University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Ihe Influence of th~ BTukung Cult ill till· SOl..:i List of Ritual Ohjects taken by von Zech froID" the ritual hut of the chief priest 348 2. Guiness' s Account of the Atwode 352 3. Settlement of an Adultery Case 35:- flHliography University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh " ~ . l.1 reo'. shmonr house!' hui 1 torI the slope of the hill :' 111are, showinJ: houses built on the slope of the hill 20 Plat(' 3 Shinn. Alleywa y 22 Plate 4 Okpere staff Plate 5 Shiare. The shrine ,: Plate 6 Sacrifice perfol'1led by Nana Kulaholle, head of the eha clan Plate 7 New members of the wallen's cult during the ceremony prior to being introduc.ed to their shrine 130 Plate tI "'ew women's cult members ret.urning from the shrine 131 Two girls beginning their dance 134 Plate 10 Nana Mbowura Ayor, lIIankradu and head of the Gblese subcliin lSI. PIUe 11 Nana Gesu, chief priest and head of the Awuku clan 1S3 Plate lla Nana XulaholQe, head of the eha clan ISh Plate 12 Nann Gesu performing the ~ cere.ony 161 Plate 13 Nan. Oherko Agyei II, Shiarewura and Osulevur8 18b Plate 14 Shrine of an earth god 207 Platr IS Sacrifice of sheep by Stephen Mamene to his late father Malllene 213 Plate 16 Agbagesola, with bamboo pole, for GegyUa 220 Plate 17 Agbuesola, "'ith stretchC'T. for Akun,ab. :218 Plate 18 Bekapo slaughtering chicken during the building of shrine for Samamhia's twins 2488 Plate 19 T"'in shTine 2508 Plah- ZO hdn doll 2S3a I'Jl(". . Table 1 Adult Male Cult Membcrs 112 Table 2 Adult Male Non~Cul t Members 114 Table 3 COilparison of ReSidence of Cult Members and Non-Cult MeMbers 115 Residence of Men over 21 in Relation to Cult fIilembership and Schooling 116 Rcsidence of Christian Adults 119 Education of Christian Adults in Shiare 119 Table 7 Shiare Christian Children 8t School 120 Table 8 Married Me.bers of the Wo.en's Cult over 21 129 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ' 111ft' I. ScheMatic repreSl'ntation of the clan:; and suhdallf' of Shiarc 81 Ltnear"; descendants of Akpt 83 C;hlesc subelan and true descent of Mhowura Ayor Fi~urc: ... Okra and his descendants 99 l-lJi!ure 5, Akui and his descendants 99 Fi~ur(' b, Descend.ants of Opea; the original t\ankaJllado clan before fission 103 11~ure 7. Distribution of Dwellings in li.ankuado 106 Fi£ure t. ScheJltatic representation of the 'Circular' view of the consultation process. 289 hgurc 9. Schema.tic representation of the 'pyrlUDidal' view of the consul ta t ion process. 289 hl!urc 10. Unship bet.ween Amekpo, 'ia1o: Mensah, Kosia, Mensah and Okuo Moses 359 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~ he ..' ," o r" on ,,-, hie h t h is thes i s is na !o cd was • • de pu:.:, li>i( hr ! 1 ,I I , t'· from t he Social Science Rese a rch Coum: u .lnJ t11(: foIanat-:c o 0 ... the Smuts Mcm o Tl al found, Cambridge, WlllCh 1 £ratefully <.I(j..llo\,d~' dg(· . )-Iy great.est stngle acudemlc debt i s to .y supervisor, Dr , J:.sther Go'cd)' , ""hose unfailing help, advice and perth ent cr1tiC151D5 we TC invaluable. I would also like to lhanJ.. Profe5sor Jack Goody . who first suggested to me that J should 'Ioorl in Shiare , who subseque ntly maintained a keen interest 1n .y .,..ork and .,hose graduate \oiriting·up seminars provided a lively forum for the discussion and c l arification c/ ideas . I would also 1 ike to record a spC'cial debt to Professor t-Ieyer Fortes. who . during my years of s t udy at Cub ridgc, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, continually encouragcd lie in t he study of social anth r opology. 1 am, of course, deeply indebted to t he people of Sr.l.1rC, who welco.ed me among them, gave me a home and II nW'llc, and allowed me to share their life for a brief period . 1 would like to thank especially Nana Oberko Agyei II, Shiarewura and Osulewura, Nana Gesu. the chief priest, I'oana KulahOlne, the head of th" Cha clan, Nana MboWUTa Ayor, tl,l' llIankradu , Nr.A.B .Quartey. __ ho placed his house in ShUTe at lIy disposnl durinr. thr .... holc period of I'll)' fidd work, Mr .George S . K .Mensah, rr. y invaluab 1 e and patient field a s: )~ {,d ttl this arca. It is cieST {rom thc!>e texts that though tht, god was well-kno,,"n to some of the peoples in this arca, and played an illrortant part in their religious systems, very little is knolr!'n in fact of the god or its cult. No detailed study of the Brukung cult has ever been lItte.pted. There is also SOllie evidence to show that not only is Shiare a •• jor centre of Brukun~ worship, but it may also possibly be the centre frolill which the cul t spread through central npst Africa. My original plan was tu t:stablish Ilyself at the centre of the shrine and the cult, if possible join the cult, acquire a first hand knowledge of the shrine, its CUll and its rituals, and work out from the source of the cult , and deten.ine its influence on the life of Shiare. However, one of the difficulties, and interests, of research is that very often the researcher does not know what he is looking for and cannot assess the relative i.portance of the l1Iaterials with which he is working. He .ay know what kind of answer he wants, but, paradoxically, h~ lIay not know what will count as an answer until he has (olipleted his research. lhe researcher will encounter difficulties, and the anthropologist, alone as he usually h in an alien environaent, is particuhrly vulnerable in 1 l ol._ I espcct. Poss ibly his greatest di {lieu lty is that he . ,Inn,t predict, and thus prepare for, the problclII~ he ",oill t"IKounter in his fidd ,-or~, or for the unexpected area ~ Into ,-°hid, hi ~ rcscaT(.he~ wi 11 lead hilll, Often .odc} ~ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and theoret.ical sehe.ata have to be .odified or disc.rded. and new ones sought. Very early in Illy field work I discovered that the ~Tukung cult in Shiare 'Was surrounded with great secrecy. Cult .elllbership ",.s rigidly restricted to Atwode-born males. and only cult .embers were penaitted to enter the shrine and p'!H~'!''''. under the leadership of the clan head. \~ political and religious functions . Each " " University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh clan has an altar to 8rukun~. on which the clan head perfoBs sacrifice!' to the god. The unity of the shrine worship brings both clans together, and this is expressed in and through the person and office of the chief priest, who is the older in age of the two clan heads. and who is ultic.tely the source of political and ritual authority in Shiare, which are seen as deriving frail the shrine. There is a .utual interdependence hetween cult and social organization. The cult recruits its .embers frail the clans. and in turn provides the bases of ritual and political authority in the clans and in the subelans, which are the aajor descent groups. The unity of Shiere in tenas of the shrine, and the importance of the role of the chief priest. are expressed in the annual yam festival. whi ch is discussed and analysed in Chapter 7. Chapter 4 is devoted to 8 discussion of the political or&aniz8tion of Shiarc. The important if;sue here is the relationship between the chief priest and the Shiarewura (the chief of Shine). By virtue of hi! office as chief pries t, and custodian of the shrine, the chief priest was, traditionally , the source of political authority in Shiare . Following the i.position of European colonial rule. a ne",· pattern of political authority arose, with the gradual emergence of the ShiarewuTa as the focal point of political authority, the chief pTiest playing a "are lilRited political Tole. The factors leading to the emergence of the importance of the office of ShiarevurB. and the various stages of the development of the office are discussed. It will be seen how . though the ShiarewuTa is i_portant in his own rieht, pOliti cal authority still belongs to the- dd,.f n ........ . since aU authori ty in Shiare derive s University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ull1aately from thf' shrine and is thu !' e xe rcised by the chief rriest. and that the Shiarewura is ultimately responsible t o all.l control1~d hl' the chief priest and thus by the shrine. Chaptt'T tJ discusses the shrine a s a pilgri.age centre . There 3CC twO lIIajor considerations involved. Firstly, there are the pilgrims themselves, who come in great nulftbers to the shrine. and how Shiare faces the problem, couon to an y popular shrine, of accollUftodating larg e nUMbers of pilgrims, and how the consultation process itself is structured and effeCUd. Secondly, there is the political role of the shrine. Traditionally, the shrine- was held in hig)1 esteem hy ~ (lIne of the then powerful, independent kingdoms of West Africa. Eabassies were sent to consult the shrine on a wide range of i.portant iSsues, especially those concerned with war. Thus, al.ost ironically. having sought the isolation of the hills to es~· ape wars, the Shi are people weTe again involved 1n them , but indirectly, due to the -shrine's reputation as an oracle. This aspect of the shrine brought Shiare into contact with peoples and policies beyond her borders. Ho"," the relation- ships thus .ade were defined is discussed in the context of tll" shrine. Th" cult has 5uTl,.' ive d into lIodern times . Over the paH H)") yeaTS Shiare and Atwode have been affected by di{fr-rent bnd!' of social and pOlitical change, but the cult has heen hq: dy unaffected by these changes. Chapter ~ examines S O r. l " of lhe factors now operativ e in Shiare a!\. thl' res ult of th~· :-t· changes, particularly Christianity and education. and ho ... th (''" aff('("t and relate to the cult. Chapter 8 exudnes University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh t>ricfly the cult in the context of ~oclal change, and attempu to assess it in terRls of the present factors of social change with which it has to contend, and what future effect they liay have on the structure of the cult and its tradhional functions of serving the needs of the local coamunity, and as a pil~rimaae centre, catering for the many people who cOile to consult the shrine. My field work, ... hich was carried out from June 1975 to September 1970, was conducted entirely in Shiare. As Shiare is the ritual and political centre of Atwodeland. events in Shiare, and events affecting Shiarc, also affect Atwode. Although 1 sometimes speak of Atwode. my chief concern has been with Shiare. the cult and its implicat.ions for Shiare. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER I TilE AT.ODL AND AT.ODELAND ITS GEOGRAPHY AND '.CONOf.1Y J. ~!"lsin~ and Migrations I he Atwode belong to the Guan speaking peoples, who are found widely distributed throughout Ghana and adjacent areas of Togo. With the notable exception of the Gonja, Guan communities are ~".111. nUlicrically and territorially. The Gonja occupy a very Jar!:,' t(,Trltory. ~tretching across the centre of Ghana {rom east to west, in the savannah grasslands, north of the rain forest. The other, sII311er, Guan cOIlIIIunities are found in two groupings, those in the south, near the Coast, and those in the East, in the Volta region (see Map I). The coastal communities are situated in the south"coastern part of the country. near Accra. On the coast itself are Efutu and GOlloa; the fOTmer includes the town of \\inneba, and Burelc.u; the latter nue is 3 forll of Bruku, or Burukung, and this association of a shTine of the divinity Burukung with a Guan-speaking people liar be significant in that Brukung is the chief divini ty worshipped III Ah.-ode. Further inland. north of Accra and east of Akwapi., :arc the L3Ttch and the Kyerepon. The TC •• ining Guan co •• unlties are to be found in the Volu I"r.ion. They are the Nchuauru, Krachi, Nawuri, Nkunya and Atwo~­ the AA)'anJ:.a arc in To~o. The Volta Region is the _ost diversified III Ghan:a, nnd contains a great numher of ethnic groups. Mflr I sho ... :'> halo ti~htly clustered the groups are on a north/south axis .11 Oil}: ttw (.h:ma Togo border. The area in the south of the reg ton '" prrdomlnalltlv Ewe: north of 110, the regional capital, begin ~hich run roughly north and south. In the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ..' I.lI ,d Tt.· .. chc $ of thc :- ~ Illll s Jive ttl .. peopl e> Cla SS Ified or '\ n 1c r.;1nn .1ntl Br yant a s Re stvolker; {urttl e r no rt)., thcre aTe ttl c ,:,,;111 s l' c;1l..inJ; pC'opJcs. oth c rs of Akan lIc~ccnt, and lI.;m y others of JifJ ~' r c nf c thnh' orisin s . These r;lnges of hills ho.Vl' long been r~cognis~J a s r ef uge area s , which attrac ted peoples who wi s hed to escape fro. the wars and struggles being fought in the rain for~~u and on the savannah on either side. In .. any case s , the ~ulturc s and beliefs they brought with them remaIned to a great extent intact, as the comparatIve isolation and relRoteness of the !lith, and the poor system of collUftunic8tion, did not encourage ( nr .: .!. t on ,:r.ny significant scale. Jhl' AfwoJe live in the northern part of the Volta Reeion, h :t [h("~' are not indigenous to the area, and this is acknowledged 1n tl l l ' lT tr3ditions . [t is extrellely difficult to establish with of the Brukung cult; the warriors. because of their cont nina tion with hUltDn blood, were not initiated into the cult. The Atwodc t rad I t lon s do not provide any spec i fie detai Is of the Journe y, but the route led theRl across the River Volta and up the centre of the present Volta Region to AbrewonkoT, in the preHnt Atwod(' Traditional Area. Here the slster of Sei Mlireku died and was buried, frOIll which derived the name of the place, Abrewonkor being the Akan word for 'old wOJun'. "'hen the funeral cere.onies were completed. the two groups split, and went d ifferent ways. The warnors, under Attakora BediaduTo, decided tll ("ontinu(" thelf journey. and travelled to Gyerekpanga, in the plOL' nt day k.otokoll country in To,o where they settled. and \o1.('J'"~' Heir descendants still live. They hive lost thr Atwode I anJ,:Uilce , ;mJ are ~eo,r.phically distant froll! the "'twode, but lh e~' h3\'e not (oreotten their Cuan origins. and their connection with the "twodc i s maintained in tw o illportant and significant W.lys. They play an iJilportant part in the Hrukung cult. The Brulr.unS grnakpa . or stool of Brukunc. which is the most i"rortant ritual oblect ,..("rt.:d ning to tht' cult. is said to hav(' been carv("d University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh II; •. ,~- rd" I' . l h ~a. 'Iore lmportantly, when initiations into the I. ] ul.un~ "':1111 ar<' held, represC'ntativc!> of the Gycrekpanga people .1] " Invitt-J t.o hc prcscnt- their participation in the initiation ~' l' n: mony is r~J:,arded 3 S crucial, as it is s aid that th~ ceremony ' l lllltl not t a lc- I'hce unless this delegation wa~ pres~nt (Chapter 2) Secondl)' , every year they send a gift of an ~ (guinea-corn) to the chief prie$t in Shiarc for the annual ~ Festival, ..... hich 1 :- h(')d in Oecemher. This is not regarded as being a s important ;]:00 tll"lr p~rtitlp;)tion in the initiation cere.ony; in recent years th,' pr..ldlU' was performed irregulor]y due , so it was said. to the tension WhHh C)(lstcd between Ghana and Togo in the latter part or ""'.De Nkruaah' s presidenc y . The partie iJl3tion of the Gyerckpanga people in the Brukun~ cult, though illl.porunt, is indirect. They cannot be initiated into the cult, due to the rigid and exclusive conditions of cult meJllber- shil'l which will be treated in detail lat~r. TI:c other eroup. under Nana Sei '-1ire);u. remained in the area around Abrcwonkor, and founded sOllie srttlearnts thc-re. After an indetcrainate period of t illle, so.e of the people, led by th. e I'rln.t~ . who felt that the area in which they were livina was still t,,\, c)'pO:'oI".1 ti l l<.arlih' peoples, moved into th€' rugged hil l y ,ountTr Slq;. ht1 ~ to the east, and they £ounJed the towns o f Shhre .onJ Cllllin~ ;I , The first settlers i n Shiare were led by Chs and ,\" II I. " salJ to bt' brothers, or brother and brother1s Jon; they are 11,,' "ponymou :-. :mCC$tor$ of the two clan s in Shiare (see page 7~1} . ~. The Atwode Traditional Area TIll' Atwode 1raditional Area is in the northern part of th, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh fll(' AtwOdc 3rt' the' northernmost pcople in thi' \!.q' l). 'I la' :lre:l i:- bounded in the north by the River '.I .' , I. ~- ClllJ ~hidl ..arc Northern Region and DagoJlba country; on tla' ~('~t tht, River Oti Jlarks the boundary of the art'a , and In'IJl':- Atwot.lC' Terri tor)' from the Konkomba and thr NanuJllba. On the south and south- .... eH are the Adele, friends and allies of the Atwodc: on the east, the Ghanaian-Togo frontier is the Atvode's l' ..... \t.rn horder, and divides thell from the Anyanga , who are closely r,'1.1 tc.i to tlu.' Atwodc, linI!UI!'otl~,1.11y and cthnicnll)'; the languages ,lie ,"\'ry :- Imll =u, .snd autually intelligible (Map 3). The Atwode Tradltlonal Area is 907 s q.miles in orea. ThC' l·.I:-tl'rll pan falls within the Togo ranees in which is situated Wount D)cboho, the second highest aountain in Ghana (2800 feet). The nine towns of the Atwode are Shiare, Chilinga, KrOlll3si, Odomi, NY3.bong, Gekorong, J::eri, Pawa and Kue . Shiare and Chitinga arc !,! ltuated in tht' hUh; the others are in the lower foothillS of ti ll" 10).:0 Ranges or in the lowlands. The western half of the area I S part o f the Voltaian basin lOwlands. and until recently was uninhabited bush, used ., hunting grounds by the Atwode and soac of the neiJ:hh puTlnt tribes (Wap 3). Sut ~rcat changes took place, beginning with the construction of the Gre .. t f:astern Trun" k03d in the 1950:- (f,13p 4). Thi s road W.:l~ pLlOned to link the southern part of the Volta Region with thl' NortheTO Rt"(:ion. The existin& Toad froll Accra to Jasikan was j\1l :-la·J 1\01 !.! " ' Throu~h tht> Atwode Traditional Area, crossing the \ "L\1\" In the northern paTt of the area by ferry, then on to ·I:}.. ;lIlJ )'t'oJi, which thus linked with the Toad to Tallale and 1 .. ,I::.r1): .I. Theoretically , this is the quickest way fTo. Accra :. . . :act the road ",as never a.int.ined or University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TOGO • Atwode traditional area - - -International ~OMiles - _ . Regoooal boundary Map 2 : Th(' Volta Region, showing the lIain toWn 5- the At..,ode Traditional Area. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Boundor ies Internotionol Regional Locol , \ \. )I ., ~ ~ TOGO ., ...... '. )I Kue.·,.,. ~ D/ E ( Q eri. ·Powo \, )I °Gekorong .\ Nyombongo .Odomi "' - - __ !~~oso. St;!IAREchilindo. ~ 0 N,!'wonto .' A D E Map 3 : The A.twode TTaditional Area , showing the ni ne Atwode towns and the new town of Nkwanta. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh BOUNDARIES NR -- International r" ~""- Notional :,,",. ....... -, . -.-,: ~./ --- Loco' ROADS \. = Trunk \ ", = Second \. - Third -- - - Footpath To Krachi ~ __l<; >Mles &. South Hap. : The Atwode Traditional Area, with the new towns and the new road. syne. foUowine the coapletion of the tTun~ Toad . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Tl'[lalrC'J, aud 1:- irllrassahle 3t the heit:ht of tht: rainy Sf'a!'on. But th~ advent of the road had two illlportant effects on tht· At,"Olk TraditIonal Area . The first was the comint: of th£' immi- )!r;lJIb. The ttn..'~ is ver)" fertilc, and over the years Sllall group!> of peorlc hOld settled in the area and engaged in subsistence faming. Nany of these people had been attracted to the country through consulting the Brukung shrine at Shiare, and eventually settled in the aTca. (oundin, s ... 11 settlelllents . But the full potential of thc :lTca .,as not really t"xploi ted unti) the orening of the road. "ith I!0VeTIlIIIC'nt encoura~e.ent, settlers came frolll the north, aostl)' Konli.ollll:l'l Dnd Nanumba, founded villages and cleared the lind for cultivation. A variety of crops was grown, but the IIOSt iaportant was the yam, for "'hid the aTea is particularly famous. Settlements were built near the new road; it was thus easy to load Vtl.~ on t o the lorries. which took thelft to the ready markets in the south. Thus the econollY of the area was affected . The population balance was also radically affected . According to the 19bO census, the total population of the Atwode Tradi tional Are. "45 4~)4. The next dec.ade saw the founding of the new towns, p:articul.rly Nkwanta, Kpassa and Damonko, and sOlie $.aller ones (Map 4). According to the 1970 census, the population had In~Tt'a:-('J to 22,430, of wholll only 3,200 Le. 14\ of the populatLon. WC'tC Atwode . The Atwode still oc.cupled the SOlme territory 1n the ~Outh·c3stern part of the area. the fanner uninhabited area ~UrpOTtlng the other 8b\ . Thc popUlation density rose frOIi 2.2 rn~(lI1~ peT ~qu3rc _He in 1960 to 24.72 person s per square mile Thl' Openllll: of the new road also brought a new set of pToblems, --- - rdina land rights and jurisdiction between University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh thC' Atwode and the nch' settlers. The paramount chief of the Atwode clailled the land belonged to the Atwode, and that the illlalgrants ("ould settle on his land and use it provided t!'tat hlS authori t)' was recognised and that the custo.ary offerings of beer and yaas were !lade to hill or his representatives to signify this. This was accepted and acknowledged by the KonkolOba, but not by the Ham.ba , who claiMed that the land was free, and that they were entitled to settle there and install their own chiefs without reference to the Atwode Par8llount chief. This led to 8 series of quarrel!; between the Atwode and the NanUJnba, which are still being fought in the courts 1n Accra. The second i.portant effect of the road on the Atwode Tradition- al Area was the found in, 0 f the new town of Nkwanta. The town was oTitinally founded in 1935, as an adnlinistra'tive centre for 'the threC' trihes of the .3rca, the Atwode, the Adele and the Ntrubu. For sOlIe years the town was very 511131 1 and undeveloped, but its illportance increased when the new road linked it with the areas 10 tht' north and the south, which .ade it into an iaportant junction vith roads radiating in several directions . From being an insignificant, ill·definf!d locality, Nbanta beca.e an important adainistrative and cOllJllcrcial centre, and an important junction (lrbp • ). In 19t10 the population was 7>4. in 1970 it had risen to It,;4,an increase of 118_H, and the population is still 111'-1"l'3 s lni:,. The town IS the centre of the Nkwanta Ad.inistrative Arl';J, h'lth a Crade II Mat:ls'trat~s Court and a police-st.1.tion. It 11<.1:;' tloiO elc.cntar)' schools, a aiddle schOOl and a continuation ... d\Ool. Th(' Catholi~' Misslon has a large church, and a clinic and II ,.ltl'Tnlty hosJltI ;r1 . ".t','t'raI stores serve the couuni'ty, includina as pT1\'ate businesses. The petrol station University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ' '" tilt. Oldy one until Bimbilla. sOllie bO Idles to the north. rrum ~kwanta there radiates a network of roads, apart frail tla. ,1I.,)\lT ,·oaJ which rUII~ north .:md south. To the west runs the road which link s up with the ferry at Ou.bai. froll whence either Salag~ or Krachl can oe reached. 5a1aga is on the Toad to Tuale, and hence the whole of the NOTthern Region is accessible. The ro:.d fTolI'I Krachi has been improved to Atebubu, which is on the .:lin road to Salaga and Tamale in the north. and KUlllasi in the ~outh. ThcH secondary roads had existed for some time . but had h('cll widened and improved to acco_odate lorries. lt now becaJlllc po:;:;ihl(' to travcl relatively qu.ickly between Nkwanta and Krachi, which is the centre of the larger ad. . inistrative area of WhiChY~[~TY~ NkwanU is • paTt. f! 10 the eaH of Nkwanta are two roads which lead into th ~~ tnditional At",orJe towns. One runs north, through the towns o~ Odo.i, Nyaabonl. Gekerong. Keri. Paws and Kue , on the Togo border, all of which aTe theoret.ically accessible by lorry from Nkwanta. Thr other road runs due east to Shi3re and Chilinga (Map 4). OrIginally. tht road frOIl Nkwanta through the At",ode towns to lue was a bush track, quite unsuitable for transport of any kind. A~;lill, it wa~ the opening of the new major Toad which led to the (011llcr bush track be-ins widened for transport . The: distTict between 1';"0 ;1 ;md K('rt i:; very hill)' and forested, abounding in 8U1(,. To n.pl(llt this to the full it was necessary to have direct access t\1 Ih(' :lr("~i thlS b("c3Jle possihle when the roads were widened to ;,110,," IOTri(':- to travel to Kuc anu collect the Ileat, which could till-ii he tak("n reasonably swiftly to the south. The iMproved roads .1110,,". of cours,', for Swifter travel to the •• jor coaaercial University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The- road frail Nb. . anta to Shiare is an important one, and W.jS us ed hy non-Atwodc people long beforc thc construction of th~ nt'" ."jor rO ;1\ 1 ;mu thC' ;ldvcnt of aotor trnnsport, 8S it was the ril{!rifl rou1c to Shiare, seat of the divinity Brukung. The ne.· T03d system benefitted the shrine, and facilitated the pilgrims' Journey. Many pilgrilDs caae from Ashanti, which was a long di((lCUlt journey, SOlloC of which had to be don~ on foot. The Journey was now considerably shortened, and may well have led to nn incT('3$C in the nUilber of pilgrims visiting the shrine. Only the l.1.st 10 .iles, frOtll Nkwanta to Shiare, had to be done on foot. Jt ""I S f('It that there was a need for a road froa Nkwanta to ShuTt'. In the early 1950s a lorry road was built hom Nkwant. to Kraaasi, which is about 3 miles fro. Nkwanta; froID this point to Shine tht' teruin is very difficult, rough and uneven, and would require major engineering to .ake a proper road, which WIIS not considered sufficiently worthwhile finanCially. Ho .... ever , the Shiue people wanted a road which would fulfil the minimum rcquire.ents of a lorry road, so they began to widen and improve the road ",ith their own labour and their own implements . Frail ~To"asi to within 1i .Hes of Shiare, the road is just barely Suitahle for lorries, but travelling is difficult. The construc - tIon of this road by voluntary ••m ud labour is interestin..:, In that the work "'3 S undertaken not for comJllercial or econo.ic rt'asons. 3 S no passenger lorries ply between Hkwanta and Shiare, hut {or 1 ~'ll G lUUS Tl'a~on~, to fae iIi tate the journey to the shrine. \ ,.111\' lo rf} ('S frolll Ash.1ntJ and thE' south have utilised the TOUa h hut passable To.d to Shiare. The- last 11 _ile!' frORl th(' end of the road (known as the arc itself, is up. narrow windin, steep ,~' II i 11" _ 111\"; 1 + .. _ •• _ .... University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~~. Settinc anJ f.conOIll)' Shian.' is ~.itu;ltl·J dt.'cp in the TOI~o Range (,,·hic.h 'III'as called the Fcrischgcl1i.rgc, Le. the 'Fetish Mountains', by the early Cer_ ..1 n ~cographers). The hills descend so stccply to the river, and the valley i tsel f is 50 narrow. that it 1s more propedy a ravine than a valley. Through the valley flows the river Saban . Thl..' v31ley is closed off in the south-east and north-west by two ~te('p hills; the road to Chilinga and Nkwanta respectively winds its way Ilcross these hills. The road to Chilinga, which is a steep narTOW path, leads on to a high plateau, which continuBs evenly until the descent to Chilinga, very near the Togo border. Thr rlau3u, and this part of the range, is a watershed, to the ("ht of WhlCh the rivers flow into the River Mono , in Togo , and t (. the west of 'Which they flow into the River Volta syste. in Shi3T(, is tluilt on the lower slope of the high and steep south-western hi 1) (Plates 1 and 2). The spatial structure of the village is deter.ined by the severe constraints imposed by the physical geography of the locality. Be l ow t he town , the t('rr3in drops sharply to the river; above it, the terrain rises 111. a ~ te('p ~T3Jicnt, allowing of no possibility for building 1I\')'OI\J thr present existing limits. Thus, the "ount of land L ~·, 1l1.1l>ll' for building is very lillllitcd; every piece of land h;b \1("('1\ ..:aTefully exploited and utilised fOT bUilding, and tnu,-' is very little land left for expansion. The Shiare people have us('d the natunl features of the hill, ... here it cli.bs gently, and h31H.' constructed a series of led,es. which run irregulaTly hill, and on which the dwellin~s are built. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ;tnJ attr.lction, and simultaneously, its sense of l' rampness; the Jw\'lll ll!:" !lTe of necess ity built ve TY close toge the r, ~ith little intcn'("nln ~ SP;ll'C; roads and st reet s ..10 not exi s t. only narrow all ey - w3)'S. ~o.e a lIIere few feet wide (Plate 3). Only occasionally is there sufficient space for some huts to be situated afound a central open space to fona a cOMpound. To go from ledge to ledge involves d:1.hc.'rinj.: up :md down roc ky paths, which beco.e very slippery in the rainy season. The dwellings are built from the traditional soil (lascTite) .ixc.'J 'With s.:lnd and w.:lter, with stones added to help bind the ai xture. Ptuilding is done tOlgarded a s. . sacred by their respective clans. Over the years another ~tyle of dwelling has appeared, the SIIII:tTl' or th e TC'tangU13r buildings, built of the same material, 'Io'it h thatch eJ roofs. In ~OIllC case ~ the thatch has given way to • tlne Iroetal r oo f, ...· hieh is expensive, and carries a certain prt'stl~C', :t o 11 Indicates the financial standing of the ottner. ~ ,1.Jssed lIIorc fully in the chapter devoted to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh P13te l : Shiue. AlleYWIY~ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh t l\( " ,)1 .00< 1< )m l' ,llLln" of the 8 rukung sh r i ne t o ~hi . r e. \.\ 1h,. !UOH' P lu'pl' ru u :- IIll' n )I ;I V(' plLls tcre J th e outsid(' of theiT .Iwdllllt:. ~ wltll ;, I,. ()at o ( i.:e llcnt; . A !> y HclIl of shifting cultivation is practiced. The basic work unll is the f8Jnily , which consists of a man, his wife or wives, and grown-up sons, who are unmarried or othervise do not farm for the_selves . Occasionally this group lIay be augmented, for specific purposes, such as cLearing new land, in which case a man wi l t cal ~ upon his clos e kin, usually his brothers, or brothers' sons . r!J -_ ~\[TY Foraing is thc only full - ti.e occupation in Shiarc; the town I: I.'l s upports a few crafts.en, e.g. a cobbler and two carpenters, but-t,.:""16! th~se 3n· p:1Tt-tiJlle occupations, subordinate to the full-time r<'quircml' lIb o f thf' farm. There are, however , a few exceptions to this sltuation of full-ti.e fanning, and , as they arc related to thc cult of the divinit}' Brukung, they will be discus s eJ later .11 th.lt t:ontett. ";"1'",, u! the f3rDls are situated at More than a day's journf'Y ! 1(' :" :-' hl:1l't' . :uld at certain seasons considerable periods of t im(> H\' required to bt' spent on the- fa TIl , so it often happens t h at ., n: .ln, 3nJ O(tCIl hi~ f;.ily, Yill live on the far. for s e veral A teaporary dwelling is erected Oil the thlP ' vi l lA .... ' ,.'" nnn. .............. h. 't .... .,n ' . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A~rh'u I Ulr:lll\' , ShiarC" i s favour e d h)' natu re ; it shares tht, ol ,,!' urcJ TCt:ul.J T r.Jinh l l of th~ fore sted areas of Southern Ghana. "hldl all ow:,> ( o r tlH' l' ultiv;ttion of the crops ""hich thr i ve in [11 (' r a lll foresls, :md also, bClng woodland savannah, c ;:an cultivate crops .. h i eh do not gro .. favouTabl y in the fores t . Thus, a ve T)' wide variety of foodstuffs are available. The PlOst important crop. indeed the staph, is the yu, (~); two varieties are erown, the yam prope r (Dioscorea rotunda), and the water yam llHoscorca 3l:1t3). The latter is regarded as being an inferior ),3111, and l !' much less favouTed than the former, which is referred to si.ply 3S the 'yam' l&.!.&1.£J. The yu is the most prhed food, 3nd has a deep sYllbolic slgnificance for the Atwodc, which will b~ discussed and analysed in the context of the Yam Festival. lht' phnting and h;lrveH in, of yams is reserved exclusively to Cassava (kitHd; "tanihot utilissima) and eoeoyam (bankani; hntyoso• ••a faffal are very widely grown. Cassava is especially (avourcJ. as an equivalent yield of cassava can be obtained for far l~ :i ~ ener,y and time than has to be devoted to the cuI tiv8tion o( th(' ya.. In llany areas of Ashanti, the cultivation of thl' yall loa:;. ~iv('n way to th ;lt of cassava; this is not the case in ShiaTc, nUl lI\dCl' d In the whole of the northern part of thl' Volta kC~:IOII, ,,1 ' 1l1! i s faRed for the excellence of it~ yam. ~ omctlmes ref(,Tred I., ;. ., ttl(' 't..T:u,:hi' yam, '1'· lrt frO Il1 11\(,::;(, I'Tunary ::; t3plc c rop!', a widr variety of ,I I, ' ": 1.1 I t 1 V,II " v lo y til ... :-ihiare people 0 The IIOSI co. .o n and THt.° tom u l ogu ; 01')"%.8 sativa) . guinea corn (~; ( ~;Zt"3 lIays) and groudnuts (~; Arachis "'::;,'d in the .aking of IToudnut soul'. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i1,~' ,"omen arC' TC'sponsible fOT the cultivation of a IHJlTohcf of useful foodstuffs, peppers (osin; Papiscwn). tomatoes l~!2.!l; Lycopersicum csculentum), onions (i!!.!!; AliUJ» cepa). ". . IIJ~·II q:.b!> lE!..£!.£; Solanum lIIelongena) and okra (sebindii l,ihl:;'~'U~ "scu1"ntu$). These crops are especially valuable in the making of souP. as are the three :kinds of beans which are ~rown. There is an abundance of huit! oranges. pawpaw. avocado pear. 1Ian&0"s, pineapples, banana and plantain. Of these, plantain (~. MUS3 paradisica) is the .ost favoured by the Shiare people as it can be put to a wide variety of uses. Plantain is larger and coarser than the banana, and is richer in sturch; it can be roasted in oil. boiled, or pounded into a fufu; or, it lIay be dried and ground, fro .. which a flOUT lIay be obtained, which, unlike many other starchy foods, contains protein. OC the other fruits, only the orange and the IIango are cOiten; the others uf!H'"f tl, (' whole country . Sh e ep and go ats are sometimc!' "\.ILI " llt~· r(',1 (u r food, hut thC'y h:'lVc ,I !'rccial ritual usc. heing 11<;('.1 in :;acrificc to the divinity 8rukung. They hav(' an irtlpoTtant pHt t o Pl;IY in th(' econo.y in c onnE'ction with .the pilgrir.s who coae to consul t thc shr inc. and Ioo"ho are obliged to offer an 3nitl~) to the divinity; these animals arc us ually purchased Jo~: ... Il)' , to dilftinatc the tTouble involved in bringing an animal 0\' 0 .. great distance, and carrying it on the final nage of thC' j ournc)' to Shi a re. Chickens are auch .orc frequently used for food. and is the . ,·st co_on acat ingredient of the soup; but they are also used ritually, in S1cri fice, nore so than the sheep or the goat. ".on, oth('r rea sons b('cuuse they are less expensive. They are sa-.:riticed.not onl)' to the divinity Brukung. but also to the If' H rJ' spiritual beings which inhabit the Atwode .ystic81 and SJllTitu:l l world (Chapter S) . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CIIAPTER Z TIlE BRUKUNG CULT IN (TSTRAI. WEsT AFRiCA ANn iN SHIARf: Thh .:haptcr will discuss Brukung(l) shrines in "'est Africa. SNtionIl will describe the structure of the cult in Shiare. ;"cl"t ion I wi 11 discuss shrines which have been reported froa other areas in central West Africa. The materials for the discussion in 51."ction11 are drawn from the published wOTk of mi ss ionaTies and anthropologists. Wi th few except ions, these texts are brief, fragmentary and often incid.ental, providing little or no inforlIIation as to the social, political and religious context in which the cult flourished. As no major ~tudy of a Rrukllng shrine has been published, a detailed ;;o.parison between the Shiare shrine and other Brukung shrines Cannot be Jlade; however, in the course of the discussion of the other West African shrines, I sha1l point to important siaU.rities or differences between thea and the cult as I observed it in Shiare. I. The Brukung Cult in Central West Africa Verger (1957) has shown that the cult is found in ,'oruhaland, put not further east. Meyerowitz (1961) and Field t 1!lb2) have argued that the cult was once distributed over a large area of Chana, on the evidence of the frequent occurence oC the naae ' Rrukung', in various forms, in Ilany parts of the I.:ountry. This a110""5 us to establish the area in which the cult is or "":as {ound, 3nd to detenline its boundaries. The cult area i!' Ghana, Togo, Dahomey (now Benin) and western Nigeria, '-"ith Ghana as its western boundary, and Yoruba1and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ;IS lts t'a!>t crn boundary (Jotap 5), This is • large areo. containing a large number of ethnic and linguistic groups, with dirf\'rinC politi c l1, soci~) lat.ive ly eas ily, and in the process may lose tht< qualit.ies or characteristics which it occupied DonI the peoples {r()al wholll it \o"3 S adopted. Among the peoples of West Africa is found the cult of the lIiCh Cod, or creator Cod; thus amon~ the Yoruba is found 010run, uong the Akan peoples OnYaDIe, and f.1awu allons the Ewe . These gods are thought of as creating the other, lower gods. but there is a considerable range of variation regarding the actual status of these gods. Sometimes they are clearly thought of a s heing superior to the other gods, so.eti.es they arc thought of as being first 3Jlong equals. Sometimes, lifhere a lower god has a very strong cult, it lIay be equat~d lifjth the s upreme aod. and equal powers will be ascribed to bo t h t ht, 10lO£'r god and the- supreme god, Suc h inco nsistenc.ie s :lrc COllman in African rel igious thought, but they would appear as inconsistencies only to "'estern minds; the African would not regaroJ these as h..-ing in any way inconsistent. West('rn and Afril.:an reI if,ious thinking are governed by different logical principles. l.lll ~ . in 11 i S cxaJllinat ion of the Yoruba pantheon, J('~("T1I"~ '" ... ... ; ........ ~"., ~uku. who is found in association University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh t t,t 110 rC' power fu} s.a11pox }!,od Sh3kpan~ (1894: 73) • IIUl.u .... d('~~ I"i~('d .1!' b('ing an assistant to Shakpan~. and kills tIll filii .... · ;lI t:n·!-.e:d hy tht.· s.mallpox ll.oJ hy "rint:in~ their [}lis off~' r s a Yoruba derivation of the name, deriving it from the Yoruba ~. to cut, and ~. death. Muller, writing SOlie ye~rs later o f the cult of the powerful god Buku of the Ana people in Atakpame, in Togo. notes the occurrenc.e of Buku in the Yoruba pantheon, and rejects the Idea that there could be any connection between the relatively obscure god Buku, assistant of Shakpana, and the 8uku who is central in the religious system of the Ana (1906: 509). There are obvious dissimilari ties in the relative polarities of Bru1c.ung occurrences in West Africa, in the one case a high god, in the other I IIlnor executive. J!4uller shows no knowledge of any other forUl of Brukung worship in West Afric a , other than an awareness of the shrine in ShiaTC (~ •. £.!..!: 510), thus he cannot equate two disparate forms of the lod, but, in the 1 ight of what is now known of the aovement of gods aJIIong different peoples, it lIay be accepted that both gods, though different in form, are the same god. Ellis offeTS no further infoTJUltion on Buku in the Yoruba pantheon, apart fro. its ('J(C'cutive function in relation to the saallpox ~ ).;oJ, thus nothing more than be detcnRined regarding CU1t' ~~lYCe "WOrShl.p . ; h'rger (1957:272) refers to a shrine of Brukung at <'<;. 't"(18R"'~ A" (' o "'lIt.) . "here Brukung is worshipped as the high god. Little ~ Information is liven on this shrine, but the god is said to have coae froa Sabe, and every year a pilgrimage,lasting three months, is undertaken to Sabe. This pilgrt• • ,£' took University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh pl:.u trolll Octol'e l I,' Ut'cember, A period which coincidrs with thc t'nll of the raill'" :->(":Json and the beginnin8 of the dry, Sabc is Save, 111 [llhomE")" (Map 5); thus the devotees of the cult look to thf'" west (or thr origin of thei T cuI t, and regard the \o"estf'"rn shrine as the parent one. As will be noticed 1ateT. ri1gri.ages form a very important part of Brukung worship. and tn each case the pilgriJiage travels westwards to a parent $hrinc. Frobenius also noted this westward orientation in his account of a Brukung shrine in Ibadan (in Verger 1957:278). This shrine is presided over by ol. priestess. who stated that the God Buruku CDC fro. the land of the Egun people. The 1: J:.un people live in Papa, on the coast of Togo, sOllie lIiles to the cost of I.ome, (Bertha 1949: 123), Their nHle is derived fro. Gun ,the god of iron in the Yoruba pantheon. whose cuI t was widespread throughout Yorubaland and Oahoaey. and which came into conflict with the Hrukung cult. Frobenius points out the similarity of BUTUku to two gods wholl he has encountered while in Togo. One of these he identifies with the ~od worshipped at Du.e. on the Togo·Oahoaey border, known as Oadwnc. DUlle is also the site of an i.portant Brukung shrint" ' H(" P'"'t:'" 19) . The other god he explicitly refers to as ~rul..unr.. and locates the shrine in Shiare:- I.·au~re (puissance). do'!'icilie' sur Ie ~~~~l:x:~~::~n~: :~~S~~ll1~nt!;:~hi et. Baba'!lbourc', s'appe11erait 80uroukou. Or •• l~ n'y a. "parait-il . 8ucune puissance- ~~~~~~k~~e f~~~eP~!~~~ ~~:u~nl~~t~e a ceux qui el! reulent. C'est ven lui que vont en pe~erinacc tous l~s 8ns. beaucoup de fe_es, ~~! ~~~~~~~C~u~h::~:~t e~n:U!:~h!~ p~!~~e \ " " sl~n~"c~~~,:~~~-"a~~~e~~ vont.~~! __ ." University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 3"- I rl frobenius' account, the Brukung cult i~ presided over by a priestess. Priestesses are also found in Oaho.ey. OI:'SOt:U:'O:cJ over lirukung ""orship, but in Togo and Ghana they give way to priests. Buruku is stated to be a goddess; in other rarts of the area, Brukung is male. and in parts oC Dahoaey "here the cult is strong, it would seem to be androgy- nous (cf Herskovits 1938: 101). One of the .ajor functions of the shrine at Ibadan is to remove infertility in wOllen. and !Rany of the sacri fices offered to the divini ty are directed to this end. Frobenius comments on the fact that the kni fe used to sacrifice.J goat, the most cOl'Mlon sacrificial animal, is not an ordinary knife, but one aade froID the 'Wood of a special tree. This evidently reflects an ancient quarrel between the devotees of Buruku and those of Ogun, the god of iron and ironsmiths, each side claiming that their god is the older and the Inore powerful. Verger (1957:144) recounts a story telling of a dispute between the two gods. Buruku claiMed to b~ the greatest hunter in the world, and refused to worship Ogun, who then took away fro. Buruku his bow. arrows and a knife, which Ogun had given hill. Later, Buruku caught a .... ild gO:1t. hut having no li'eapons, he was unable to cut it up. htJru~1I dragged the animal to the house of Ogun and asked for his weapons, especially the knife, to cut up the anillal. O~un gave him the weapons, and from that da)' Buruku swore that the head of any aniaal he caught would be fOT Ogun, who told 8urul..u that in future he would live in the bush. Isolated {rom other men, and in this way Ogun was shown University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .Ift' common whl'n t"o cults C Olin' i nto conflict, l ' ,ldl :>i(h' tTying to disc redit the god of the other. It i !'i pos :-; iblc that the myth points to such a conflict, and that tl1l' ",oTshippcrs of Buruku refrained from using an iron knife to sho,,' the independence of their worship froIR that of Dgun. It would also seem to show that the technologically ",ore advanced Yoruba elligrated into an area, bringing their gods and their technology with thelft. and found an indi~cnous cult o t huruku. which resisted possible attempts to establish a rival form of worship . Another such conflict, also reflected in story. will be discussed in the Mccount of th~ i.portant 8rukunt:, cult in Atakpme. in TOlo (page 45). {., Daholler The southern part of Daholley, inhabited by the Ewe- speaking Fon, is an area where several different religious traditions have lIet. and, to a great extent, fused . Occupying a high and important place in the Dahollean pantheon are the three ~ods. Mawu. Lisa and Nana Buluku (the form by which i1rukuna: is kno,,"n and worshipped in Dahomey). Labouret and RlVet {1929:l1-l2} believe that Lisa was the original. deity of the area, that M.wu was brought from further east by the 'Ioruba, and quickly becbe establisheu .