live with their parents; eating; friends and peer groups; games and dances of children; how children are trained; formal education: Arabic and English schools; vocational training
What the parents teach a child
- 1. child has to be shown the people in the family
- 2. child has to be fed
- 3. child has to be taught right and wrong
- 4. can beat, but not too much; other ways to control: talk or look at the child
- 5. shouting sometimes, not other times
How children eat
- 6. money to buy food outside; sometime give and other times not
- 7. children follow food and where they can eat
- 8. how children eat and share food
- 9. sharing food teaches children friendship
How children mingle and play
- 10. children roam and learn how to live together
- 11. can observe children playing to know their character or future; nicknames
- 12. can observe children to see their weaknesses and strength
- 13. children quarrel and play; adults should not become involved
Kpara ni Jansi, or Atikatika
- 14. children can have influence; Kpara ni Jansi, Atikatika
- 15. some people say that Atikatika spoiled Dagbon
- 16. nothing happens without a reason; Kpara ni Jansi came at the same time Dagbon spoiled
- 17. meaning of Kpara ni Jansi
- 18. Kpara ni Jansi started in Tamale and spread in Dagbon; chiefs stopped it many places
Dances children dance
- 19. formerly children dance Baamaaya, Takai, Tɔra, and other dances
- 20. Gumbɛ from Kotokolis; later became Simpa; originally used wooden dalgu, then frame-drums called taamaale, and now metal dalbihi; girls dance it
- 21. before that, Amajiro and Lua were the popular dances of children
- 22. go to nearby towns to play and watch; return home late and climb the wall of the house to enter
- 22. Anakulyɛra, a recent dance; use the beating of Amajiro
- 23. children bring new dances that become old dances; children start many things
Games children play
- 24. many games; they resemble children's games of other towns
- 25. Biɛɣyaaneea / Biɛɣyaamooya; like hide and seek
- 26. Tuutirɛ; like sock tag
- 27. Saamiya murga
- 28. Sibri sibri
- 29. Kuraya kuraya; like hot potato
- 30. A daa lan daai ma; Vooli (tug of war); Salangbari; Nooparsima yaɣli
- 31. games and songs for particular times: Ŋum mali chɛrga
- 32. all these games are good; only Kpari ni Jansi is useless
School
- 33. four to five years, Muslim school to learn Holy Qu'ran; not everyone
- 34. children show the type of school they want; some learn English; some learn trades
- 35. school children are sensible and also foolish
- 36. sense or foolishness depends on how God made the child to be; schooling hardens children
- 37. those who learn trades become used to having money; at risk to become thieves
- 38. better to send children to school; send different children to different types of school
- 39. Alhaji Ibrahim did not go to school for reading and writing, but has knowledge of Dagbon because was raised in a village; next topics about village children
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Girls' work in the villages: grinding, sheanuts, harvesting; household training; festival markets; early courtship patterns
Introduction
- 1. village children get sense from respecting elders and doing work
Girls' early training
- 2. grinding, sweeping, fetching water
The work of shea nuts
- 3. seasonal gathering; go in groups or by houses; early morning
- 4. difficulties: rain, snakes
- 5. stay late; eat when return home; grinding and making food
- 6. not white man's work: the girls can go at different times
- 7. collect firewood; boil the shea nuts and spread them
- 8. shelling the shea nuts; how many they get
Harvesting groundnuts
- 9. groups pick groundnuts for farmers and receive a share
- 10. how they measure the groundnuts and get their share
- 11. cheating in the groundnut picking and sharing
- 12. cheating as a part of farming
- 13. cheating also a part of harvesting rice, corn, and other crops; different from group farming
How the harvesting work helps families to raise the girls
- 14. mothers and aunts use the money from shea nuts and groundnuts to but clothes and take care of the girls
How young girls attend the festival markets
- 15. markets during festival months; important focus for the young girls, from nine to ten years old
- 16. how they carry their dresses to the market
- 17. going around the market; how they dress and prepare themselves
- 18. they go around in groups, with a leader
How the village boys and girls befriend one another at the festival markets
- 19. how village boys ask to know which towns the girls are from
- 20. the village boys get their town's girls to ask about the girls they like
- 21. boy sends his town's girl to greet with porridge and cola
- 22. the girl with a sister or friend will visit the boy; the father and brothers will prepare food; small money when they leave
- 23. how the friends help one another during Ramadan; cooking and gifts
Friendships and early gender relations
- 24. these early friendships help them learn how to treat one another; how the befriending has change in towns and modern times
- 25. the friendship does not interfere with the promised betrothal of a girl; how the situation can get complicated
- 26. how very young children play at husband and wife; tankpɔ' luɣsa: early sex play
- 27. actual sex can damage a girl; treatment for a young girl whose virginity is lost; matter can go to chief
- 28. tankpɔ' luɣsa not a custom; just something children do
Training for marriage
- 29. girls get advice on how to live with a husband
- 30. the work she will be expected to do, and more advice
- 31. the training is informal conversation while doing chores; no time because of constant work
- 32. women do not sit and talk even in compound; working together to prepare food
- 33. brief time for talking is after eating; women teach work, not old talks
Village girls and town girls
- 34. village girls follow their mothers or aunts in work; townspeople buy what they need
- 35. village girls know different types of household work: farming, cooking, grinding
- 36. in towns, everything is already prepared; no work to teach the girls
Women who train girls
- 37. training starts young; women who train girls well get more children to raise
- 38. if a girl is not well trained, sometimes it is the girl's fault
- 39. some women abuse the girls with too much work; girls run away
- 40. people don't give daughters to a relative who will mistreat them
- 41. too much suffering will harm a child; protect from too much heavy work
- 42. some children suffer and do well
- 43. girls work harder than boys
Preparing for marriage
- 44. after menstruation, a girl is considered mature and can marry
- 45. a girl can grow and not be married; no man has looked for her; not a fault
- 46. sometimes the father has not found a husband for a matured girl
- 47. bad spirits can make a girl fear men; medicine to treat
- 48. girl in her father's house can be betrothed to a man who dies; resembled widow
- 49. treated like a widow, with soothsaying stones
Conclusion
- 50. summary: this is how girls live until they are married
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Boys' work in the villages: farming, gathering food for domestic animals; festival markets: working for one another; relationship to father for support of courtship
Introduction
- 1. this topic joins to other previous topics
Work that young boys do
- 2. farming from four years old; look after animals; weaving
- 3. “monkey-waiters”: use wooden drum to drive monkeys away from farm; now not common
- 4. carrying hens and fowls to the farm
Catching termites and ants to feed hens and fowls
- 5. types of termites and ants
- 6. how the boys catch tambiɛɣu
- 7. how the boys catch yoba
- 8. how the boys catch wurikoo
The children's work and suffering
- 9. besides farming, collect firewood and grass to sell; how they help one another
- 10. if mistreated, children run away to other relatives; some work in town
- 11. boys do work with strength, but less work than girls; cannot say who suffers more
- 12. after eating at night, the boys sit with their fathers or with one another and tell stories
How the fathers help to get wives for the boys
- 13. the boys farm and work for their fathers until matured; fathers will help find wives for them
- 14. the good name of the father helps the boy to get a wife
- 15. if the boys do not work for their father, they will have difficulty to get a wife on their own
- 16. getting a wife is very difficult for village boys, even for grown young men
- 17. Muslim belief that father should get wife for son is not always standing; role of money
- 18. formerly not the case, but now even villages use money and not character when getting a wife
- 19. if a child does not help the father, the father will not help the child
- 20. a child who helps the parents will have respect to get a wife even if the parents are dead