Institute of African Studies

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Start date: 1980End date: 1989

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    Traditional Medicine in Namnam Land
    (University of Ghana, 1980) Chabot, J. H. C.; Opoku, K. A.; University of Ghana, College of Humanities, Institute of African Studies
    Recent studies Magaro, lllich, Guerra....) indicate that medical systems are moulded more by culture than by science, ihis is even more so with traditional medical systems whcih are tigthly interwoven to the fabric of the society which they serve. Namnam, an ethnic group of North Eastern Ghana, is a functional unit composed:of two clusters of clans: the land owners, or real Namnam, and mamprussi settlers who 'eat' the chieftaincy. Their main occupations are farming and hunting, their system of beliefs supports a world view which acknowledges the existence of spiritual entities as well as man's continuous traffic with those. In order to do so, man has elaborated an effective communication system which puts him in contact with spiritual entities who influence the life of the individual. Namnam medical system has for object the restoration of an individual's ritual status. It is a closed tut permeable system which depends on and reinforces a world view which justifies the modalities and technologies used in curing illness. It is within this frar.ework, according V a precise internal logic that an individual becomes healer, ihe process of selection-training-confiriation being decreed by God sacralizes the position. It is not the healer who is credited with cures but his spirits. His only credit is that of being the caretaker of his nandoo. The nandoo and the room in which it is housed are the nerve center of the practice which is part and parcel of the daily life of the household as Namnam healers work in their own homes. A healer's guarantee of prosperity is his reputation and his fame, .The practice will diminish or grow at the rythm of his ability to obtain satisfactory results as it is the patient who chooses between the many alternatives offered to him when Searching for a cure to his afflictions. Namnam medical system shows itself as the individual oriented maintenance aspect of the societal organization, because it treats the multidimentionality of man and his world, the medical system of Namnam is holistic.