-s an important god, and became associated with Mawu to form the cult of Mawu/ Lisa . So.etimes the)' aTe thought of as being two gods, Ma\Ou 3.:. fe.ale. anu Lisa as male, or sometimes as two aspects of HI" ont: god, with Nawu being the female aspect, and Lisa 1 h t' r.. ,I I ~' • At !oOlle stage. which cannot be detn. . ined, the (lilt .'f rrul..un~. or Nana Buluku, was introduced, gained chntly iIIlportant to have Nana Buluku University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh introdu( t' J into the pantheon with the status of high god. In lJahomcy. Na.na Buluku is so.eti.es thought of 8S feaale, sOlictiJlC'!' ;l~ androgynous. ThC' relative positions of these three gods in the rantheon and their relationships to one another, art' not stable, but fluid. Herskovits (1938: 101) who worked in the area around Abollley. where the cult of Nan. Buluku is strong, describes the inconsistencies in the religious thinking of the people on this .aUer. According to so.e of his infonft8nts, Mawul Lisa aTC illportant ,ods. but were created by ano t her, single a:od. sOlletilftes thought of a!' being fe.ale, SOJlletilies as situated half way up a hill outside the town. ,J'iL ,11\' .1 l.;LrGc nuabcr of huts, vhich are used to house $ervant~ 1)1 tin.' shrine, especially those preparing for initiation. The .:ull i~ presidcd over by a priestess; priestt.s~('s are frequent 1) kuna cults in Dahomey. One of the huts ...-S, each d('coratcd wi th §trinp<:; nf University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ,mol " . .. IH.-'IJ~ one of which, as weI! .. s tht' cowries. has a 5.all .ode I of 3 hu.an figure 3tt3ched to it. The shrine is si tuated n(':'Ir this hut. According to Parrindor. all the shrines of Nana bul.u ;\fC situated in the open air, and can be recognised by the t)"plcal thatch co\'ering a clay lIIound. in which are embedded two or three inverted clay pots. which represent the kemel of the shrine. Near the shrine is a large baobab tree, whose trunk is stained with blood and oil. and which served as an altar. Near the :tltar are a collection of divine'n' rods, and several iron staffs. Parrinder does not describe these staffs, hut they "'oy .ell h(' similar to th05~ which are used in Shisre during Brukung rituals. and which are also found in Togo associated with Brukung worship. In Togo, where the cult is regarded as a derivative of thc lirukung cult in Shine. these staffs become central in the worship of Brukung, and are frequently the object of worship, h'IU~ as thC'y arC' rt'prcscntations of the god who resides elsewhere. III Shi:trc, these staffs play an i_portant part in ritual. especially during sacrifice, but are secondary in importance to the shrine itself, where the god is believed to reside, and to till' qool(~TUkunR gegyakpa), which is believed to contain the essence of the god. The cult priestess prays in front of the straw covered shrin". every lIorning, the neophytes offer prayers to Nana Buku, on a 13rge t:ranite slah which Dlarks the entrance to the co.pound in wlud: .H,· sttuated the shrine and the huts, and on which they .. ust I'I';I}, the' whole night preceding their initiation. lilt' picture presented by Parrinder is lIore co.plete than that .:nen \.\' 1IC't's,",onts; .lthough it does not present a full and structure of the Brukung shrine, OT cult, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ;,"I"dH"l1"J.ll'~ ~.i[h the othcr cults in the area. Parrinder a l s o ~11O":' that thcTl" is a greater popular awareness of the shrine. and "I I'Ian;' I~u"'u. th ;1I1 do('~ Jlcrskovits; her name is used by the people nf the district in proverbs. blessings and curses, but these p~opl(" do not offer worship to Nana Buku. There is no doubt that the shrine is very powerful, Bnd very lnfluential. and, although this is not explicitly stated by r .lTrindl'r. feared in the district. It is renowned. and consultt'd I'}" • •, oy peorle. Parrinder adds that the shrine imposes ordeals. I'ut dot''' not specify which ordeals. The ordeal is a fa_Uiar 1," . ltll)"l" 111 west African and other religions (Post 1887: 110). They lila}" he imposed for a variety of reasons. the nlost common being for the detection of witches. and those suspected of other crilles. Ordeals arc often associated with pilgrimages. being intearated into the structure of the pilgrilllage itself, and pilgrims are in f"H"t undcrsoing an ordeal. This will be seen in the Brukung pilgrilllages which arc part of the worship of the Brukung shrine in Togo. The for_ of the ordeal i.posed by the Dassa shrine has changed; Parrinder re",arks that originally the ordeal was under- gone personally, but at the tiTle of which Parrinder was ",ritina, i . t' . just before 1949, it was done through the inteTllediary of ! "" I ~. which symbol ist' the supplicants . lhl' shrin(' lS al~o very influential in the affairs of the district. It evidently intervenes in various matters. and this lntervention is usually ob('y~d. lmportant shrines often have a l"onsid<'T3hlc illfluC"'lh"C on the social. political and eeonollic affairs of thl' :In',l "hen' the)" are worshipped. A very iliportant featurt' \': till' shnne in Shiare was its powerful influence in the politics : ,-... ;.anti, and neighbouring areas, in the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh h:-t quartt' )" o f th~ 1~lth ,entuT)' , during the period of European ..:olonisntion of Central West Africa. In the case of the Dassa :'hrin. ... 1';lrl'iJhkr citc~ the inst~n,e of the intervention of the shrine in the loca 1 market econoay J whcre the prices were too hIgh and the poor were 5ufferinlt. The shrine deaanded that the prices should be reduced, threatened misfortune; the prices dropped iIdediately. (1961:297). { ; ) Togo lwo centres of Brukung worship have been described in Togo, spcoaHna people. and ~('ftho (1949) states that the Ana. the inhabitants of Atakpaae. oTlgln311y cue fro. He tie. in Yorubaland. They represcnt the roost westerly of the Yoruba migrants (Cornevin 1969: 57). he-stenaann (1952: 84) states that in Toao the Yoruba are known as the Ana. There are two accounts of Brukung worship in Atakpaae , that by Muller. a Catholic llissionary who worked in the At akpaae arc-a (1900) ,and a later one, by an anonYllOUS infoI'llllant of VeTger llHi:2?l) . . These accounts are coJtpleJltentary, but differ in 1" 0 1nB of detail. The Brukung cult in Atakpaae is one of the .ost interesting; it is the one which has been described in the greatest detail, and the one most closely connected with Shiare. Atai-poe is the meeting point of three religious traditions . {"U ~oJ!> ..Ir .., "urshipped, Bu~u and Ifa, the ¥oruba god of prophecy, the centre of "'hose cult is in the sacred city of Ih tCe. Mawu. the- hieh god of the Ewe-speaking peoples, has influenced the An:. Io:oncet·t of ~,,\.. '~TOIO, and in the southern paTt of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Volu Re g I o n ln Ghana. whic h is inhabited by Ewe- s peaking pe oples. Nawu alonc i s found a s the high god; the co.panion god. Lisa, found IIS S0C laud wi th Nawu in DahoMey , has disappeared in Togo and Chana . Muller (1906:509) states that the Ana cIai_ that their highe s t being, OT god , is Buku. He claira s that Buku is an abbrev iation of the word Brukune. the state god of the Adele and Atwode- peoples. He is mistaken in asserting that Brukung is worshippe d in Adele; the- Adele people have their own god, Friko. whose shnnc is situated in Dadiassi. which lies &t the foot of the hills in which Shiare is situated . M~ller identifies Shiare as the centre of Brukung wOTShip, which radi a ted from Shiare into the surrounding Breas. Buku is worshipped in Atakpamc, but resides i n Shiare, wh i ch thus has a spec ial significance faT the Ana, .. lllch will be di scusse d below . Bulu had becolllc identified with Mawu, and many of t.he attributes of Nawu have been given to Buku . Muller (1906:510) claiMS that this identification is false; although Mawu and Buku have c01lURon attributes, they have very f undaaental differences, which inVilidate an identification . The major difference is thatMaw is the high god, the creator, residing in the sky, quite reaoved froa hu.an .£folTs, with no cult, te.ple or priesthood. This is the co. .o n conception in "' es t Africa of the reaote 'otiose ' god . 8u~u, on the contrary, lives in Shiare, has a cult and a priest- J. lloJ . lS Intimately involved in hUlllan affairs, and accessible t ;' ''' II ,:h sacrifices and offerings at his shrine. Thus Buku belong5 tu till' ~las s of ~ods known to the Akan sped:; ing peoples as ~. POwerful Jeities, but CHated by the high god, and thus inferior to hill. . ~I~ller does not offer an account of the origin of Buku~ t h , c •• -~ • • ::, ' : : ... , .. : ':' ..e cHat ..· concern to the Ana, .... ho, in ··es not live in A,..kn_._ ...... ,_ ..... -. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .. hC;l' he 1 :-; believed to be a son of god (~){cf. Chapter 5). I!o~ever, Buku has become identified in soae way with Mawu. r..-rhaps inevitably, r.iven the tolerance of African religious systeMs to the gods and religious ideas of other peoples. One of his titles aaong the Ana is ~ (creator of the world). By the t imf-' the Catholic .issionaries arrived in the area, the influence of Mawu on the Buku cult was sufficiently strona and estahlished to lead the missionaries to use the word'Buku' to translate the Judaeo-Christian concept of , God' (M~ller 1906:510). In th(,> Ewe translation of the Scriptures and liturgical texts th(' word 'Mawu' is used to translate 'God'. The third religious influence is that of [fa. Neither M~ller nor Vtrger's informant describes this cult, nor its place 1n the religious life of Atakpme, other than describing the part played by the priest of lEa in the selection of candidates to make the pilgri .. age to Shiare. It would seem that the Yoruba brought with thell the cult of lfa. and other Yoruba gods as t.hey spread west- ,"ards fro. Yorubaland, and these cults settled down with the i.,lIlgunts. socetimes eXisting side by side with indigenous cults, sometimes achieving a fusion. The Buku cult was probably indigenous, and adopted to a areat extent by the Ana. Conflict and tension frequ(,>nt I)' arise when an incollilina cult .eets an established ind1g. enou~ nn~. This seemcd to have been the case with the cuI ts of Ruku and Ifa, and is reflected in soae of the stories of Buku t:ollected by Muller. in "'hich tests of skill and wits are \,Jt:~t:rihcd. to establish which god is the greater, In Muller" story. lIuku 1S ou t ... itted and discoafited by I£a, indicating that the devotee$ of t f.J were trying to discredit the Buku cult and r 1906:518-520). akpa.c is known as sue Buku I the woTshin University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of Suku) , ancJ the: Ilcvotces kno ... n as ~ (wonhjppers of "'u~\I). Buku worship I!> presided over by a priest, the~; l/1l' 'oruba influcnt'(' on the cult is ~hown bl' the Yoruba prefix ill., ~eani ",'pries t '. Th Toughout his discuss ion of the cuI t, NUller refers to the ~ in the singular, sugge~ting that there was only one priest . Verger's informant, however, refers to the olibu!.:.u, in the plural, who have at their head a chief, known IS the !!!, (Yorub., 'father'), belonging to the fami Iy Bake. No further inforaation is offered. but it would seem that the office was hereditDry within onl;' specific family or kin group. There is no hasic discrepancy bch.een the two accounts, but Verger's .lnfonaant co.ple.ents the account of the cult as presented by )"~ller . rher.: is no tClipJe or shrine of Buku in Atakpallle; the Ana ,e,o~niSie the Shure shrine as being the residence of the god. Since the ,od cannot be worshipped directly. a representation of tIll' ~od is e.ployed as the focal point of worship. This is an lTon ~t:&ff. about two feet long, with 8 pear shaped knob at the upper cnd, lIade of clay, ashes, blood and feathers, known as ~I..pa huku (the Haff of Buku). This staff corresponds exactly to the- Brukung okpere (staff of Brukuni) which is used in Shiare t rl.1h' II), The Brukung okperc is an important feature of Bruk.ung worship in Shin'c , and is always used in certain sacrifices , but It lS not th~ 1I0st i.portant object associated with the cult; I !:; " rill. Itself i!' the lItost sacred place in Shiare, and then the Itlll,llllj St.'p'.Jll':l (the stoul of Brukung), which is believed to ,nr: lalll III .3 vt.'rr special "ay thc power of the ,od, and bears 8 :-cMC' ... hat s11ular place in Atwode thinking as the Golden Stool .lOt." (,," rh .............. ~rl. ... -~er b). Derivative cults usually br ing )bject aSSOCiated vith the cult. and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .. 1.1\1. 1, . , ...' ::1 ~·~ the ce nt re of worship . Th e ~ is .ssociated \ ' \\ IU!' lvd\' witl. IIrul-un~ worship. and wa s probably brought to AUI..J'I.lI'c from :-.Iliarc , Buku ceremonies are held either in the hut of the olibuku, or in the open space in front of it. The okpa buku is placed on the ground, before which sacrifices and offerings are .ade. When not in use the staff is kept in the hut of the olibu)cu • l Sacrifices and prayers are offered for three ends. L as pe titiulls. Z. as expiations, to avoid punisru.ents for transgression 1)( the.: cult cOIMl3nd",ent s . and 3. as thanksgiving for favours granted. Petitioners are concerned to obtain what they need to live, and to :lvoicl evils 3l\d nlisfortunesj thus the TKost frequent petitions :Ire for children (or women who aTe barren, rain l good harvests, ~ U" l-CS~ in hunting 3nd the curing of illness. Muller adds that sin((' the ":ollin& of the Europeans a COIIUfIOn petition has been for the removal of the influence of European s and their culture. Thc ques tion of European colonisation in central West Africa is onc 'Which is particularly associated with the Hrukuna shrine in Shiare, and will be discussed in the follo",ing section. A lIajor feature of Buku worship in Atakpaae was the pilgrill- age to Shlarc l to the shrine of Brukuna. The pilgrimage took place every three years. and was very highly oraanised and institutionalised. Anyone who nade three successive pilarima,es was ,ranh' oJ th(' title ~. which undoubtedly brought honouT, pr\·s tiJ;c ;iIIJ ~ t"turc on those who bore It, Siailar prestige i s ,tC~o rJ("J to Ho s le.s in West Africa who iRake the pilerimage to MetC;), and then gain the title!...!l!.!..i.!._ To gain the title of ~ three succC'ssive pilgri",ages had to be aadeo; anyone who rd pilgriaage had to ", . it nine yellrs before University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Platt' 4 : Okpere staf!. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~~'\ndid3te!> {Ol the pilgrimage were not consul ted as to their wishes in the _atter; anyone around whose neck the ~ p1a~"",J a ~trin& o( cowrie shells W3S obliged to .akc the pilgrim- age, and anyone who, once chosen, refused to go was believed to die sooner or later 8S a punishment froll Buku. More usually, howeyer. the pilgrills were chosen by a divination process (!!! ~). which involved the oli Ita, the priest of Ita, who consulted If., who indicated who should make the pilgrimage. lla' ~ thell informed the olibuku, who placed the strings of cowrie shells around the necks of those who had been chosen (Muller 190b:Sll; Verger 1957:273). According to Verger's informant, only certain fal'llilies had the right to .ake the pilgrimage, and these fuilies were found, not only in Atakpame, but in t.he neighbouring towns of Tchett! "nu 5ayalou, both of which were influenced by Yoruba lIigrations. One lIIonth before the pilgrimage left, the pilgrims were brouiht together in Atakpaae. to prepare for the pilgrimage. Verger's infor"ll&nt does not provide any details of the prepara- tioos, which would probably have been directed by the ~, apart fro. referring to a taboo on sexual intercourse. Large spiders were roasted and eaten; this was obligatory, and Bnyone "');0 refused to eat was barred frOal lIaking the pilgri.age. Anyone who had killed;) person was believed to die after eating the 'llIdcn;, This was the first 5ugBestion of the ele.ent of the ordeal a!'>pect of the pilgritnage, an eleMent which e.erged morc 5tronaly later. The ~ 1\1I115cI£ led the pilgrimage; on the first day's )ourne)·, thc pilgrias were entitled to appropriate as food for the )DUTnC'y an)' ani_als which they encountered, eMphasis1nl that the ide the nonu1 worldn,s of sodt-ty. and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh \~hl,:h ~ovcrn it. (This idea l~ Jl'vcloped by Victor rurn('I, kho :;ccs pilgrilJl8ges as 1 iIiina! phenomena; the pilgriaage :dtU;ltlOJl itself i:; lilllinal, 'an intcrv~l between two distinct reriod~ of intensive involveaent in structured social existence' l19i4:1i~)). A short distance outside Atakpamc. those relatives who had accoMpanied the pilgri.s took their leave of. and s~i.d J.:oodhrc to thci r kinsfolk. for it was believed that salle pilgrims ... ould never return. The relatives asseillbled at this same spot to ,.eet the returning ri ICrims; if the olibu .... u handed thelll the pilgri.'s staff. it lIIeant that the pilgrim had died on the journey. No funeral ceremonies were allowed to be perforlbcd. a~ the death was regarded as a punishment, eJipbasising once again the ordeal aspect of the pilgri.sge , No information is provided concerning the activities of the pilgrims whi le they ...· ere in Shiarc other than the brief statelDent that in Shiare they do not see 8uku immediately, but gradually, and that they take oaths not to reveal ... hat they 5 .... (Verger 19S7:Z73).2 This remark is puzzling~ as it suggests that the pilari.s 'see' Bru1cung, that is, enter the shrine. As will be shown in the next section, no one. other than the cult me.bers, ..- ho _ust be Atw..:·de men. are allowed to enter the shrine. This is the practice today. and. accordina to the Shiare elders. has alwars heen tlH.' practice. The numerous pilgrillls who coae to Shiaf(" to consult the shrine are never ad.itted there; the purpose of their visit is explained to the head of the clan in hhich they arc lodgin~. and he- presents the petitions to the god, and later in(oDs the pilgri. of the god ' s advice or decision. Thl' {-ult lIeaber" tal-e sole.n oaths never to reveal what happens ... .-1 - .- .......... _ .. ,I .-'-., ~- very strictly observed. Cult lftellbeT!o University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~ith "hon I ]' n.:UDt' friendly refused to discuss the shrine. even in the' t.ro.:adcst tera!', nor answer even the .ost siraple question. It IS lhus difficult to understand ",hat precisely is meant by Ver,er's in fo T'lII an t • It is possible that the pilgrims froa At3kp.1.<'. '$ Bul>u worshippers and .embers of the cult, were regarded as full cult me.bers of the Brukung cult in Shiare, and allowed to enter the shrine. But thi s would raise further difficulties, as .eabership of the 8uku cult in Atakpame is open to .cn and wOillcn (Verger 1957: 273). which would thus mean that wOllen were allowed to enter the shrine. The statement seems to suagest that the Atakrame pilgrims werc rCl.:eivcd differently from the way pilgrims are received today; .J.ny of the ntuals invol\'ing today's pilgrims are conducted public.lly, and soae pilgrims will tell why they COle and what advice they were given. The only aspect which is secret, even to the pilgriMS themselves, is what takes place in the shrine. It is possible that there was a ritual especially associated with the Atakpaae pi 19rills, which is nou no longer practised since this plleri. ..g e no longer takes place, and may have been connected with initiation. "'either 1>t~ller's nor Verger's informant describes any cerealony "I Iliitutioll lnta the cult. ~Ie.bcrship is op~n to all, and it IS aost probable, in the light of the practice!- of other Brukung .. nd related cults, that candidates would be fomally initiated into the' cult. M~llcr links the pilgrimage with cult lIIembership; -III) oJl\<- "ho a .. kes the pilgriaage heneefoN.rd belongs to the .Jsl-bll\"una. the Buku worShippers, but by the same token so do his Illture' children, and likewise the children. faaily and 5~rvants 01 0,,· olibu"-u (1906:513).3 Mona the cOllBlandJllents of the cult University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh _ ~l - I ~ 111,' uhl i~ ;ltum 10 make the' pil~TlIfl " g e' t o Buku (MullC'T 1906 : 5 14 ) . But in a s lightly earlier passage he seems to say that candidates {or the- pil~rifnag E' arc chosen frail thos e who are al ready cult lie_hers (1906: S13). Possibly the cult contains several levels aT grades of mclftbe r ship, and that those who .ake the pilgrillage are adllitted to the higher grade. The pilgrills could not be initia- t rd Into the Shine Brukung cult, a s these initiations were neld vrTy in!n'quently, twice or three times a century. wherea!=; the pllgri.agc took placc every three ye ars. Of all the centres of tl rukung worship of which th e re is eVidence, Atakpame is the one \othic h ha s the closest I inks ",jth Shiarc, and which undertook the regular pi 19ri.age to the shrine at Shiare, which they recognised ;t ~ the dvelling place of Brukung, This argues for a very close reht ionship betwt"t'n parcnt shrine and daughter cult, which may well ha ve led to sOllie hnd of initiation, or forlllal adnlis s ion into the cult, bein, held at Shiare for the Atakpwu pilgrims, which ceased when the pilgrimag(' was discontinued. This would bC' the- spe c ial ritual suggested tentat.ively on page 51, and would explain the rellark .ade by Verger's info~ .. ant. Another possibility is that in fact the Buku worshippers fro. AtakpaJlle were admitted to the shrine in Shiare, that the rules then were different frail! what they arc no,,' , There is no evidence Ih~'n~ what the Tule-s "ere last centurYi the presUftption l ~ that they wc rc as now. If there was a change, whereby devotees o f J a t'ithter shrines "'cu' excluded froa worShip in the Shiare shrine. ,II ,,! rlt' mhcrsh i l' restricted to Atwode .. en, it .ay be associated with tll\' l" 'cnts of IS~l u. when the Geman authorities invaded Shiare. 11", question of a possible change of practice ",ill be resumed in th,. (n11(\""1'" <;,.,t \(\ft "'''en the effects of the Geraan int£'rvention University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh I !>h13It' .;J rt.' di ~cussed. Ho,"cyer. as fir. . evidence IS lacking, these su,gestions I!'t rf'1II3in conjectural. On their return to Atakpamc, the pilgrilUS did not return •• cdi.uly to no ... al social lifej this was effected gradually. )r the first three .onths, they did not work nor cook. A J.ber of young girls were appointed by the olibuku to ainister ) the- pilgriMs, e-ach pilgrilll having an attendant girl (~) ) cook end work for hi. or he-r. Young pilgrims, having .. ade- I~ir first pilgriaagc, werc obliged to refrain froa sexual inter- lUT!ie' for the next three years. lIulr.u worshippers arc subject to a series of commandftents. ;11'1~' of which arc positive, SOllie negative. The positive' co"aand- I.'nt5 direct them to worship Suku, sacrifice to hi. .. praise him nJ swe:1r by hi., •• ke the pilgTilftagc and obey the olibuku. AJQong he negotive co_and~ents are those imposing sexual abstinence on oung pi IgTiJlls for a three year period, coamanding them to observe three Jlonths' period during which they .uy not work, but observe h(' time as holy, a time fOT dance and song. A significant OIIIr.I.1ndment is that relating to Europeans, Buku wOTshipper~ are o ...n ded to have nothing to do with Europeans, to offer them no ('lr. nor serve thcla (M~ller 1906:514_5).4 The 8rukun~ shrine , ~""$TY < t Shure played a crucial part in the resistance to European ;~ 010nis8tion in the 18st quarter of the 19th century; 50 \~.c,; r, flu('ntial did the shrine beco.e as a focal point of resistance - ~{/B o the- [uropcans. that tht' Gcrmans had to intervene to destroy the O"'n of thr ... Lnne-; (the sianificance of this fOT Shiare will '~l"~'\1~:-('d in the next section). As there is cOWll'lunication ~\,c n ... bnne!'. and in the caSt" of ATukuna. daughter shrines, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh thiS ,,")11 ensure centres ot rcsls t ann' to the European c"o loni:ia- tlOtl prO( l'SS over a large area. Shrines represent t o a great (,).(('nt the tradition:ll values of ... society. Shrine priests, having aCCC'SS to the supernatural powers, and control of the religious \,alue s which underlie a society , can deteflline to a great extent the attitudes of large numbers of people to the new factors with ,,"hlCh the> y had to cope in the form of European intervention in their li ves . Spngge (1969:120) reports the existence of a small group of I' rul..ulIg lo"oTshippers living aJ\one the Adangbe people, a s •• l1 group J i"in~ In th,' lI!idst of predominantly Ewe-speaking territory. liituated. ne:n Loae , hetween the rivers Mono and Volta. Sprigge ~O('5 not discuss in any detail the form which their Brukung worship ta.kes. but establ ishes that these were illUlli~rants. part of the large population Dlove.ents which ",ere .iii feature of this whole area in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. He thinks that the Brukung "Worshippers, when they first arrived in the area , spoke a language which was 8 dialect of nei ther Ewe nor Adangbane. He locate s their orieinal ho.eland as lying within the area settled by the Yoruba on their way westwards (l969: 120) and where the (\ru~un~ cult is known to have flourished. Sprigge 1 s findings, when publlshed . 1118Y show that the Brukung worshippers in Adangbe lo("H' o ( Yorub. stock, and part of the pattern of Yoruba migrations which bccaJlc associated wi th Ihukune worship which has been shown to h"vt' heen strongly represented in the area bet",een Yorub.land .Ind the;' Volta Hoc-gian. AIl:.rt (ro. th(' relatively well dOt:UJtented pilgri.agt' fro. Atakpaac- to Shine, other pilgrimages were i.portant in the area. Cornevin (1909:101) refers to a pilgrimage which takes place every ") Shian. DUPle has been sho",n (paJ(e 39) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to be an iMportant lirll"'un~ shrinej IIerskovits does r.ot give .ny details of a pilgrimage, and no other infoT"llation is available on this point " Outside the context"of Brukung worship, Bertha describes a pilgria.ge to the Togo hills. which takes place every seven yeaTs. 8ertha has argued strongl}' for Yoruba migration, largely fro. lfe, as far u the Togo hills. Every seven years, groups frolll SOMe of the:;.(- Yoruba settlellents travel to Adele to a famous cave, south Ioest of Bisllarckburg, to worship their god Mawu-Dudua. The ordeal de.cnt which was seen to be Ii feature of tht' Atakpatae ri1grill;tge, 1" clearly statedj anyone accused of 1o'itchcraft since the last pilgrimage must Ilake the pilgrimage, and aany die on the journey. These pilgd.ages no longer take place, the last being in 1939 and 1946 (Bertha 1949: 128). ~ Fie-1d (l ·lb': I and Meyerowitz. Cl961) have drawn attention to the large nUJIber of place names in Ghana derived froa the naml' 'Srukung', indicating that these places are, or vue, centrc~ of Bru1cung worship" To the best of oy knowledge, no account has ever been published of these shrines, so it cannot he deterllined whether or not they are still active centres of tlrukung WOUhlp . Mensah-Keh (1966:2&) shows that the Shiare shrine is still ... d 1 known outside thl" borders of Atwode. 'The religion of I ul.UIl~ 1 ~ spreading rapidly Uiong the Ash.nti and the Fante, vho ,t li , \ \ ' )101 cof each year luke pilgrimagt's to the sacred shrine at ~ : · I.II"\· · (1~I()tt:.2()). The largest group of pilgrims I saw arrb'ln~ ... ·\ 1.11\· { _~I ill n ...b eT) caae hy chartered 10Try froa Cape Coast, ~','unl r\'. Thev sai d that they had cOile to consul t and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh thln~ Brukung , but I wa s una b lC' to discover any d e t a ils o f fomal P.rul..ung worship in CapC' Coast. The signific an ce o f ' thanking' 8Tukung vi II be di s cussed in Ch apter 6. What is possibly the earliest reference to the Shiare shrine 1 5 cont31ned in Uutchison's diary. He was living in Kumasi, and states that it is fourteen days' journey to Alfai (modern Kpandai). whose chief is subject to Sal Tootoo COsei Tutu) and then 'one day to Brookulll., where the head fetish of that country dwells, and onc .ore day to CrUlUlassia and Sadie, a range of h i gh hills I (in ilowdi c h 1819:178). The geographical details are inaccurate, as lIutchison was obvious1y unfuiliar with the areaj it is certainly lIlore th.n one day's journey from Kpandai, which is in eutern Gonj_, and on the we stern side of the Volta River, to Shiare. If Crumllu,ia is the modern Atwode town of Krollas! I then calling fro. the west one would pa s s through it on the way to Shiare (Map 3). However, it s e ems cJear that he is locating the Shiare shrine. which was obviousl y known in Ku.asi as early as the beginning of the 19th century. 11 . The Brukung Cult in Shiare 1. The Shrine The shrine is situated in a thick grove on the south~western edge of the town. where the very high hill doainating Shiare begins Its stee p a~cent. The path to the shrine branches off fro. the puh to the river, and is visible for Soae SO yards before d l sappcaring into the dense clulll.p of trees which lJIarks the t'ntr:an":l' to th(' shrin(' area (Plate S). At the junction of the two paths 1:; ;1 calal1ash. in which is placed hair shaven froJII the heads of children bOTn ;)5 the result of a petition a.de to the shrine. 11011£ way .aJon~ the path to the s hrine i s 8 s"al1 altar, at which University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~~(TOYl) Plate S ; Shiare. The shrine is situ.ted in the trees in ~!!,\.<~, .. " the centre of right background. The p.th ~~e t~~u::r~fe t~~O~hr!~!!~~~, b~~!n~a~e:ind white zinc-roofed house just below t~e trees. The path to the left of the Shiarewura' 5 house leads to the ri ver and then across the hills to Chitinga. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - ~8 - till h,,",IJ::. of children so born are shaved, and on which certain SOlC r 1 fIn's arc offered. such 8S those to the spi ri t5 0 r "1 tehes ll:h:tptl'r S) . Although nothing is known of the interior of the shrine I or the rituals which take place within it, CardinalI provides a brief general description of what exists behind the trees ~cTl'cnill': the entrance to the shrine. He is quoting an informant ... ho wa~ 53 id to have accompanied a party of Germans who actually cntereJ the shrine. This .ay have been on the occasion when von t.ech captured the chief priest (page 74); the Shiarc elders say that on that occaSIon the Germans actually forced their way into the shrine. Cardinall writes that, on taking the path to the shrine, 'in a short while one coaes to 8 small clearing where 3 511311 pyramid of Iftud marks the usual prelinllnary alt:ar . The path continues further unt.il a cave is reached. Hen is the veT)' abode of Bruku: only the chief priest and his assistant. are allowed within these holy precincts' (1931:51). Possibly the aost important detail in this general descrip - tion is the reference to the cave, which is entered only by the cl\i('( priest and his assistant; the i.plications of this state- IIIcnt, in relation to the political significance of the shrine Will hl" dis('uSHJ in the following section. Apart {rOm thi~ description, nothing is known of thif" intcrior of thC' shrine; the secrecy surrounding shrine worship H onc of the 1I0st prominent features of the Brukung cult. !. 1'hc InitiOltion Cere.ony (Ayule) Initiations into the 1:Irukung cult in Shiare are held very infrequent 1)", twice or three tilles a century . When the numerical strength of the cult has been reduced to a few .c.ben.. d new chief priest will S ...o n the rc.ainin{: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the datt". The J.1t~ i~ affected by three factors . The ceremony is held during the r:lln)' :-.eason, which begins about April·Nay, "hen the rivers are full; during the cerem.ony, the initiates art' requtred to wa$h 1n one of the rivers near Shiare, sacred to the god (okpere ohung, 'the river of the god'). Then the cerelliony must be held before the Yaa Festival, which is usually held about the tteainnin, of September. Finally, there is an interval of three months between the fi r!'t and second part of the cereJlonr. All these conditions are met by holding the ceremony around the b~'J:,lnning of June. It begins on ~, the lirst .nd .ost 1.portant day of the Atwode six dny week, on which 011 important cefe.onies are perforaed. InitiaUon is restricted to Males of agnatic Atwode descent, ",ho have never been to school and who have never been lIeabers of another religious denOllination, which, in effect. means Christianity. The condition of il Literacy is strictly enforced; exceptions to the rule of .gnatic descent will be discussed in Chapter 3. Sons may not bC' initiated at the same time as their fathers; thus sOll.e young raen will have to await the next initiation to be admitted to the cult. It is difficult to determine the minillUJD age for initia- tion; very young boys are initiated. provided that their fathers an not being initiated, but they will not be admitted to the suond and final cere.ony until they ar~ older . In the long peTiod between initiations, remote preparations .Ir(' al r· .... dy being mad" for the next initiation. Very fe" _ale i: lIJrn: .iTe' ('nrolllt'd at the school; by thus controlling aaiss10n to the school, the eldeTs are providing future cult lIe",bers and l'hSurinj: thC" continuation of the cult. The the.e of the initiation 15 i.plicit in th~' annual faa Festival. Children ph)' • prominent University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh in this cerellony, and are reminded by the chief priest that cere.onies which they are witnessing will one day be performed hell, as they wi 11 provide the future generation not only of ShiITe people, but also of cult lIIembers. The news that a new it i tiation vas to be held was not rely unexpected, but was received with great joy and excitement ughout Atwode and adjoining districts;S lIixed with this joy excite.ent was a sense of tension and fear, as the time of the iaUon is onc of danger and ordeal, during which some of the latcs lIIay die. The .ccrrcy which surrounds the shrine extends also to the iaUon; .11 of thc cenDlonies associated with it took place he huts in which the initiates lived, and in the shrine, and cannot be known. The account which follows was given to me he ShiarewuTa. Nana ObeTko Agyei 11 -who , as a literate Christian, x;cluded from cult aellbership; thus his account describes only e -spects of the ceremonies which were public. The initiation was held in June, 1962, under the direction of chief priest. Nana Ntela (who died the followine year). t'Hntatives of the Kotokoli fro. Gyerelcpanga were present. 6 On thc evening of ~, the day before ~~. 811 the hiate!' arrived in Shiare from the various Atvode towns. with ~~.:{'ption of Odo.i, aost of whosc inhabitants are Chella, and not elicib1e for initiation. 7 Special huts had been set : for the- initiates; 3!' many as 50 men were said to occupy lut. Th<,y lived in these huts throughout the first part of :ne.ony, under the care of the chief priest and the other -c.bers. Ourins thll' pcriod. it .ay be assUlled that they University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh received prelillinary instruction on the rules and CUStOIlS of the cult. The}' relloved till'J r clothing, and remained naked during the ~eclusion period. until they w("rc presented to the shrine. Thl'\· ",en not allo. .. ed to talk. s.oke. or receive vi'!;itors. Food w;t~ :-ocnt to thelll; this is basically flillet. but other food may also be caten. The food is sent in calabashes (!.!!.!. 5g. ~). TodlY the calabash is used for drinking and never for eatinl, except on this 3nd on one other Occa!'lon, that is, during the YaIIFcstival. The first period of seclusion lasted seven days. Every .orning the initiates were brought out from the iT huts I and if they had incurred the displeasure of the chief priest. they were whipped. This was a time of great tension in Shiare; dUTing this time the lad ... as believed to punish with death any initiate who had been iuilty of undetected witchcraft or sorcery . The nOTlPlal social life of the town continued, but in an atllosphere of tension and suspense; people avoided the part of the town where the initiates ~ were confined, for fear that they would be punished if they Ii~TY ~ approached too closely. (~ ;( On th~ morning of the seventh day (~) the initiates, ('ofr~LI8~p.; led by the chief priest, processed naked, in single file, froIR - their roo.s to the shrine, in full view of the townspeople. They \talked bent, almost double, exuining the ground carefully, fOT It IS said that if they stu.bled over a stone they would be sent 1':I~-1. and refuseJ initiation. They spent a long tilne in the shrine. Juring which they would be initiated. Thi, is the tille when tension anJ fear \,iCre at their hi,hest in Shiare, as it was the riac of greatest ordeal, when SOllle of the initiates could die. The shrine \lias saiJ to lIake loud and terrifying noises, and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh people locked thelllselves in their hOiles. When the t;hrine ceremonies were cOlllpleted, the chief priest led the newly initiated to the river (okpere cbuns), where they t-athed; they then returned to the town and their rooms, where the)' would don a white cloth, and white headpiece and beads, While at the shrine their heads were shaved. The return fro. the shrine was greeted by the townspeople wi th great joy and relief, and celebrations began ilMlediotely. A special dance (segyere) was perforlled, during which special lIIusical instrUMents. used only on this occasion. were played. These s •• l1 iron bars were k.nown as~. Food, including large quantities of meat, was prepared. and taken to the neldy initiated by their mothers and sisters. The celebrations continued until early evening, ... hen they ceased. The newly initiated remain ed in their rooms for another seven days, at the end of which they returned to their own hoaes, and in the case of those who came fro. outside Shiarc, to their own towns. This !larked the end of the first period of the initiation ceremonies. A period of three lIonths elapsed before the initiated returned to Shi 3TC to be presented to the shrine for the second time. During th is peri ad they continued to wear the ir whi te gaTWIent5 and heads; they could !am, but returned to their hOllles before dark. This period "'as also a ti.e of ordeal, during which the eod could Jlunish hy death anyone of the initiated guilty of SOIllC crime. usually witchcraft. Anyone who died during this period was buried in thr \lush, without funeral cere.onies, the usual fate of a \fitch (Chapter S). Also, during this period, none of the initiated "Pre per.ittt'd at • funeral. At the end of this three "ooths' period , the initiates were they spent three Ictivitics and ohligatloll!' arc not resumed fully til (he second cc rellllony has been coapleted. fhC' US!! of the calabash as an eating dish, rather than tht.· .ra.l bo"'l (~). day reflect the antiquity of the initiation relllOn)" and the Ya. Festival. These cerellonies are conducted . they were in the days of the ancestors, say the Shiare people, Ic n rh(' ca labash was probably the only eating dish, unti I super- ~ ded b)' the eatlng howl. Wood, as has already been noted (page I), wa:. associated with the Brukung cult, in opposition to iron ith the Ogun cult in Dahomey. It is interesting that the use of :tal i s forbidden in ceremonies basically associated with Brukung n Shure. The stool of Brukung is also made of wood, bu t metal s al so found used in the Brukung cuI t in Shilre, in the nemonies follo"'ing the first visit to the shTine, when the small ron bars. !B.E2.. are used as .usieal instruments , the onlf ccas ion "hf'n these are used in Shiare. The steas of the ~ staffs are of Iletal, but th('se staffs are not used either n the initiation cCTelllonies. or during the Yam Festival. It is said that in ~he past SOllie people died during the Icriod of seclusion prior to the first visit to the shrine, and 'urin& the initiation in the shrine. How this came about cannot 'l' known, but it could be suggested, tentatively. that this was lont· on the orders of the chief priest, as a punishm.ent for vi'tch~ :T3ft. vhich aay have been detected by some divination ceremony I('ld in the shrine. The chief priest traditionally adJilinistered the olio. rOlSon ordeal to estahlish gUilt or innocence (Chapter .j .md lIlay have wielded considerable powers in the 1'13ttcr of 1 ife H:.~ death, So onc died during the last initiation. Till' ~TCat o::ath l~) of the Atwode derives hall the "'alked naked to the shrine; (the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh IoUJl' liSt' tin' Ak.;tJl word ~; there is no Atwodc word for 3th'). Oath~ are found amon1: many peoples in Ghana and neighbour- J.! ~'ouatrics, l ' SPCt' ially a,nonf! the Akan. and have thei r origin dishonourahh' or disastrouS episodes such as defeat in battle, ich it is shameful to mention, and of which people do not wish be reflinded (Rattray 1929: 128). The oath is a form of legal o(cdurc. When invoked by so.eone, it ensures that the di s pute vhich h .... i s involved is removed from the private sphere of sputc and scttlclllent, and referred, publicly, to a higher, in .u~ cast's the highest, authoTity . It is dangerous to invoke the eat OAth; a heavy fine is imposed, and even death {or whoever voked it . The Atwode oath i5:- Nekre £0 awurofo fe nebunu medine fei fe wurado lila ne Ie meta WOTa elede se me me g_nadl tuwurado. (I saw your hardships which you encountered when you were initiated and shown to your god. If you cannot do what I ask you, you should not go and serve your god). 'jiardships' refers to the nakedness of the ini Hates on the )' of their initiation; to be seen naked is shameful. ,'ariants of the oath are used in Shiare. If someone wishes /o:31n the help and support of 8 Dan wholl he respects or whose Inion he values, he will invoke one of that person's respected ':l'stOTS. The person thu!> invoked will become inVOlved in the sc, and will b{' rewarded with a pot of pal. wine, or a fowl . To "ok.:- the great oath is much more serious, and i~ not done lightly, :l heavy fine b usually i.posed. The oath lIIay he invoked by one It .e.ber to another , or by a non-cUlt member to 8 cult lIeaber. l' apfleal is not directed priaaril)' to the individual cult collectivity , and to the chief priest. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh I~' usc uj ttn" ~reat oath must be reported to hill , and he will ~ ar the case; the oath is usually invoked by soaeone who f eels I;lt ht· 113:0 .a !'itrong cas(' , and that he will not receive justice the level all which hb;. case is being tried. Two sheep lIay be 'posed as a fine for using the oath . When it is used by someone Itside Shiare, the chief priest will order the parties to come ) Shiare; until they arrive, and the case heard, the chief priest .II ab;mdon what he is doing, sit outside his ritual hut, and ·!ther cat nor wash unti 1 the parties have coae before hill . Two effects are achieved by the initiation . 1. the cult ,.taership is brought up to full strength, .od 2. the headships of tneagcs and subclans are occupied by cult .embers . Both of these lintl are connected. 1Iihen initiations are held at regular intervals,a fixed level . • elllbership can be JIloaintained. This is not so in Shiare. Cult !abership is at its greatest at the initiation; thereafter, u!lbers decl inc gradually over a period of some 40 years, wben a !w initiation will be held. As nUlIbers decline, the duties and metioRs of the cult become the responsibility of a smaller number - _elllbers. This is reflected in the social organisation (Chapter "ben cult membership is high, as it is now, lineage and sub- an he.ds will be cult members. Subclan heads play an important Irt in the social and political organisation of Shiare; frolll Icir nlUllber is chosen the clan head, and the elder of the tvo an heads is the chief priest. The clan heads and 5ubclan heads rr.l thl" nucleus of the council of cIders which effectively governs. llart'; when Jleabership is high, the elders will all be cult "mbl.'rs; thus cult lllellbers will govern Shiare, and shape its Jlitics. "hen thl.' cult lIe.bership declines, non-cult lIembers will e and subclan head. As elders. th("y University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 6 7 - . i 11 he i nvol vtd in the affai rs of the to\o'n, but as non· cuI t l elibeTS wi 11 be excluded fro. the sIIa11 group which will uitilllately ' :1)..(" l.:crt3in decisions. Lineage and subclan heads perforlll certain ritual fun c tions .. ithin their respective groups, such as sacrifices to their Tespective ancestors . Only cult at_bers fIIay Slaughter and s ac rifice ani_als; thus a lineage head who is not a cult me.ber cannot perform this function, and will appeal to the 5ubclan head to perform the ceremony . Where the subclan head is not 8 cult .ae.her, he will appeal to the clan head. A high cult meMbership en,ures that political and ritual responsibilities are distributed c¥cnly throughout the entire social organisation, and that ritual functions ",jth!n any group are perforned by the head of that group. The shrine has two aain aspects . 