A Drummer's Testament

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Chapter I-25:  How Drummers Share Money

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How drummers earn money at gatherings; example of Namo-Naa and his messengers; sharing money to elders; “covering the anus of Bizuŋ”; how Alhaji Ibrahim divides drummers into groups and shares money; why drummers share money to old people and children; what drumming doesn't want; the need for “one mouth”


Supplementary material

Note on money:

Because inflation, fluctuating exchange rates, and multiple redenominations make the cedi figures irrelevant, a rough estimate of average earnings at a wedding house in 1970s US dollars would be about forty to fifty dollars per group.  The amount could be lower or higher, depending on the wedding house.  In villages and small towns, the amount would be lower.  Similarly, using average amounts, in the following paragraphs, the 1970s amounts for the singer, the lundaa and the guŋgɔŋ might be four to five dollars, and proportionate for the others mentioned, although again, the amounts could frequently be less.  Various available inflation calculators can compute those values into current US dollars.  For further details on the cedi, readers may consult the Currency Note.

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Contents outline and links by paragraph

Introduction

Example:  how Namo-Naa's messengers attend a Savelugu chief's funeral

What Namo-Naa gets

Savelugu Palo-Naa

Example:  Nanton drummers at a village chief's funeral

Tamale:  Alhaji Ibrahim and the young men's drummers

The ways of sharing

How Alhaji Ibrahim became responsible for the Tamale drummers

Conclusion


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Proverbs and Sayings

Our beating is like that:  one day, one day.

A drummer does not drum and spend alone.

God should cover the anus of Bizuŋ.

When they don't show you, you cannot know. 

If you steal, you steal for yourself; and if you don't steal, you don't steal for yourself.

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Dagbani words and other search terms