A Drummer's Testament

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Chapter I-24:  Drum Chieftaincies

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The origins of drum chieftaincies; drum chiefs and chieftaincy hierarchies; the different drum chieftaincies of the towns; how a chief drummer is buried; how a drummer gets chieftaincy; chieftaincy and leadership


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Supplementary material


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Contents outline by paragraph

Introduction

The origins of drumming and the chieftaincy of Namo-Naa

Hidden talks about chieftaincy descent

The Lun-Zoo-Naa chieftaincy

Standard order of drumming chiefs

The position of Namo-Naa

How drum chiefs move from town to town

How drummers move into drumming chieftaincies:  olden days

How a Namo-Naa is buried and a new drumming chief installed

The installation of a Palo-Naa

How Alhaji Mumuni refused drum chieftaincy

How drum chieftaincies are bought in modern times; rivalry over chieftaincy

Drum chiefs' responsibilities and need for support


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Proverbs and Sayings

In every group, there must be somebody to lead so that everybody will not be equal, and there will be respect.

Every one of us who beats the drum knows his standing place.

We drummers are all grandchildren of Bizuŋ.

Someone who doesn't have patience, if he comes to learn the talks of Dagbon, he will always become confused.

Dagbon has got a lot of things, and you cannot learn all of them.

Yendi has got a lot of talks, and only we drummers know about it.

It is the one who takes up your work whom you will call your child.

When you hear any talk on the part of someone and the children he gave birth to, you have to use your sense and know what is inside it.

You should not try to see the ears of a snake.

If you try to see the ears of a snake, you will become tired.

The extent that you reach, you have to stand there.

The knowledge you have, you will know the house where you learned it.

Namo-Naa does not beat a drum by heart.

Whenever you see Namo-Naa playing a drum, you should know that that day is an important day.

Whenever they point at you that you are drummer, you have to point to Namo-Naa.

Every drummer is a child of Namo-Naa.

A drummer has no town.

Any town where we know there is food, and we know that the chief likes us, we go there.

Our drumming started with traveling and traveling.

The drumming chieftaincies follow two things:  they follow the family doors and they follow the chiefs.

If the chief brings a drummer from another town to eat chieftaincy, it can bring talks, but the talks do not go far.  The new drummer will reply to them and ask them a question:  are they not strangers in this town, too?

“My landlord, let's talk a walk.”

Yaa-Naa and Namo-Naa are like a calabash that has broken apart.

I have given some bad people to you, and I have given some good people to you.  If you don't have bad people, you won't have good people.

As I've given you bad people, I've added you good people.

You should use your foolishness and your wisdom and look after them, and take your blindness and eye-open and hold them well.

As you are not seeing, it's not because of anything; but you will see something bad and say you've not seen, and you will see something good and know it is good.

If you are going to pour water into a gourd, and rain has fallen on it already, then you don't have to put water inside again.

You were going to search for a woman in her house, and the woman didn't want to come near you:  the day the woman will enter your house, you don't have to let the woman go.

If you bend down to look at somebody's anus, then the way you bend, somebody too is looking at your back.

Chieftaincy is in the bone.

A drumming chieftaincy has got worries.

If you see someone being a chief of drummers, it means he has many people behind him.

Your character will let the people come around you.

The way you are is what will gather people around you.

You can't catch a live bee and put it into a hole.

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