1 t acts as the focal point for the reli,gious 11fe of the local cOlUunity, offering protection _,ainst a wide range of evils and .1sfortunes which afflict iadividua1s and ca.lIunities. It is also an iJlportant pil,rillage centrej larp:e nuabers of pilcriJlls from over a large area cOile to consul t the shrine to seek help and advice on a large number of issues . The function of the shrine as a centre of pilerilll8ge will be discussed in detai I in Chapter 6 . The priMary functions of the cult are to worship Brukun~, anll to present to the shrine the petitions of those who need the help of the shrine. The cult acts as an intemediary between shrine and people, through the aediua of sacrifice. Sacrifices take place daily in Shiarc. usually in the early .orning. Each clan has an altar in its clan territory, and the S3cTifices are perfor.ed there by the clan bead, or. if he cannot preside at the sacri fice. by the next oldest cult .e.ber in the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh \nyone ",-ishinC to c ons ult the shrine will in f orm 8 cult me.her of h i s lineage, usually the lineage head , who will infor. the dan h(,::Id. Next .orning, 311 those wishing to consult the shrine wi 11 gather outside the ritual hut of the priest, and one by one will approach him, with the animal they wish to offer. A fOld is the IIIOSt conunon offering. though on certain important occasions, e.g. the ~ ceremony (Chapter 5) a sheep will be delllanded . On other occasions a goat will be sacrificed . The s uppl icant does not personally infor. the priest of the reason for the consultation; this is always done by another. his spokesman, usually a lineage or subclan lAe_ber . The priest sits behind the altl'lT (Plate 6); on his right is .J large calabash of water, on his left there are usually several hags , roughly .ade froa goat skin, and carried by the cult members. On the altar there may be a bundle of long sticks (ikpere' ovi). which are used in settling disputes (Chapter 4) . On the altar there 113)' also he lIedicines (.!.!..!E..&.) , All of these objects will be sprinkled with the blood of the sacrificial animal. The ~ (staff of Brukung) of the clan will be placed on the altarj for important sacrifices, when a sheep is offered, two ~ (Le . those of both clans) are used, When the priest has been inforaed of the purpose of the sacrifice~ he vill take the head of the fowl, the body being held by the !'upplicant, rub the neck with water, praying to 8rukung to listen to the pe tition and to accept the sacrificej he will then swiftly slit the aniJla!'s throat~ hold it over the objects which ••y be on the altar or by his Side, and allow so.e of the blood to drop on the. . H(' will pluck a few feathers and stick them on the blood. The animal will h(" thrown to the side. The petit:.ioner University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh "" .. ," ~." "',, rD~·)·9C'~ ub(hns. Denteso is the most densely inhabited subclan, with no further land for building; Obanaso can still expand up the hill, but only to a limited degree, as the hill becOflles too steep (or buildina. Today, no subc1an is allowed to build on the land o f another. Ori&in311y, the subclan could trace descent fro. a co_on an .. estOT; e ventually the exact line of descent was forgotten as the lineages expanded and traced their descent fro. a lIore recent ancestor. The subclan is the most illportant group to which a person belongs in that it gives him his social identity and his right of residence. When asked where he comes frail, a Shiare ,nan ",ill always g ive his 5ubc1an. and then the specific lineage to wbich he belona5. The subclan supplies his illlJlediate ritual needs. such as the outdooring of children and sacrifices to the ancestors. which are matt.ers pertaining t.o the lineage and subclan. For other ritual srrvices , he will have to look to the clan head, _ho will perforJII sacrifices related to the ~ (destiny) and ~ boul) (Chapter 5), and also perform sacrifices to Brukung for protection against witcht:raft and other evils and misfortune s . The clan is the largest descent group. and is co.posed of the subchns within it. There are t .... o clans, Cha and Awuku, n3llcod after the epon}'lllous ancestors who first settled in Shiare. The clan hcall ( gewiwuTa) is the oldest lIlan in the clan. and will thus Ill' Ollt' of the subclan hea.cis . The clan head has several o\'('rLlppin~ Toles; not only is he clan h('ad. hut he.: i~ also lnd fUUy heuJ. "-"hen nil t ae.bership University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~ tu&h. these positions are occupied by cult .e.bers; as cult leaberstllp decreases they will be occupied by non-cult members, .ut potential cult lIe.bers; this point will be discussed in the u'xt section. The elder of the two clan heads is the chief )riest of the Brukung cult (okperegroro ble, oldest priest or 'Ie.ber of the god), Each clan is autonomous in ritual matters and with respect o its own internal political affairs. It has its own territory. JUt the clan itself is not a land-holding body_ Land is held by :he subclan, but on the occasions when land has been given to non .. iubclan Ilelllhers. it was given to fellow .. clan .elfther5, and not to ",_bers of the other clan. Clan duality is the .ost aarked feature If the social systeIl, Rituals, ritual objects and offices are !uplicated. Each clan has its own altar. The clan head acts as h ld priest for his clan, offering sacrifices to Brukung for Ian lIelWobers, and for pilgrims who lodge within the clan territory ~ :Chapter 6). Each clan head has a ritual hut (okpere obu, house ~~\rY' I( the god), where the clan head spends the greater part of the :'~,. ; , lay. attending to those who have consulted the shrine. fn the "("f' 11! ritual hut are kept objects pertaining to the cult . Each clan has Lt~ own ~ (staff), symbolising the power and presence of the tod, ~nd which is placed on the altar during sacrifices, and its Ivn ol..pere avi (sticks of the god). a bundle of long thin sticks, Ihich are so.ctiaes placed on the altar durina sacrifices. to "c ceivl' so.~ of the blood of the sacrificial ani.al, and are thus l("liend to be charged with sOlle of the power and authority of :he lad; th(") l' ol.pcrc ayi play an i.portant part in the settling If disrutes and quarrels. In the ritual hut of the chief priest I~ l.~Pt the Brukunll eeevakoa, the stool of Brukung, the lIost sacred University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ual obj('ct the cult possesses: it is brou~ht out only once ~ar. and is the centre of some of the- ritu31~ of the Yam tival. Each clan has two akycamc (I inJ!uisB or srokesmen). to end to the chief; each clan deputes t\Oo elderly womr:n to ist~r to the stool of Brukung during the Yam Fest ivaI. l:.ach .lso its own asafoatyc. who is responsiblc for orf! .. tlil;n~ aunl] labour, such IS housebuildjng, and an official who is ponsible for ensuring that the clan tlTeS is kept tidy; repeated idiness can lead to a {inC'. Both clans havC' their own ~ (sg. ~. literally piOlCl' the trees) which are large open spaces. wi th trees, and vided with TOUlh benches, in which .ale clan members meC't to cuss or converse. Dances, both ritual anti recreational, nrc 1 in the~. Both clans possess their 0\00 sets of drlWs, _ers, singers, and in so.e cases, their own dances and songs. The c)an head with the ctan elders, will deal with quaTrel~ disputes .risinl within the clan. He will also, a~ chief :st, perfoTJII sacrifices to Rrukung for clan members who i Ult the shrine, either for the removal of the cffects of c ~lIch u witchcraft, and {roT ritual$ ,",'hich cannot rC' perfoTme~l 11n the subclan, such as determining which ancestor has been Icarnlled in • child, the ~ cerellony and the okala sacri- The autono.y of ('3ch clan .... ould $l'CIh tl' hr complt'h' . but tla i ~ ot entirely so; both c.l;lns form a single cOllmunit,., , united ill through the cult of BTul . un~. which will be discusseJ in the nt of the Yo Festival (('naptc-r i ). but out~idC' thl ~ l' ontC)(t OWII :lr(:11 T~. Tile' r{ll I I I •• 11 ;111.1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh udl.:uI functions of the clan heads, and of the chief priest, 111 be discussed in Ch,IptCT <1. The fOBation of Lineages When I first !lade enquiries as to the number of subelans, J as given the infor.ation given on pages 79 and 80, oa.ely, that here are three subclans in Awukugewi, and four in Chagewi . This as the case in Awukugewi, but I soon discovered that there were ifficulties and discrepancies in the model when applies to Chagewi. his first becaae .. anifest during the census in Awukuj where a an had married a wife frOll Chagewi, [ asked her subclan. enteso, Oabanaso and r.ankuado were referred to by nuae, but oae hesitancy was shown when the wlfe came frail AbUlnbado, or rOil the subclan to which N.ma KuJ.holle belonged . In the fo~er ue, inlonants would sometimes say that the wife cue from Donkor' 5 people', refening to Agyellline Donkor, a pronlinent ~.ber of the subelan. but not its head (Fig. 6): there waS vid~ntly so.o uncertaint), as to the name of the subchn . In h~ case of Nana Kulahollle, they would say that the wife coc fro. l:.ulaho.e's' people, but they could not give 1I name to the subelan. ntB.(' the case of Abumado, where, after a liale hesitation , they ould aCree that the subclan's nallt(' was Abumbado. Enquiries eveahd that Kulahollle did not seell! to have a subclan, which was urprising, since, as clan head , he ",.s the oldest man in the lan, and should have been one of the subelan heads. I raised this .atter with the Shiarewur8 who told rae that J he Cha people h3d their difficu l ties, but offered no further Another difficulty, closely c OMected with those .entioned University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ahon', arose .hen I b£g.n the census in tht" Kankamado subclan, 111 ",hO:;l' tern tory I was living . When I approached the subclan hcaJ. N.ma Mbowur8 Ayor, and explained what 1 wished to do, namely interview each household head and record the details of his foUy, fans, etc. he replied that this would not be necessary, as he would provide .11 this infoTilation hilftself . Only after cautiously persistent requests did he finally agree to .y interviewing the household heads. He told me that the sub clan was not called lank_aoo, but Cblese. This surprised Meo as 1 had not heard of this n ..e as desien.ting a subclan. He then gave me his lenealogy, showing his descent, and that of the subclan, froll the furthest ancestor he could reMeMber, Opea • through Gblese, his father's hther, after wh01ll the subclan was n.:md IIIUSt be understood in the context of the workings of that society. In other Ghar.;:ian lineage based societies, it is not uncomlnon {or lines of illegitiJlll-te or uterine descent to be grafted on to the aain agnatic line and be accepted as legitimate. This leg! timisation Ray be absolute, or valid only in specific circuastances. FOT eXaJIlplc, Mong the patrilineal TaUensi, fortes notes that tvo lines of descent, which were STafted on to the true line of agnatic descent. becaJllc, over soae generations, to be regarded .s genuine. In the case of the accessory lineage. the descendants of a sister's son were incorporated into the clan. In the other case, the descendants of a aale fathered by a lIIan of another lineage will be accepted IS clan .embers, but this son and his descendants aay not inherit from the pater. and this prohibition applies particularly to the inheritance of custody of the ancestor shrines. To all intents and purposes. descendants of these two lines have full clan lIe.bership and rights, but, most blportantly. they are not allowed to worship at the shrines of clan or lineage ancestors. This is in keeping with the i.portant position occupied by the ancestors in Tallensi thinkinei one cannot worship at or inherit custody of the shrine of an ancestor from who. one is not legitimately descended. The fiction of agnatic kinship is not valid in the ritual field. 'The tie of true agnatic descent, which alone confers these riehts. C&nnot be fabricated. 1 (Fortes 1949:24). The Atwode vie,"' of the ancestors is different {rOIl!. that of the Tallensi; they are less aportaDt, and do not lie at the centre of ritual worship, as they do for the Tallensi. Thus the I.portant cult of ancestors and ancestor shrines are not found University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh aaong the Atwodc. whose worship is directed rather to what is in effect a State god. This explains the fact that after a few ~eni!rations the exact genealogical order of the ancestors is forgotten, and they are remembered collectively, only the more prMinent being rellellbered by name. Genealogies are not discussed, thus younger people will have heard of their ancestors, but will be unable to trace their descent accurately frOID these ancestors. The eJders th~selves could not give their ancestors in the correct order of ~enerations. When I was compiling genealogies, the elders had often to confer for some time before reaching agreement as to the correct genealoaical order, and the order of birth within eenerations. Important political and ritual offices are not inherited in any particular descent group, therefore it is not necessary to trace descent over several generations frOM particular ancestors. Offices are held by virtue of seniority, therefore it h the existing lineage and sub clan which are i.portant. Aanatic descent determines one's place· in the social system; lines assimilated into an agnatic group are given the rights of full lineage mellbers. In Shiare this .eans two things. Firstly, this means the right to farm on lineale land, and, more importantly, the right to build on sub clan land. Thus Mbowura Ayor and Quartey built their own houses (dwelli-ngs 17 and 31 respectively, FiC·'l). Secondly, ae.bers of assillilated lineages suffer no Jtsad\"antaee in the ritual field, that is, with respect to the firuKung cult. ae.bership of which is not proper to anyone descent gTOUp. but to any Atwode born male. Thus, once the line ""as assimi lated, and the principle of agnatic descent recognised, then the way vas open fOT adllttssion into the cult, provided the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .thrr conditions for cult lIe.b~rship could be .et . Thus Lengwa Fig.S) WilS initiated and by virtue of his seniority beeaIRe head ( the Cha clan, and thus its chief priest. Sillilarly, Mbowura yOT. was ini t iated i ftto the cui t in 1962, as he was ill i ter3te, ut Quartey was not initiated, as he wa s educated. By virtue ·f his seniority in the Cblese subcIan, Mbowura becUie subelen head. The i.portanee of the principle of Ignatic descent as the Onl is shown by the fact that the descendants of Bekulai, Okra nd Akui will refer to thea as Shilre born, true agnates. suprcsslng heir own descent through the fem.ale line. SOllletimes, during uarrels, such descendants will be rellind.d of their non-Shiare ncestry, but the ~ situation is now accepted in Shiere. There fe_ained the question of Nana Kulaha.e and his subelan. t see.ed clear at this point that Nana KulahOlll.e's subclan was oMrcted in some ",ay with the subclsn Cblese, but the exact rlationship had to be detemined. A discussion with Kulahome stahlished that his father's father was Opel, but he did not now Opea . '5 father. shoving how quickly ancestors are fOTgotten. hrn [ enquired Ifter the sons of Opea, and their order of birth, t conferred with 50_. of the elders of his subclan. After lRuch isucSlion and cross-checking, it emer,ed that Ope.· had four ons, Ando l Gblese, Awolo and Ogsh, in order of birth. Fro," blese and Ogah are descended the subclans Gblese and Abu.bado, hUe the descendants of Ando and Avolo re.ained together to fOnl third subclan. that of Kulaho.e, which [ shall refer to as Opcn or purposes of refercnce (Fie.6). The discussion with Nina ulalloae also established that Ando was the eldest son of Opea, ontradicting the' claim h)' MbowUT3 Ayar that his ancestor Gblese as the eldest son. Wh E'n I asked "Ilaholle what kinship ten was University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh _[~l-~ ~i --~ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Jstd by Gblt"H III referring to Ando, he replied .eda i.e.elder ,rather; the n.'ci.pr{)cal tet'JI~!.!!!! i.e. younger brother would 'll\lC h('cn used by Cblese had Ando been the younger. Originally, and unti.l fairly recently. there had been one subclan, descended fro_ Opea. I shall refer to . this original subc1an as 'lankaado'. It is probable that this is the name by which the original subclan was known, and that when the lineages split and be,an to establish the.selves as new subclans, and the new nues be,an to gain ground, the name 'lanka.ado' gradually fell away. It is still reaeabered, and seeas to Tiean the original descendants of Opea. Mbowura Ayor states finlly that his subelan lS ca1led 'Gblese'. though 50ae of the subclan members also call theMse I ves I kank ..a do' • Subclen fission will result eventually if the nUlllber of descendants increases with successive generations, although Kankaa.do is tht only subclan in which it can be observed. Denteso. nuaericaUy the largest subclan. has not fissioned. There aay have been factors at work in Kankamado which I was unable to 4iscover. It .ay be connected with the fact of Bekulai's children being given the status and rights of agnates. Significant in this respect is the fact that Evename. descended frolll the slave Akui (Fia.S). is trying to establish Akui's descendants as a lineage·, or subdan, independently of the parent subclan t Dgbanaso. He has given it the nue tGel.rado', but in this case lineage fission is in its very early stages. and has not received any eeneral recognition in Shiu'e. and Evcnatle hillself was not ]'l'lpful when I was questioning him about his genealogy. It should be noted that the three new descent groups which have now eaerged frail! Kankuado are lineages accordin, to the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh tu.inolos:y used in discussing the social or,anilation of Sh as the ancestor fTo. wholl'l they aTe descended is known. The all" i.~ t rut" of K."k ..a do. thl: origina] subc lan. ft5 descent ca.IJIII tr3CCJ fro. Ope. . The nalle subclan bas been used in l'efC'rri g t.) KankD.do to indic.te a lIajoT descent gToup within the. I have .lso referred to the three new clescent groups as subcl. ~, to indicUe that they are different from the lineage which i the extended £uUy ITOUp. ]n one i.portant respect. however, the three new subcl. ... still act as one subelan, namely in the .llocation of buildi g land. One of the diagnostic features of a subc lan, as has b en Ihown, is its territori.l unity, and the exclusive use of building land for its own me.bers. Fig.7 shows the distrib u ion of the dwelling s of the three new lubclaos within the territ ry of th.e ( oraer ~ankUtado lubelan . The line t. .r lted by dwellings 21,24 and 21 f011l5 • bound' T)'. Above it aTe the clvellinls of the orieinal lank.llado lubelan Th Awolo. while those on the top rieht are the d.wellings of the these dwell i nls is si",Uar to that found in the other subcl s; "'hen buDdin, is no longer possible on the original sub IU' ''' d",elling ~ :Ire built on the land adjoinin&. which be the subchn , and not to any line.ee wUhin it. and _etlber !orl'led fro .. the original (ankaaad.o been long estabUshed sub University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh '7.1 , .. . ; . ti~ . • 1 : Diatl'lbutioD of o..111nIS lD J;ank ...d o ..., . ' University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh they .... ould have established the Tight to exclusive use of land adjoining their subclan. The Bround below the bound.ry Il.srked 1>), J.cllilll!s 21,24 all,l 27 descends very steeply to the river, and requi red auch work to level it and build. The land between dwtllings 17 and 11, and between 14 and 8, is too steep and rough to be utilised for buuling. There is, however. SOlIe land still available for building, and Ilay be the occasion of friction between the new subc lans. As their subclan identity becomes more establishec they may try to establish exclusive rights over land which they rcaard as their own. I!. RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS IN SHIARE The previous section exaained groups based on the norms of descent. The present section will examine three religious groups, nUldy, the 8rukung cult, the wo.en's cult,and Christianit)", to deteTJlline their place in and their influence on the social orl8nn a- tion. Two iaportant factors will be examined in connection with Christianity, nU/ely, the Ichool and education. The school and education are so closely connected with Christianity that they are virtually synonymous; however, Christiani ty, the school and education will be treated 8S three separate entities for the purpose of analysis, although, v~s 'a vis the two cults, they lriergc into one. Categories may be arranged according to different crt teria, l'.g. on the basis of sex, lRen 8S a,ainst WOlllen, or on the basis of age, adults as aj!a..i.nst children, or in teras of occupation, e.g. far.ers as agaInst artisans or traders. Such groups, however, an unhelpful as analytical tools, as they do not point imaediately to any sianificant areas in Shiare social oraani t.ation" The University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh thre~ groups chosen are religious or cultic, and, 3S such, relate ildediately to the Brukung cult, which is basic to the Shiare soda1 systc• . l:.ach of these croups is exclusive, their boundarie5 being detemined by the conditions illlposed for meabership. Initiation into the Brukung cult is allowed only to those Atwode born males who hav~ never been to school, and who are not Christians. The prohibition would seem to apply primarily to those "'Ihe have been to school; this would thus include Christians, as baptis!II 15 usually a condition for schooling. This point will be discussed later. The prohibition would also apply to Moslems, but as IslM is not a relevant factor in Shiare. it will not be considered. Thus, WOllen, those of non-Atwode descent, Christians, and those who h.ve been to school, are excluded fro. cult me.bership. The wOllen's cult excludes all males. and all females who arc Christian or who have been to school; however, this last condition is not enforced as strictly as it is in the Brukung (ul t. The wo.en' 5 cult also accepts non-Atwode born WOllen, provided they are not Christian, and have not been to school. Christianity accepts both men and wallen (and children). but not those who are actual ae.bcl's of one of the cults i as the cui t rituals and Christianity are incompatible, staultaneous cult lIe.bcrship and Christian adherence is i.possible. Cult J'lembership, however. is not a barrier to admittance to Chri5tianity; conversion l" !"ossible. provided that cult Ilellbership and practice are r~'nouIH:cd, and baptisM accepted. The converse is not valia. Christianity or schOOling are pel'llanent barriers to cult lItember- ship. The school in Shiare was built in the late 19.05. Since the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh luropean coloni .tion of Togo, the Cold Coast and neighbouring territories in the late 19th century. education was associated .. ith the IIj!'sionarie~, who founded schools on a deno.inational basis. As the' Volta Region was originally part of the Ger.an :olony of Togo, the denominations represented in the territory were Roaan Catholic and the Ger.an Evangelical or Lutheran Churches, liiho established their missions in the more accessible parts of the country. What is now the hill country of the northern part of the Volta Re,icn was reMote, isolated and difficult of access, the very qualities which originally attracted the peoples who now live there, and was thus peripheral to the main lllissionary activities. A series of out5tations, dependent upon a .ain central station, were established, and these were visited infrequently by the aissionaries froa tlt'e aain station.. Small Christian c"..unities were established in these aarginal areas, and were left in the care of a catechist, who had been trained in the rudillents of Christian doctrine. and whose duty it was to conduct services for the cOllauui ty, prepare neophytes for conversion. adults for liarriage, etc; these would be performed by the aissionary durinG- his visits. In the 19305. the area around Shiare, that is, the lands of the Atwode, Adele and Ntrubu be,an to be visited by Catholic IIolsSlon3ries frOM Krachi, the 1Iain station, and the colonial adJiinistrative centre of the area. This led to the beginnings of a s.a11 Catholic community, though Ii ttle is known of its early history. At this tiJlle schools had already been founded in the lareer tovns in the centre of the Volta Region, in Hohoe, Jasikan and Ho. as well as in Kracht. Anyone who wished to receiVe C'duc~tion had to attend one of the schools in this area j thus University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh • 110 - QU3rtey, who i~ said to be the first Shiare man to receive education (sec page 97), went to Ja,-ikan for his education. the I:ltl.' 1~14(h., when Nkwantn "UIS beginning to emerge as an admulistrative centre, the need was felt for an ele.entary sc 001 and Nl.--wanta was cons ide red to be the .ost appropriate place f T the situation of the school. The Shiare elders intervened, a d requested that the school be sited in Shiare. As no public m ne tias {orthcollling, the elders asked the Catholic ChUTCh to help FAther Anton Konings, then priest at the Krachi mission, late Bishop of keta. and the last European Bishop in Ghana, discus ed the aatter with the elders. The Church would sponsor the sch oJ, and the people thelll.selves would provide the labour and the .aterials. The school was built on a piece of level ground b 10 Shiue, and was the first school built in the area. Soae yea 5 later, when the question was alain raised regarding the build ng of a lIiddle school in Nkwanta, the Shiare people were the fi t to cOllie forward with !Roney and labour. school in Shiare, told JIIe that he dealt with the chief pries and not 'With the chief, during the negotiations which precedeG the founding of the school. The elders were sanctioning the introduction into their lIlidst two factors which, by their na res were hostile to the cult, nuely Christianity and the school. re-lationship of both these factors will be discussed below. It is necessary to distinguish between 'schooling' and 'education'. as the term 'schoo)' has a wide application. 1 shall thus distinguish between those 'Who arc 'schooled'. i.e he school, but abandoned their st 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ;at an eaTly stage, and are thus basically illiterate, and the 'eJucated', i.e. those "ho have obtained an education up to .It lc .. st Form IV, and can he considcred literate. The significance of this distinction will beCOlle apparent. 1. The Bretuns Cult During the period of field work, there were 116 men ini tisted into the cult; cult lIIembers refer to the_selves as okpere agyoro (literally, priests of the divinity, or of the shrine); non· cult IRc.ber~ they refer to as Ateabu (also the nue by which the Atwode people refer to the Kotokoli people, who live in Togo).1 This figure represents a high mcmbership, due to the cOllparatively recent initiation in 1962; SOllle of these initiated have since died, but the cult is represented in Shiare in considerable strenath. This strength will decrease as the years pass. until a .ere handful of cult aeabers are left, when another initiation cere.ony will be held. The following tables show the distribution of cult and non- cult aeabers, which is the major dichotoay ..o ng the males. For non-cult lIIelllbers 21 was taken as the boundary between a young lIan and an ad.ult. During the last initiation, in 1962, children were also initiated; though they would have to wait until they ,"ere .uch older before being allowed to exercise the full functions of the cult. If the youngest initiates were 12 years old in 19bZ. then during the period of field work the youngest initiated ",ould now he 27 years Old, and no one under this age "ould be a cult member. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -112 ... AnUlT MALE CUI.T MEMSERS Living in ShiiTe 106 91 Livin& outs i de ShiaTe -1.Q -2 Total 116 100 ot the total o f 1It1 PlelAbers, 106, L e. 91\ actually resid.e 1n ShiaTe; of the reaaining 10, Le. 9\, two are in Togo receivin~ treatment for illness, and one is farming in Bonakye, a to\l."Tl in the Atwode Traditional Area, but larlely inhabited by non .. Atwode i Htth is known of this ftlan. and he seeas to have little or no connection with Shhre, md aay be considered an emilYlnt, i.e., one who ha s leit the cOlUunity per",.nently . The reaaining 7 cult lIe_bers livins: ouuide Shiare Ire working in Pampawie. in the rich cocoa area of Bue., some SO lIIiles south of the Atvode Traditional Area, where a sJlall colony of Atwode people has been ltvin, for sOlIe years. I .,as able to s peak to only one of these .en vhile he was on I visit to Shiare; he told ae that he would be .. 'arLin.: in rapawie for a period, then he would nturn to Shiare to live. The r .. Hies of the others told ae that eventually they too Mould return and Ih'e in Shiare. Thus these 7 men should be r~garded as .ierants. i.e. those who are teaporarily living outside Shi an. but still fetain rilhts of resid.ence. The two who .re h'(~iVlna tre a t_ent in Togo wi.ll also return to Shiare when the tre atll en t is c o.pleted. Thus, ltith the exception of the one aan fa~ing in Bonakye. every cult Itcaber is resiclin g in Shi.re. or University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 113- TillS is ,I ver)' hieh figure, but it mltr he .,'lllllltl'd 10f, 01" t·"pl:li.nci.l. by several factors. 1"1", fir:,t, ;lnd most important, i!1o the cult of Brukung itself. IIII..-n, in con)unltion ... ith the cult, is the question of the f'lrming n'onoay of the At'Wode. The priests worship daily at the shrine, and minister to the large nlWber of pilgrims who come to Shiare to consult the shrine; the priests share in the Kloney which is offered to the shrine for its services. But, except in the cale of the chief priest, the clan head of the Cha clan and SOlle very old cult aeabe1'5, the worship and service of the shrine is not a full tille occupation. Thus cult Jle.bership can be combined with subsistence faraing, almost inevitably so. There are fc",. if any, other possibilities which could be exploited by the priests in Shiare, and the lack of schooling as • condition of cult .eabership excludes the. fro. a large number of areas of ellployment elsewhere in Ghana. Illiteracy in itself is a constricting factor; the unschooled cannot exploit the areas of e.plo)'Jlent which de.and literacy. Thus theTe is littlc alternative to faming and remaining in onc's Datal village OT area. However, in Shiare, illiteracy is voluntary. and is chosen, not for its own sake, but as part of the rdigiou5 worship of the cOIUunity, which b best performed in Shiare; therefoTe residence in Shiare is the nOrIII, and is coahined with traditional subsistence farmiD&. This, I believe, I~ the significance of the figures sholtn in Table 1. We shall now set' if the converse is true, i.e. whether 11 teracy is relate..! to resicience. Table 2 gives the school uperiencc and reSidence for adult _ale non-cult .e.bers. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Adult Male Non-Cult Member!> ~ In Shiare Outside Shiare No . Attended Schoo] 26 3H 44 b3\ 70 100 Unschooled 9482\ 20 18 \ 114 100 there are 184 .en who have not be-en initiated into the cult, for one of several reasons. Seventy !l.en we re excluded on the ,rounds of schoolin" three were not initiated because they were not Atvode, and one did not wish to join the cult. The remaining 110 unschooled non-cult me_bers were either too young to be initiated. , or vere not initiated under the rule which forbids sons to ht initiated at the sUle Uae as their father.. These aen are potential cult .cabers, and v111 be eligible for initiation when the cereaony is next held . Their situation reseables that of the cult Jlelllbers, in that, being unschooled, they are constrained with regard to opportunities for eaplor-ent; although not initiated, their future lie s with the cult. One would therefore C'xr('ct the creater Jlajority to b e living in Shiare . Table 2 shows nat this 1n fact is the case, with 94 unschooled ..e n, lorain, IiZ~ of the total, living in Shiare. Table 2 also ahows that 20 unschooled .en, 18\, live outsidt Shiat'e. This is exactly double the proportion of cult lIe.bers living outside Shiare, although the nuabrrs an '.all. The higher figure ••y be accounted fOT by the a,e factor; the .~n in this eroup are younger than the cult leabcrs, and possibly less traditional in outlook. The new town )( Nk ....n ta has provided opportunities which were denied the older occupation. and several youn, .en, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - lIS- indudin~ the unschooled. went to Shiare and learned the trade frOil lten ~lready established th e re . Others work in palm winc h3TS, or in soae bnnch of trading. In the course of their employ.ent. they Olcquirc 3 s.atterina of English. The theoretical point arises whethe r this knowledge of English will be an iMpediment to initiation, i.e. whe ther they will be cla s sified as literate. ,llthoueh it .ost unlikely that they will ever learn to read. The residence pattern as found among cult mcahers is thus re£lected allona the unschOOled non-cult _cabers (Table 3). Table 3 Comparison of Residence of Cult Members and Non-cult ~Iernben ~ In Shiu'e Outside Shiare No. CuJt Melltbers 106 91\ 9\ 116 100 8l\ 20 18\ 114 100 We shall now exuine the effect schooling has on residence. hhle 4 shows the r e sidence pattern of JIIen over 21 in relation to c ult 1IIt'lII.bt'rship and schoolins . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Tahle -1 Residence of Men over 21 in Relation to Cult Ae.bersnl.p and Schooung Residence In Shiare Outside Shiare No. ~ Cult 106 91\ 10 9\ 116 100 Non-cult 94 82\ 20 18\ 114 100 Attended School 37\ 44 63\ 70 100 Educated 12 21\ 44 79\ 56 100 of the sevent~ lien who have been to school, 26 (37\) reside In ShiaTe; this is a high figure, and would not see. to support tht' theory that schooling or education are related to residence. However, if the distinction between schooling and education is applied to this fiaure I of the 26 who have been to school, 12 are educated., Le. have In education up to ~t least Form 4, and 14 are schooled, i. e. have been enrolled in the school, but acqui red \"Cry little or no education, and who should thus be included with the illiterate. Table 4 then shovs that only lZ (21\) of the educated lien reside in Shiare, which is close to the 18\ of the unschooled non-cult .eJlbcrs who reside outside Shiare. The schooled, i.e. those who left school at an early age, ne an anoaalous group. Like the unschOOled non-cult me.bers, they are excluded from the direct worship of the shrine, but. unlike this &roup, they can never beco.e .embers of the cult. Their lack of education will prohibit their engaging in other University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 117- (0.-5 of cllpJoyru.'nt outside Shiare which de.and educational qualifications; unless they wish to fara in another part of the \.ountry. their live :' __ Hi he spent in Shiarc , dcvotees of the ~hrin(', but excluued frOIl! IIIclDhership. The schooled consist of two subgroups,A.those who have been b.ptiud, and 2. thos~ who have not. As the school 15 a Roaan c"tholic dena.inational school. children who are enrolled are IJ.pthed at satRe point in their schoolina. This is often done very uncritically, with inadequate preparation . Soae of these baptized children leave school at an early stage; because they have been baptized, and are therefore at least noainally Christians, they are excluded fro. the cult; due to their lack of education, they have little contact with t:he educated, and with the world of t.he educated. The other sub-group consists of those who have left the school before bapt.is. ~ and. are, therefore, not Christians. Superficially, there is little to distins,uish them from the unschooled. The question arises, are they eXCluded froll the cult? At thh point the prohibition on .eltlbership of the cult is not .ntirely clear. When Cluestioned. the elders say that 1 iterates are excluded fro. the cult. because it is feared that they will write down and thus betray the secrets of the cult. The prohlbltioll 11 also applicable to Christians; this aar be due to the relilious nature of Christianity. or to the association of ChristiUlity with learning, or to the fact that both lite~acy and ChTistianity are .ssociated with Europeans, whose ways the Atwode have: harned to distrust. However, literates are excluded froln .e.bership. as are Christians. In Shiau, Christianity represents a spectra; at one end University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -118 - tho"c \Oiho ;ITC practising, at the other thO~L' who are so in n3.(' only. due to their b~ing baptized at an early stage in th~ iT :>("hooling. lot)' cnquiric~ did not reveal that anyone who is 8 Christian has been initiated. The case of the schooled non- Christians is, however, different. Their illiteracy would satisfy the condition: and they have not fonnally become Chris inns There relll.ains the fact of their baving been to school, which, technicaUy, is a barrier to admission to the cult. In their asc, 1 think it hi,hly pTobabl~ that at least soae of this group wOl 1d be allowed initiation. However. I was unable to discover any actual instances of this; this could be due simply to telling e, durin, the census, that certain people had not. at any stage, attended school. This fiction would be difficult to detect. i indeed it were necessary to invent a fiction. The schooled no - Christians do not represent a threat to the cult. Like the cult Jle.bers and the unschooled non-cult members the group of schooled but unbaptized lives .ostly in Shiarej this j act, plus their illiteracy, suggests that the elders can control th "hich would not be the case with the literates, who, by virtue of their education, have auch greater social .obility. As the school in Shiare is a ROMan Catholic denoainationa' schOol, with baptism as a condition of enroll.ent, Il group of Christians eaerged in Shiare, which will now be exaained to detcl'aIine the part it plays in the social organilation of Shia c 2. Christians There are 1$7 Shiare born Christians, of whOll 94 are ad and 63 are children. Table S shows the distribution of res of the Christian adults. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Tabl€' 5 Residence of Christian Adul ts In Shiare Outside Shiare 24 (3bl) 42 (b41) 100 Fe.ales 16 (57\) (43\) !L 100 94 In the case of the .ales. the majority live outside Shiare. but the majority of the Christian women live in Shiare. However, if the distinction between schooled and educated is applied to the Christians livin, in Shiare. the following figures are obtained (Table 6). Table 6 Education of Christian Adults in Shiare Educated Uneducated No. Males (581) 10 (42\) 24 100 Feades (19\) 13 (81\) 16 100 Table D shows that of the 16 adult feaale Christians liviD' in Shiarc. only three are educated, in keeping with the pattern vhereb)' the illiterate and schooled live in Shiare, and t.he educated OUtsid(' Shiare. The lIales do not correspond to the pattern. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh H IS8~J of till' .. dul l luJes Jiving in Shhre are educated. ihi.revura 1 ive~ in Shi.lTe ex offi cio, the catechist to instruct the Christians . The rClllaindcr chose to co.e and live in Shiarc. and fanl. Very few children ar~ attendin~ school (Table 7). Table 1 Shiare Christian Children at School ~ ~ Outside Shiare ~. N.le Z4 (SH) 18 (4l1) 42 100 Fe.ale !l (621) (381) ~ 100 37 63 The 63 children at school for. a very .".11 proportion of the children in Shine. There has never been a large nUllber of children at school. Chi Idren fora .n i.portant part of th e family \IIOTk Iroup. and are required for the greater part of the year to wor).;. on the !an. Girls, as well as workina on the fan, are also required to share in essential household ciuties, such 85 cleaning, cookina. carTyin, water and helping to look after thei r younger siblinls. In the case of the males, non-enroll.ent at the hhool ensures that they are eligible for future cult membership. Thh i:; also true of the ,iris, as the vo.en's cult de.ands lliitnacy as a condition of .e.bership. but this is less strictly enforced than in the male cult. In spite of the desire of the eldcrs to have a school in Shiare. it has never been used to IUIY 'Teat extent. and plays little part in the life of thE' town. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh IIll' :;i .:hildren at ::...:hool in Shiare 3rC' receiving prir18ry \.'hoolin~ unl)'. Of the 2b children receiving education outside hi ;I TC, ~I ;Irc' receiving hieher education at schools in other part~ ,f the country. The re.aiftder are attending one of the school! n Nkwanta. which, apart fro'" the pri.ary school, has I .iddle ;chool and a continuation school . SOllIe Shiare children, however, Ire attending the pri.ary school in Jlkwanta. Considerab Ie lisuttsfaction has betn expressed by the Shiare people regarding he standard of educat ion offered by the school in ShiaTe; this lIS always been a proble.. The school buildings themselves are iurprhina:1y good. and cOllpare very favourably vith the school )uildin,s provided by the Covernaent in Nkwanta and other places. rbe dHficul ty has a1",aY5 been with the staffing. Shiare is re.ote, 'bush', in the pejorative sense which the word h,s for sophisticated Ghanaians . [t has few social uenities to offer, apart fro. the traditional features of Atwode culture. The Journey fra- Hkvanta to Shiare has to be done on foot . I t is thus very difficult to get teachers to live there . Many of those who did co.e were student teachers, whose main interest was in study- ing for further educat tonal qual i lications, and for vha. teaching was of secondary interest. Such teachers rarely stayed for mOTe than a year, and there vas. therefo re, little continuity a!' regards teachinG_ Durina the first part of the pcriod 1 was in the field, and for a few years previously, the teachers were Ewe. They could not he expected to understand Cetwode , but they were unab le to speak Twi. the lingua franca of the northern part of the Volta Relion, and understood to sa.e extent by the children . They tau,ht. the-Tetore. throu,h the .ediUlft of Ilnglish. to the pupils' University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -.:J,h'anlasc, as Engl hh is hardly spoke n jn Shiare, unlike ill ~' larger towns, including Nkwanta. There was a noticable j'l'OHrft('ut, during the.' latter part of IIr field work, when th(.' .l..:h('rs were Twi speaking, and one of whoa was an Atwode, hut esc tcoachers did not stay long enough to maintain the standard. at is surprising is the number of well educated Shiare people o did their priJiary schOOling in Shiare. three of whoM attended iversity and obtained degrees. The main strength of Christianity, and of the educated. lies ttsidc Shiare. the number of adults, residing in Shiare, 40, is tall. but this in itself would not prevent it frolll maintaining corporate existence, or group identity. However, the group is Inlier weakened by the high proportion of illiterates. While Iristianity is not in theory a literate religion, in practice is so, and anyone who lacks the ability to read is at a sadvantage. This in itself is not entirely an insuT8lountable Istach. as the obvious substitute faT literacy is oral instruc- Ion, but again. in this area Shiare Christians are very weak. ll' of the reasons for this is the lack of leadership. There is .ission station, with a resident pries:t, in Nkwanta. sOlie 12 ill;'~ away. This priest is responsible for a large area, and line, with ib very small Christian population, does not rank !r)' highly in the list of priorities; it is visited twice or '.Tee tilles • year. and this is not sufficient for the needs of ;t' ChTi~ti3ns, In such circWlstances, the leadership of these .-,il ,oll1J\unities b \'c~ted in the person of the catechist, who ~ a "('y figure in .ost Christian dena_inations in Africa , and '1 (' viabi li ty of the remote Christian coamunities depends to 8. rl'at utent upon his ahilities. In Shiare, the catechist is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ;111.1 l'lllhu~ia~ti~· . t"lut lirlite() in hi~ knowledge o( Christl;1Tl II'~' It is utre.dy difficult to g~t people, e~recia:l)r lJi'l' r ~ltc ~. to attel\d instructions; thus the people receive lally nn instruction. The youth of tht' catechist ",ay well be iOldv3nuge in a society where authority and respect arc !d in the elderly. What Christianity is depends, of course, on how it is defined. nc lev~l. it alay be considered as a belief syste_, and. as such, ssible alternative to the Brukung cult . In Shiare, Christianity not eaer,c as an alternative to the shrine . which argues to strenath of the cult. On a functional level, the weakness of stianity is shown. If church attendance is taken ts a ~ erion of corponteness, and this is a crucial criterion for lUianity, then Christianity is again shown to be weak. A Christian adults attended the weekly service I held in are durin, the period of my fieldwork; the children foraed ~rcatcr part of the congregation . Nost Christians consult shrine; SOlIe do in teras of what Jlay be called its social cultural aspect, such as in t.he perfoTlllancc of the ~ ual. ob 1 igatory during adolescence I the Atwode equi val ent the puberty rite of pas s aie (Chapter b). Most Shiare people fer pcriodic sacrifices to their!!!.!!! (soul). and .gain the rinc is consuhe() to deteraine the ancestor \I'ho i~ helieved to n heen reincarnated in a newly born child (t.:hapter b). These t\131s are part of the social aud cultural heritage of Shiare. j Christians evidently do lJot finJ thl:. irrecon(iLable with ~c profession of Christianit \". "'any baptized Christians have abandoned Christianity. It , ,'cry di f(icult to df'tcr.ine what is III1~ant by 'lapsed t in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh I ia:iou:io Lont~At:j, what p.ll"t 1,u13r requi re_ents or fCOitures aTe :essary befoTe a pc-rson is de emed to have renounced a part ie-ular li&jous h('licf, or religious affiliation. The situ3tion is clear eft a person Juk.es a fonul stat.ement of renunciation. or e.br not believed to dwell in i.t. A1thou~h tht' cult : ron,::ly J"t' pn:sented in the northern part of the Volta Regi , • In the adjoinin,:: areas of Togo, the cult is of Yorul1a orig n. ?3Me, whose i.poTtance as a Yoruba religious centre, and 3 (: ntre of 8ru"un~ worship. has already becn discussed (page the "'('stcrnmost point reached by the Yoruba in th e ir Iftigra ion' becue an i_rortaot centrr of the we.en'. cult. It W<1$ ably the centrc frolll which the cult spread into the Volta on and the nei~hbouring parts of Togo. In the Volta Relio s found Ulan. the Ntrubu, Adele. Atwode , Nawuri, NanUlfilba • d S oC eastern Gon;., and in Togo amon g the Togo Adele. the 11\,: 3 and in the area around Atakpue (Map S). :eric laOf.:u3,::e used fl y the cult .ea ben. This lan1:U3£C is Jt-.3, OT a Yoruba dialect, and is the language of the Ana pe pIc .\takpame. The wo.en acquire considerable fluency in the ):U:l,:C. but,outside AtskpaJle, it is not understood hy anyone .. i d(' the cult. The Men kno"· sOlPIe words and phrases, but ar.-. H e to fol1o'-" a sustain('d conversation. There are t\olO J!ro " divisions \oIithin th e cult, ~ (known as the IReds') and lli.&Y.i (known as the 'Blues'). both words being Yoruha. :£.!! (Red,) wear red beads , the M..!.&r...! (Blues) wear blue. to I .l h · th(' diviSion to which they belonE:. A wOllen choos e!' hI >lip she will Join; if the ~ (Blues). she will go to be tined at Pagala or Ilofuli, in Anyanga, in Toao, or Nyaabo University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ,\hn'\ionJ.Ot, In Atwodc. The ~ (R(.'d~) nrc initiated in ani, in ToJ,:,o. lu::cordinl! to the cuJt wo.cn, tht' fad chooses those whom he ~hc:o; to be cult .e.bers. This can be done in two ways. Till:: I .a}' possess the girl. "'ho will then place herself under the "(' of some of the elder women of the cult until the next itiation. Or, girls JIIay offer themselves for initiation, and ring the pre-initiation instruction5, the god will indicate !ther or not he wishes theIR to be initiated. There is no ted tilile for the initiation, but of the three initiations held ill' I was in the field, two were held during the dry season, ing cOlII.pleted before the onset of the rains. This coincides ttl the slack. period of the agricultural cycle, when girls could .ore readUy spared frolR farlll. work. The candidates ,0 off in lUpS, one of which consisted of 21 girls, to their respective ntres of initiation. The period of training varies considerably. 311 two to six months, certainly long enough for the candidates learn the cult language and custOIlS. During this period the ndidaUs live tottethcr. with other candidates from other areas, del' the direction of a WOllan, the 01 ..1 who will instruct thell .atters relatint: to the cult. 3 Youn!: children are initiated,but, as in the case of the ul..un)! cult, th<,y do not take part in cult rituals Witil the}' (' older. Most wOfI!.en in Shiare are cult .e.bers. Unlike the u\.un~ cult. lIeabership is not restricted to any specific ethnic (\Ur· Non·Shiare and non·Atwode born wo.en share in the cult tlvities in Shiare. or in any other town where they .Iy be. ke the Brukung cult, it demands illiteracy as a condition of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ! JJlclDbership, but this is not as strictly observed a!' in the rukung cult. Table 8 co.pares cult and non cult Ilc.bers among ol5l"n ('Jvt'r 21 ] iving in Shiare who are actually warTied or have \'l'l1 1I1.HriC',I, with rcference to their place of birth. Therc arc 249 wo.en actually married, widowed or divorced, iving in Shiare; of these 181 (73\) are cult memhers, and 68 27\) non cult me.bers. After their initiation. the new members return to their own o. .. ns. where they are entrusted to the care of the elder women of he cult. who continue their instruction in the customs of the ult. 3nd prepare the. for two sets of ceremonies which IIIU!t be erfonaed by all new initiates. The first of these ceremonies is related to the Yam Festival. he newly initiated do not share in this cere .. on), with the rest £ the town, but have their own celebration a few days later. hh celehration is preceded by a test or ordeal (ikyase getan) o determine whether the ini tiate may share in the Vam Festival. he)' ~ather in the ~ of the Chs clan (the larger of the two ~) and then I ie face.> downward on the ground. with their hands hsped behind their backs. during which the older me.hers of the ult sin(: softly (Plate 7). At a signal from the older women, hey aris~ and form into ho'O groups, (the Aloeu and the Aligyi). Il{' of which dances round the ~ in the fom of a spiral, cCOITlpanied by dr~ming; the other group trots to the river in lngle tile with thei r hands 5ti 11 clasped behind thei r hacks. nd at the river enter the shrine, where they are' introduced' o the divinit}'. They then return to the ~ (Plate 8). where hry dancr in the spiral fonn, while the other group goes to the l~rin(' by the rivC'T. When they return, they join in the dance ·th groups go to the river. tt'hen University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh :'1':: I :;;1 ~ 1 2 ~I ~l jl N ~ ro ~I ~I ~ ~~~I ~ ~I - University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 130 - PlatE' 7 : New lle.beTs of the women's cult during cerellony prior to being introduced to their shrine. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Plate 8 : New cult lIe.hers returning fro. the shrine. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 111 ~ ,J. lly n'turll to the ~. Ih('y UnC' up on tl,e edr.t' of the.> , (';n"h one holdin,. a chic"kc-n. ('nc hy one they 3f1proach an '\ ,"1111 ""''' .m who will pTcshk :It the next ccrelllOny. 1.;110."1_ candhlatc- offers hel' chi(l..e n t('l the ""OIIa" who pTcshles; l)aC('$ the head or the chicken hctwce n her toes and decapitates .1nd throws it to the ground. l'thile the bird is writhin~ in JC;lth agony. ttlC eldf'r wa.en point at it with their suffs, in1: a deep son,. and the drlDllller beats swift qu i ck dna rolls. he chicken dies on its bac k thr candidate .ay proceed to the Fcstiv31; if it di.es on its breast, s he .ay not. as she hIS , found ,-"nnting. This is a CO_Oil aethod of divination practised ~est Africa, and is used on other occasions in Shiue. If the chtl dies on its breast, the candidate is suspected of 50.(' uh of social I113nners. On this occasion, three wOllen wen thus peeted; they were taken aside, private)', by sOII\e of the elder l('In and questioned as to what they ••y have done wrong. The :ter was $oon rectified; two of the wOllen confessed to having l hrn ill of others, and. caus ed ill-feeling. [did not discover at the third wOlftan did. The second cere.ony a ssociated with the Varn Festival is a 'B of dancin~. There are various kinds of dancin, performed in darC!, SOllC' of which are reserved for specific occasions . Dance • ~lw~ys associated wi th the Y. . Festival. On this occasion, the anee Which forliS part of the initiates I Ya Festival ceremony ... as oined with the general celebration of the ceTemony. These dances n ' in the fora of set piecrs, which e\'er)' candidatr mus t per£o~. 1: 1"} h ;:J \'E" hrcn instTucted in this by the elder women, and have ·('Icn th,.. often in past cerellcnies. The candidates are paired. '3ch pair ttes:inniRK in fron t of the drwa.er, thell .eving rapidly University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh '10(1, tu ".H'h 01 til .. lour corners of tht" ~ ' Inunhu'r (Plate- !I). lI'~'ir perfoTlII. werc divided on thl!' issue. foradnr. fO UrS in surport or different candidM(' s. I t is possible that the I .... t ion (I r s('n i or it y i ~ confused hcc of a member; the body is washed and dressed by the cult .. rn, who lead the body to the ,rave with special cult songs I and .,e dllnces during the period of aourning. The cult possesses , own funeral songs , its own dances and drums, though they ,",selves do not play the drUll'ls . They also possess sOlIe proper tual obj~ c ts, staffs, cloths and calabashes which are used during ·e funeTal dances . The wo.en's cult difhrs £1'011 the .en's in a nuaber of ways. erns the Brukung cult initiates very infrequently, the women1s It aay initiate twice or three tiaes a year. Li.ke the Brukun, Il!. onl), uneducated girls are considered for initiation, but in ct this rule would see .. to be l ess strictly enforced alllon~ the atn than among the aen. During.y stay in Shiare. a dispute arole t~t't'n the Catholic mission in Hkwanta and the wa.en's cult Te,ardlng a t" tirls In the Atwode town of Ny ..b ong. These ,irIs wen pti:ed Christian s . and Ilembers of the church choir which shoulq f'orttically. have lPIade thea ineligible for aellbership of the CUlt. e ~lTh . 'ne cnt iced away by soae of the cult \IIoaen to be tTained Is returned hOlDe . others remained University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~;I' :.,\ J \ol· n· :, ubscquently initiated. The action of initiatinl!. 1:I'l~tliin prh is contrary to the rules, but s uch variation5 if' I:C rulcs ."Ift! possible: consistency in " cult srre~d over such a Hp.' area would be diffic ult to lIaintain . The woOllen's cult is 'lath-el y loosel)' structuTed, with no clearly defined centre, ") clearly defined leadership and no focal point of authority. This situation is sharply difff'rentiated frCNl that in the rukun,!: cult, which oper.te5 in a ,,,,aller area, is geared to if(ereflt ends, and is .uch mOTe tightly structuTed. Unlike the lUr.'S cult. the leadership of the Brukung cult has important Jl15equences for the ,ocilLl and political organization of Shiare . ~nce. on the death of the chief priest. the offi ce is ilDllecUately Bled. Bting geographic.aUy circWftscribed. the Brukung cult is lIe to enfoTce its rules lind control its .embers and their ~h.viour , Illportant as it is in its own terl!Pls. the women's cult lays no diTect part in the political affairs of Shiare; it can <1st dde by side with the Brukung cult. in a symbiotic relation- lip. tlccause it is not in any way in competition with the i\rukung lIt. They are not coapeting in any area of iraportance. in :r.s or rc n onnel. or in the spheres of poweT or authority. Nol' )('~ the women's cult compete with the shrine. The ideologies f both cults are entirely compatible. and do not threaten each :hcr, tach cult has its own sphere of operations, and its own olut's and advantages . The divinity worshipped by the women does ,t t.an the standing or the prestiee of the divinity Brut-ung, h :" lt e...i u: that i t has r:o political Tole, and seTves different ·l'..!~. The shrine, or ~h Tines. associated with the .... OJllen's cult, >erne different ly froa the Brukung shrine; they do not offe r the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh r.1I11'C of services, nor do th('y function as pUr-rill centres. ; " \, 1.' Iht, wOIIC!'n's shrine- i~ of little econQ.ic illportanc:e. if at II . A :-;hrin(' h("cOfllcs :I ~:t j nT econolJlic n~sct if it can attTnct 11' 1: ' - nu~!I·t·rs of pil,rims. The wOllen's shrine in Shian does )1 do this, and in any case it is not 01 l1ajor seat of the divinity. lC wo.en obviously hold their shrine in great respect, but do )t re~ard it as a .najor source of help or advice in time of is(ortunei these are provided by the Brukuna shrine, throUllh H' Jlu.'diatlon of the 8rukunf!, r-riests . The .ajor cults of the northerl Irt of the Volta Relion and Togo, where the women's cult is strong, rc .al~ oTif'·ntatt>d and .ale controlled. Membership is either )n(ined to males, as in the Brukung cult. or is rresided over by .ale rTlest, 35 in the cult of Dente in Krach!. Felllale priest- ,od is unknown in this are •. Cults, including Brukunr cults, ~uided over by feaale priest.s, are found in Yorubaland and ,ho.ey (page 40), but the fe.all priesthood gives way to the Il~ hiased cults in Togo and the northern part of the Volta Region. : (ould thus b~ ar~ued that the wOllen's cult all0,",5 access to • Irld frOIft which lIales are excluded and in which they have no >we-T, A vorld which belon", to the wOl\en alone. It offen a form : ritu3l and worship in which they can paTticipate directly J as co.pensation for the men'~ world from which they are excluded, Id "'hieh, to SOfU! extent and in soae ways they can lunipulate IT their own purposes. as shown by the dances and ailles described The "petial cult language rna)' be interpreted in this light; ... t'l lLh! He'll to have at least two functions. The fint is that a~ hn&U3 franca, it pTovide~ a means of' cOJJullunication hetw~en the In)' ling:utsti.C ,roups in the large area where the cult is found . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 14~ - ithout this, It I.ouid 1.>(' difficult tu maintain an)" cler,ree of nit)' or coh('sivclIC'!'s. rtf; second function is to demarcate the n.-a whkh is proreT to the wOlllcn. Koth the fIIen's cuI t and th£, OIlt'n'!' nllt have their Inysterious, esoteric side; this is found n th~' lIrukung cult in the prohihition on anyone other than cult e.hcrs fro. . entering the shrine itself; what takes "lace in the hrine is known onlf to the cult membeTs, and this aura of mystery ay enhance the standing and popularity of the cult, and contribute c its endurin~ reputation. Access to the wo.en's shrine in hJarc is equally forbidden to non .e.bers of the cult, but the O.CI1'S shrine seems to be less central in their cult than the ruktlnJ! ihrine for the .cn. Thus the mystery aspect of the cult ould he expressed in the lan~uage. As men play no part in the OIIiCSl'S cult, they need not le.arn the language, and, so far as I • aware. none of the men in Shiare knows More than a few words r phrases of the lanluage. lienee there is an area from which the en are excluded, whose activities are the Bole concern of the women. Thl' Brukunc cult and the wOlllen's cult differ in their relations ith the world outside Shiue. In some .... ays the women's cult operates in a wider world than i'.1t of the Brukung cult, whose members re.ain around the shrine, nd pi1rrims COliC frml outside to consult the shrine. In the O.en's cult, the .... omen ~o out to be initiated, and are brought into on tact wi th peoples and customs different from their own. The nifyin}' coheSive factor amon& these different peoples is the tilt. and the cult language i" the bridge. Tho analysis offcTed earlier of the sochl CO_ronents of r.lar(', that is the ~roups hased on descent, lineage, suhclan and lan, and the r('li~ious associations. the Brukun!! cult, the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh , ,lilt ;11,,111., Chri5tians, showt"d that rach of these W3~ )..;~'J ;,((onlin~ to certain principi('s, that each hnd its own ft'!.;1 rdinr n'l" rut t.cot, and th ..l t each has a ccotr!" 0 f aut hOTi ty, ;llhl limited thourh this '141y tie. Within the descent r,rours , )Tit)' is limited, and cOII"'ensurate with the size of the troup; it is at its most limited io the elementary hllily, and at ;tron~cst in the clan. The re1ijtious'i~~f~it their lielllbers the generality of the population, and cut across the boundaries dished by kinship and descent. Of the three groups examined, ;rukuns: cult is the most illlportant in relation to the ~overn- of Shiare and the area of political authority, and the .tians the least sO,as its main strength is outside Shiare. \5 yet its ideology is still alien to the traditional Sioiare Puc to the cOlllparativcly recent initiation in 1962, the me cult is nll'lerically strone. The relationship between :ult and the distribution of authority in Shiare becomes !r.t. "ith the exception of the Shiarewura. every office in rc is occupit'd by a lIe.ber of the cult. This is so because ruent hi)',1: membership. [nevitably this lIe.bership will nse over the years, until the point is reached when not r office could be held by cult members, with the exception of office of chief priest. Prior to the last initiation in 1962. ces !."ere held by potential cult me_beTS, who were subsequently iated. The l,re~umption is that this pattern will be repeated. It st-oull.! be noted that, in principle, there is nothin~ to ent a non-cult li.emhcr "ho is ineli&ible for cult lIeabership OccLlpyin): certain offices or positions, such as lineage head, Y('n sunc1a.n head. a~ the condition is that the hOlder of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh t tLt· ohlc~t man. There are enou~h Chri$tl(' tested and decided. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh f! of the okpere ari, which is ohtained from the clan head of e accused, places it ar.ainst the wall of his house for a few 1I~'lIt~, thell returns "'ith it to his own clan. The ol;perc oyi tick. of the god) is one of the long thin sticks which are .•c ti .. cs placed on the altar duTing sacrifices to receive some the blood of the sacrificial animal, and is thus believed to .ntai.n SOifle of the power and authority of the god. This eerenlony l;nown as S!~(apology); although the charge Dlay not as yet substantiated, the accusation is sufficiently serious for the ,olo~y to be lIade i_ediately. When the Ilan admits the charg:e. 1(' lIIessencer will again take the okpere ori, inform the elders . the ,,·o.an's subelan of the confession, and he will be told to 'in b the lIIan to the hut of the chief priest together with the .tutory fine of two large pots of pal. wine and two fowls. A In ~uilty of adultery is prohibited from entering the territory . the wOIlan's subclan. If he did so, he would be physically ;saulted. He is also the bearer of a .ystical danger. though ,15 is i1Jplied rather than stated by the Atwode. The prohibition I entering the wOIlan's subclan may also be extended to include Ie whole of the wOl'llan's clan. At the appointed tiae, the Jlan, acco.panied by the gesereodibo ,d elders from his own clan and subclan, will calle to the chief riest '5 ri tua1 hut. where he will squat, clad only in a pai r of lOrts. ile will he adnonished by the elders of the woaan's sub- l:r,n, who lOi 11 tell him that his behl!viour is not that expected ! ;1 :-.hiarem:lIl, that to take another lIIan's wife is wron" causes rouhle and spoils the tovn. The elders of his ovn clan will l!'(l C(,rlSUTe hi.. "'hen they have finished. the chief priest LItI..(ln" " .: ... 11 hnv ( .... n. t}>,. " .. hr:lan of the woaan, who squats University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh IJC' t h" 111 ;111 , llu ' l'hie( priest takes" calabash o ( water, st"~ it aloft, in vol. ('~ I!rukun~, askinr. h i " to ,dtnl."!' s th e' ,' .on)' anll I'CIAOV e th C' t rouhlt' which h3S he en hrourht on th e II. lit" pOlin lihation, prayinit to Brul.ung, them offers hoth the ;\lId the younG boy t he calabash, from whi c h they drink . He n pours water over their hands, takes the i r hands and joins .. ( ('latC' 12). Thi!' marks the end of the ceremon), . This ('ase dj Hers f roa the preceding in that the e.phasis i s s on the judicial aspe c t than on the ritud. Adult e ry, though uncoalllon, is potent i ally very divisive, and cannot be condoned. ill~ thl' caH, peo ple abandon the ir work, and the norma l life DC town .. ay be d i s rupted. Thus the i ntention oC the (lTOCeSS would • to be to end th e tens i on between t he t wo pa r tie s and effe ct econciliation, ra t her than to punish . The fine, while Mo r e n nOllina1, is hardl y punitive. The role of th e okpere ori is very important, representing 8S does the rower and author i ty of the s hr i ne ; to flout it is to ut t he ;mtlloTit y o f the s hrine. When first taken to the head t llf' 'Io'o"an t s 5ubelln. it is an apology (~) on t he p ll r t o f ll ,ln ' s subelan, and this aust be accepted by the wOllan's s ub- n, who will also deterJline the time for the cerellony of onciliation. It thus brings the partie s together, and initiates p rocess o f r ec onc i li ll ti on. I'ihen taken the second tille, it ords .. safe conduc t ( o r the Man . The final ce re.ony i !'- sy mb oli c . The younJe, boy , as well n ":'h' )O(' ntinJ: th. WOM;\n 's Group. may also be seen as a s ymhol Il'hocence. as his ve ry youth will preclude his having couitted serious wronc. lihen the cerellon y has been cDapleted,the t.: l ' ;q ; L11 t'n J, publi cI )', no matt !;, T wha t people lI a), feel University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Iv ;lf,ly. It InUst never I'te the c.use or occ.sion of tensions q'. ... rre1:" be-hC'(-n the- subclans, or disrupt the life of the town. TIl(' final cerc.ony i s lI;"own as ~, ~hose basic l'IIeaninl: :\ ce re.ony involvin~ cie.nsine or purific.tion, with the .,lication that .ystic •• danger, or aspect» of the .Y5tie.l .rtd, are involved. In the e.se of adultery, ~ is the re.on)· by which harmony is restored to the com.unity, and the tngtrous consequences of the .ct reMoved . The question of ~ I thi s c.ontext, and the aeanings of the terril as used 8J'IIong the Inj. and the Ashanti, is dhcussed more fully in Appendix 3 r at .e conclusion o f the lull .ccount of the adultery case The okpere 0ri is not used ..,hen the man and the wo.an he long ) the s ...e subcl.n. If the case 15 ' confined to one clan only. Ie ~ cere.on y is conducted by the clan he.d . When both clans rc involved, then the cere_ony is perfol'1led by the chief priest. Politic.l and Ritu.l Relations Between Shiare and other At..,ode To..,ns Today the other towns in Atwodeland .anage their own affairs ) • areat extent~and probably did 50 traditionally. The earlhst uvellers to the Atvodc- area coaaented briefly on the role of the hief priest. Uavid Asante, • Ch.ristian IRis sionary of Ashanti irth, referred to the chief priest as Kin, of the country Chrisuller 1888:255) . A little later, von Zech (1898;107). and lose t Ug!! : 4.l9 ) mAde the same observation . All three c.iRe froll ocict.ie:" "'ith highly centralised politic.l o TKanhation, and would ossibly have enlaed that the most powerful person in the land oulJ exercise a political role. It is significant that the ~.id priest ",'U the only person to wholl this role could have 'ttn attributed . The other At"odc towns are subject to Shiare University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -ltJ7 - L COLO~IAL ANn POST-COLONIAL POLITICAL SYSTEM So looJ: :J~ the traditional system of authority was allowed orC'nUC', there wa~ no need to differentiate the offices of chief iC'sl. (okperegyoro hIe). with ritual authority, and the chief liarcwun, or~. i.e. chief of the land), with political :hority. Not only was it unnecessary. it was impossible. The tent of the Europeans introduced a new ele.ent into the Iditional polity. which. self-sufficient though it was in its I terns and within tbe lillits in which it operated, was inadequate .eet the de ••n ds of the new structure and patterns of thought :hin which the Europeans worked. Hence a new office was created, 'ohing a figure who, in the eyes of the Europeans, was a chief ~}, a person with whom they could negotiate in matters rel.tin~ politics and administration, but who, in terms of the traditional lode reli~ious and political structures, could be no .Ore than a ,Ienger or appointee of the chief priest. who alone is vested h ritual and political authority. as he is custodian of the ·in~. and of the Brukung gegyakpa. t.he stool of Brukung, t.he t sacred object which the Atwode have, and which represents Ilung amon, them. This point will be discussed in Chapter 7 the context of the yaa festival, where it will be seen how the t'l is excluded from the ceremonies connected with the stool, 'felS the chief priest performs all the ceremonies related to stool. de.onstTatin~ the source of his authority. The process of European imposition on the Atwodc tradi tional uctUTC was gradual. Two periods 1lI8y be readily distinguished. It of the German adainistration and that of the British, and 'Y vill bl:' considered in that order. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh rower. In this kind of sonety. the sacred is ont> dinumsion tht" roJitica1. Rt>ligion m:ly he an instrUilent of power or rdon, and an a!'OSUTance of le~itillacy. Section I will discus!'- political activity in Shiarc itself, ~o'ial control is maintained, and the part played in thiS by shrine and the chief priest, how Shiare relates to the rest Atwode, and how. tTadi t iona11 y, Shiare may have been engaged itieally kith other states. Section II will eXaJlline the creation the ~radual development of the role of the Shiarewura, and r.radual involvement of Shiare and Atwode in wider political ld~ . POLITICAL ROl~ OF THE SHRINE AND THE CHIEF PRIEST Structure of Political Organi mHon in Shiare The traditional pre-colonial political organi zation of Shiare not known, but it is reasonable to presume that in its entials it rcseables that as found in Shiare today. ,,"ithin Shiare, the political organi'Zation is eabedded in the uJc/suhc1an/clan structures. with the head of each group rCising at least embryonic pOlitical authority, as well as (or.ing certain ritual functions. Breaches of custom. quarrels disrutes are discussed and settled at the level on which they ~{'. The ]owC'r the level, the rewer the people involved. The I of absolute political authoritr, exercised by one individual, unknown in Shiar<~; authority is seen as so.ething inhering the> ~rour. IIIOrc $pecifical1y in the group elders,who will meet, ibnatc and dec- ide under the leadership of the head of the up. The head of the group will cOlMland respect, he will be krd to as the leader of the group. but he does not act alone. :lutelY, in resolving quarrels and disputes, but in consultation University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh II. otlll'l \' ldeTS of his Jtroup. SOfftct iaes eld t.· r ~ frOIl) olhrT HI!, !' wi 11 1.(' (,;llled ill to help in the delibeT.1tions. Thus. C ; I ~: \' IH'a J ..... y invo"'" his subclan head and other elders from (Ii clan , and a subclan head aay ask the other subc1an heads an jrrs to join in the discussions . The aatte r in question is ,ndcd as being the a f fair of the group concerned, and w111 ci.atel)' be resolved by the elders of that group, the outsi To.; vi nJ:; a consultiltive role . When the .atter is one which cone Tn e whole clan, then the clan head will deliberate and discuss til the subelan heads, and otheT elden from the c13n. They rtly invite me.hers of the other clan to their discussions . At these levels, the cult and political leadership coine! \. group heads are cult .eabers . This, of course, will de~n d cult lHabership decreases, the ~roup headsh.ips will be :cupied by potential cult .e.bers. As group heads. they wil be ;Iodated with the clan heads in political and judicial lutte .., :latinJ! to ShiaTe. As non-cult .e.bers they are excluded fr ' ruin deliberations which aTe conducted by the senior cult ~.bc rs only. These satte r s are those relat i ng to external )lit ieal issues affect inl: Shiare. They are discussed by t so restin& on the authority 0 responsible f or all aatters Vell-be.n2l_,hiare. Non-cult lIteeben canno University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh t1.1" rrollJl. :1n~1 a~ the th. ..· nears (or the next :1.1t1011 It l,il1 ..:onsist oC only" few elders, one of who. will ,\- .. h(" till' <"idef rricst, lIaintaining the essential link between ~oJ ;JnJ the cOMMunit)'. Until recently, this Slunll group of [ clders could detenine and control to SOlie extent Shiare's ations with the outside world. Section II will examine how ern pOlitical structures in Ghana has affected this traditional e of the cult elders, and how they are more and more dependent n the person of the Shiare'WuTa. At the apex of the system of political leadership is the ef priest; when the matter in question is one which affects Iohole town. the chief priest will be appealed to. The role authority of the chief rriest are prill\aril)' ritual, as his ii::nation indicates okperegyoro bIe , i.e. chief priest of the inity, or shrine. The chief priest is the mediator between divinity and the people; it is he who presents to the divinity petitions of the people, and who conveys the decisions of the inity to the people. The divinity is the mainstay of the stence of Shiare. It "".5 he who hrought the people to their sent abode, and who Rave the ancestors the rules or laws which e to Jtuide their lives. The Shiare people speak often of the to.s of the ancestors, and reference is made durin, the oTtant Yaa Festival to these cu~tOIlS which were first given the ancestors and continued until the present generation. The I~(' of tradi tion is strong in Shiare thinking l and the kind of hOJjt)· found in Shiare would be the traditional type in Weber1s lolo~y (Weber 1947:341). The other types of authority posited "-eber. rational-legal and charismatic, are not applicable to ! Shiare !'yst .. Tht' lncumbency of the office of chief priest University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .. L UI ,. t" tin' individual qualities possesHd by its incumhcnt, ,- , ' c.ls 10 the office hy virtue oC his sen i ority; pen ona1 'I ~' _,. I 1 , I\(_t a rel("v;omt (:Ictal'. The office. and its cOTTespond- aut hOTlt~· . an..' le~it i_i sed l1y the shrine. Ilcvi3n(\.·s or bTeaches of the rules or noras governing the iety .re breaches of the tradition which WitS first established the divinity through the ancestors. Not only is the pOlitical social order chal1co,cd or threatened, but the authority of shrine itse] r. PunishMent for transgressions are i»puted to shrine, and not, for e:!tuple, to the ancestors. as is found other societies. The Shiare people Tarely £ear the wrath of the eslon. and. rarely speak of them in such teras. The place :upied by the ancestors in ancutor-orientated societies is taken, Shiart', by BrukWlg. Thus the chief priest, as custodian or ,hSllsn of the shrine, has the authority. sanctioned by the rine, to ensure that the ancient traditional custOllS are observed, j trans¥ressions punished. The chief priest has two i_portant roles. lIis seniority in ~ clan .a1ces hi. clan head, and as such he is resflonsible for aling with lIIatter!' within the clan, as well as perfoming tual functions at clan level. Hi. seniority within the cui t lts hi ll\ chief priest, and this office transcends purely clan ·n~ideTltion5. As the person with the greatest authority in dne, he has the responsibilitY,with the clan elders, for .1 lin;: '-'ith .atters affecting the whole to. ... n. His political ~ : : :- rit y derives {ro. his ritual authority. lIIl' chief priest. I ike the group heads, does not act alon~ .1 dtter-.inini fiattcTS relating to the whole town, but with E1 roup of elders. The composition of this group will vary, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh late 10 : Nana Mbowura Ayor, mankradu and head of the Gblese subclan. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ' :"' IIJIII !' 011 tht' nature and r.ravity of the •• tteT under discu,sion, " 11 ~ l' or(' consist~ of the t~o clan heads, the subclan heads, ul SOllt,.· othel' elders whose opinion and couns,"l are resrccted. :hcr elders Ihay take part in the discussions, but decisions are .11:111)' taken by the 5aa11 ~roup consis ting of the clan heads. ,bclan heads, and a few other elders . One other official is '''.)'$ iii melllber of this group, the ~ (frca the Akan, £!!!.!!!.' 5ute' and kradu, 'key') . The office of fIIankradu is a political le, and seeas to have been introduced into Shiu'e when the office f Shiarewura was created, and is closely associated with the fflee of Shiarewura.l The relationship hetween the two offices U) be discussed in the following section. The office is held '! ;I s ~nior elder; the present holder is Hbowura Ayor, head of the bl~s~ suhchn. The previous holder was Nana Kwao. who was chief Tiest before Nana Gesu. the pre.ent holder. Nana Kwao was ankndu before becol'ling chief priest. but continued to hola ' the {fi cc of mankradu as well a5 that of chief priest. When dispute s arise within the "town, people lIay refer to be chief priest hi.self, or to the aanler.du, or to one of the tntt:uist5. The /JIankTidu will acquaint hiluelf with the issuos ftyolvcd in the case, and infonn the chief priest, who will appoint time for H.e elders to useable and discuss the matter. If the hid priest is approached directly, he will infom the .anleradu. 'ho is alway s present at the .eetin, . The .ankradu hia5elf cannot :111 an asseably and preside himself, but there are cases which len to concern the .ankradurather than the chief priest. While I was in the field, a case was referred to Shiare {roo :h~ town of lro• • si. Shiare. as the seat of Brukung, and of the ;hiarewura. who is als o para_GUIlt chief, is regarded al the court University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 'late 11 : Nan. Gesu, chief priest and head of the Awuku clan. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - JS4- H r ht'st :l.Jl pl' :.I. The cas€' involved a .an who cballeJlRed the" pointllCnl oC 1 inguis\5 to the chief of KroJlasi. and insulted I" /11.1111...· ...1 .. . rhe;- .. ;m ";I~ sC'nt to ShillTe. and th e case ,,'5 heoT the .ankradu, with SOlIe of the senioT elders. 1:lIe Tole of th a.radu in thi s case was probably associated ""jth his connectio th the Shiarewura. who is responsible for political lutters tside Shiare . As the case concerned a flatter outside Shiare. e ••o krldu dealt with it. In this respect he was acting a5 to deputy of the ShisTcwura. The Atwo4e political organi %ation does not correspond to ther of the polarities proposed by Fortes and Evans-Pritchard their se.ina 1 study of African political systems (1940). The ",Ddr do not have iI centralised political tyste., and do , not proximate to states such as the Zulu or the Banyoro. NOT do ey approxi.ate to the seg.entary societies. typifie d by the liens! and the Nuer. thouf:h thei"!' political organisation has ao r (oamon with the latter than with the centralised states. The ic f priest's role is aore clearly defined than the ritual figulJ' y he said to have a political organi ation . What is seen in iare would seclii to be a highly developed cult and nU,iou5 ~ani :ation. which simultaneously serve the religious needs of ' I' re(\r1 e and J:uarantees the c.on~inuancc and stability of the -Cla l s y SI('n; . Event s o r _ctions which threaten the internal ,reon), of the soci~ty are .et with by procedures whlch arc buU Ito th(' structUT(' DC the society, and administered by the elder University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Plate 118 : Nana Kulahom.e, head of the Cha clan. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh t ! i' rlt v o r th (' " hrin£' its£'l f. I ke p{Hitl C d ~y st('m is not sepOlT8te fro_ the rcti~i.ous. I .lcr,· nd s upon it; the political function of the chief priest :l conco_itant of his ritual office • •~ ihen matters of • political cure arise, the chief priest becOlles the focal point of authority, j, to~C'ther with the elders, provides an authority structure Ich, ,,·ithin the traditional fradlework, was sufficient to Pleet t dea.nds made upon it. The dellands of Jlodern politic!, which • frOfi without Shiare. demanded new responses, which will be scussed in Section II. Two cues will be discussed to illustrate ways in vhid .nels or disputes are settled in Shiare. The cases are ..t ailar. involving quite different issues and quite different t~ of reople. and involve different kinds of settlelRent proc edures. The first case cOQcerned three elderly Shian wOllen who aded. in Shiare. by selling akpetishe. a locally produced spirit de hy distilling palla wint'. The spirit was distilled by some n, in the bush, and sold to the wOllen who, in turn , sold it tail to the townspeople for an agreed price of one' cedi (£'1.00) r pint. or !-O TH.· sewas per half pint. Recently. the wo.en had C'n setHne at a price above that agreed, at two cedis (t:2.00) , pint. Thi!t c aused sOlIe annoyance in the tovn; when it was our-ht to the notice of the distillers. they were angry, and unded th;tt the wOllen be punished. The case 'Was reported to the jef priest, sho su.aoned the three woaen to appear 1n front of shut . The- chief pin. t. Nana Gesu, hi.self presided over the case • .s isted by Nan :. Kulahoae. head o f the Cha c1811. ~owura Ayor heads. Several Other elders University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .. "n' :' I,,' III, .1. . " C' n- • •m y Cli. ·(\(lh'T~. One of the" eldc r ~ t.ol.1 I ~ ,,( Itric!Iot the nature' of the dl8T8c, lOtatinl! that this hL'h :n ' our • ~roi I in.' thC' tOWll' _ The old WOatcn. wh('u quest ioncd hy .. un ArOT, adaitted that the)' hnd Ch.1.TJ!.ed ",arc than the nJanl pTice, ;)nd that they wanted lIore profit . Several of J.t trs spoke durin~ the hearing, disapproving of th e wo_en "S itude, claimina it was against the best interests of the to '0. o! the woaen, acting as spokeswoman for the three , adlflltte t they wert' aware that what they were doing was not sanetio eel ,enera] .areellent, that they had not discussed the matter k' tli lien who produced the 'pirit, but had acted entirely en the T initiative. and had i~nored a decision arrived at during a .,10us lIeeting, when the prices were agreed upon. The elders. i.e. the chief priest, Nana kulahome (the hea the eha clan). the lIankradu and the subclan heads, retired 0 cuss the verdict. The wOllen were found ,uilty of break in. n ce_ent. of 'spoilinJ( the town'. and of causing b ad feeling. fine was illposed, but they were warned that if this occurre in it would be trented as a serious JII..!.tter, an d that a fine 111 hp illpose(i. Thi~ case wa s a simple one. Ie town. hut did not challenge anything fundamental in the' ial struct.ure . It does, however, indicate the forlll which t h e tlellent of disputes takes in Shiare. Charttes are brought. nd cue is heard publicly. Each 'ide is allowed to brinl: ne5SC5 to ,upport their version of the events; in the case .nihfod , the defendants did not bring forward any witnesses. In 't'r cases, the)' 'Would do so. As it ",as a lIatter affecting t e lit cOImuni ty. both clan heads were present, and also the sa ) 1 se. The shrinr was not University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 .: ,tl y IHvoh' J . l"xce~t at t ht, tl'r.inninr.. when J!rukun~ and . of the flore prominent ancestors were invoked during the l i lllill,1TY lihation . Rut. hy virtue of his office. the chief .s! 1oI00S rcg:lrdeti ... ~ h;1Vin!! the authorit)' to detenlline the cn~c . rh(' second ;:;:Jw:son:::ene!o:~luixt.erlrlVOIV1ng as it did several : lans. from both clans; it began as a localised affai r between subdans. both in the Awuku clan, and rapidly expanded to olve the Cha clan, and thus becue a lIatter {or the intervention the chief priest. The course of the case brought out the hanls.s whereby the various groups involved were brought ('tl,n to discuss the mAtteT aDd effect a reconciliation . It (l Jeaon!>tT3ted how the author! ty of the shrine is used in ious disrutes. The case itself is given in full in Appendix 2 • .. in features of the procedures used in adultery cases are crlbed here . If a .an suspects his wife of havina cOlUlitted adultery. he ,I take her to his linea.e or subelan head ,and she will be ;ed to name the .an. If she denieS the charge, the ceremony ikrase getan (the slauahterina of a chicken) is perforaed, to :er.ine whether she is telling the truth; if the chicken dies its breast she is gUilty. When the charge has been proved, j the n ••e of the .an obtained, a liessena:er will be sent to (or. the lineall.e Il1ld the subclan heads of the accused of the aT,c. 1f th~ man is in ShiaTe he will be sUftlaoned before the dcrs of his subclan to ans,,'er the chaT'ge. If he is not .~di3tely available, a Jae$5enger will be sent to the head of (' "o.",n '5 suhclan with a provisional ackno'-"ledtteHnt of the H~C. and an apolo~y . The messenger, gesereodibo('bearer of C' ap o lo~y' ) carries to the ),ut of the head of the woaan's !tubel.n University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Ichi. one lI.".-adyo. chief of Pa".-a, an Atwode town. was installed his successor; he died shortly afterwards. and was succeeded hi!> son, Kwaku. and this, according to von Zech, was popular ;h the people (Von Zech )898: 110). Von Zech1s account is not ate clear. Up to this point, pOlitical and ritual author it)' -e cOJIIbined in the office of chief priest. Either the Germans iulled Kwaku as chief priest to succeed the deposed chief. Intine, or they imposed kwaku as a chief, in the political sense . . latter is the more likely interpretation. I f the GerJlans :ended to destroy the shrine. they would hardly install another ief priest. As it SO happened, they were evidently unaware of ~ principle which governed succession to the office, and Akane !reed as the new chief priest to succeed Kwantine. Von Zech !s the word '~' (king). which would support the interpretation It it was the pol i tical office, and not the ritual one. which I in question. Under the rules governing the success ion to the ief priest lit is clear that the chief priest is always chosen Jill Shiare, even though .en fron the other Atwode townsllay also initiated. Kwaku tlay well have been- a cult lIlember, but there lId have been opposition to a chief priest being imposed in a , contrary to the long-established custoa. It was at this point in time that the Atwode were coapelled acknowledge Gerrlan authority, and lost thei I' ind~pendence. In rch 1918, just prior to the aSSUMption of the .andate at the end the First World War. a Bri tish official sub"i tted a report of ~isit to chiefs in the former German colony. He describes his sit to Shiare as fOllows:- University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - l i O - 'Til(' Adjuti tribe live par!ly in, the p~ains but the chief villl,e, Shure~ 15 up In the ~!!!~h n~~~~k~r w:~~~c f~~e~~y t~:j~;:~ ~!n!~~er8ble reput01tion, beinr,. consulted by the.AshantiS and other surround ins. tribes before gOlng to ~ar. The chiefs wholll I aet at Shiare were unanlaous in their desire to reaain under the English ~~;:~~a:~ ~~to~o~.d ~~:: ~!~:b~r!~~d t~~ first Bisllarkburt (sic) in Adele by Dr Wolf in )888 the Adjutis maintained an attitude of passive resistance to the Genuns, and it was not, accordinG to von tech's account, until 189b that they W(oTC cOIIpeUed to acknowledge Geraan authority in consequence of the chief of ShisTe ~~:c~!~!~g p~~:o~:~ a~di:~~o~~1!~·to ~~:i~h~:! account he was executed at Kractii, after which the Divisions were placed under the authority of the head chief of Adele. Three years allo, at a .eeting with the Adele and Adjuti chiefs at Bi s.arks- burg the latter r epeated their request to be allowed to return to their fOTaer position of independence, and 85 the Adele chiefs raised no objection and appeared to have litUe authority over thea the request was granted'(Ghana National Archives (hereafter referred to as G.N.A.) Ad.in ll/l6Z1,p . U) • The Adele had accepted the Geraan !la, 50ae years earlier; ! ~. had little choice in this, as their country was the fir s t land area to be brou,ht under direct GeT1lu control with the tablishine of the station at 8islflarckbure . The Adele were, J still are. the traditional friends of the Atwedl!', and it was ly with great reluctance, and throur,h fear of the Germans, t.hat r-y accepted authority over the Atwode. The above account does not throw any Ught on the question the chief as oppos ed to the chief priest, but it see.s t h at f Germans did de.and 50lleone whoa they regarded as a chief, h('r than the chief priest. Chiefs, as opposed to the chief iest, now be~in to appear in the Arvode accounts of the period. ,t 1 i~t of the chief pTiests and of the chiefs co.piled fOT me the present Shhrevura, the fir s t chief given 15 Nana Awuku II. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 ;,ciltiuu l't'I;(·;. r. iscs that b · .ku of Pawa wa~ installed c!ltd of the Atwodc. 1 1i~ n.:lhle occurs in Atvode accounts of the ~J1 U of this period, but he is evidently not re~arded as a 4 icC, because he was not from Shi.lrc. III Nove.beT l!H8, shortly after the defeat of the Cermans in ;0 , a British I'olitic" Officer d si ted sOllie of th(' chiefs in : Keh'·Krachi district . He ref'0rts his findings in Shiare .s 'At Schiari I fOWld Akandi who stated that he was really the head chief of the Adjutis. but that the district had been co.pelled by the Governaent to recognise Adele as thei r para- lIount chitf. He told .e that about 10 years ago the Cenuns arrested the Chief and inforaed hi. that he would no longer be Teco,nised as head chief J and would be under Adele in future. On his Tefusal they executed hi.. The present chief was then taken to Kete and asked whether he agreed to be under Adele . In vie'" of the fate of his predecessor, peTforce he consented. The position appears to be that the Geraans arbitrarily fixed the sphere of influence of a paraaount chief wi thout regard to !~~:::!~~~~r~:~h~::~;!:~~~~!e ::~:v~~!I;i:~:n5' recognised Head Chief. As a matter of fact, [ bel ieve the Natives the.selve s kept much to their old divisions and the influence of the- Adele Chief in Adjuti was .ore noainal than rea) 1 (C.N.A. Adain. 11(1/572. p.13) . This text is not entirely clear, but the general meaning se• •s he that th(' Atwode were still nOllinally under the Adele, that :I~U (:appointed by the Ger.ans to be chief) 01' his successor was ,e (political) chief, and that Akana was the chief priest. Now l.1t the CeT.an threat had been reaov.d, Ak.De ••y have been ,kin" for a return to the traditi.onal syste., wheTeby the ritual ld pOlitical offices would be co.bined in the sue person, i.e. Ie chief priest. The neure of 10 yeaTS given by Akane i s wrong; W.1 ~ III fact 18 yeaTs. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Tht' I'ritish Ad.inistration t.etveen 1914, when Toeo was capt.ured, and HUa, when the ritory waf,. ."ndated, the IIritish authoritie s sent officers to the' chiefs to ascertain their views on their future. The od~ w~re ada.ant that they did not wish to return to GeT.an r. (C.N.A. AdlAin. 11/1621, p.19, quoted above). In March 8, the British secretary for Native Affairs held 8 rleetine $hiare, ",hich was attended by the chiefs of all the Ab,ode towns, ne whOil was Akwesi Ojabone, Headehiel of Shiare. It would seem t the British continued the polley of havin, a chlef with whom "y could negotiate. In 1925. the Gold Coast Chiefs' list tained a list of Atwode chiefs, with one Asasewura as Head Chief, h the title of ~ (~, chief of the land), with . notc that , he was Itnstool~d in 1920. Thus the differentiation separation of the offices of chief priest and chief was now ... liz.a.!. The Atwode state was organhed on the Model pf the lanti, with the various towns and their chiefs foraing the lisions of the .Hitary order of the old Ashanti confederation. S ~ chief had a stool father and a Queen Mother and linguists. [ this was superficial. The Shiarewura did not have any power, r ",a~ the Queen Mother th~ person of power and influence IS is !,lad in the Ashanti political structure. The Shiarewura was a rr~se"tative of the chicf priest, and had a very weakly defined le. This "as recognised by the British authorlties : - It seeas there is a little friction between the chiefs of Kpandae and Sl&ri over the huntina tribute of ga.e shot in the area between the Oti and th~ .ountains. But the people are in ftO way concerned . Tribute of this sort is not a native CUUOII. hut WillS establhhed in 1920 in order to ~ive sa.c authority to the chiefs, who had lost what little they ever had under the Ger.a" reeirae. It .ust be re.ew.bered too that the chief of [pandae University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh is an a1 ien a chief superiJD;tosed on th~ Na",'un; and the chief of Siari is in reality llttle othel than the chief linguist ... political represent ... ~~ Y:r~~u~he T~~~of~a~s O~h!~C i~h!:!lr~:e!t q~!r~~~ between such chiefs is not to be taken as a sign of any real trouble brewing or even existing between the people. (C.N.A. Adm. 56/l/S07. Annual Report of the Krachi District for the )'ear endins 31st March 1927. Section I I, Native Affaiu, p.l). The Bri Ush had been as concerne d as the Cermans had be en 0\ Ie question of the power of the shrines, and th e shrine pr' esL , leaking of the shr ine of the di vini ty Dente at Krachi I a B "t h h ~ficia1 wTote:- I all: strongly inclined to believe that the Bosozfo was the real ruler of the country unt11 the Genu killed three of the.; however. I 811 not sure that it would be a wise policy to give a fetish priest so lIluch authority again as he naturally gets his power fro. superstitious fear (G.N.A. Adm. 39/1/3 Notes on Ira chi history, p.3.). The British plan, which they worked OJ] fOT soae years I was H1I1 a Nat.ive Authority. co.prising the peoples of the nort ern 31ta Region. based on Xrachi and under the authority of the rachiwura, This involved investigation of the peoples who ,,",oul ors thr Authority . These investiaations showed how little nderstood these peoples had been. and how diffeTent their \0:0 nditenous traditions were. They also brouaht out the i:apo tanc r shrines and shrine worship in this BTea. The two Blost important shrines in the arca "cre those f ea.te at Krachi, and of Brukung at Shiare. The fomer was he ne best kno ...." o to the British Adilinistrat.ion •• s it was sit atC'd n Kuchi itself. the seat of the local Adcinistration. 1( ~ the replT8tion~ for the foma tion of the "Native AUthol'ity prog ess he political i_portance of the shrine s e.erged, or at leas t ~ortance the shrines had in the past, and hOt.' political lunJ. the shrine s . It hcc ar: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Idt'n( that th~ co. .u nities, around lCrachi which traditionally J ,,"cen s,ubject to the Kr8chiwura, or more properly the chie f IC:,t. wC'rc h:lsiclilly relir,ious co"ullun i tics . scttled there to rship the shrine. It hec ...e equally evide nt that Krachi and wode had a different tradition of shrine worship, that the wodl! did not look to Krachi for religious leadership, but u ed an independent ethnic J:TOUp centred on the worship of their n shrine at Shiare, which also ",as the focal point of pilgr im- es for peoples well beyond the i_ediate area around Shiare. ·id~ntly it took the British authoTities a lona tiee to recognise Ie fact that Adele and At.wode were outside the sphere of Ifluence of the Krachiwura or of the Dente shrine. 50.e reporu "cussed th t' relationship between the Krachi shrine and the lian shrine, showing that. in the opinion of inforaants, th e fukung shrine was considered to be superior to that of Dente, n that Dente was thought to be the son of Brukung.6 The ritish authorities, of course, realised that the!e accounts did ot necessarily constitute objective historical evidence~ but that hey nflected the relative eaphases which were placed on the brines by those for whom they vere i.portant. Even as late as 932, knowledge of the political and reliaious structures of the ,tw(kJe had not advanced very far. A report in that year states:- lnvutigation has broucht to lilht the fact that the . A.d.jati who live in the hills to the north of Adele tiU. a lanluage very similar to the Cuan speech of Krachi • •• Their ruler co.bines both the functions of priest and chi e f and hi:'> territory is the hoae of the fetish Srulc.un~ which is today very .uch aore powerful than Dente. and is consulted by pilgrias froa aU over the Gold Coast and To,oland (C.N.A. Ada . 39/1/32). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8y ]934, the question of the Native Au'thority for the Kr.chi , i on vas still no t se ttlc J. , but OD e point was becoming clearer. had nov been r e cognised that Adele and Atwode did not read ily long to the political area of krachi, that they were too far .oved &eographically to belong t o such. un i t, and that they had If Jl8ny years lived as independent entities (C.N.A. Adm. 11/1532 , lnual Report· TOloland. Wldcr British Mandate, 1934). Adele 111 Atvode were recognised. as i ndependent entities, but ministered froa Krachi . Durin, these years , and while these negotiations were taking lace, little or nothing is known of the activities of the chief riest and of the Shiarewura. According to the Atwode accounts, he wonhip of the shrine had returned. to nOTlIal. with chief riests succeeding to the office according to the traditional .ttern . In the Gold, Coast Lists published by the British dlllinistTation, the office of the Shiarewuril is recorded. along ith the chiefs of the other Atwode towns. But nothing is known .f the functions of the Shial'elllUra during this period, and this I' so, 1 beli e ve , for several reasons. The ch ~ efl5 office was (eakly defined, as power in Atwode was still in the hands of the :hier priest. In spite of the differentiation of the offices, the traditional pattern of euthority continu.d to function. Atlo'ode "IS reaote from Krachi, and even though negot i at i ons VOTe being conducted to detel'lline the future of At'Wode, these did not, at tbat pe riod, affect the traditional patt e rn of life. As had been pointed out by a British official, th~ Shiarewura wa s merely :J spokt'SJ:an f o r the chief priest . and as such could have little P0tltoT or authority in his o"'n right, in spite of the trappings of ,. .. ;, .. h .. ~ ... which were taking place outside Atwode J but ,) Jon,. as these events did not radically affect "tvode, it was ot necessary fOT th e role of the Shiarewura to develop or ('xpand • . Chandan Adainistration lIololever, with the cc.ling of independence to the Gold Coast, nd the eaer,ence of the state of Ghana, • new set of factors had rrea rcd, which affected the Atvode. There were four such factors: • the invol vement of the Atwode in a wider political £i.eld, on hree levels, local, provincial and nationalj 2. the fact that nlike their pre deces sors in the British AdJDini stration, the fHcial s of the new state did not vi s it the areas under their urhdiction, but expected chiefs to appear at the relevant Idllinistrative centre; 3. the use of English as the official . an~unge of govern. .l I.t and ad.inistration; and 4. the two cases InJ one enqui ry in which the Atwocte were invol ved. The first case was a land dispute between the Atl4'ode and the ianu.ha, who live in the area around Bi.billa in the Northern kr-ion. Over" number of yeaTS, the uninhabited tracts of country 111 11ao wC's't and north of Atwodeland h:ad heen colonised by GTOUPS fr (1 l". the north, .ostly ... onko.ba and NanlJalba, laracly as a result of tht' t-uilding of the new Eastern TrWlk Road (p.ll ff. , Map 4). ~ht ~onl;o.ha observed. the custo.s by sendine gifts to thr University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~ ) 78 • llHCWur ;s , thus recognising his overlordship, thourh i T, ractice ttli ~ w:as lar&f'ly no.inaJ. The NanUllbs, t hemse lve !O a .. ntr;1liset.l !'t :lt c , refusC'J to do this, but c laime d the land ns heir own . Lell-al di s cussi.ons took place, eventually the lnatter II tat.cn to the Ili~h COUTt in Accra, where the decision was jven against the Atwode. Howevcr, the Atwode appealed. and fl iJ ," thi s was pending , the _atter was transferred to the ComJllission or 1.3nds and Boundaries. The enquiry involvinl the Atwode arose fro. . a Proclamation ( the Covernaent in 1972, to rnquire into certain patt e Ts oncc rnin~ the Volta Region. This was an issue which affected the hole of the Re$:ion . Cou ittee s were appointed t o enquiTe into .too1s which. according to customary law. are the para.ount 5too1s n the Volta Reaion, and. which of these paramount stools !lho uld I t' gi ven npresentation in the Volta Region House of Chiefs. The .Hues involved in this enqui.ry are very i.portant, as the)' rela t e :0 t he whole question of the recognition of the Atwode as an independent people, with their own stool and traditional para· lount chitfdoa. The Atwode case was heard at Ho, the pTovincial :ap i t:d . on the .th o f AURu s t 197~. The Atwode were r epresented hy t he present ShiarcwuTa, Nanl Oberko Agyei II, and a panel of elders, who acted as advisors. soae of who. were not e lde rs in the accepted s ense of the word, but were educated ShiaTe_en . The hrden of the evidence s ubmitt e d by the Sh i lrewu r a was based on the- oral traditions of the Atwode, and documentary evidence, drawn lar~ely {rOIl th " British Ad", i nistration Arc hives, co.plete with . "rs, to ~ hO\. . the continuity of Atwode inde pendence, and th e hiuorical c1alas of the stool at Shiare.' The findings of the hUr i n" hAve not IS vet been published . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The s('(.ond c.s~ in ",'hict. the At~odc were involved arose in 1n"ct10n with the Co_ittee of Enquiry. and was, and is still ill!! fou,:.ht hctw ccn th e Atwode and the Chell a people (page 14, (Jtnote 7), According to the Chella version of the affair. they rc the.selves the indigenous inhabitants of the 3rC3, and fered a ho.e to the Atwode, when they were fleeing {rOIl the hanti. 3nd over the course of ti.e bec ..e sub.erged by the nUlllerical reriority of the Atwode, They claiM that they were recognised the Gcnnans, who gave to their plra.ount chief various insignia sho~ his position .5 a chief in his own right i they claim that ey were also recoJ:,nised l>y the British, who reduced their 001 frOil the status of a p"rll8ountcy to. division.l one. I>uring ,e hear ins before the Couittee. they were unable to produce any ,cWlentary evidence to support these clai.l. and stated that ling to the ill i teracy of the people and • for other unknown !150nS', the Chella area had always been considered part of the :wodt' Traditional Area. but that in fact the CheUa people did )t rcc.oJ:nise the present Shlarewura as their paramount chief. There is in fact no doclftentary evidence to support this laia of the Chella peoplej they are not referred to in any German r Brh ish docuent. The British CO_iUtOD5 which toured the orlll'r (;era iln territories £rOil 1914-18 visited every chiefdom, but here is no mention in the RrUi5h records of the Chella as an ndependent arca, with its ONn chief. The records do show that he chief of Odollli was present as the chief of a tovn in the tW<,dl' Traditional Area, anti he appears as such in the Gold Coast 1St o( Chich for the British Mandated Territories . The Chella hias were first •• dt' in 1972, when the COlUlission of Enquiry !Ito the' Stools of the Volta Region was instituted , University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh lhis quarrel ""as. and is. a very bitter one. and has led to ~r division in the ~asteTn p.rt of Atwodeland, where the ·ity of the Atwod.e people live. Tile conflict is lloth :1tutional, i.e. pol i tical, and personal. The Chella claiaed N~"Vanta is in their are., and nOMinated a candidate for the (uincy; the Atwode did likewise. and the government upheld !nstooll1ent of the Chella candidate. This was attacked by \twode, who llade representations to the goverMent, who red an enquiry into the aatter. and accerted the evidence that Instoohlent of the CheUa candidate was irregular, and that h enquiTies ihould be conducted to deter.ine the validity of CheLla clailll, and the .utter is now linked with. the question he investililtions beint conducted by the Caa.ission of Enquiry the traditional stools of the Volta Region . On 8 personal level, the quarrel h.s led to the tendnltion aniages between Atwode and Chelle; fllhU have broken out i~ly between .eaben of the two groups, and the Shiarewura elf is being sued by the chief of the Chella for def ..a tion, th~ lineage of Nana Mbovura Ayor, of the Cha clan, is bringing .ction es:ainst the chief of the Chella on _ char,e of def. .a tion . i1,! I'ein~ fostered by Mhowura Ayor died of a fever. The Chell • ..r J that the child had heen shot in aysterlou5 circ ... stances, reported this to the pOlice, who obtained a court order to h8ve body exhuaed.. This ""as ·a very serious .atter, and waa resisted :hc- fallil), of the Mbowura Ayor, and the reople of Shiare. dflces ,,"cn: lI:r.dc to Bru~unG. attellpts were ••d e to challenge court order, but the exhumation .. was carried out, a post Morter! :b.lCted, which showed that the child had not been shot, but had If or re\·er. The event is spoken of with horror in Sh.1are. and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .uH fOT defaaation was filed. Within 3 few years, the Atwode, and particulaT1y the Shi81'e lr1c, found the.solves dral. .. n into the pOlitical and legal :hinery of a Modern state, the workings of which were quite icn to the.. The chief priest, and the whole traditional ~ode systea, were inadequate to aeet the dellands of this new stem; the isolation of Shiare, the illiteracy of the cult nt'lcn, and th~ narrow Ualt, of the Shiare world, could not et the new ",oTld of aodern poli tics and bureaucracy. and understand II cope with it. The office of ShiaTeawura had heen cTeated and troduced into the traditional systell; the early 5hiaTeawlITa had en cult lIe.ben, rooted 1n the traditional life of ShiiTe, bjeet to the chief priest. TheiT political functions were nilla) , acting as they did as l'Iessencers of the chief priest, th no clearly defined authority t and no clearly defined area .hich a political role could be exercised. So long as an temal systell of J,oyeruert could be kept at a distance, and lit traditional poli tical structure allowed to funct ion in Shiare, Icre was no need for the Atwode to !!Ieet the demands of this flew ' Hclll; nor was there any need to allow the role of thp Shiare. .... ura ) Jevclor · lIowcv~r, by the early 19605, it was clear that the Atwode had ) .eet the ne'" political system . This ..... u done, and the office f the Shiarcwura heCaJIe the link which connected the traditional tt l· th' Ill0dcTn . j(l 1>"'(OIllC Shiarewura, a candidate has to be free froll .·.' ~i..: a l and 1II0UJ flaws, conditions which are usually associated l~ : , rh· office of chief in Ashantio The Atwode deUland that the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh lIoes not suffer froll leprosr· Uocs uot have any physjc.l defor.Hy. I!' not a thief. 4. Is 1I0 t 1\n adulterer . Like the offi ce of chief priest. the office of !'hiarewur3 is t hereditar r. but is open to a candidue who fulfils the ,ndition:;. t\ut unlike the office of chief priest, it does not _and that the candidate be unschooled. or that he must be 8 cult !!II-cr. If these were conditions in the past. as they may well IVC been, .:iven the central place of the cult in Shiare, and ;c close associati on of the Shiarevura and the chief priest. ~osc de legate the Shiarewura was, they have now heen fori!ott e n. )T is seniority a factor in the selection of a candidate. How , d "Ie chief ...· as cholen in the ear lier period is not kno,,", but it~"j;«) s possible that it WIS done IS it is today. The chief is now It hosen by the .ankradu. whose office was introduced i nto Shiare ~.f" L hen the offices of chief priest and Shiarewura were differentiate he aankradu, i s 8 supporter. and watchdog, of the stool. There ~T(, s('veral .eanints of the lIo'ord 'stool'. Among the ~h J.lltl , the stool 1s the sywlhol of political office. Thus a chie 111 rde r to his stool. Jleaning his office. and he is sa id to bt' 'nstool ed ",hen he assusnes tht' office , and to be destooled if he is c.oved froa the oUi ce . When a chief dies , his stool is placed 1\ th C' !' too l hOll!'f!, alon g with the stools of previous chiefs, and l· ("~!(,.·S an ance!'olor shr i ne, an object of worship, t o ...· h ich ' acr ifict"s a rc ofiC'red. and which is purified at certain t iTle s . fhere is aha the- Golde n Stool, which belongs to the whole nation. and is said to cont~in the soul of the Ashantl people, and is the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - h ' ] (If the unity of the Ashanti confederation. Ttlt' Atwode have only one stool. the Brukung gegy,~ which ,,!':I- to tile Colden Stool of the Ashanti in that it belong!' to (' ",hole people, and is • sy.bol of their unity, and represents \. rO"'-('f and oluthoritr of the shrine. It is in the custody of e chief priest, and is the SOUTce of his power and authority. en the ritual and political offices began to be differentiated, d tht' Ashanti .ode) of political o1',an15&tion introduced into wode. the Shiarewura 'referred to the Brukuns gegyakpa as the .hol of his authority (there was no other) and would refer to s stool, .eaning his office. He does not have a personals tool th. way Ashanti chiefs do, nor does he have access to the ukung cegyakpa, which is controlled by the chief prlest. The iarevura will releT to hls assWPlptior. of office as chief as in~ 'ens tooled , thoulh he is not literally enstooled, in the hanti faihion. As authorit)' in Shiare is derived froll and eitillhed by the divinity Brukuna, and the stool is the visible .bol of this power, the chief will appeal to the stool of Brukung the source of his authority and h,itilllhation of hh office. Thr stool beco.es ritualised 8.II0nl. the Alan peoples, i.e. It' political has a ritual content. In Shiftre, the stool becolRes sy.bol of polt tical authori ty, i.e. tht' ri tual has a poli tical 111ct . The office of .. ankradu cOll1pl ••e nts that of the chief, and. It'onticaUy, acts as a curb on the power of the chief. In ~fteul , he en s ures that the chief's actions and behaViour are )n ~ 1l1l3nt .... ith the dignity of the office. Theoretically, he is !"(' H On of importance. but given the eabryonlc nature of the hl l ft rli n.-\' ",nee it!'> intrnduction into Shiare, this office, like University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh It of the stool father and the Queen Jlother, .ay have been "ely no_ t nal. Little is )..nown of th e «"arlier lII ankradu5 • • eveT. like the office of the Shiarewura itself, the office of e lI&nll radu has a pol i tical significance, and becomes important ...e nsurately with the illport ance of t he office of Shiarewura. en the chief is absent, h e acts as the chief's deputy in Shiare ; wU noted above hott he presided at the case of the JIlin froa otlllSi who had been sent to Shiare; as this was a matter outside iaTe, and the chief was away, the Mankradu acted .s hh deputy. The chief is chosen alternately fro. the two clans. by the nkradu, who presents his choice to the elders, who .e~t under Ie presidency of the chief priest and the head of the the clan . Ie» discus s the candidate, and give their app roval, or disapproval. Icn a candidate is chosen , he is 'enstooled' accord in. to the ,stoas prevailing pong the Akan 0 Only the Shiu>e elders take part 1 the discuS!ions which lead to the appointllent of the Shlarewura. Jt be will be not only the Shiarewura , but .110 the paramount chief f Abode, ~ (literally, chief of the state. or land. ?!!!! basically aeans 'town', but its aeanina has been expanded o lIean the whole area or state of the Atwode). All the chiefs r Atwodeland aTe invited. to attend the ens tooling . Th e chief- leet will spend a period of seclusion in his house, dUTing which e will abstain froa sexual intercourse. Significant 1s the fact hat thne is no prescription regarciing the use of calabashes for he eating of food, as there is during the initiation of .e.bers nto the Brukunc cult. The office of chief is ne"" to the Atwode, Ind evidently is not &overaed. h)O the ancient rules and traditions Ihich lovern the older traditions and CUSt.OMS. The Atwode say that the chief 'sits on the thigh' of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 18~ - n}..radu; the relationship between the chief and the .ankra upresS(od. aptly. in the idiolll of kinship, and in the fa hl T n relationship, as the chief depends, 'to sOlDe extent, on he nkradu. The Atwodc say that as • child sits on the k.nee r ilh of its hther, and receives instruction, and if neces aT)" rnetien, so does t.he chief stand in relation to the !lanK adu, o will support the cbief, but correct hi. if he deviates rorr e nOnls governine behaviour expected froll a chief. The c ie f thus constraineci, in tva vays, firstly by the fact that is ·fice and role are weak, in view of the traditional bias 0 :wode authority patterns. and secondly by the ••n kradu, wh • in Ie nalle of the people, in effect of the cult eldel'5, can c ntTol 15 appointed ShiarevuTa and Osul."ura, a si.nificant event , 8S ld a literate he vas excluded frOil the cult. Significant , f \e office holder was now leparated froa the cult; it may tie ; .asonably assuaed that a literate Chriltian was chosen 1,: he new demands which were being i.posed on the Atwode. lephen died .fter only 8 .onths in office. Accordinl to t h(> ule under which the chieftaincy should a1 ternate between t he two owner, it was agreed that 8 month, was too short a perio to be onsidered 8$ a reiln, so the ne,,- Chief. Nan. Oberko A lso chosen fro. tbe Gek.do clan . PiMa Oberko was ens tooled in July 1963. He is well el ucated ad prior to his appointaent as chief. worted for SOH yea 5 In University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Plate 13 : Nana Oberko AlYei II. Shiarewura and Osulewura. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 187- 1 governlllicnt in Krachi, which gave hi. experience of the ill~S of bureaucracy and goverMent, if only on a lill'lited "I. Allain, it .ay be assUlied that the At"ode now realised that "ur.::y was an essential qualification for t.he chief; they were ) .dI&itting, if only by implication, that the office of IfeW-Un had changed, that 8 new pattern of authority and power eaer.ed. The appoint.ent of a Christian literate would seelft. first sight. to have weakened an already weakly defined role. further- removing the office from the centre of authority. naaely divinity and his stool. r believe, however, that the contrary the casc. The Shiarewura now operate s in 8 political field which ld be called his own, and one far removed fro. the aore localised cerns of Shiare, particulady the religious and ritual ones, til. properly belone to the chief priest and the cult elders. is possible to see here a diehoto.y; on the one hand. there is ! traditional order. associated with the shrine worship and literacy ~ represented by the ehief priest. and on the other the ~ order. associated with lIodern political practice and bureaucracy, sed on lit.eracy and the written word, represented by the iarcwura. Each has its own proper sphere of activity ••n d ell is opposed to the other, in Salle respects hostile to each her. The cult distrusts literac y~ which is Seen a~ 8 threat the cult. in that the cult tradi tions JIIIay be written down and trayed. Illiteracy is the eneay of aodern bureaucracy. which pends for much of its functioning on its officials having access , tbe- recorded written word. Two fundaaentally different theories . bewledee are being invoked here. The cult has no use for iteracy. but fears it. Literacy aJld Christianity are tbe result r turonean intervention. but ••o re iaponantly. I believe. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - l~S - ('racy is r e j,-,ct ed because it contrad i cts a fundamental u.ption lithich is .ade regarding the shri ne. namely, that the inc is the repository of aU knowledce, that Brukung is all wing, that no event is outside his control. Modern politics e5 different assUliptions, and operates on a different level of lught. The connection, or the lIediator. between these tvo "{erent thought systellls is the Shiarevura . The role of Shiarevura • always potentially siXnificant. and capable of develop.ent. ! necessary catalyst was provided by the novel factor s in which : Atwode found theaselves involved. and which provided a frame· rk in ",hlch the role of the Shiarewra could be sharply defined. "hen I ente'Tod the field in June 1975, the Shiarewura , Nana erko Agyel II, was actively enc.ged in the pol1ticd and lecal tters affecting the Atwode. This inevitably required h*s esence in Ho and Accra, the regional and national capitals. early the centre of ,ravity had shifted front Shiare to the ntre s of gavern.-ent. These political and legal aatters also ~.anded that the Shiarewura spend large periods of time away fro. liare. In each of the Matters with which he was dealing, he was lIe to intervene di recUy, on the var taus levels requi red . H(' !.It penonally with the leaal docWlents and the conco",itant :lrrespondencc resulting frea the cases . In the )latter of the presentation of the Atwode eVidence for heir claim to be recognised as an historical. independent Iraaount chieftaincy, the Shiarewura himself researched the elevant •• terial in the National Archives . In this. of course, he cult elders could not and did not play any part. The .hine\lura reI ied heavily on a group of helpers and advisors. , all 'f v hm. "''''TP p~ucat.ed Shiareaen, and as such excluded fro. cult University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 18:'- 'ship, but involved in and couitted. to the interests of the . people . Thi s latter point is i.portant in its own rieht , 11 he discu5 s ed in the final chapter, in the context of Ilt and socill:l change . rhls ability to participate directly in, and to 50.e extent )1 and direct the factors affecting Shiare and Atwode brings st rength and ueaning to the role of the Shiarewura. Like redecessors, he reports back to the chief priest and the 5, who discuss the issues involved, but the Shiare\lura is no r 5iaply an eMissary of the chief priest and of the elders. e past the issues be ina negotiated between Kracht and Shillre have been cOllprehensible to the Shiare elders, as they still, to a ,reat extent, within the traditional fruework Ithority and jurisdiction which were f .. tliar to the elders. h no lonler the case. The i,sues under discusJion in tic \ccra are beyond the competence of the elders, 8S are the ;iples which underlie thea. The Shiarewura and his advisors aake decisions by theasei ves, often in Ito or Accra. Thus. ccasion., what 15 presented to the elders are not 11atters which can CHSCUS5 and assess, and thus approve or disapprove. but l'TS which have already been decided and a.reed upon by the revur. and his adVisors. On other occasions, the Shi.rewura lIIay ent _attel'S which are as yet not decided, and which lIay thus liscusted; but they are of such a naturlr that the elders will tUided by the Shiare. .. ura as to their aeanlng , and whether they lld be accepted or rejected. Often. these matters. particularly If which require a speciali s t Imowledle of the law, will be ODd the competence of the Shiarewura, who will thus depend on _a"A,. -- - .... . ~ .. 4' ....... lAvv~r~. but it is reasOilule to aSSUDe University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the Shiarewura would grasp the point at issue. The rowe-r to .ake deCisions still resides in the- council 0 !T5, who must give fonal approval, and who will place the ~er before the shrine, to seek advice and guidance, thereby ln, approval frolt the source froll which all leeitiJlate )ority in Shiare derives. ShiITe people say that the chief is responsible for .atter ch belonl to the governaent, that the chief priest is respon .atters pertaining to the shrine, and for .atters which rel te Shine. They say that the ehief priest is the IIOst illportan in Shine, and indeed it is to the chief priest that they 1 ok cern, as seen in the two cases brought before the chief tions of the role of the Shiarewura still refltain, and are 'ious in tenns of the patterns of lovernaent and the day to "'~ of the town, which still reflect the traditional patterns. ~ ShiaTewura is an aDlbiguous figure when he is resident in lare. Although treated with respect, he is clearly suborclin te- the chief priest, and is not pra.inent in the i.partant eve ts the life of the town, the rituals. which are a prominent fea tuT daily life, especially the daily sacrifices, and the consul - )ns .... hich take place at the shrine. This, of course, is nitablc, and does not constitute Ul accurat.e or true criteri on '5 : (' $.5 tht rcle of th st,iareliura wit.hin the totality of Shl arc j AtlOodc affairs. Th~ aost iateresting and Significant difference between t iarewura and the cult is the relationship of the Shiar8wura a • ,.t ...... 1 t .... Rrl1\olln" oP"vakna. The chief priest owes his University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh tion of eainence , and his authority and jurisdiction, to his IS custodian of the s tool, and to hi' role us inter.ediB.ry eell the shrine and the people. The Shiarewuna clailllos. rightly J his office is derived froa the stool, even though he is eel access to the shrine . and plays no pATt in the various lils associated with the shrine, and with the stool. However, i~ two elai.s are not contradictory. but cO!lple.entary. The :ess of the differentiation of one single office into its ponent partl has reached a pOint in its develop.ent when it is possible to discern each office as an independent, clearly ntifiable entity. with its own proper function and its own per sphere of activity, with ritual authority r esiding in the ef priest and political authority in 'the Shiarewura. HO""ever, s shOUld not be regarded as an abSOlute dichotOllY. There is ana of overlap, in favour of the chief pJ;iest. who is still lardeci as the inc_bent of an office which is responsible for l the affai rs of Shiare and Atwode; part of the functions of is office have been delegated to the Shiarewura to lDeet new lands and si tuations which cannot easily be acco. .o dated within e traditional structures, and which are beyond the co.petence of e chief priest. Both are fIIinisters or .tervants of the shrine, d each in his own way responsible to the shrine for the we} 1 ing of those who are under the jurisdiction of the shrine j broadly .eakine. the area of responsibility of the chief priest lies thin Shine and Atwode, that of the Shiare",ura outside. Thus Ie Shiarewurats politit:al role in Shiare is less important and :ss ~;illrk('d than his Tole outside it; .atten which can be handled ,d resolved within the traditional structures are still so handled . , the level on "'hieh they OCCUT . Wi thin Atwode there is one BTea University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 192- ere the dd('f. rather than the chief priest will adjudicate, d th3t is ill the question of disputes concerning land boundaries t.,eeon Atwodc towns, but this concerns .atters outside Shiare. e ShiiTe people say that in the past this would have been ard Uld decided by the chief priest and the elders. No such st" arose during .y period of field work, but [ ",as told that would be heard before the Shiarewura. and the m.ankradu . This uld scea to be related to the function of the Shiarewur8 as diating between the Atwode and the Govern.ent, as unresolved sputes would then be referred to the Lands and Boundaries ..i 551on, which would brine th' Shiarewura 1nto direct contnct th Govern. .n t Adainistration. The chief priest and the Shi.rewura, then, are not colftpetingj Iry coapleatnt each other . The Atwode aade the transition froJ'll, Ie traditional pattern of goveTTUlent to involvement in 8 .oclern ate with cOMparative ease, due to the existence of an of £ice lid was originally i.posed, and remained durine the colonial !riod largely no.inal because outside events and forces did not apinge with any great degree of iJlJlediacy or cogency upon the tvode. When they did, the potential within the office was :tualised. The chief priest does not seell to have .uffered any i.inution in his powers or exercise of his poweTS •. which(l. radi ttonally. were not concerned wi th events outside Atwode. (Cept in his deaUn,s with those who caae fro. outside to :lRsult the shrine, on Jrlatters pertaining to the affairs of a ~rJ:c state, as in the case of the Ashanti, or on matters of ocal or persona) concern. This is still the function of the hi~f "riest, and the cult acabers, in which the Shiarewura plays • Dut. Thr !tt' new externa.l l'Iolitical factors could be dealt With University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the Shiarewufa, who i!' s till seen, I believe, as the ruentative of [he chief priest and the elders. The present union, is one which works to the advantage of AtW'ode, and which can be controlled and exploited by the elders. They • I believe. control the Shiarewura, throu~h their control of shrine. and through their denyin& the Shiarewura access to shrine. The necessity. and I think it was a necessity, of ina a literate Shiarewura, again worked to their advantage . condition of literacy which qualifies a candidate for the itt' of ShiarewuTa lutc:aatically disqualifies him from cult ,bership; so lonl as the Shiarcwura is a literate. and there every likelihood that this will ccmtinue to be so, then the .arevura cannot succeed to the office of chief priest . Therefore. , ShiarcWUT.3.·S role is ccmfined to the area discussed above. and ! chief priest's ",uch as it has always been. There are. however. certain assumptions underlying t.he .ertions just .ade. The continued i.port.nce .nd significance the role now played by the Shiarewura in contell!.porary Atwode fairs depends on the continued existence of the conditions which lught his role into proainence. Alain, - there is every likelihood .t this will be the case. The Co_ittee of Enquiry into the lta Region is trying to detem.ine which stools in the Re,ion VC' clai.s to being parUiountcies. If the Shiare stool is jud,ed to be so. then it wi 11 be drawn closer into the pol it ieal fairs of the region. The Couittee thinks that there aTe too ny poss ible stools in the region for all of thell to obtain prcscntat ion in the Region House of Chiefs. which would become o unwieldy . Crouping is thus necessary . At the hearinl, the lUC'wuU al!fl'cd that if his stool is recognised as a paramount University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 01, At"ode would cOilbine with its neighbours and traditional ends the Ade le and the Ntrobu, whose Chiefs would sit in ation in the House of Chie fs in Ho. This would enhance hi s hority, more cle arly define his role, and allow hill to playa t in the affairs o"C the province. and allow hi. to represent "ode interests in the regional capital. Another assuaption is that the 8rukWlg cult will re.ain a Ised system, with its ins i stence on the condition of illiteracy. ! evidence of the past and the pTe.ent would se elll to sUlgent that ,5 , too. will be the case , but this point w111 be resuaed in the III chapteT, which will examine ,o.e significant factors which : war kin, in conte.porary Atwode society, and which say have a nible bearing on the future oTientation of the cult. The Tole of the Shiarewure depend, for its legitiaacy on t shrine, wh i ch 15 cootrolled by the chief priest, and the ssibUity of conflict seems unlikely. The Shiarewura, if deemed acted have/in a lIlennel" unbecoaing to his office. lIay be destooled; e elders have the rilht to appoint a new Shiarewura. suggested the IlAftkradu . So far as 1 am .ware. a dest.ooled Shiarewura, d there is n o record of any suc.h, has no right of appeal, nor es there see. to be any lIechanism for £ol1ling a faction to IPport the Shlarewura. Uhi.ate ly. the ShiaTewura is undeT the _nrol of the cult elde rs, and this would seem to he the Jlost "feethe curb on the povor of the Shiarewura. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ootnotes to Chapter -1 I . The manlcradu is arrointed by the clan heads and the elder:t. The present Shiarewura told lie that ~e thoug~t the office c ..e in with the Europeans; otheT\ou se nothIng is known of tbe origins of the office. However, . it .ay be suggested, tentatively, th.a t it . ay h.ave had Its origins in the person of the priest . of an earth cuI t which .ay have flourished in the Shlare area before the coaing of the Atwode. When the Brukung cult took root it displaced the earth cult, but indigenous earth cults a r e important, and cannot be ignored, so the office of earth priest would survive in SOlIe form, to emerie event.ua1ly as that of the .ankradu. Earth cui ts in northern Ghana survived after the Mosie", conquests, with their s hrines rellaining in the hand s of the auto- chthonous earth priests, with the neweo.ers exercising political authority. This point is discussed briefly later in the context of shrines and their functions (page 262) . Traditionally the Ashanti aI1lY consisted or • series of sections, each having its allotted place in the amy, and under the co_and of a chief or elder. Busia (19 68:13) describe s these ill detail. The followin& are found in Atlriode : * adonten (the main body of fiehting men), ~~!~~)!akr~ffii; (~~nf~~eO~e~~!~!;: ~~r;~~:~o~~~!;nts). Uri : nifa (the r'ijli"f"W"ing), Abrewonkor ; an.d benktut (the left wiiiiT. Nyubon.. The chief of the town ~the nue of the section he coaaands, e . g. the chief of Chilinga hi the Adontenhene. Ohene .eans chief in Akan. L The Shtare shrine evidently had an iaportant role in resisting Geraan colonisation. and this role is also ~~::n~e!~: ~:~~~~~T u:~~i::k~f w:~:~l~:~s ~~e A~!k~:e was to avoid the Europeans and their culture, and to offer the. no help. Cf. page SS and page SS, footnote 4. 4, Guineu (1934: 163) states that the Germans arrived in Shiare when one Lewa was chief priest. and, as he was unwilling to hold two offices, the office of chief was ,iven to one Tinkpo. The Shiare elders reject this entirely. They say that [wantine was the chief priest when the Gem.ns came, and that Tinkpo is unknown to them. ~e:tu r:(e;::~, a b~~a~~e~~~a::s n~h~~!~r ak~oe~ed:~ ~:v~h~een ~~!t'~;(i~e t:!s e:~!rl~e~~~1~e~h!~~ ~:d n:~ :~~C!;~~~g, a:~ In th~ eyes of the cult elders was probably relard~d as uni.portant by thlNl, The first chief known with IIny ceTtainty is Nana Tiakpor Asasewura, who , the present University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Shiarewura told me, anu.ed office about 1920, about the ti_e or the British .andate. and who died in 1938 Footnote 2, page 195. Aaon, th" Atwode and ne i ghbouring peoples ~ente is ~a to be the son o f Brukun,. This point is 41Scussed 1n .ore detail in Appendix 2 (pale 354). The ladu cOfUission. under the chairaansh ip of Nana A,yeJl,an·Baclu, was appointed by the Goverrm.en t to enquire into the •• tter of stools and paramount chief taincies in the Volta Region. During 1914 and 1975 the cOIHl1ssion sat at three centres, Ho, the regional ~~r~~:!~n~P:~~~e~~: ~:t:how E~~!i :~!~a~a~r:~!.;: s p~~: !~e an independ.ent Itool, and were entitled to sit in th Volta Region House of Q"ief s . The Atwode case wa s he Td on the Sth and 6th of August. 197 5 . The official acc unt of the hea r ings ..... ere publi s hed shortly afterward s . T Atwode case is contained in the Proceedings of the Ni nety·fifth and Ninety-sixth Sittings. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -197 - CHAPTER 5 If. SPIRITUAL AND MYSTICAL WORLD OF THE ATWODE In this section 1 shall desc:ribe the spiritual world of twode. For purposes of discussion and analytical descrip- it is convenient to treat the spiritual world .S so.e- apart and distinct fro. the aatedal. ana social world of "day liviD• • in isolation, as it were. But it Rlust be sed that this is a distinction which is not consciously by the Atwode the.selves; they do not see theaselves as Ing in t ..... o ,,",arid., or as living in two diaensions. Their J is a unity. It .ay be re,arded .s co.posite, but the :.ituent parts are not polarised. At various tilles and ti, one merges into the other. The world is ordered. The r of the social world is deterained by the system of patri- al clans and lineages, by the kinship system . by the ciple of seniority and by the worship of the aod Brukung, reinforces the traditional social structure. The Atwode recognise that hanaony is essential for the being of society; haTDonious relations should exist, not between people and groups "in the liocial dOlllain. but "throueh- their whole world, i.e. these relations Ihould exist between yhible and the inv isible world. If the rules governin, ety are not observed, and trans~Tessions are co_itted, . know fro. expe rience that trouble. or varieties of _i5- :w.t, will befall thell. The harmony can be broken or :uTbed in many ""ays, and on different levels. Dishamony OCCur ... ithin the social order; the society has _ec.hanh.s de.lin, \IIi th this. frequently eaployine supernatural - .. - .. h .......... ur betW"een the social and aore serious, and is Usually University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A Hil!:h (;od of this type is fOWld frequently in Africa, d is referred to as the reaote God, or the otiose God. ere is SOlie ju5tification for these titles i the Bod is .ote froa the everyday a£fai rs and concerns of the people. s na.e is frequently on their lips, but they are much lIore a.diately concerned and in contact with other gods. SOJII.e oples, e.g. the Ashanti, assert that God was foraterly auch a$er to h.-an affairs than he is naw, and recount ayths to COWlt for his withdrawal froa the world. Having rationalised is re.oteness, they can now concern the.selves directly and 1\05t entirely with the worship of the gods who are easier access. The Atwode have no .yth c9llparable to that of the hint!, but their ideas of the hiah God are close to those of the hanti and other Akan peoples. It is a feature of West African religious systems that lese hiah Gods do not have pictorial or artistic representa- .ons; this is consistent with their roles in the hierarchies : ,ods Ind spirits, and their not being the object of fomal lrship. The worship of the 100 Bruklmg is the .ain reli,iou5 :tivity of the AtW'ode. Brukung belonls to a class of eods r spirits whic.h is fOWld throu,hout West Afric.. Amon, SODle tDples, e.g.the Ewe and the Yoruba, pantheons of such loda re found. ranked in a relatively ordered hierarchy. One of he features of these pantheons 15 their flexibility and eadiness to accollJllodate ,ods fro. other pantheons, or fro. thtr areas; in sa-e cases gods are being added to the panth.eon, n other cases they are b e ing dropped frOtl\ it. This fact .a)" ~ . .. "'1'",('<'0: ~~ the high God, in that its University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh .oun~SS increases 85 _OTC p~Tsonal gods aTe added to III erarchy . BTukung hi.self seeas to have fOWld his way e pantheons of the Ewe and the Yoruba. in 50-.e cases a a 4 of considerable stature, in others as a ainor deity ltapter 2). Mon, the Akan sp~aking peoples, the class of gods 0 lich Brukung belongs is known as ~ (58' ~). \aOnl the Atwode such ,ods are known 85 lli!!.! (sg. ok ere)) . me of these gods have acquired only a very local slin ficance I thers have becoae tribal or state gods ;others have acq ired f ..~ which extends well beyond tribal or state bounda . es. rukun& is the state lad of the Atwode, and has a reput tion hich reaches well beyond the boundaries of Atwode. eve beyond h~ boundaries of Ghana, and has .ade Shiare a very tap rtant ilgri.age centre . There is no pantheon in Atwode. Throe lods are wo shipped rukung is the chief god, whose worship is confined to hiare • .{ ter Brukunl. the lIost i.portant god is Gagan, whose p incipal ~ntre of worship is in Chilinga, in the eastern part a ltlfodel and, very near to the border with Togo. Gagon i t&tirely fro. the part of Togo adjoining Atwode. Gagon is Ilorshipped in every other Atwode town, with the except n of Abrewonkor. where a lod proper to the town. Gegyoga, is worshipped. These cults are dependent upon the 8rukun cult in Shiare. The jurisdict i on of the chief pri est in Sh "are is acknowledged. and the cult asbers in all the Atvod Ife ini tiated into the Brukung cult in Shiare . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 20] - Gods of the ~ type are copon in Ghana and in ighbouring countries. The aost iaportant ones in the Vol ta Jion are Dente, the god of Krachi, and Friko. who is rshipped by the Adele people, who are neighbouTs of the wade. There seeal to be a strong relationship between ukuna and Dente. It is often aaintained in Atwode. and in e nei,hbouring reeiens. that BrukWlg is senioT to Dente j _ accounts chi. that he is the son of BrukWlg. 2 Such .bs should not b'e taken &5 state.enu of actual relation- ips j they reflect the i.portance and •• inenee which people tribute to their own ,od. These gods have several thil\ls in coaaon. None of thelll thought of as being a high God, but were created by Iruboarc; soaetUies they are said to have been appointed to :t 85 mediators between God and .en. They also have h1rh1y Istitutionalised cults, and a priesthood, with sacred places Id objects associated with the god. The priesthood is not ·,anised hierarchically. This is consiste nt with the egalitarian ItUTe of the social ar.aniaation of Shiare. Seniority 'lenders respect, and the office of chief priest is determined • the principle of seniority. Thus, in Shiare, the oldest :aber of each of the two clans is the head of that clan, and It senior of these by age is the chief priest (okperegyoroble) ( the cult. What is isportant about Brukung, and the class of lods of lith he is 8 lIlelftbe r, is that they are accessible, and necessary; llike the high Te.ote god, Wuruboare, Brukung was, and is, !It to be very close. On hi. depend the well being and "'finn.p,. .. nf .. h .. c;.n,.jp1:v t.be 'l"esolution of its proble.s. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh e ordering of social relationships, and the .aintenance of daht relationship between the social and the spirit world. ntr.ll to all these ideas is sacrifice I which is the .ost _on and widespread ritual ob ::iervance of the Atwode . The easions of sacrifice are .any; they are offered to godS and beings other than to Brukung. but those offered to 'ukung are the aost iaportaht, and are the basic mediua of )Munieation between the people and the god. All iaportant events in Atwode life are aarked by sacri- ices. some of which are governed by the day of the week. The twade week has six days, divided into 'Iood l and Ibad' days.3 he first, and 1IIost i.portant day of the week is gikpaga; this s. 'Iood l day on whicb the a.jor festivals are held, e.g. ~ the Yu Festival, the .!I.!! or grain festival, af well IS the sacrifice to onels !E.!!!..!: (d.stiny) and the outdooring If babies. The 1II0st inauspicious day is.,~, the day of test irca faraing, and on which twin shrines are erected. lPd sacrifices offered to twins. Other sacrifices aay be lffered en other daysj in het they are held 1Il.0st daily. There is another lod t~) worshipped in Atwode I Gaion, whose chief seat is in Cltilinga, but who is also worshipped in all the other Atwode towns, except AbrewonkoT, in which GegyoBa is worshipped. This god is regarded as having less power than Brukung. thouah it is cOJlsulted by' people outside tbe Atwode area, but not to the extent that Brukunl h. Though it belongs to the same class of gods as Brukung, it is regarded as inferior to hia; there is soae aabiguity regarding its status, which is expressed when enquiries are Dade reaarding "'_~A .. A•• • ). .... 1 i 1:,. 8rukunR; and Dente lit is a son University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 203 - God; others will say that it is the son of Brukun&. -ecise definition is irrelevant here; pre-eo.inence is given • Brukunl. but the nanding of Gagan is not di.inished in the There is no special initiation for the wonhippers of lue other Ceds. The condi tions for meJllbership of the cults : the lOGS are the ,aac as £01' the Brukung cult in Shiare I Id the cult .euers are initiated in Shiu'e at the s ..e tiae ; the candidates for the Brukung cul t. They are melllbers of le BTukun, cult, but worship their own god in their own town. i.eh town has its own chief priest, but the chief priest of lC Brukung cult in Shiare is reco,nised as beina the chief riest of all the cults in Atvode. The fom of worship in he other Atwode towns is the sue as that for Brutun, in Sniarc. Brukune is • lod of the town, associated with cultural &lues, social Telationsftips, oTder and haraony and kinship. be Atwode recognise another class of gods or spirits. Unlike rukung, these are not associated with da.estici ty and town iving, but with the bush and the fa11ft. they arc known by the eneric nue of ~, but this n_e is qualified by the name f the area with which they are asSOCiated; thus they are sub- hided into hna ,ods (~!!:.2.!.!!) and earth gods (&esinkpan !m!). 80th groups shaTe cOJaaOn characteristics. They are plieved to be the offspring of Brukung, and inferior to him; hey have less power than Bru1cuol. Their power or influence s luited and local t and they are doaiciled in natural )bjects, stones, rivers and trees. They have no shrines, )ther than the objects they inhabit. But their power, local • Power, in thi s context t University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh dative:, relative to place and circuastances . If the r of :J god or spirit is known to be operative in a certain c. then care will be taken to ensure that this power is uud in a way detrillental to people who IIIay have occasion xpose themselve s to this power. In this context. the far. gods are probably "ore important the earth. gods. Thts arises fro. the r.lationship which u between the people and the bush. This relationship is valent. The Atwode. in cOllUllon with many otheT peoples of forest and woodland savannah areas of West Africa, lIIake • IT distinction belw~en the town and the bU5h, between the !red structured relationships and harmony which prevail in town, and the unstructured life of the bush. Essentially, forest is dangerous, peopled by spirits and bein,s whose ltionships to hUllans Ire at the best ..b iguous, at the ;t hostile. In the forest, lIlysterious forces are at work, :h h~ans can never really understand or .aster, but with :h they have to COliC to terris, ud againlt which th~y need : tction. This is necusary, in that .an's relationship (?/' .TY , the forest is itself aabiguous. Hostile thoulh it is, ~7 forest provides .an with his fal'1ll1ands, his food, and ~, • • IllS life. Jolan has thus to enter into so.e sort of relat~i" t I ) with the beings and forces of the forest. He must know I' !. I !'. :b gods or spirits inhabit the area which he faras, ascertain ir needs and wishes, and. thus propitiate theil, to ,uard I: , 10$1 loss of crops or other lIisfortunes. This is done by rifice. The atti tude to fanl gods is largely ne,ative i sacrifices intended to neutralise thei r Dotent lally dangerous powers, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - ZOS - (UP the. at bay. But like .ost gods and spirits, their !TS are not necessarily bad. It is possible to use or loi t these powers fOT one I 5 own advantsge., The gods can lTd as well as punish. Thus, it is possible to enter into eeper relationship with the farm gods, a relationship which 5 beyond the .erely negative. Thus the Atwode say that a can '.dopt' • fan ,od, and establish a 'relationship which based on riaht' and duties. The fanaer will undertake to e for the Rod, feed it by sacrifice. in return for favours. 'se favours will include not merely the assurance that one's ..i ns: "'ill be successful, thouBh this in itself is •••j OT .n. but positive help in faraiftl. The ,od a.y indicate the It areas for £anlln• • tell the farmer when to plant and lTd the crops frail any aalevolent forces which .ay be !uti ve in the aru. The faTlJler obviously stands to benefit this relationship; but there are dangeri and difficulties. est gods are capricious, and the £araer can never be entirely Tl' of the IDd' s intentions. When SDae mh£ortune strikes. aishap occurs, there lIay be a variety of reasoni. but the Ber will suspect his farll god , and this is often confimed a diviner, who will advise a sacrifice. Apart froli this 'opt tiatory sacrifice. there 1s no definite time for sacrifices I ad on the whole they seem to be irregular, sOWietllles every '0 or three years. Their frequency 15 detemined by the The farw.er .ust also deter.ine which day his aDd reaards s sacred for th.e land he cultivates; this varies fro. place o place, but aost localities have 8 day on which no faraina: .~ ; ~ .1 _.- !!-:'" :- ... ..1 ~,. ql punish. Thh day .ay be University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh '{erent hom ~. th e- da)' "hich the whole of Shiare regards the d~y on which no hr.ing Ilay be done. Thus a flnller .ay Id that there are two days on which he ••y not farll, but :re are Ilany other things which can be done. The te.porary ts in lrIhich the faTlleTS live during the faming season Cln built or repaired . Hany of these ranIS are at a considerable stance fro. Shtare, and cannot be reached easily in a day. ople often spend several weeks on the fam, in many cases th their faailies . Most .en in ShiaTe are hunters; while n.in~ in the bush they will take the opportunity to hunt the IIeruus species of wild ani ••1 5 which live in the bush. Apart 0111 hunting with the gun, they also set traps, and the days I which they cannot fan will be spent hunting, or visiting Ie traps to sec if they have a catch, or setting fresh traps. The earth Jods are essentially the saMe as the fam lods, (cept that they are not thought to reside on famland. They re very nwnerous, and have made thellIselves known to the people. he reiationst\ip between hUllan and earth gods is not so well elined as in the case of fan gods. But it is recognised that beir powers can be haraful, so they flust be propitiated. ounds of stoRes .ark their shrines, (Plate 14) and lying rOWld can b!" seen eapty spirit bottles and broken eggs shells 'hich aark the remains of libations and sacrifice!: occasionally I £0'1] or a goat .ay be offered. Sacri fices offered to earth jods and far. eods are not regarded as sacred, in that the )fferings are eaten by those ...,ho offer thea. unlike the offer- an,s aade to Brukung. which are taken to the shrine. Relation- ships ,dth earth and hm 10ds are private, between the gods and the people concerned; they do not concern the cOllUllunity at University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - Z07 - tate 14 : Shrine of an earth god. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In this sense they are peripheral to Shiare religious But over a period of tille, certain people have ,lished a relationship with an earth god, analogous to between falller and farJt ~od. have adopted it. and have to be regarded as caring for it. In sOllie cases the odianship of the god and shrine has passed into his faaily. the god has becOtlle associated with a family, and then a Stte. The god is considered to be '01ffled' by the family ineaae, who will be responsible for feeding it. Occasionally custodian of the shrine lIay be asked to intercede with ,od for help, though this 15 rare . The sarne dangers aTe 'rent in this relationship as those noted in the case of £&1"11 gods, but,to a lesser degree; iaportant activities, , as faming, are not involved, so there is less scope for ,od to inn i ct haT1ll. All ritual in Shiafe has Brukun(!: as its centre, and the ife people maintain that the worship of earth and fann gods, the sacrifices offered to them, are connected with the Ihip of Brukung. This is subsUJled in the assertion that se ROcis are the offsprina of 8rukung. vague though this ertion is. SOlletiaes the people say that they live on fnance, others that Brukung has liven them powers. and set Its to these powers. The point is relatively unimportant. that the people thea!lelves are clear as to the spheres of luence which each god has, the resources which each cDllJltands . • this point of view, it is d.ifficult to see the gods olnised by the Atwode as arranged hierarchically, in the Ise of being ranked in order of i.port.nce or power, these ................ ",.i .. ",.;a 1It't'nniin" t.o which such rankings could University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 209 - .ad~. Frolll onc point of view. Wuruboare would see_ to upy the highest Tan)", as he is the high God and creator, the c:Jrth and fat'll gods the lowest rank, as they would • to be of coaparative unimportance. However, to see the uation thus would be to i.pose a structure which the Atvode ·.selves 110 not recognise, and thus possibly distort their .nking. Theoretically, Wuruboare is aore i.portant than . taras ~ods; in prac.tical terllS, the Atwode are much .ore Ire of the faBs lod •• and pay more attention to the.. ruboare has his place Hraly fixed in Atwode thinkin" and is unassailable and i_uuble ; but his very transcendence eludes hie froa matters of everyday concern; there is nothing fear fro. hi.. The dore accessible gods present a different Ties of problells • • nd thus de.and fresh set of responses, ieh have been di sc ussed .bove. ~ Like .ost African peoples, the Atwode have a special lationship with the ancestors. "'llen a 11I8n clies a 'good ath', i.e . is not a witch, his spirit is believed to go to .e ancestor world (~) where, alon, with all the Icestors, he will live and continue to interest hi.self in Ie afflirs of the living. The anccltors are remellbered as ~ine the originators of the nation, who claillled Atwode for It present inhabi tants J cleared the land, and laid down the Iy of life ",hich h followed today . They are concerned that ~e ancient custoa. should be observed. and they will help oc i ety to prosper ; but they will be quick to punish any eviation frolll the nonas ll'hlch they have set. They are still -" ....... & ,.l.n ~n" lfnpsalt,. IlJld expect the respect which is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh : to seniority in Atwode; if this is neglected, they will lish. Recent ancestors and those who attained eMinence ",hile ive, will be re-.e.bered by n8JDe; otherwise they are thought collectively. An old Il18n will not speak with any confidence an ancestor beyond the generation of his grandfather: ",here is knows the name of his great grandfather, he w11l be certain of his greatgrandfather's brothers. ,! Of the ancestors remembered by nUle, primacy of place was ... ays given to the eponymous ancestors of the two clans. the o lIIajor descent groups, Cha and Awuku. In their respective ,inS. these were always invoked illUlledi ately after ,,"uruboare, ukung and Gagon, during libations. Each clan would remember, d invoke, the ancestors who had been clan heads, particularly the ""vuku clan, who always. with one exception, (Akane, 76) provided the chief priest of the BrukWlg cuI t. Each In has, in the centre of its territory, • special place ,ere clan heads are buried. This spot is sacred, and marks Ie originlill nucleus ",here the clan settled when Shiare .... as ,ionhed. The graves were t and the most recent ones are, :TY -~ Irked by a mound. fOl'llerly of clay, latterly of cement, ~o :corated with cowrie shells. It is on this spot that \;, ....' 0: I. Icrifices are offered to these particular ancestors, and i~~ IIB~,"~~~ ; lauded as a sacrifice for the whole clan. The sacrifice may Ike p)ace every two years, but there is no stated time. Each inc;!l:c will take turns to.provide a sheep, and the ceremony s attended hy all the clan elders; the sacrifice is perfoned f the clan head, assisted by the subclan heads. Durin!! IlY DeTiod of field work, I "'as invited to attend University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh is ht proposed to do, as a )lark of filial piHy, and to rl his return to the ancestral ho.e and the subclan and nCOIgc. Th e elders agre ed to this. A sheep is always demande d r this sacrifice; this was p rovided by Stephen and slaughtered AIIes e. the head of the s ubcla.n to which Stephen belonged. enteso) (Plate 15). During the subsequent festivities, there S ,000e discuss i on of the ancestors. duTing which I attempted ascertain ' the influence which they had on lineage and clan fa irs, with special reference to their power to punish. It 5 a.reed that they could and would punish lapses from the ,nll5 of the socie ty; when soae misfortune occurs, the diviner 11 diaanose the cause I and prescribe the re.edy. which is • LC1i£ice of a fowl. usually, unle ss 1t is • serious .atter. len a sheep ... ill be required . But. in practice , such :£11ctlons frOll the ancestors seell to be rare, and the Shiare ~ople are aore afraid of retribution frolll. Brukung for breaches f social n011l5, than fraa the ancestors. It would see. tha t rukunl has usurped the posi tion •• ,uardian of tradition which " a.ny othe r Ghanaian societies belongs to the ancestor5; lI is was never stated explicitly by the Shiare people, but it as implied. and this opi nion was strengthened as ray fie ld work roare ssed. The people inst!ted that the ance s tors punish, hough t hey will also say t h at t hey do .0 infrequently , and hat the pWlishaents ",ere lIIinor. the Teason is that serious reaches of obse r vanc e aTe dealt with by the priest-elders, ho consult and o ffer sacrifice to BruklUll j the ,ncestors are 110 included in thi s, but t hey are given a l ow profile; their osi tion and authority have becoae JIlerled with that of Brukuug • ..s if BrukWlR lJunishes and accepts reparation I then the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh te 1S : Sacrifice of sheep by Stephen Mamene (right) to hh late father )itaIRene. The sacrifice was perfonaed h)' Nana AIIIese (left) ,head of the Oenteso ' subclan. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - /10- SlOTS are satisfied. The •• jOT event when the ancestors are remembered Ind fed ' uriJl~ the aMull! )'UII f estival (~). which is de$~ribed (h.1pt!.:r 7. The principle of harmony which governs Atwode life, and equilibrhlll which exists between the cOIftponent parts of !, particuhrly between the spiritual and the social domains, h disrupted., with possibly hamful consequences for iety iuelf. Things can lt~ ~rong. Ilnd a variety of ail- tooes can afflict either individuals of the co_unity u hole. Breaches or tTansgressions of established custOIl, nealcet on the part of the peoplc of the gods or ancestoTs t'evealed post factUII; a cause-effect relationship is working. n soaething happens which threatens the estabUshed order I cause .ust be found. end steps taken to restore h.r.ony. foregoing exposition has shown th.t the effects felt in iety emanated fro. forces belonging to the world of the s and the spirits. We IIUst now ex_ine two phenollcna which 'oive potentially dangerous powers or force., tbe agents of .ch are .embers of the society itself. The threat here posed society is of II different order frOll that poled by the aods I spirits, thus. different set of responses are required deal with it. The two phena.ena in question are witchcraft J twins; both share .oae cOilmon characteristics . The powers ich they possess Care dangerous to 50c1'ety; the behaviour these _cents is clearly anti-social, and a threat to the der and hal'Jlon)" of society. The methods of detecting and Spos i nt of the threats and danien are generically related. It same cause-effect relationship which was noted in the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - llS- ast of the gods and the spirits is also operative. The en llich is sous;ht is the restDration of haraonYi the .eans doptcd to detect and relbove the threats are directed to th " nd • . ~ Like an African peoples and .any others. the Atwode 7 ecognise the existence of witchcraft (~). and the harm hich it can cause. The "any and detailed studies of witcb - Taft now available allow the pheno.enon to be studied in ocial context. and not in isolation. divorced froa the 50 . a latrix. This distortion is avoided. and valid and clear i - .ilhts are ofhred, Rot only of witchcraft itself, but of e :hought processes which underlie the social structure . Th se It\Mites aha shoW' that though wi tcheratt beliefs are hold y III African soc-ieties, - its interpretation Uld function var ..r riag~s are errensed, on which authority i5 inherited an exercised , on Which property is inherited . thus so.e anth op ologiSti have analysed witchcraft in functional terms,.s n index of strain and tension . Witchcraft accusations can shown to occur in certain .... el1 defined aTe as and groups, f r uupl(! pong co-vives in a polygynous society ••g ainst wo en in societies which practise clan 01' lineage exogamy; bride brought into a household fro. anotber clan, and often fro. the clan of the husband, an University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 216- Lre often suspected of wi tchcraft. Wi tcheraft is 85 sociat cd wi th ais£OTt une I i Unes, and Icath. As in the case of Misfortunes which are attributed to :he gods and spirits, the activitie. of witches are known lost hctu_; when the pover is realised in a specific concrete ,nstance I then steps can be taken to connect the effect wi th : he cause, and discover the witch. The "twode describe wi tcheraft as soaething bad and evil, snd the ""i teh (~. pl . ~) is • person who poses the ,.reatest threat to society. Witchcraft tiay be the cause of • whole range of illnesses and misfortunes I but it is lIost particularly .ssociated with death . Witchc raft is not confined to any particular group; anyone ... ay be a witch,a_JlAn. woman or child; children aay be suspected of possessing witchcraft Undencies . but in a weak fora. It is when they attain adulthood that the full potential is realised. Witchcraft is not inherited , nor is it believed to be a substance; there is no equivalent 8IIong the "twode of the Tiv ll!Y (Bohannan 1969:84), nor of the Jande belief that witchcraft substance can be established as an organic growth by a post-.ortn ex •• ination (Evans-Pritchard 1937:21-22). Witchcraft is believed to be a.levolent power, possessed by people , who aTe thus thcaselves malevolent, and. whose interests run contrary to those of society. Thou,h witchcraft is not the prero,&tive of anyone group. certain people aay be regarded. as beine predisposed to witchcraft; these people belong to the category which the Atwode cell ~ (s,. ~).4 best tranSlated into English as 'abDorma l'. People in this category display leatuTes or c.haractt'ristics which deviate £rOll. the nonal; University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh hcsc features or char ... cterisths are physical, but signify .Y5tica1 abnormality. hence a danJ!.er. The most cOII.on efects are found in children who are born feet first, and hose who cut upper teeth before the lower. but any physical efect would place a person in the category of the abnormal; ",arves, hunchbacks, those with a club foot, those with more r less than ten -fingers. etc. The danger here is twofold, ctive and passive: they can be dangerous to other people, and hey can be dangerous to them"clves, prone to illness and isfortune. They can expect that life will not be easy, that t will be beset by lDishaps and .isfortunes . [bu5afo are not itches, but it is thought that they have a disposition owards wi tchcralt. which is not in itself a sufficient eason to remove the. from the cOllllunity. But the latent anger of the powers attributed to them cannot be ignored. " attempt is lIade to control or neutralise this power when ley are still very young; they are taken to t he chief priest, \d a sacrifice is offered to Brukung. asking that this power ! taken aw.y. or that it should remain within the child and !ver be allowed to ham people. Nonetheless , suspicion (ways rt!lIains, thoufh ibusa£o are never accused of witchcraft lless fOl"Jll8lly and definitively shown to be 50 , as will be Witchcraft possesses people and lIakes them its own; in lis respect, the agent is unconscious of being a witCh, and :ts involuntarily, but witchcraft can be used voluntarily . t would see. that wi tcheraft can be acquired in two ways. lrstly. witchcraft itself can attempt to possess and Bain of this is illness. As University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 211'- lness can ari.se fro. a vari.ety of causes, the afflicted rson "ill consult a diviner to ascertain the cause of the lness. If, in spite of treataent, the illness continues. e ".rson will suspect that witchcraft possession is at rll: . He .ay well ask a diviner to confiTJR this. and escTibe aedicine . (B!!..!!!.) • But, because of the gravity of .e situation, he vill probably, after consultation, offer a .crifice to his ~, or soul; (the significance of the :.!l!... will be described later). or he may offer 5acrifice I Brukung , However, U so.e poiDt during the illness ..p ta.s the person say become fully possessed by witchcraft, ,d becoae a .... itch. There are three ways in which this could IppeJl , Firstly, by the tlae the person realises that witch- ~ aft .ay be at work, and takes the necessary steps to counter"' :t it. it IUY be too late. 'Secondly, his 2!!! maY ' be weak, ul .ub.it at an early sta,e, and the person lIay be a witch lthout reaU5ing it. Or thirdly. the person, realising that itchcraft is attempt!n& to possess hia, will welcOile it, and eC_t a witch . The second way of acquirine witchcraft pover is to seek ut a witch and ask to becolle a witch, to jOin the band of .itches , There is no clelT consenlus of opinion amona the twode as to how witchcraft is acquired; ,ollie maintain that lit ~ cannot subait to vitchcraft without the person knowing bout it; others .aintain that SAcrifice to the ~ or to rukun& will re.ove the threat, Hovever, the actual analYSis f these points is not one on which the Atwode expect to find :as"en; it is cnough for the. that witchcraft exists. that l use the.; whether it is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 219- luntary or involuntary, it is used to attack society. and less punished or checked, will caus e great hat'll. Witchcraft is Closely connected vith death. which is the eatest disaster which witchcraft can inflict. Thus it is 'oUlld death that the 1Il0st intensive investigations into the tssibility of witchcraft are fou.nd. When a death takes place, its cause must be dettl11lined. ; soon as a penon diel, a cere_DY t the agbagesoh .iterally. 'the carrying of the !WI) is performed . The l!! can take one of two f oras; either it is • long buboo lle, about six feet long, or it is a stretcher, made froll Ulbac, also six feet 10na. wide enough to take a body. and ith a neck support; the latter fOnl 11 used today only for le agbaeesola held for a person of i.portance I the two clan eads and the head of the women' s cult. but it 11 -possible hat in fonner times it was used for every 88bagesola, and hat the dead body was placed on the !.!£.!. Today, only the inger and toe nails of the deceased are used. These are a.oyed iuediately after death, and wrapped in a piece of hite cloth, which is tied to the~. Two elders are elected to 3.ct as bearers (asba asolabol. They balance the ili on their heads, one at either end. Two objects are elected, usually. stone or a tree or bush, one signifying n aHim.tive answer, the other a negative answer. Two luestioners (aRba adabo, literally. ~ strikers, froa the 'erb !!. t.o strike). each holdine a s.&11 bundle of thin Sllall ItiCCS, Stand. one on either side of the~. This is relarded II an i.portant function, and is usually entrusted to elders; f the wo.en's cult. which [ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh late lb : Q~::ge:~~. (c:!i~e~~~~o N:!e i.u{:~o~:'~~!~t) w!!h the questioners. The cloth containing th~ finger and toe nails is to the left of centre of the agba. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh nessed, the questioners were the two clan heads, a sign of ! illportance of the deceased. On two other occasions the ~stioners Nere the subclan head and the clan head; the clan ld is usually one of the questioners. The cere.ony begins with an invocation to Brukung, and the spirit of the deceased, inviting it to enter the ~ J to help detennine the cause of death . One of the estioners says 'N. coae in t. tapping the ~ wi th his ndle of sticks; the second questioner will repeat the invoca· on and tap . When the spiTit en'ters the !.8!!. the bearers 11 treMble. and sway fro. side to side; this is a sign that ey have becoae possessed by the spirit of the deceased, who 11 henceforth speak through them. The deceased will greet .rubo8rc, llrukung and the ancestors. Then the questions begin. The two lJIajor objectives of the agbagesola are to establish • ~ of death and the ~ of dea.th. The mode or death . silnply to dete ... ine whether or not the deceased was. witch. tis is eKpressed by the AtNode by saying: the t the person died 'good death' (len danse) i.e. the person v.s not a witch, r that the person died a 'bad death' (len nyanyan) i.e. that le person was a witch. The answer to the question relating :) the .ode of death vill detennine the course of the Ibagesola. The following examples, one involving a 'Iood' eUh , the other a 'bad' death. will illustrate the main eatures of the ceremony. The first account is of the agbacesola for Alcunlaba, who as head of the woaen's cult, and as such she "'as regarded as ne of the aost i.portant people in the town. occupying a 'O~it;nn analOIlOus to that of the tvo clan heads. During this 1IIa Gesu and Nan. Kulaho.e. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh tatt'17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - lU- {1;O clan heads; GC"su is the chlr{ priest of the Brukung t. and KuJaho.c is the head of the clan Ql..!. to which 'Caha belonged. After the initio! invocations. the questioners tapped the ! and asked:· 'Did you die in a bad way?' The bearers swayed, then pointed the !.&E.! to the tree. ch siJtnified 'No'. Hiving satisfied the.selves as to the 1II0de of death, the stlnners then set about determining the cause of death. 'You are the seni or wo.an of the cult; perhaps your Ith was caused by your god (~) because you did not 'foJ1ll your functions well'. 'No'. 'Perhaps you pro.i!ied to give so.ething to the god, and 1 not do so?' 'No'. 'Perhaps you stole soaeone else's possessions?' 'No'. 'Has God (Wuruboare) sent this sickness to you?' 'No'. 'As you have died, have you gone the correct way?' 'Yes'. 'Perhaps the days which God has given you are accomplished? ' This part of the cere_any ended here; the questioners were tisfied as to the .ode and cause of death. The death WIS .tural; the span of life allocated by God had run its course. One other issue is settled during the agbagesola, the lestion of the funeral arrange.ents. The fuily and lineage the deceased will be responsible fOT this, but the actual irection and lIanage_ent of the arrangeilents will be in the lnds of so.rone who is not. necessarily a lIelT,f,er of the family, r nen of the line-aile. This person is the geli wura University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - ZZl- iterally chu£ or head of the luneral) J and he is chosen the deceased. After the coapletion of the questions aTin~ on the .ode and cause of de.th, t;.he questioners will quire who will be the head of the funeral. The bearers I ways acting as aediWls for the decea.sed, will sway J then ave the place where the cerellOny is being held, and move rou.h the town, eventually !toppin. outside the house of e person chosen by the dece.sed. If there is any doubt as thr person, the ~ will be :a.uestioned . The person chosen 11 always .ccept 1 and is Ilways a person friendly to the uased. Soaetimes, a pe rson will, while alive, ask .a.eone • be the head of the funeral after his or her death, and Idieate what he or she would like done regarding important Ittns such as inheritance of property. and. children. This !rson will be confiBed. by the agbagesola ceulftony. Where ) prior arrange.ent has been ",ad., the !i!?! will lead the :arers to soaeone who ..,as known to have been a close friend :td confidant on! the decealed. The second account 11 of the a.begesol. fOT Geyila, of he Gepubudo subelan in the Awuku clan. She had becn a a.ber f t"e "Claen's cult, And had been ... rried twice. When her int husband. a Skiareaan, died she .arried a man froJD Pa,ah • • Allyanga. TOlo, "here she went to live. When he died she eturned to Shhre to live with her brothers. A son and Buebter of her first •• rrial~ veu present at the agb.gesota. he questioners vere Hana Cesu and lotana Kulaholle. the clan leacb, and the bearers were Gyato. fTOIl Cepubudo, and Ndabi"a, :ro. Wasawasado. both of the Awuku clan. After the initial invocations, the questioners asked : - University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh '1.1id you dlL" the correct way. a goocl death?' 'No' . 'Did you die a bad death?' l'hc h('aTcr~ sw ... ycd~ thrn stepped hackwards; this is the gn that the spirit of the deceased is adaitting that she d been a witch. In this case, Cl,uestions are not asked gardlng the cause of death: it is not clear if death could due to natural causes, OT if death was a punishment from ukung for being a wi tch. This evidently is a IDstt.er which ,es not interest the Atwode; the 'lain issue is the acknowledge- nt that the deceased had been a witch. More questions were ked. these followed fTOIl the admission of witchcraft, and ·ted to ascertain what evils had been caused by the witch. was established that GeyUa had been responsible for some ~aths, but as these were of people in Psgala, they were not f direct relevance to Shiare, so the questions ceased. O~.~fy"O. The asbagesola cere.ony is a serious affair, but a r !rUin infontality was noticeable. There were conversatio l.l kl oaeti.es loud, aaong the observers, and laughter, which was ' . '.~~: hared by the questionersj fTequently, the observers shouted o_ents to the questioners, and two men on several occasions eft their places and approached the questioners. and conversed lth them. These two aen were the son and brother of Geylla, nd objected to the finding of the agbagesola that she had been witch. It frequent.ly happens that the adtaission will not go ",challenged; it is in the famUy's interest to deny this, and .e.anel that the question be repeated. This was done, several lacs, and '-.1$ eventually accepted. It rarely . if ever, lappens that the decision is reversed, but the family will tTy liniaise the deeds attributed to the deceased. It so.eti.es University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - zzs- Ippens that the relatives and others are reluctant to admit lat the deceased had been a witch; it lIay happen that the -cca.sed had been held in great esteem, and had been considered lood peTSon,and the relatives and friends werc reluctant to :cept the .~ission of wi tcheraft. The only course open to It II is to obtain froWl the ~ • denial of the admission; IUS they vlll conduct another 8gbagesol a ceremony, in the 'pe of doin~ this. This in fact happened in the case of ~yila. A 511811 group of relatives and others took the toe ad finaer nails and repeated the cere.any, but the result was t ill the sme. It was now accepted that Geyila had been a itch. As it has never been known for an agbageso"ls decision ) be reversed, why should it be challenged and repeated? len J lRade enquiries on this pOint, 1 vas told it was the JStCNI. Nost likely, it was an atteJlpt to salvage 50.ething Ta the ceremony to the credit of the deceased. thouah it is tUllly tmlikely that this would be successful. The c011lJlunity 5 • whole would accept the decision of the ~. \fihen the ceremony W8S coapleted, preparations were _ade or tbe burial of the witch forthwith. None of the cerelllonial hich raarks a burial is fOWld when a witch is interred. A raYe WIS dug in the bush outside the town; th~ body of the itch was carried by 5o.e aen. There ",as no funeral procession, nd no 5ineing or dr1J!llming. The body was wrapped in a cloth ad carried in 8 sleeping .at. Everything was deposited in he grave; one of the lIIen entered the grave . removed the lIat nd the cloth. leaving the body naked. The corp n was then urned face down. ... ards. A stone was placed beside the head, • the left hand side; the anas were folded behind, and a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh t. c: flat stone was pl ac ed on the saall of the back . Th t' ition of the hands suggested an attitude of supplication. · ('xrl :tn~tion ~ i vcn was tha t tbe witch would he left tbus · all time, asking God to forgive her for the evil she has "etT8ted when a l ive; t he st one WIS a punishment, to relllind · of the burden of her guilt . The grave was then filled in, I everyone left. Again, there was no dancing or drUJlUling . ~ very silence was itself significant. There was no funeral lebrations at the hoae of the deceased . A s1Iall group chered to drink pala wine. To all intents and purposes, : deceased had ce ased to be re.e.bered. A witch is never ,ube red as an ancestor. and will never be reincarnated . can happen that witches .ay still cause ham or misfortune. the ancestors do . This is diagnosed by a diviner; in this II se a sllall sacrifice is offered to the spiTlt, this is Rot d' fered on one of the altars where sicriflces normally take I ace , but on a spec181 a1 tar on the path leadlng to the ove where the shune of Brukung is situated. This altar 1S(;. soon after the death was interpreted as an act of uruboare and Brukung to bring the soil of Ntela into the ociety, and have the fact k.nown as such . However. such ccurrences are rare, and it is gencl'ally assumed that the soul £ the child will be that. of a subel.n OT lineage ances t or. When t.he time is deemed to have arrived to detenline hose sou) has been reincarnated. the elders of the fuUy '111 approach the subclan head and discuss the matter ; t he .ubclan head will then consult the clan head to arrange for :he cere.ony to take place. This .ust be held on ~. : h~ .ost important day of the Atwode week . The father of the :hUd will offer a white fowl to the god, ask ins him t.o revea l the ancestor. The priests will visit the shrine after the ceremony. and present the .atter to the god. Later in t he day. the father and the e 1ders wil l be summoned to the clan head's hut. and infoned of the god's decision. The clan head wi 11 t.hen place on the child , and on the parents. q,eck- laces made of cowrie shells. These are reserved only f o r University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ; crrelllony • .1nd are kept in the shrine. The parents and Id will be adlllonished to treat the soul of the ancestor ,respect, never to Tte.:lect it. Throughout. his life, the ld will be conscious of his soul, and will sacrifice to it regular intervals. The equally important concept of ~ (destiny) b e elusive, more difficult to fOTJIulate. A person's ~ not of hi_ in the way his 50ul is, but it is so intim.ately .nected with his life that it is spoken of as if it were ·t of him. A person's ~ is deteTlftined for him before is born, and once deteT1lined, is regarded as i1llJlutable. !!! is connected with reincarnation. A person lives out B Ie detcTJ'Qined for hi",; when he dies, and the ti.e calles for • to be reincarnated, it is believed that the soul can ask havc another dest.iny. have a way of life different from at previously led . This petition aay or lIIay not be granted, t it would seell that tensions can arise during the experience Ufe; though one t 5 !E..!!!! is fixed and determined, this Iy not be fully understood in its detaUs by the bearer of l(' ~' A person who experiences failures in the 60urse f his life may do so because this is ~, or it may be due : other factors. A person 'Who wishes to achieve certain hings and does not do so will not know if his ~ is avolved, or if other factors are preventing him fro. achieving IS aills. Thus, though it is believed that a ce'rtain Course as been mapped out for a person, he will try and change ircllmstancc~ to his own bettement and advantage . It i~ Itlieved that he has little to lose by doine so; if his ~ ~. been deterained to a certain course of events. there is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~ he can do to c lutnJ!:e this. hut if he feels that if the e of his destiny is being hampered, he should do so and IPS disCOV('f that it offers Dare than has hitherto been lot. It would see. that in one sense destiny is not :hina !tuie, but something with which one has to work in :oune of life, and seek to understand at all stages of • Though dete1'Jlined, it d.oes not lead to a situation of deteninisM, when .an is purely passive; there are , when~ the person has freedoa of action, and the • • biguity ension is in the area where personal freedoa encounters ilxed actions of~. Onc e in a life tille a sacrifice aust be II.de to the !!. The choice of the particular title is left to the Jilts of the young .an or wo ••n but in practice the ceTemony dually held at puberty or in early adulthood, and Illes the character and function of a puberty r1 te. TheTe no explicit rite UORI the Atwode •• rking the e nt ry into lthood. It is accepted that at a certain point in th.eir deal develop. .n t children pass froa one stage into 'ther; in fanner tiDes,a girl was jud.ged to be ready for °riaJ[e when she was able to carry. load of a certain weia:ht I proportion. This is no longe r done. Fomerly, pre- rital sex W8S not condoned; today, it is COMmon and accepted, ~\lgh still re,arded as a breach of custo.. But aarriage Qot be entered into. nor i n tercourse take place, until e ~ cereaony has been perforaed. For a ,irl, this reaony is usually held after the marriage negotiations '''e been initiated. and agreed. upon . In this case the liJ.i,atory white shtoep aust be provided by the husband'"'to-be. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh is poS$iblc that by delaying the cere.ony until this nt, a father can rrevent his dlughter froltl contracting isons with other Wlen. and possibly becOiling pregnant , and I, possibly. prevent ina he r fro.- being accepted by the 'fner chosen for her by her father, as well as freeine ' him • the expense of buying the sheep. Virlinity is still .ud. Ind ideally a ,irl should be a virgin when she marries. other cases, I father lIay hold the cere.any outside the 'I.text of aarriage neltotiations. this is usually the case en a l:ir1 has not been betrothed when she was still a child. both cases, it lnarks an i.portant suge in the life of the r1. ]t is the recognhion that a critical point has been ached, not only in the physical develo~ent of the person. It in the aevelop_ental cycle, that the girl has reached a tint when she is ready to leave the parental fallily and. ;ublish a new unit in the society. "'arriales are arranged I the f ..i lies, or the Unease Croup, but it is beca.inS .ore ..,n today fOT young people to attempt to choose their own utners, but this still .ust be done within the accepted ystoaary usage of the arranged m.arriage j a girl aay indicate er preference of partner. ed this .ay be accepted by the aaily, who will open negotiations with the fuUy of th.e ounl! ••n . ] f • girl has already been betrothed, there is no I\lestion of her havin, any other preference. Over the years :he husband ... to-be has done bride service for his father .. in-Iaw. Ind given 5.811 presents to his future bride. If, for any reason. the betrothal is broken, the future husband aust be rcco.pensed, which co'Uld be costly, and ill feeUna could arise between the two f .. i 1 ies. In the case of • girl who hiS not University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh rn betrothed. if 8 father sees that she is JIIore and more equenting the co.p3ny of young lRen, he may deelll it wise to .ld the cerelMony. To have intercourse before the cerellony IS been held is not only an act of disobedience I but one which II be punished by .ystical sanctions; a child conceived in u:h circumstances is thought to die, as a punishllent, and .ture children 1II8y be affected. Today, when you,ng woaen have )re _ability, and m8y live outside Shiare, 8vay bOIll the radition.l controls and restraints, it is thought wiser to lve the cerelnony, rather than expose the girl to dangers. The ceremony for young lIlen is held in the same way I and :lr the sue reason, though two of the cere.onies I witnes!ed ere held for young IrIen of tventy or sOi some people say that he penalties for a young lI\an havinc intercourse before the eremony are less severe than those for a girl, but there is o general agreement on this point. A run is a potential ousehold head, and eventually lineage and possible clan head; enee the cerellony .arts a aore ir,poTtant stage for him than t does for the giT!. It indicated the beginning of his ndependence I the becinning of a new role. and the first step owards seniority and possibly ancestorhood. tn these circUll- .tances it is possible to grasp the significance of the :ore.ony, and see it as 8 rite of passage. Far the Atwode, twins are an anoaaly. Fomerly, bdth twins were Hlled iued1ately after birth. This is consistent otith the Atvode interpretation of birth, and reincarnation. !then a baby is born. it is not thought to be full person, and for a short period after tJ irth the soul of the reincarnated ancestor decides whet.her or not to stay in the worldi if the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh y dies, j t is hel ieved that the soul of the ancestor has hied to return to the spirit world; if the baby lives, it helieved that the ancestor has decided to stay. and the dooring ceremony is held. This view is very SillilaT to It of the Akan. Twins are regarded as abnomal and lItural; it is not natural for a wOJllan to bear more than ! child at a title; ania.ls do this, but not humans . They ! abpoTlllal in that they do not fit into the category of tan beings. They an believed to belong to a different rId fro. that of hU!Rans, having a different composition, ssessing spirits unlike those of huaans, and possessing weTS which are incollpatible with hwnan life, and aTe thus ry danaerous. For reasons which the Atwode cannot explain, ,ey have found their way into the hUlllan world; the human sponse is to re.ove theM fra- the .... orid and return the. '0111 whence they c ..e . So they wen killed. Anthropoioaical ttenture contains 11180y instances of the ambiguity and monaali ty which surrounds twins; they are usually placed in special category, and treated differently from norlla! eople (Evans-Pritchard 19S6:3~80). Many peoples, like the tWode, resolve 'the problell by killing; amon~ soae of the ~oples living in the vicinity of the Volta River, the twins re cast into the river and drowned. The Atwode used to aeoar the twins with ground pepper and place them, alive, in on ant hill and lef't them to die. This ""as also the custom If the Krachi people (Klose 1902:190) . As in the case of the pOison ordeal, this practice was forbidden by the EUTopean aa..inistrations , thus presentlng ~robleas and forCing the society to reinterpret its att~tude rd alloyed to live . but the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i~ui ty surrounding the. re •• in~d , and, aOTe iJlporuntly I cltd the dangers which tbey posed to the society , arisin, III their non·huaan powers. They belcn!!. s iaultaneously. ,.,-0 different worlds. They are accepted in huaan society. are excluded fro. part of it. It is believed that they not have a 50ul (okala). in the sense that the soul is It of a reincarnated ancestor; twins are not the reincarna- )ft of 'ancestors. their origin belna: fro. elsewhere. Then, ey are believed Itot to have an ~. thiS being for Donnal ople onlYi thus they do not have the ~ ceremony. 'They ter lnto adulthood, they •• rry . but this goes U!UIIarked by e custo• • ry ritual, sholfinJ that they are outside the .nventions and Tules which govern the nomal running of Iciety. In practical teras. steps have to be taken to contain, :utralile OT l'6aove the power ft)r han which they have. There re several ..,ays of dealing vi th this "TobIe. .. As has been discussed above. misfortunes and ills ••Y rise fro. a nuaber of causes. which faU into two categories; ither frolll the world of gods, spirits or ancestors, or froll'l ociety itself in t.he fof'll of witches or sorcerersj to thi,~,, ,,~ TY ·Q; .atter category tWlns must be added. Like Witches. twins (f' lay act involuntarily. but unlike witCM •• they do not kil "f,. )r deliberately seek to harll. The diviner will indicate the ("'· of this in his disCUSSion of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh shrine of ~l,,' ari. in the Hatopo Hills, in Za.bia. The M...,aTi shrine rc sclIlh les the Shiare shrine in certain respects, in IlthL' r s it differs. It rescllhles Shiarc in that it is highly structured, and has attracted many pilgri.s due to its reputation as an oracle; like Shiare , it played an iaportant part in the political events of neighbouring states, and also it has give n identity to the people of the Matopo Hill s , who define the.selves in relationship to the shrine. It is unlike Shiare in that it is differently organised in teTlls of the cult associated with the shrine . One of the features found associated with the Mwni shrine is a group of devotees known IS the 'children of Mwari " who are scattered throughout the land, and represent the Major shrine in local cult centres, a feature which i s absent fro. the Shiare shrine . According to ~'hjttaker, they also provide what he calls an 'in£or.ation service', which is fed back to the llain shrine . providina an 'intelliaence service'. They act as intenaediaries for l ocal cOllUll.unities, are often at the .. ain shrine, where they intercept pilar!.s, inspect their offerings and enaage the. in conversation, so.etilles fOT several days, before passing them on to the oracle, thus preparing the. . for the consultation , but also acquiring infoY1llation ",hich would be useful in treatinG the problellls or difficulties which led to the consulUtion. This feature is not found as s ociated with the Shiare shrine, though it is found with the Brukuna cult in Dah01lley (Huskovits 1938:103). The Shine shrine does not depend upon an infoBation service. As has been described earlier, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - ,01 - part of the consultation proces s in ShiaTe is the questioning of thC' pilgrim, which would seem to be a legitimate. and even Jleccssary part, of the consultation. and one which the pil,dlll would expect. Priest and god tIIust be in possession of all the relevant facts in order to lIake an accurate dialDosis and indicate the precise treatlllent necessary to rellove the proble.. I t could be argued that the shrine priest does not need a detailed. knowledge of local conditions; experience would have told hi. that the difficulties and problems which led the pilgria to Shiu"e could be reduced to • few well defined areas; witchcraft could be predicted fairly easily. kinship tension and rivalries, personal feuds. This, plus vhat is learned from the pilgri. prior to the presenta- tion of the case to the 5hr ine, would be sufficient for the priest to make an accurate diagnosis in the lfIajority of cases. This aay fall under the heading of manipulation, but it is an accepted procedure, and one which is practised in situations vell outside the context of African shrines. Shiare has never lost its reputation as a pilgrillage contre, and, given the context of the belief system in which it operates, it lIay be possible to indicate some factors which contribute to the success and popularity of the shrine. First of all, there is the actual aeographical location of Shine, which is isolated in the hills. To ~uch Shlare, one has to undertake a long and tiresoae journey, even though .uch of it is now done by lorry rather than on foot , and involves SOIll(" financial outlay. The journey May take SOllie days, especially in the wet seasoD, .,hen travelling on bad University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 30l - roaels agBravated hy the rains can be slow. The final stage of the journey Ilust be done on foot. up the Ilountain. Such conditions Ift~y well help to lIIake the pilgrimage Ileaningful. Shiue bas adapted itself extremely well to cope with pl1~rims; the function of the cult lIeaber/landlord, with the strong eaphasis on personal attention, has been discussed, and co.ends itself to the pilgri• • Some pilgrims told ae that this feature of Shiare .eant much to thell; they had taken their problems to local shrines, with no success, but which had cost thelll .uch aoney. They told me they felt that the ShiaTe shrine, and the priests, were interested prillarily in helping people rathor than in making Money. The fact that the shrine ",as served by • priestly cult. and that the pilgrim was not allollfed to enter the shrine, lIIay contribute to the reputation of the §hrine; since the ritual within the shrine is esc;!te...!ic, the person of the chief priest becc.es very important, as he is the Ilediator between the divinity and the pilgrims. But the actual consultation with tho chief priest, or Cha clan head, is brief, and is restricted to two occasions. For the re.ainder of his stay in Shiare, the pilgrim is attended to b)' the cult .ember/landlord, who initiates and cOilpletes the consultation process. The pilgria is, as it were, drawn into a sacred circle, but he is not allowed to enter into the centre of the circle. He is brought into the Circle by his cult member/landlord, which leads to the consultation with the appropriate clan head; the cliaax of the consultation is the consultation in the shrine itself, after which the Circular Zloveaent lIoves back to its starting point, with the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 304 - stcond con sultation with the clan head, then back to the cult acaber/ land10rd, then the departure fro. Shiare. This whole rroce s s would confiI1Jl that the pilgrims I probleas are being treated with great care and attention. pilgrims returning to Sh i ne to thank the shrine for benefi ts received help to prove its efficacy. Those whose requests have not been granted will not return to thank the shrine I sO pilgrims arriVing for the first tille aeet only previous petitioners who can testify to the efficacy of the shrine. ...any of the pilerias who COlI.t for the first time do so on the recollUlenda- tion of others, who testified to the shrine's ability to help, and this i s confimed in Shiare itself when the pilgrim meets those who have returned to offer thanks. Shiafe is an ancient shrine , with a reputation which is wdl established, and this tlust always act in its favour in the .tnd of the pilgrim. Shiar'e fonerly was consul ted by the Ashanti and the Dagoaba, factors which would have enhanced its reputation . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -.lOS - Footnotes to Chapter ., 1. 'Early Christianity had no teMples or sanctuaries. God was to be worshipped in spirit and in truth anywhere. 1 t was the Me.ory of Je$US that made shrines of the places ~!'.!~~i::T~~;7~~~~~23)~ ~~~t!~~e~;om (~a~!ti:~S~PA.D.lS6. shows how the Christians of s.YTna gathered the ~ones of their lIIartyred bishop Polycarp and laid the. 1n a suiuble place, where they could gather together to celebrate the anniversary of his lIIartyrdo.. There was as yet n~ question of petition or miTacle working, only veneration. The cures and other .iracles later associated with the relics of saints did not begin until the late 4th Cen~u,!,y, after Christianity was declared to be a tolerated rel~glon by Constantine (A.D.H3). 5t.Jerome (342~420), who hved in Bethlehem froa 386 until his death, Muntained that prayers said in the holy places were no more .eritorious than prayers said elsewhere. He reacted against the cult :! ~:~~~:r a:~t ~~:d!e~~i~~e o~o~:r;~!~!; =~~n W'~: !~~~:c~~~: sites of the crucifixion and resurrection are of value only to those who carry their cross daily and rise again with Christ, and show theaselves worthy to live in these holy places. Those who repeat 'teMple of the Lord, temple of the Lord' should listen to the words of St .Paul 'you are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit lives in you'. r~:r~::v~~a, c~~~~~. a~~ 7~~~n ~~O~ei~!u:a~:~t!~nB~!!!~~~ius. who is plann1n& a journey to the Holy Land, that it is good, and part of the faith, to worship at the places where the feet of our Lord stood, and to venerate the places of the nativity and passion of Christ. (Jerollle 1951, vol.2, p.llS). 2. The place and importance of relics in the Middle Ages is discussed in great detail by Staption (1975). Chapters 2 and .3 of his book trace the origins of the cult of reliCS, and the atracIes chilled fol' them.. Finucane (1977) also discusses the question of relics. and shrines in the Middle Ages. He selects seven. EnJl ish shrines, and using the records kept by the shunes, examines the type of pilgrims who consulted them. He shows that the airac1es and cures claimed for the shrines tend to be related to the sex and social class of the pilgrlA, and that different shrines attracted their own social types. He exaaines all the aspects of the shrines he analyses, and sho. .... s how they are related t.o the social, political and "econoaic needs of the pilgrims, as vell as the religious. 3. The liainal aspect of the pil~riJ\age, as analysed by ~~~~:r t~!:71~ ~~n~~~;o~:~~e~h~~s~~:nN:g:~t!!~:~~.a'he to forn of the Moslem pllgTlllage has relleined unchanged, and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the special mode of dress is still retained, ~heTeby i_ediately identifying the pilgrim as. belo~glng to :o~~~~i~~ f~l:~~, o~~r!~~i!~!t a~~\:vi~;I~:c~~: ~O!::~er of new social group with a new serie~ of rel~tlo~shlPS ~~d c~:~~~:!!:n!he~h:~~ ;girl:s~i~~t~!S~: ~~;g~~:=~ social activities. 4. Birks (l978) has analysed the pi~grilftag~ to.Mec'::8 frolD one area, West Africa. He descnbes thIS pIlgrulI8ge as '8 co.plete society on the .ove, with its particular institutions and infraMstructure shaped in order to i~C~~!~:!~ ;r~:e~i:~~S!~: ~ff~!~~r!~a!:~~c~~· ~~) the pilgd_age. s. Cf, for example, Evans-Pritchard's re.arks on Nuer reli&ion, which he describes as a religion of hope and co.fort (1956:312). He finds in Nuer religion 'a distinctive kind of piety which is dominated by a strong sense of dependance on God and confidence in hill rather than in any hu.an powers and endeavours ••• it is an intillate personal relationship between man and god. This is apparent inin Nuer ideas of sin, in . their expressions of guilt, their confessions and 1n the dOlllinant piacular theae of their sacrifices' ~:317). 6. The Atwode use different words to refer to different ~~:s1~!o~! ~~~P!~;Od~~o~!e 1~g ~eg~!~!e:r:nW (~fiaW)· people refer tO~de liv~towns situated in the lowland as Asetans (sa. Osetana). All other people Ire .!.!!.!£' strangers. 7. This is an approximate figure, and 8 conservative one. There lIay well have been .ore pilgrt.s in Shiare over the _ ~fr~~fir~~e i!i~~r:r:'~n '~!~~:~n a~a~~ ~~~~!nfh!h;e~~~er ~c~it ~!t~~a:t~~d t~:r~:a.::~ ~~r t~~e b:~!~e o:e~~~~~ samples ,r: , ~ 6. The question of Pierre, who spoke French and sOlie English ~~. . raises the q':1estion of h~ the cult dealt with the lanauag ~ ·.Il~~~ proble.. Shure people 'I.ply say that all lanauages are . sp,?ken in Shiare. Most of the CUl~ .ellbers speak 'I'wi, WhICh allows thea to cOUlunicate WIth the large mJabers of Akan speakers who consul t the shrine. Some elders al so speak Ewe, Gbanyito (Gonja). OagOllba and Icnkol!llba. J was told that if a landlord could not speak the languaae of the pilgrt., he would call in a cult Ile.ber who could :~: ;~~g~~:l:n~h~~e a~~d~o~~t~~p~~!e~i~n~e:~ut~f~~~o:~~y after the shrine consultation. The pilgrim.s' confidences are respec~ed. and the interpreter is also bound to honour these conhdences. But sOlie of the preconsultation University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 307 - questionings took place openly in the landlords' houses, =:~s~~~~~y ~e ~v:;~e~~~o~!e~e~~!~ !~ l~~~Dt~~u:~pe~ratry . those who shared the sa.e lodgings, would discuss then ~r~~; ~:; ~~~~e i~::~e 1r~ s i s !~!~ i~~! :h:: t ~~~T!O~O~~~ be no objection to a non-cult aeaber, who is a devote~ of the shrine, could be called in as en interpreter, lf the pilgri. has no objection. I did not discover what language was used in the case of Pierre, who did not speak any Ghanaian languages . There are smne non-cult .embers who frequently consul t the shrine and speak English, who could have been used as interpreters. 9. Questioning the pilgrias was a delicate task • . and presented probleas. I was always conscious of Illy positIon in th~ town. and of the sensitivity of the cult elders regardIng the shrine and anything associated with it, so I could n?t ask the pilgrias directly "'hy they had CaDle and what the1r problems were. I could not expect them to tell lie their problellls, and Uloni other things, good aanners dellanded that I should not raise the .atter lIyself. However it was possible to gain infomation. Smae pilgrims, who were obviously surprised to see me in Shiare, calfte to greet lie and ask why I was in the town . When I had satisfied their curiosi ty I could then ask why they had caDle, and thus gained ,oae infoTaation. On other occasions, when visiting the elders, I 'Would find pH.rias lodging there, and, after the greetings. if an opportunity presented itself. I raised the question of their presence in Shiare. If ~~~t'1:!: ~~!U~~~:~e!~r:n~~e~ic~ ::~~~ ~~~;e W~~ldu~:~~o:!ng. why certain pilgd.s had coae to the shrine. This informa- tion was known to them fro. the general conversation of t.he pilgrims, outside the context of the consultations, and was not seen as a breach of confidence . 10. An example of how secretive the cult lIembers are regarding the cult was provided when I asked Manase. a cult IIIe .... ber with ",hOlD I becaae very friendly, how the black powder used ~~p~~~~e~h~o c:!~l;a~~~ w~:n~:~e ;1I~~:d!f 5~o~ke~~:1 h::~S~~d was told lie that he was not allowed to say. He relftarked that the cult Illrks belonged to the Brukung cult. and that the plant used to obtain it was ,iven by God (Wuruboare). 11. The ~oung girl Janet told me t.hat sexual abstinence was ~:lo~~~: ~~a~e~hey T~:d s~!:~e~~~~ i~l~e~~a~~a~r~h:!x p}!~rims three months. The fact that pilgrims had to return with 8 ~~~:~:~ivine offering after a year was COIIlI.on knowledge in 12. E.g., . the Zande will attribute failures of the oracle to a vanety of {actors, the wrong variety of poison having University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 307a .. ~~~r~a~~e~~~, f~~::~h w~!r~a~~~, c;!!~~~r:!~~s :nf~~ ~:e t~~ the poison~ anger of the ghosts, sorcery or use (Evans- Pritchard 1937:330). Goody points out tha~ there ~re a nu.ber of ways in which potential disillusl.on.ent 1n sORle types of Medicine shrines fRay be circUltvented. 'A cOmnlon procedure is to attribute the false prophecy to the actor's failure to co.ply with the prescriptions of. the shrine in question. He has failed to observe the ntual prohibitions and by his sin has forfeited the support of the supe.rnatural agency' (1957:160). n. This point is discussed by J.R.Goody (19S7) I in the context of medicine shrines. Barbara Ward (19S6) argues that an increase of witchcraft accusations in Ashanti had led to an increase of new anti-witchcraft shrines, which the.selves were an index of anxiety as 8 result :!d!ah~a w:~~!a!n~h::~e ~on~~~:io~:~ll:~g;~i!~: ~~s~~tions important fact of the circulation of shrines, which had been a feature of Ghanaian religious systems before European influence became an i.portant factor in the Gold Couto He also suggests that witchcraft itself had not necessarily increased, but that the increase of witch- finding cults could be the result of the disappearance of the more traditional .ethods of witchcraft detection. These shrines, he suggests, are not new; the class of medicine shrines had always been present, particular !~~~:s a:~-i!~fn:n~ndt:;~~i:~~:~' T~!~e~~e~h~!n:~ ~:re an indication of how loosely they are tied up with the system of social aroups' (Goody ~.cit.: 359). 'One shrine beca.es successful, another l'iQes out. The inhabitants are very prapatic about such things. If one shrine appeaTs to be effective they take it up. If it fails the., they drop it. The next man's shrines, whatever 'faith' he lIay pTofes., are as good .5 one's ~: :~~;)~r , if they are more luccessful' (Goody £E. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER 7 THE VAl< FESTIVAL (GYOG'lI) Thu. chapter will discuss the r. . festival. the most i.paTtant ritual associated with the shrine. Part 1 will describe the cere.anies the.selves. and Part II will co_ent on thei r sal ient features. 1. The Va .. Festival The yall festival is • co.plex of cereJllonies; each of the component cere.onies is recognisable in i tsel £. but depends on its place in the structure of the yam festival to give it lIeaning. The festival is held towards the end of the wet season, usually about the beginning of Septeaber I when the old yaas are -finished. and the new yams are ready to be dug and eaten. New y •• s .ay not be eaten, or brought into the town, until the cereMony has been perfor.ad. To do so would be to expose the town to fBystical danger, and breaches of t.his rule are punished by the fine of a sheep. Th~ period between the end of the old yams and the eating of the new ones is one of privation for the people . when they talk of hunger. even though they have cassava. cocoya• • • aize and rice. It is the yaa which is reearded as the staple food. Two kinds of yam are grown, the White ya. (~ rotunda), and the water yam (Dioscorea a1ata); it is the former which is referred simply as the I y .. ' (~, which lives its n&lle to the yaa festival. ~ (literally, 'eating yarns 0). The water yaa, though widely grown, is regarded as inferior. Ther~ are two ways of eating yaa; the first is to cut it University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh into thick chunks, or into slices. boil it and eat it with 3 .eat or fish soup ( ~); this is called ~, or in Akan, ~. The second is, after boiling, to pound the yam until it becOlfles a thick al_ost gluey lIass. which is put into the soup. and is known throughout Ghana as fufu, and in Getwode as~. The latter way is the preferred and more usual way of eating yaa. The yalft ~5tiv.l is held in every Atwode town. with SHare. the chief town and seat of Brukung. holding it last. The date of the Shiare celebration is determined by the chief pr1est, and the other towns arrange theirs accordingly. Every town holds the festival on .&.!.!E.!&!. the first and most aport ant day of the Atwode six day week. The festival lasts four days, but only the first and last are significant, 8S ceremonies are held only on these two days . The ceremony takes place outside the ritual hut (~ 'big house I, or okpere obu 'house of the god ' ) of the chief priest. In this hut are kept ritual objects pertaining to the cuI t . the aost important of which is the Brukung elderly wo.en, known as nnsibide I two frOWl each clan, who are chosen by the clan heads . Other wo.en assisted but these four were the principals in the matter of lIinisterina to the stool. While they were preparing the yaa. a crowd had gathered in the space in front of the hut. and in the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh narro. aJleyways adjoining it . The cereJl'ony began about elght o'clock, when Nana Gesu, the chief priest, emerged fro. his hut, 3ccoJllpanied by Nana Nkilli!e. head of the Gekado subc lan, and the next senior lIlan in the A\tuku clan. Nana Gesu sat on a stool in front of the hut, with Nana Nkiraile on his right. They were joined soon afterwards by Nana Kulahome. head of the Cha clan, who was accoMpanied by Nana Aaesc, head of the Denteso subclan, and 1lI0st senior man in the clan after Nana Kulahoae. Nana Kulaholll.e 5at on the left of Hana Gesu, with Hana AJnese on his left. Each priest had a fowl, which would be sicrificed later. When the priests had settled themselves. the four elderly wa-en who had preplred the yaM entered the hut and brought out the stool of Brukung, and a stone base, on which the stool would be put later. The stool l1Iay never be handled by men. The stool was pl3ced between the two priests, and the woaen removed the two white cloths ",hich covered it, exposing the stool and the u_ains of the previous year's sacrifice. The stoOt is lIIade frollt a very heavy wood, is between 18 inches and 2 feet high, and is shaped like an hour alasSj it is decorated on ltS narrow waist with strinls of cowries shells (Plate 21). The remains of the previous year's sacrifice were cleared away. t.he the first cere_any. the washing of the stool, began. One of the woaen was deputed to wash the stool i the office is held by this ~o.an until she dies. She broulht froll tbe ritual hut a calabash (Brukung gewe). which is specially rest-ned for this cere.ony. containing water froln the ~ ~, the river associated with the god. She washed the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 001 vith a locally produced sponge (B1:ukung kuka). While It wa~ vashing the stool, the other wo.en knelt down. r ... the' rail festival twice. On the first occasion, Mbowura tor. the lunkradu, left his place on the bench on which he IS sitting with soae of the elders and approached the woaen, .Ishing and 5houting at them. I learned afterwards that some f the WOlllen around the stool were not kneeling properly. ad so.e of the elders objected to this. When this had .ea corrected, the cereMony continued . The woaan washed ~e stool very slowly, the others chanting in low voices. When the Itool had been washed. the chief priest !lured the hut and brought out a calabash of pal. oil. thich he handed to ODe of the wOllen . Tbe fowls brought by ~e clan heads were now slaughtered. by the chief priest. wer the stool, the blood being a}loved to fall on the surface . .'b e fowls were then handed to the women, who collected the reaainder of the blood in silall calabashes. While the fowls n!re being slaught:ered. the chief priest prayed, invoking J(uruboare (aod). Nana Brukung, Cagon (the god worshipped in Chi! inea, and believed to be the son of Brukung), and some of the ancestors of Shiare. Wuruboare was thanked for bringing things into being. and Brukung for having given the ancestors knowledge of the cerell10nies in the beginning, and which were now being perfor.ed today . Because of Brukung, the people had prospered, and received what they needed to hve; the present ceremonies were being perfomed as they hid been perforaed in the past. as a thanksgiving, with the hope that what had been granted to the people in the past University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Nana r.l'~U and Nana lullhome with the stool of Brukung on the first day of the Yam Festival. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -111- would continue to be granted. After thi sprayer. the woman responsible for washing the stool poured some of the palm oil on to the surface of the stool wi th the blood. added the powdered bark of a tree t~) •• bed thea, and slowly spread the mixture across the surface of the stool with bel' hand, chanting softly Wben she had finished, the woaen who had collected the blood of the fOld s in the calabashes went ..o ng the cuI t me.bers. placing a spot of blood on thei r foreheads. When they had finished, they washed thei r hands. froa a c.lab~sh of water. Nunwhile. the fowls had been taken aside and roasted by sOlIe of the youne aen. While this was taking place, the two priests rellained seated, with the stool between thelll (Plate 21). When the fovIs had been cooked. they were broken in pieces and placed in a calabash and presented to the chief priest, who placed it between hi.self and Nana Kulahome. The stool was now placed on its stone base, and the cere_ony continued wi th the feeding of the stool . The two priests broke the lIIIeat into s.all pieces, which the')' handed to the 'Woaen. who placed thea on the stool. The "~en then placed their £inlenips on the edge of the stool, keeping thelll there for a few aOlients, in silence (Plate ZZ). The remainder of the meat was then distributed 8JIIong the men. who ate it quickly. The final ceremony of the first part of the yaa festival involved children. many of whOil were present at the cere.cny, Soae for the' first tille. SOlIe of these were brought before University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the chief priest. who prayed over them. a51:.ing that they should le3rn 3nd observe the custo.s of the ancestors, that they should relleAlber theJl and continue to perfoTJII them when they reached adulthood. A calabash of water was given to the chief priest, who poured SOile of it over the children. Soae of the elders went hoae and perfonled the same cereTlony with their own children. When the ceremony with the children outside the ritual hut had been co.pleted, one of the white cloths was placed over the stool which, however, reaained outside the hut. The cult aembers vent to the i r hOlies to collect their goat skin bags, which they always carry with thea when they go to the shrine. They then processed up the hill to the shrine, where they remained for over an hour. This lurked the end of the first ceremony of the first day. The second and shorter of the first day ' s ceremonies began around lIidday. vhen the elders had returned froa the shrine, wearing the cult marks of t.heir foreheads and faces. The woaen had Ilashed the yams which they had prepared ear lier; they placed this in two calabashes and added some palm oil which they JliXed wi th the yo. The calabashes weTe offered to the chief )'Iriest. who placed thea beside the stool (Plate 23). The chief priest scattered a little of the yo .round the base of the stool, then both priests handed )'Iortions of the yAII to the women. "ho placed it on the stool beside the _eat (Plate 24). The woaen then covered the stool with its white cloths and carried it back into the ritual hut , where it reaained until the next year's cere.ony . The elders. carr)'ing calabashu , approached the Chief University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Plate 2Z The ..... oaen feeding the stool ",i th roast fowl. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh priest and rec eived fr OIl hiM 5. .8 11 portions of yalD , which they took to th ei r cOlipound s and scattered it around the front of their hous es whe re the ancestors are buried, calling upon thell to coae and eat, and join in the yanl festival (Plate 25) . Meanwhile, outside the ritual hut, attention was again focused on the children, who gathered around the chief priest to receive from him portions of the .. ashed Y8J\\. This degenerated lnt o a .8d scraable as the children jostled snd pushed each other to obtain some of the y... When the distribution of the' ne ... ya was co.pleted, the empty bowl was placed in front of the ritual hut, and everyone departed, the women to prepare the first of the new yams. However, until the final ceremony of the yaa festival has been completed on the fourth day of the festival, yaas •• y not be eaten in the fOnD of ~, but only 1n the fora of slices (buse). This ended the ceremonies of the fiT'St day of the yo festival. No cere.onies took place on the second and third days, but they were rea:.rded as part of the festival, and were partly devoted to enjoyment, though this was SOMewhat !luted, 11 the .ajor feasting and dancing '-'ere reserved for the fourth d.y. On the t.hird day Iften went to their faTlls to brina: in neW' yus, .nd soae of the younger· .en travelled to Nkwanta to bring plgS to Shiare. Pigs arc regarded as a special delicacy for the yaa festival; they are not bred in the im.aediate Nkwanta area, but sc.e lIiles to the north, by the Konko.ba, ""ho breed pigs on a large scale. The pigs "ere carried. alive, by head porterage all the way up to Shine!. The thiTd day was very quiet in Shine, as MOst University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -117 - Plate 23 The calabashes of new ya mixed with palm oil beside the stool of Brukung . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Plate 24 lhc ,",omcn feeding the stool with neY y 8ll . The cult marks are visible on thc foreheads of the twO c lan heads. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 319- "ople had gone to bring new yos. and towards the end of Of day .en could be secn streallin~ into the town wi th large "",ntities of the new yam. 2. The Fourth Day: Hoe geeale ('the day of the fufu) There was only one cereMony held on this day, a brief ODe. concerned exclusively with the children. It began very fITly in the .orning, about 5 a .... Earlier the chief priest had gone alone to the shrine to pray. Meanwhile 50ae .ale cbUGren had been assellibled outside the ritual hut. the age ,roup ranging frolll 5 to 10 years . None of these was a school- cbild or a Christian. The s ..e wOllen who had cooked the nelto' y. on the first day of the festivd now prepared pounded rUt fufu, and a meat soup and presented it to the chief priest I who took. saa11 portion and placltd it in front of the stool of Brukung in the ritual hut. He was joined by NIna Kulaho.e in the hut, and both priests ate a little of ~/~~ln th,!!!!!! . The chief pTiest gave the calabash to the wo~en . (; who offered it to the chlldren. The food had to be eaten ~-t".;~t T B~"~ frOil the calabash . and all of it had to be eaten. The children - sat in a selli-circle, and the calabash passed anti-cIcek-wise. The first child 'cut I (kebi) the first of the food and ate it , passed the calabash to the next child who took his portion and so on unti 1 the food was finished. The empty calabash vas phced outside the ritual hut. This was the final cereMony of the yaa festival. and shonly after it was co.pleted the wOlBen began t.o pound the first fufu of the new year. This began about 6.30 ...... an ~ exceptionally early hour. and on no other day is food cooked University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh // ... ,_.~.~.,...,. __ ,.t _a~--'" ~_=.. .\ Ir~... . -.,-:' .. ff. .'_. . '.!J . l~ar'I' " i 'I,I'IIIJ' "" Plate Z:' An elder feeding his ancestoTS during the Yu Festival. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 320 - ,0 early. Meanwhile the .en prepared the meat; the pigs werC slaughtered. and those who did not have a pig slaughtered a go.1.t or a !'i.heep. The whole town was alive with movement, noise and excite.ent. Everything was ready after 8.00 a .••• when everyone settled down to e.t, in cOlllparative quiet. The rest of the day was spent in feasting, drinking and dancing. Large stocks of EUT('pean beer and spirits had been laid in over the preceding few weeks, as well as the traditional palll wine and E...!:..!2.. a beer brewed from guinea corn. The l'I.ost favoured drinks were brandy, easily obtainable froa nearby Togo, and gin. Later in the morning group' of .en gathered to converse in the two ~, the Jleeting places in the clan territories, and groups of people wandered around the town greeting relatives and affinesi women visited their natal co.pounds for a few hours. Everywhere there was an atmosphere of hospitality and relaxation. In the early afternoon dancing took place in the ~ of the Cha clan. The special dance. known as kake was perfonlled. This dance is very fOrJulised, and is performed on only a few occasions in the courSe of the year, and always on the last day of the yam festival. A special drUII, known as kake is used during this dance. Several di fferent kinds of drUJI are used in ShiaTe, in different cOllbinations. Each clan has its Qvn set of dru.s, but the ~ drUJI is speCial in that it belongs to the Cha clan, there being no corresponding drum among t he Awuku clan. It is a large drua, and can be played at eith er end, with sticks. It is II<: .. A ;n rnftllhin.,.'nn wi,.h A <:11811 versatile drul!l., known as ,. dr~ ",'hleh ••Y be played with University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 321- or slung frOll the neck and played with the hands. The dancing began with a procession, which {onaed outside the village. At the head of the procession ... as the !!!! drwn, carried on tbe head of a bearer, then the drummer, followed by two ~ druas, then the men and women, everyone carrying a leafy branch, which they waved as they processed. Many of the men had s.eared their bodies with. kind of white chalk . As the procession cue towards the ~ a large audience of children and others gathere~ on the steps of the ~ and on the ledges above it, also bearing lufy branches . The procession .sde its way into the ~ and began a series of patterned dances, beginning with the lien only. and then the we.en; the final foraation took the forti of • large spiral. The dancing continued for several hours, the people breaking up into groups, with one group succeeding another in the dance. when one group dropped out, another took its place, and 50 it continued until nightfall, "h~n the aain celebrations ended. but many people continued to celebrate privately, outside their houses, until well into the night. II Analysis of th~ Yalll Festival As .entioned earlier, the yaa festival is a coaplex of cereMonies, all related in soae way to Brukung. At the outset, the relationship between Wuruboare and Brukung was established. ~uruboare was invoked at the beginning of the cereaony, and It one or tvo other points. Material and spiri tual creation "'ere ascribed to hill, but the Test of the cere.onies were .Of(' ilUledi.tely concerned with Srukung. This is consistent University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 322- with the Atwocle ideas of god, which were discussed earlier (pp.198-199). There is a suggestion that WUTuboare is involved in the ceremonies, through Brukung's role 85 an intermediary between the people and Wuruboare with the chief priest act ing as the intermediary between the people and Brukung. This once again highlights the iIIportance of the role of the intenn.ediary in Shiu'c life, instances of which have been discussed earlier (p.250). The role of the chief rriest as an inteI'lftediaT)' between the people and Brukung JI'lay Nell be the pri.ery aode! on which all other intermediatory roles in the society aTe based. Thus the basic structure on which the ya.. festival is buUt, and also the social structure ofShiare,1s:- Wuruboare B1kUng Ch~ef priest People The chief priest was the east important actor in the ceremonies, bein, directly involved in everyone. He was show" as not only the holder of r1 tua1 office. but also of the pOlitical office. In this connection it is imporunt to note the total exclusion of the Shiarewura frolll the ceremon ies. As a Christian and a literate he is eXCluded frOll cult lIeabership. and his exclUsion fro. the ceremonies e81phasised the weakness or a.bigui ty of his role as chief. The chief priest, as custodian of the stool , is the representative of BTUkung, and in hi_ are vested authority in ritual and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 323- poli tic a l mat ters. tlowcver , as has al ready been discussed (pp. 17S-77). the office of Shiarewura is ellergin, in a 1R0re clearly defined manner, though it is still seen as being dependent on the stool, which is under the control of the chief priest. The stool is the aost iaportant ritual object which the Atwode possess. representing as it does the ritual and political authority. deriving froll\ Brukunl. As has already been discussed (pp .182-3) it is. 5i.ul taneously. like and unlike the Ashanti stool. It is like it in that it is the 5y11bol of authority, and legitiaises the office of chief priest, and also that of the Shiarewura, who is seen &5 being a delegate of the chief priest. It is Wllike the Ashanti stool in that it is not sat upon, nOT is it associlted with any particular chief, who has now becoae an ancestor. It rather reseables the Golden Stool of the Ashanti in that it belongs to the whole people. and contains the soul or being of the people, and is the pUlIanent sign of Brukung aaong them. Hence the confusion and the sense of 1055 when the original stool was lost when the Geraans invaded Shiare and arrested the chief priest (pp.7S-76). Earlier (pp.91-92) reference was made to the duality which is 8 .arked feature of the Shiare social system. each clan being autano.ous, with ritual paraphernalia being duplicated, including two altars af sacrifice to Brukune. A possible interpretation of this was offered in Chapter 2 (p. 76) . h'hatever its origins, it is now an accepted feature of the social 5yste.. There is a tension between the two 1 '.v,J.n.ted in a struggle to obtain University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh posses:.ion of the office of chief priest. The situation bas no..- TCsolveti itself, in that the office of chief priest, althous:;h theoretically occupied by the older in age of the two clan heads, is always held by the head of the Awuku clan. A system which is theoretically open. but is in practice closed. is a lood ground for tension when the prize is access to and control of • powerful divinity. However , what is illportant is that there are not two cults in Shiare, in rivalry with one another. Whatever tensions .ay exist between the t\ltO clans, they are not in open co_petition. Though the cult finds expression in duality, in essence' it is unitary. Brukung is seen as contributing to the collective welfare of the whole co_unity, and not to the welfare or interests of one clan at the expense of the other. Shiare defines itself 85 8 single co_unity in relation to 81'ukung, and this finds its highest expression in the yam festival, when the unity of Shiare is stressed; both clans, which otherwise express their autono.y and duality in relation to t h e shrine become one in the yUl. festival. This is the only occasion when the two clan heads ca.e together in a ritual context . But the chief priest, Nane Guu, is the pTincipal figure, the Ch. clan head, Hana lulahome. playing a .inor role. It .... ould lee. that clan duality is being simultaneously asserted and denied, asserted in that both priests or clan heads are present. t'Wo fowls are sacrificed. one for each clan, two women frail each clan are chosen to Dlinister to the stool and prepare the food; denied in that the chief priest is in control of the entire ritual, he Slaughters both fowls himself. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - l2~ - and the ritual is held outside the ritual hut of the chief priest, who presides over the ritual, not as haad of the Awuku chn, but as chief priest of Shiare. This sense of unity is strong enough to help check and control the tensions and conflicts which are potentially present in clan autonoDl}·. The yaM festival would seem to be a statement of the ritual and political unity of Shiare, of the whole co. .u nity, and not of anyone part or it. The ylll festival i s also a first fruits cerelDony, emphasising the importance of the yam for the Atwode, and their dependence upon Brukuna. The first offerings of the new ylllII are ude to Brukung, both 8S a thanksgiving fOT the harvest, which will provide food and life for the coming year, and a pled,e that the earth will continue to provide for the people. Chi Idren played an important part in the yall festival, and ceremonics relating to the children occurred at three points during the festival, at the end of the first series of ceremonies grouped around the washing of the stool, when the children were washed with the ...e water "hich vas used to wash the stool, to protect and strengthen thefll to continue the worship of Brukung. then at the end of the second leries of ceremonies grouped around the new y4!ll. which was used to feed the stool, the ancestors and the children, and finally on the last clay, when the ceremony was devoted entirely to the children. Each of these points .arlced the end of one cerelllony or series of cere.anies ,.ithin the whOle festival, and. pOinted University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 326 - to the beginning of the next cere.cny. with the children '-eninl: as 8 link hetween what had passed and what would co.c . A connection was established between the children and the ancestors. The ancestors have a place in Atwode thinking, but it is not so strongly eaphasised as in other societies. r have suggested earlier (p.212) that this is probably due to many of the qualities attributed to the ancestors in other societies having been integrated into the 'lfOT5hip of BTukuna. leading to a lessening of the llDportance of the ancestors in the lives of the people. This part of the 1'1 tual •• y be seen 8S a s)"1ftbolic stateaent of events on a wid.er. more universalistic time scale, involving the .... hole society and its relation!thip to Brulcung over a long period of tiJne, which has its roots in the past, 1n the time of the ancestors, and continues into the present, wi th the children, who are the descendants of the ancestors. Tbe children then formed a link between the present and the future, ...· hen they will attain adulthood and eventually beco.e ancestors, with their children continuing the process, continually linking past generations with future ones. The interdependence o! the ancestoTs, the children and Brukung was expressed very concisely in the ritual of the eating of the new aashed yaJI (bus.). The stool was fed first, indicating the centTali ty of Brukung in the life of Shil!-re. It is to Brukune that the people look for their continuance as 8 people, and fOT the continuance of the yaa, the food without which life would be impossible. Mystical daneers and .. aisfortunes. which experience has shovn continually beset University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 327- human living, and wbich are beyond the competence of society to control, are controlled or removed by Brukung. Then the ancestors and the children were fed, .ore or less simultaneously. The ancestors were brought to Shiare by Brukung, worshipped at the shrine and cleared the land for the production of food. The children are the present product of this original relation· ship between Brukunl and the ancestors. The children played a 1I0re prOilinent part in the ceremony than the ancestors, which would seem to suggest that the Atwode are 1II0re iaJlediately concerned with the present and the future than with the past . There was an explicit eJIlphasis on growth. develot-ent and cyclical Ilove.ent in the yaa festival. This was expressed in tel1fts of t.he agricultural cycle of the society itself, and of the children. The transition froa the eating of the old Y8lhS to the eating of the new "as done gradually, over a period of days, and was marked by various stages. Firstly there was the period when the old. yaas were finished, and the new yams, although ready, were not allowed to be eaten until the society had been prepared. ritually by the food being offered first to Brukung. This was a period of want and hunger. The second stage was the eating of new ya.5 in the fon of busa, slices. The third and final stage was when the ya was eaten as ~. or tE-~. Each stage in the society ' s introduction to the eating of their staple food was preceded by the children being introduced to this stage, after which the town did likewise. The .odel would seem to be that of the gradual physical and lIloral growth of the chUd. As University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - lZS - children develop phys ically and are socialised gradually under the direction of parents and elders, passing froll childhood through adolescence into adulthood, so does the society gTa"," in its relationship with Brukung. Society is lne children in relation to Brukung. in a continual state of development; each yaa festival •• rles 8 new phase in the society'S relationship with the divinity. The annual agricultural cycle is regarded as having finished with the harvestlng of the first of the new yams, and as having begun when they are eaten in the fOTIII of fufu, which the Atwode regard as the beginning of the new year J which is also the beginning of a new phase in their relationship with Brukung, when the annual cycle will begin again, with its affirllation of the belief that life, thr original gift of l\uruboare, and IIIsintsined by Brukung, w111 continue. This was stressed in the ritual held on the fourth day, when the SOCiety was led into the new year by thr children, who, after Brukung, ate the first of new yaas as fufu, and thus provided the link between the old year. the past, and the new year, the future, in the sue \o,'ay as they fora the 1 ink between the ancestors . the past, and their descendants, the future. This the.e of birth, eTowth and decline, may be observed in the initiation into the Brukung cult (pp.S8-66) and lIay also be seen as analogous to thr development of the child. Khen thC' initiatrs entered the period of seclusion, they were dcsocialiscd. They lived naked, like young children; \heir food was brought to the. by their woaenfolk, often by their lIothers and Sisters. OUTing this period they were gradual I y University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh soci.lis ed, be ing ed ucated in the Tules and customS of the cult , the society of which they would henceforth be .embers. Lik(' children, they were under the authority of their elders, in this case of th e chief priest, and possibly also of the rea.ining cuI t meMbers; like children, they were punished for their faults. Thei r transition froa childhood to adulthood vas cOJipleted when they returned frOil the shrine fully clothed and fu1l lIe.bers of the cult. The joy Uld relief with which the new cuI t lIIelllbers were greeted by the r e st of Shiare, as well as expressing h appiness and relief faT the safe return of the men, may also have expressed joy that the cult had been reborn. that the cycle would continue, and that there would always be a chief prieJt to mediate between Brukung and the people. The cycle will follow its appointed course, with the cult aeabers Iradually dying, to be replaced in time by the lIale children, both those actually living and those not yet born. Thi s latter point was explicitly stated during the yam festival. Woaen played an important part in the yu festival, and were involved in every stage . They are excluded from cult aeabership, but without thea the ceremony could not be per f ormed. The stool may never be touched by Iften, not even by the chief priest., hence the iaportance of the wo.en's part in the cereaony. It is a great privilege to perfona this function. and to be eligible a wo.an Iftust be elderly and !lust not have had her ears pierced for earrings. According to the SMare people t.o whoa I questioned on this point, this latter condition is cruci.l. Many of the wOPaen in Shiare, especially University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 330 - the younger ones, have their ears pierced, for purely decorative purposes. It is possible that this is recent, • European CllSto!!', and as such, was not paTt of the original custOJlS of the ancestors in relation to the festival. and therefore excluded froa the ritual. I was unable to obtain confirmation of this theory, but it •• y be ana.logous to the frequent use of calabashes during the ceremonies of the yam festival, which 'Will be discussed later. Every faJlily ensures that at leaH one female has unpierced ears, makin& her potentially eligible for the office, and also to ensure that the yam festival will be continued. When] enquired if the we.cn had to be members of the we.en· 5 Okuoku cult, or if a Christian woman would be eliaible. provided she had unpierced ears, there was some hesitation Dong the elders. Eventually they said no, but this is not a point in which they have any i_ediate interest, or tiith which they have to deal, as it does not arise a5 • problem, as none of the wOllen in the Reneration which serves the stool is a Christian; they are all llelllbers of the wOllen's cult. But it is interesting to note that even sa.e Christian eirls are allong those who do not have their ears pierced . According to the rules of the cult, Christian girls ••y not be initiated, but as beeD. pointed out, the rules loverning adaission to the wOllen's cuI t are not so strictly applied as those of the men I s cult (p.140). The ","o_en were elderly. and have passed the age of childbearina. which is consisteDt with the pattern found in sOlle societies that wOllen who have passed the menopause are University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh eli&lble for func'tions froa loIhich their sex would otherwise exclude thell. Two other factors aay be involved. The WOllen cooked food and handled the stool. In Shiare, aenstruating wOllen are not allowed to cook (p.236), and Brukung is said to .bhor the shedding of hoaan blood (p. 8). Women who have passed the menopause would thus not break either of these taboos. These points were not .ade by the Shiere peop) e the.selves, but they are consistent with Atwode beliefs. The fUnction of the women in the ritual was threefold; they washed, cooked and ,ave food, which was a reflection of their role in society, and the im.portance of this role was eJIIph.sised in a ritual which is concerned with life fertility and continuity. WOlllen are the bearers of life, .nd children. during cruci.l stages of their develop.ent, receive much of their training and socialisation fro. woaen . During the yaa festival, the stool and the children are fed by the women thease1ves. Significantly, although the woaen '!so feed the stool wi th the aeat fro. the roasted fowls, t h ey do not cook the fowls, nor do they feed the children with it. They cook the yaa. and feed the children with the yam., ~hus stressing the significance of the yam as the staple food. the 'OUTce of life. Calabashes are frequently used during the yatll festival as containers faT food. As pointed out dur ing the discussion of the initiation into the Brukung cult, calabashes are used today for drinking and not for eating. This liay be a reflection of the antiquity of both the yam festival and the initiation. "hen the calabash would be the noraal eating vessel , University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the more usual eating dish (~J being of recent origin . Both rituals are done as they were in the time of the ancestor s. The use of calabashes .ay also be associated with the fact that cups, glasses and .etal eating dishes aTe not only o~ recent origin, but also of European 1II.nufacture, thus reflecting the hostility of the cult to thinp European. Althouah European custOMS, manners and artefacts have found their way into the relatively isolated At~ode society, ideally they are not paT! of it, and the aajor rit.ual thus reflects the traditional origins of the people. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 333- OiAPTER 8 SHIARE AND THE FUTURE This chapter will examine certain factors which could h~ve be.ring on the future development of ShiaTe aT the cuI t or oth. Internal and external factors may be readil), distinguished, lid they will be discussed in that order, though the overlap is ouctl that some must be discussed silJl~usly. I. Internal f.ctors affecting Shiare The cult, ,,-'hieh is central in Shiare life. depends for its :ontinuat10n upon a supply of new lIe.bers, who .U5t be Atwode .. les and unschooled. Two factors are involved here, the .,11001 and 11 teraey. which will be discUS5Cd briefly to deteTRline if they could affect the future of the cult. The school is a comparatively recent. factor in ShiaTe. uving been buUt in 1945, and is potentially B threat to the evlt, as the schooled or the literates cannot be cult me.ben. Therefore adaission to the school must be controlled by the cult elders, to ensure that there is a reservoir of future cult ..b ers. This is what is being done, and has been done since the inception of the school. Very few aale children have been -enrolled at the school, thus ensuring that the •• joTity of the : aa1e population of Shiare are eligible for initiation into the CUlt. The problell would arise in a very acute forn if educa- I tion. even pri.ary education. weTe to becoae coapulsory and the goverMent had the lIleans to enforce it. This is not the Ielse at the present lIoaent, and given the present state of the Ghanaian si tuation. is unlikely to be 8 possibility for toae ti.e to COliC. However. the possibility, no aatter how , University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 334- rellote. exists, and .ay become a factor with which the cult .&y have to contend in the future. The relationship of the cult to literacy was raised . • bartly before the beginning of .y field work in June 1975, when a ,.all group of educated Shiarellcn, living in Nkwanta, .pproached the chief priest and asked if it would be possible for the. to be considered eventually as candidates for initiation into the cult. This was surprising, as hitherto the opposition between the cult and the literates had .lways been accepted unquestioningly. As has been shown (p.1l2). 1II0st of the cult lDe.bers live in Shiare. and aost of the literates outside Shiare. tatina little or no part in Shiare affairs. The role of the literates. however. changed .s a result of the involve.ent of the) iterates in the hearings of the Badu Co_ission (p.17!), whose findings would have i_portant consequences for Shiare. They .... orked cLosely with the Shiarewura in preparinl the evidence to be su~itted to support the Atwode case that they had always been an independent entity and wished to be recognised as luch . This required research in the archives and the preparation of docUlienu. which involved the use of literacy, which was beyond the co.petence of the cult elders . Thus this aspect of Shiare's affairs passed fra- the hands of the elders to the Shiarewura and his assistants. who, for the first tiae. found the.selves playinl a direct aDd 1.portant part in the wider politinl issues affecting Shiare. and de.onstrating the necessity and illportance of liteTacy in ModeTn systems of gove1'Nlent . Their aWllreness University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - llS - of their new role, and its i.partance fOT Shiare, .ay have prompted the. to make their request to the chief priest. It was refused, inevitably . When I questioned thell! as to w~r they had a.de their request, they replied that the Brukung cult was part of the way of life of Shiare, and as Shiaremen they wished to share in it . They wished to share in what they seemed to regard as their birthrieht . In one way their argWlent see.ed plausible, but it is difficult to see how they could have expected the cult elders to change the cuI t radically by accollU!l.odating itself to literacy. The attitude of tbe cult to literacy had always been uncomproJilisinli it fOI1led no part of the cult or of the tradition.l life of Shiare. Literacy cue into Shiare directly through the founding of the school, but it is possible that the Atwode were a.,are of literacy and its use in other societies. J.R . Goody (968) has shown the place and use of literacy in what is now northern Ghana, which wa s heavily influenced by Isla. . The written word, apart from its other uses, becallle an iaportant part of religious systelfts. 'The value of writin, as a .eans o f co_unicating wi th the supernatural powers appears to have been recognised throughout north Ghana in acephalous coaJDunities as well as states. a.ong the literate as well as among the partia l ly literate' (J . R.Goody 1968:202). This .".s true of the Gonja and the Dagollba, with whOlD the Atwode were in contact, as these states used the services of the shrine in Shiare . Thus Shiare lived on the fringes of the literate or semi- literate world, and weTe in contact with peoples who used :- '- . - ~ ~ .. ~ ':!' - ')ted that one of the valuables he University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 33b- found in the chie f priest's hut. a gi ft to the shrine, was a northern smock, decorated with leather talismans inscribed with Koranic texts, the ~ or !.ill "hich had a wide v~~ue throughout northern Ghana and contained within the. the word of God (J .R.Goody 1968: 201) and were believed to have a.gic.l properties. 1 f the Atwode were aware of the existence and uses of literacy 4IIong these northern peoples, they ignored it for thei r own reI igious sys telli. Literacy involves a different aeans of co_unicating with the supernatural. There are two kinds of knowledle involved here, knowledle encapsulated in the written word, and the body of secret knowledge preserved in oral tradition. J.R..Goody has pointed out how knowledge becomes iaportant when people have an interest in maintaining • aonopoly of their sources of power (1968:12) . This, I believe , is the situ.tion 1n Sh1are, where the cult ritual and secret knowledge are confined to • co.paratively slla11 body of Dlen who aTe localised 1n a 5.all area. and who, through their exclusiVe access to the shrine, can control the affairs of Shiare and AUlode. By askine to be ad.itted to the cult, the educat.ed Shiarellen were possibly expressing a genuine desire to share in soaething which is fundaJllcntal to Shiare life. but at the saae time they were .sUng that the cult change its character and structure. 'The introduction of literacy . even in a restricted fora, iaediately expands the intellectual horhons of a co_uility. brin,inl .t least soae of its lRembers into active contact with the ideas of 1ndiv1duaf5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 337 - of different cultures and of different centuries' lJ.R.Goody 1968:21S). The Shiare elders have no interest in and little knowledge of the world of the educated. and shoila h.a. Yujab 6 Okuo'ito ••• Fii!.10 : Y.inshin between Amekno, Yaw Mensah, Kosta, ~lansah and OlrUQ ~to5e5 and had still to "e rroved, hut the" are treated seriously. IIhowurlI: Ayar inforJlled the clan head, Nana Kulaholne, of the charltu, and obtained fro. him one of the staffs, oknere oyi (literally. sticks of the divinity). which are freouently seen on the altar when sacrifice is made to Brukun~. and which receive sOWle of the "load fro. the sacrificial animal, and which are l'Ielieved to have a close association with the god. These !;taff~ played an iNpoTtent Tl8rt in the event!; which followed. The first result of the accusations 8jlainst the two youn$! .en of the {'ha clan was a state of tension hetveen the two clans. and tension and hostility hetween the two subclans W8s8wasado and rl'>l~ s ('. The tvo younJ!: lien concerned were forhidden to enter int ('l thc:- territory of the Wasawasado suhclan, and of the entire University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 360 - ...." uku dan, until the ""hole affair had been settled. Had ~ tbl:Y done so, they would have been physically attacked and r fined, apart froa any fine which aar be iJIIPosed fOT the c.haTge of adultery _ They were also believed to be unclean, in 8 state of mystical danger, though this is i_plied rather than stated. A respe c ted elder. Sunwura. was sent to Adollwale. bead of the Wasawasado wi th the okpere ox1 j the two young .en were ordered to appear before the Cha elders. The okpere oyi has two functions. 1. It always signifies an apology, and marks t.he beginning of reconciliation between groups two/who are in dispute over SOlie matter. In this case it signified an apology from the subclan of the two young men to the girl's subclan head, Ado.wale. 2. When it 1s again carried, later in the negotiations. it will on this occasion act as a safe-conduct for the YOWlg man. who will be required to enter the territory of the other clan for the reconciliation ceremony. At this stage in the proceedings, it is merely the apology. and • provisional apology, as the Cha elders have yet to make t heir own enqui Ties regarding t.he gull t of the two accused young men. The okpere ori has the authority of the divinity, which must be respected and obeyed. Its appearance in the other subclen marks the beginning of the reconciliation, fOr it brings the two .ides together, cools tempers, and eliminates lonJt and tille-consuming discussions, and possible acrimony. The whole process of reconciliation is speeded up. Time is often an i.portant factor. nuring. such case,. much normal activity is suspended, as pe<,plc Bather to follo\. . the events in the dispute. ~'en return fro. the Cams, and do not return until the flatter is . ; ,·.,ll ... resolved. hapOTtant work during critical periods of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -361 - the agricultural cycle, such as planting or harvesting, could be affected by long drawn-out negotiations . The apology Jlust be accepted; a refusal would flout the authority of the s~rine. Sunwura was told that the two young lien were to be brought to Nann Gesuls ritual hut (okpefe abu). The case had now been referred to N~na Gesu, the chief priest as the affair now involved both clans. Sunwura reponed back to the Cha elders, who dispatched messengers to Nbanta to bring the young men to Shiare. They could not come until the following morning. Kosia was sent to spend the night with her mother's people; her mother, Malege, ""'as the daughter of Nana Gesll, who sent her to the house of Grato, of the Gepubudo subelan, of which Nana Gesu is the head. Early next lIorning. Mare and Mensah arrived in Shiare. and were sUllJloned before the Cha elders outside Kulahollle's hut. They were questioned as to the truth of the accusations. Asare admitted the charge. Mensah at first denied it. but then adaitted it when the ikyase getan. the Slaughtering of the chicken indicated his guilt. He was ordered to be beaten by the subclan head, Mbowura Ayar. The punish.Jlent was carried out by Afinyo, half brother to Kyebowura, and classificatory brother to Yeho. father of Mensah. During the whippinS. he ~anageu to escape. even though his hands were tied behind his back. and aanaced to reach the house of Sako. head of the Abwabado subelan. where he claimed 'sanctuary'. which w8s given. lie would eat and slet'p at Sako's house until the case was settled . The aCcused can always try and escape and seek sanctuary. It is possible that this escape is sanctioned and institutionalised . OtheTWise it would be very diffiCUlt, if nClt i~possible for the- ACCused to escape. The fact that his University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh k.s ore bOWid behind hi: :::I<~ that there is • large nUl1>her tOPIe present. who could praveDt his escape, and the TOUe h tf(\Y slippery natUTe of the terrain in Shiare. would mak.~ a IfJIuine escape iapossible. It .150 ensures that the accused it outside his natal lineage. and in I1any cases outside his j.clan. unt! 1 the reconciliation has been cOllpleted. and the ~ed has been "itually Teturned to the society . The ....e stlon .,ould soe. to be that during the course of the cue, .., accused has lost his affili.11on in the lineage. and in the rClan. on whoa he has brought shue and disgrace . Bearina he does a 1ftystical danleT, he Is shunned by the subclan ftc- he has offended by his adultery, and by the subclan who in ..e way shares in his crime and ,uilt. He therefore seeks hDctuary wi th a ,roup who are not involved, .nd in that sense Mean~'hile the Awuku eldeTS had been infol'lled that the two .. had confesled to the charge; the Cha elders were told to 'rin, them to Nana Gesu t 5 hut, wi th two large pots of palm 'iDe and two fowls. "'hieh is the standard fine. The Awuku UltU5 ..... ived this in the case of Mensah. on the grounds that k called Yaw Mensah. the father of Kosia,'lIotherts brother ' ~ed'bO). In fact. Mensah's raother, M'bowane, was born in ~.5i, the Atwode town between Shiare and Nk .. anta. but had ~SificatoTY kinship with Vaw Mensah's line.ge. AsaTe could lOt produce the p'Lhl wine and the fowls u..ediately, so his Ippurancc \J('torl" the- Awuku elders was postponed until the rOUowin, .0rDing. ~ Mensah ".s escorted hy the Cha elders to Gesu's hut, with .. ~. carrying the ~. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 365 - On this occasion, as well as still signifying apology, the olpere oyi was simultaneously acting as a safe conduct fOT Mensah. indicating that he vas under the protection of tl\~ \ .divinity, whose sign the okpere oyi was. The staff was placed Ilainst the wall of Hana Gesuts hut for a few moments, then taken back to' Nana KulahoMe. Mensah. weaTing only a pair of shorts. squatted in front of Nanll Cesu. The A.. .. uku elders sat on his right and left, the eha elders 50.e distance behind hiJII. There followed a series of admonitions f delivered by the A\IIuku elders. particularly by ~ekpo. father-in-law of Kosia. They spelle of the shue .... hich he. Mensah, bad brought upon his own house through his :criJae, which was not that expected of a : Shiareaan. He was reminded of the custOIftS of the ancestors, which he had violated, and how wrong it was to take another Ilan '5 ~ wife. Such an act 'spoils' the town, and leads to fighting and quarrelling, Frequently, the en. elders joined in, attacking by a young boy frOll the Wasawasado subchn, who represented the ChI's subclan. Gesu was offered 8 calabash of water. frora yhich he poured libation to Wuruboare (God). 8rukung and the : ancestors. calling on thea to 'Witness the ceremony taking place. t to reaOVl' the gUilt incurred by Mensah, and to heal the d ..a ge done. "'ensah and the youna boy were offered the calabash, fro • . Which they draok. They then placed t.heir hands, pal., dpwnwards on the ground; Gesu poured water Over their hands. then f.ook ~_ ..... c .." ,A i .. ' ......... ~. . stating. and invD'dna BrukUfl&. tha~ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ~ j64 - til(; differences between the two gTOUpS was now at an end. The joining of the hands of the guilty lIIan and the young boy representing the girl's subclaD •• rked the reconciliation between the two subelans, and the purification of the .an from his criDe. resulting in the removal of the .ystic_1 danger incurred by the adultery . The .eeting broke up, the Cha elders returning to their own part of the town. The reconciliation ceremony, (~), is si. .. ple, but illportant and very effective. The whole affair, which began on a Tuesday aornina, was over by late morning the next day. A dispute which could be hamfully divisive and lead to protracted quarrelling was swiftly controlled, managed and resolved by very effective aechanisas. Structurally, the process of the case is very siaple, consisting of the accusa- tion and admission of Ruilt, which leads a breakdown of social relations between the two groups, as a result of which the guilty lIan is unable to function socially, as a person, and is considered to be dangerous, then there is the reconciliation, which restores harmony between the two groups, and the lIaD resWiles his naTllal social life. Crucial in the dispute, and actine as a link between the polari t1es of disharJl!.ony and reconciliation, is the okpere 0ri. It is multifunctional. Initially it is an admission of guilt, and an apologYi ultimately, as a symbol of the divinity, it is the symbol of unity itself, which derives from Brukung. The okpere or1 i" thus a catalyst in th~ process of reconciliation, and bring. the parties together; to refuse to acknowledge it is to challenge the shrine. and the unity of the town. The reconciliation ct.-re.any is final, and cannot be challen,ed. Whatever private • especially those 1III0St inti •• tely University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 36S r the stability of the social ordor would be continually threatened . !-(eanwhile, while the processes involving Mensah and Asare were in lIIotion, other aspect.s of the case were emerging, with such rapidity that several aspects of the affair were being conducted simul t..neousl y. Shortly after the beginning of the investigat.ions of t.he suspicions against Kosia, Mans.h. losia's friend, was under suspicion. As the two girls were always together, Kwasi Nyako suspected that. his wife Mansah lIay also have been gUilty of adultery. When Mansah heard that Kosia had been accused of adultery by her husband IUld was being questioned by the elders. she tried to run away, but was SOOD caught and brought before t.he elders. At first. .he denied having had intercourse, but. very soon confessed t.o havin. had intercourse wit.h a Shiarelll.&n living in Paapawie. in the cocoa growing area soae 80 miles south of Atwode where a ftUlltber of Atwode men were engaged in cocoa faraing. She denied any further involvement, but the ikyase geten (slaulhtering the chicken) indicated that she vas lying. She then acblitted intercourse with t.hree young Ilen, Yaw Peter, son of Malebo, of the Gepubudo subclan, Okuo Noses. son of Kwoina. of the Wasa'W8sado subchn, t.o 'Which she also belonged, and Kofi Augustine, 50n of Nkillile, head of the Gekado lineage, thus all three subclans of the Awuku clan were involved in this aspect of the case. The procedures described in the case of Xo!ia were carried out. Both the Gcpubudo and Gckado subclans had to perform the ~. the carrying of the okpere 0r i to the house of Adotlwol e • head of the Wuav. . ado subclan. As Okuo Moses ,.,.5 . _:10 subclan , t.he l!.!.!..!! lifes not perfoTmed . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh l aw Peter, the son of Malebo. was whipped by order of his {athl'r as he was being led to the house of Gesu to be questioned. He escaped to a hous~ in the Che clan until .~he reConc.iliation cerem.ony was perforlled. Kofi Augustine, the son of Nki.il~. adaitted his guilt, and was not whipped. Okuo Moses was whipped, and during the whipping aanaged to escape and reached the house of Nanl Kulaho.e, where he was given sanctuary. )'leanwhile. Asare. fro. . the Cha clan, had cOIRe to the Awuku elders wi th the fine of pal. wine and the two fowls, The ~ ceremony followed the pattern of that described for Mensah. except that during the admonitions, Vaw Mensah, father of Kosia, stressed thlt the case of Asare was more serious than that of Mensah. in that As arc called hi., Yaw Mensah, inyedabo (_other I s brother), which aade the affair more sh ..e ful. At this stage Hatters took a new turn. Okuo Moses, son of Kwaaina. disappeared before the ~cerellony could be perf o TIlled for hi.. This was because. as well as having had intercourse with Mansah. which he had act.itted, he had also had intercourse with Kosia. and this had not as yet been revealed. He suspected. however, that Kosia would eventually mention his nue (which she did). and rather than wait and be broulht before the elders to he questioned on this more serious charge, he left Shiare and went to (rachi, to his father'S brother. Yat Mensah, who worked on the ferry there. Then were several factors which made Okuo Moses I involve- ment in the case very serious. Firstly, he caUed Mantole, father of losia. inyed.bo. and Yaw Mensah and Okuo ~oses I mother A\;u:tpine were full s.1blings. unlike Aaantoae and Akuapine. who University of Ghan3a6 7h tt-p://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Plate 27: Okpere ayi (upper part) were classificatory siblinas. Then the cd.a WAS cOllpo\lflded in that he had cOUIitted adultery with tvo ,lrls . Flnally. hecause he \ltU odUlebi (sister's son), he was a .e»er of the ,,;oaaen$.l grou.p ",hich consisted of the sons of Asanyo. :Seing aware of the seriousness of the situation due to this complex of factors, Okuo Noses decided to flee. When I left the field short ly afterwards he had not yet returned to Shiar. to perforn the ~ cere.ony. Meanwhile, the elders had not yet finished with l()sia. It ... as still suspected that aoro .en were involved, and this vas confir• •d by the ikyase setan. She mentioned OIUO MDse., who by this titw had left Shiare, Yaw, son of 8eJrpln'i, of the Ch. clan, and aen in Nyuban, and Abrewonlcor, both Atwode towns. The ehs elm "'.s once Slain involved, and the sue process was repeated fot' Yaw, who was in the bush wOTting st the t* ..b o C.onfessed. l ...d iately. "'"hen 1 left..',~. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 368- the f itdd the case was still continuing. Messengers had been sent to the other two Atwode towns to have the lien in question sent to Shiare to be questioned and have the ~ cere.o~.y perfoI1led. The Customs of ~ and ~ as peTfonned in Shi3re were also observed in the other Atwode towns. Adultery'is not uncolMlon in ShiaTe,and in sOllie ways is regarded as inevitable. Although a possible ground for divorce, husbands do not usually divorce their wives when adu ltery had been proven, unless the wife does 50 habitually. Other {actors, such as insulting behaviour to the husband, or DeaUgence regardina household duties, are considered as .ore serious matters. and are much lIore likely to lead to divorce. What lIakes the case of Kosia and Mansah so exceptional is the large nUJlllber of people i1ftplicated. Both girls had been very recently married; in fact the I1arriage had not as yet been finalised, in that both girls were still livina: in theiT parental hOlle, visiting and cooking for their husbands until they received their own cooking utensils, when they would then live with their husbands and establish an independent household. Their actions lIay be an illplied criticisa of the arranged marriage system which prevails in Shisre. In both cues f the girls had little choice in their aarriage partners . 80th were illiterate, and part of the traditional structure of Shiare life. But both frequently visited Nlcwanta and other towns, and aay have been influenced by factors at work there which were lDaling inroads on the traditional values of Atwode society. Opportunities existed in Nkwanta and elsewhere which allowed wa.en sOlIe degree of independence outside the traditional structures. Women from Shiare had settled in Nlewanta and had University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh become to sOllie degree independent by engaging in trading and vorkinr- as seaJllstresses. The secondary school and the continuation schoo) in Nkwantahave girls of Kosia and MaD:~ah's .ge whose outlook is different. llore sophisticated than that represented by Shiare. SOlie of the educated Shiare men with "hOll I discussed the case suggested that soae of the younger ,irIs found the traditional marriage .rrangellents irksome, and ••y have involved the.selves with 10vel'S as 8 gesture of protest. The llechanislls 'for dealing with adultery are effective, and their effectiveness is directed aore to endine the tension between the parties involved than inflicting punishment. The fines themselves are Iftore of a token nature than punitive, and in soae cases no fine was illposed. The beatings inflicted on 501Re of those involved ~ere not statutory. but arbitrary. Kosia was severely beaten, but leas fOT the deed itself than for the fact that she denied the accusations. Mensah confessed almost. iuediately, and was not beaten. Her readiness to confess .ay hue been influenced by the beating adllinistered to Kosia. Some of the young lII.en were oTdered to be beaten by their elders, others were not. The main e.phasis was to .ove events towards tbe reconciliation ceremony. The attitude of the elders was prap_tic. On the ont: hand, the fact that adultery was co_on, COlllllon enough to be a fact of experience. was accepted. On the other hand, social nOTIIS could not be flouted. ot.herwise the stabil 1ty of the society would 'be threatened i the effects of adultery could be very dl visi ve. The ~ ceremony restoTed haraony, but eould not guarantee that the parties in\'o 1 \,,:l would not again cout t adultery. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh [lIOteonHloU'O The word I1lIIUSO is found allong sOlie Guan peoples, in · .. riant fona s . but with the sue general Teferant of .ysti .~al danger or mi s fortune . The word is found Dong the Akan and ChristaUer (1933: f 323) lists its Meanings as 'mischief'. 'misfortune', 'disaster', '.herr', 'cal amity I. 'a thing that. causes mischief'. Asong the Gonja, ~ refers specifically to tlystical danger. 'The widest definition of .. busu sees it as a state of arstiea! dangeT brought about by soae sin of omission or co .. ission which throws the relationship between lIlan and the supernatural out of balance' (E . N.Coody 1973:239). It is found in a variety of contexts (E.N.Goody ~ 203). The .ost dangerous states of "busu occur when the ancestors are .neered . "Mystical d.nger not otherwise specified is usu.lly taken as being froll dead kin, and indeed people soaeti.es simply equate the two: 'Mhusu is when the ancestors are anery'" (E . N.Goody ~. 241). Mong the Xratchi people and the Atwode ~ and ~ are used to designate special ceremonies perfor.ed to reaove mystical dangers which have occurred. Steelftcu, vriting of the ~ (destiny) traditions of the Kratchi, describes the ~ (or Blusi) or pacification ceremony, which is perfonaed when a aan encounters great .is£ortune in his work or in his faaUy Ufe and which can be traced tohis~(Stee.eTslgb4:31. Stee.ers (1965) .150 describes two other traditions found a.ong the batch! and SOllie otheT Guan peoples of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Jt_ Reg ion , b •••• o n the belief that eve ry man has 8 outside th i s wOTl. , the SunSUli Bou.kye, aDd that eveTY ~ bas a hu sb and out si de t.his world , the SunSUJII Bo.~ekuri. i.e spirit s c an bring t r ouble and misfo rtune to aarT1ed '-'Ie, and also before lIarr i age . If troubles or .i s fort~nes . tagnosed as deriv i ng from these spirits, then the ~ or pacIfication cere.any lIust be held, and is alaost t-atiCal to that perfoJ1lled for the ~ (Stee.ors 1965: 1.3). The Ntuny a also perfora a ~ ceremony to pacify .oasekyi and the Boasekuri SunsUlft. but 1t takes a ~, brent fOTO fro. ~hat of the lr8tehb (Steemer> ~. In the prayers Tee i ted during sOfie of these ceremonies. 1t is interesting to note that Na Bruku (BTUkun&) is invoked ong with Dente. the god of the Kratchi (Stee.ors 1964: 5 r1965 : 7) . In the latter instance Na Bruku is referred IS 'our senior god here'. ~ for the Atwode is the cereMony of reconciliation and purification necessitated by a breach of social nol'1lls which Us incurred ·. lIystical danger. As in the case of the ~O~~S. ;1 c:.,.. .. lntchi cere.onies cited above, the eaphasis is on the (: :j ' ~ .. ~rnonYI the aspect of mystical danger being i.plied 1"athe 1", f~~!,~""/. . be. stated . The obj ect of the cere. any is to reconcile the two ITOUp S .... hich have been estranaed because of the adultery. r- to purify the participants, and thus Temove the lIystlcal '-.er. The ShiaTe people with whoa t discussed the .atter !'Peed that a ystieal danger was connected with _usa, but lbt the wOTd refeTred priraarily to the ceTemon~heTe are University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -372 - other causes of estrange.ent between groups ,such as eloping with a girl. or disputes regarding building land . In these elSes the groups will be reconciled. but the cere.onies connected with the reconciliation are not called ~. as there would see. to be no elc.ent of mystical danger involved. There lIlay be other occasions when ~ ceremonies lTe perforlled, but I was unable to obtain precise in{onl.tion on this point. But ~ is certainly connected with adultery, wbich is fairly co. .o n. and brin,s with it mystical dan,er . This is also true of sexual relations in certain contexts. Two .en who have had relations with the sue wo ••n wl11 avoid each other socially. as they be1iave that one can endanger the other. A divorced woman say not reaarry a lIan of the sue subclan. A lIan who has .arried the divorced ",ife of another aan will avoid the first husband socially, for a time .t least. and will not eat or drink with hia, to avoid .ystical danler. The husband of an adulterous woman is believed to be in danCer froa the .an ..-ith who. intercourse took place; his lineale . and even his subelan. are believed to be in liaUar danger . Hence the man guilty of adultery is forbidden to enter the territory of the wcaan's lubelan untU the ~ cere.ony has been perforned. There is only one occasion when the ,uilty min •• y enter the weaan's Jubel.nj that is when he enters accompanied by the bearer of the oKpc-re ort. and is thus under the protection of the shr ine. which protects hi. fr01\ physical assault, and which protects the people frca the aystical danger. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 371- The case of Okuo Moses was considered to be especially ttficus. Apart froll baving couitted adultery with both fiTls, who were classificatory sibIinas, he called Kosia'~ flther, Yaw Mensah, tnyedabo (mother's brother) (FlgJ.O). and f" virtue of this kinship throueh his !lother, he was. "'ber of the ·ca.aensal group which included the fathers .r the two girls, and therefore po,ed 8 special threat to Ut ,roup . Shiare people are careful with whom they eat. as a;... is regarded as being vulnerable to the attack of witches. '.W,GoOdy notes. s1ailaT attitude ...o n, the Gonja. The lIin aeans .used 9Y women witches to attack their victims ~ to place .Y5tic.l poison in their food; therefore they are tltre.ely careful about what food they eat. particularly if they do not know the vo• •n who cooked it (1973:127). I.e Ahode wUl not eat food pTepared by • suspected witch, lad ~ill expel from the cODensal group anyone suspected of tae a witch (p. 2Sj. O\:uo Moses. though not suspected of ltchcraft, was the bearer of Ilystical danger. and a threat the kin group with whoJII he ate. I was told that when !- returned to Shiare and underwent the ~ cere.ony. he f'uld be allowed to rejoin the coa.ensal group. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 374· ~ marked with an • are quoted or referred to in the text. t: ,E.Y. 1972 "The New Yam Festival Ulong the Ewe" . ; Ghana Notes and Queries 12:S1. Legon, Accra, ' ~ulftdre P. " Froelich, J .C. l::O J:o~~~~~~l!~ ~~:d~!!~~~~!!bi au Nord-Togo" Bul1etin de 11 ~~ut2~~iil~iis~ep~T~!~1gue "ktTll8nn. B. 1902 ~~!n~~~n~~~!~~h;4~(~o~~f~;) ~eitschTl£t ,."..ri, Otutu 1965 "A Preliminary Note on the Guans" Ghana Notes and Queries 1: 21·2' Lelcn, Accra. ~sc~be W.R·, 1969 lfa divination' cOJilUllunication between f~::a~:aO:~~e~:1~;5~r!!~~ca. Bloo.lngton. ~atti-e. John 19648 Other Cultures. London. Cohen" West. ~ It.ttie. John 1964b "Divination in Bunyoro, Uganda ll 50ciol08u5 New Series 14:44-61. ~, J. 1951 "The GuaD Group" in Tribes of the Northern t li:a~l ~~~iH:n~~k!~ GE~tn~:~!~hiC Survey of Africa. London. International African Institute. 'ltrtho. J. 1949 "La Parente des Yoruba aux peuplades de Dahoaey et togo" ~ 19:121-132. 1952 "Les Dia1ectes du Noyen Toao" Bulletin de 1'institut francais de l'Afriguenorre:--- 14:1046-ilo) . '!tn,) , J.S, 1978 Across the Savannas to MeCC8i The OvcTland t~!~~~~aft~r:~~te froID West A nca. ·loh.nna~.L.ura 1969 The Tiv of Central Nigeria (Ethnographic & Paul Survey ot AtnC8) International African Institute. London. ;:().l!iCh, T. 1819 r~~d!~~ fro. Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee. oh' J .A. & 1967· Sala• • · The StruSe' for Power. London ~I .,. J .R. [one_ans Creen' o. on. Lynne 1976 Status Aabhuity in Aaadzofe-AvaUae' <_ .. _ .,,, : -:' ';:}:;u~~~~H::~:n~ ,"!~~!:n;'1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh -37S - ·SUSJ;I. ".A. 1954 "The Ashanti" i n African Worlds, (ed.) ~~!~! 1 f~~T~:;er!;~~t~~a?xlf~tc~~}.r~~~t ~~te. ~~ll ~~~!iiS;s~!~ t~i x~t:~t!~ t~~a~~~eC~ss . CardinalI. A.W. 192 6-7 "The Story of the Geman occupation ~!r~OfOi~~;~_26~e _ GiA16coast Review Part 2 3 56:72 - 1927 Accra. ·Cardina11. A.ft. 1931 Tales Told in Togoland. London. ox ford On1 verSl ty Press. ·Christal1er. J.G. 1886 "Recent Explorations in the Basin of the Volta by Missionaries of th~ Basel Missionary Society" Proceed}.n! N!w tn:r~~ia!: ¥:6!2SE~iC'1 Society. 1933 Dictionary of the Asante and Fante k:~!'ta~::~g;~~~~~ :t!!~~~~r;a~~~iety . Christensen, J .B. 1954 "The T1gare Cult of Wast Africa" ~~y:~~c o!r~~e a~Act:f:~r~~a197Ssg:398 Conradt, L. 1895 "Land und Leute des Adelest .....e s 1m Hinterland del' Togo Kolonie" Deutsche Koloniaheitung 1895:51; 59-60-,- - Cornev!n, R. 1959 "Explorations de von Fran~ois et du Dr. Wolf au Togo" Notes Africaines 84: 106- 107. Dakar. 1964 "Contributions a l'e'tude des populations parlantes des languages Gouang au TOlo et au Dahomey" Journa.l of African Language~ 3: 226-36. 1969 ~~~~~~~Lee~a~l~~' Parh. Edi Hon s Corsey, D.G. 1966 "The Cultivation and Use of Yams in West Africa" Ghana Notes and Oueries 9:54-64. Lelon, Accra. 19b8 "A New Ya. Festival among the Ewe" Ghana Notes and Oueries 10: 18-23. Lecon, Accra. ~' Crabtree, W.A •• 1914 "Toaoland past and present" Journal of the African Society 14:168-8~ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh - 376 - Crabtree. ti.A. 1914-15 ~~e~:n Ai~~~:!e~o~~e~:r~~~~_~~ rnal ~~~n~f~~~.~f s!~f~~;n~~: ~86~3§1. of Darkoh. M.B.L 1970 "A Note on the Peopling of the Forest H Hills of the Volta Region of Ghana Chana Notes and Queries 11:8-13. Legon, Accra. Debrunner. H. 1961 Wi tchera!t in Ghana. Accra. Presbyter ian Book Depot itd. -Douglas Nary 1963 "Techniques of Sorcery Control in Central Africa" in Middleton J ... Winter E.H. i~~~~! .Wi~~n~~~fko~~re~~!Cirle!:n Ep:~l. 1966 Purity and Danser. Har.ondsworth. Penguin. 1970 (ed). Wi tcheraft Confessions and Accusations. A.S.A. Monograph Y. London. '.vuteek Pub! . 1915 The Eie_eotary Forns of the Religious Life. London. Allen & Unwin. -Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1937 Witchcraft Oracles and Magic asong the At.nde. oxiord . Clarendon Press. 1956 Nuer Religion. Oxford, Clarendon Press; Field, N.J. 1940 "So.e New Shrines of the Gold Coast and their Significance" ~ 13:138-149. 1960 ~~~(j~h ofoRu~:luGA;h~. "Lo~j~~~-¥:E~~i&tF!6er. 1962 IIA Further Note on Burukung" in Ghana Notes and Oueries 4:29-50. -- ·Finucane. 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