A Drummer's Testament: chapter outlines and links
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Volume III: IN OUR LIVING
Part 2: FAMILY
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Volume III Part 2: Family
Terminology of the family in Dagbon; the differences of family, line or door, and tribe; the importance of knowing the family and the role of women and drummers; relationship of the lines of chiefs and commoners; how chieftaincy doors die
Family terminology
- 1. parts of a family and how they are called
- 2. the father's side and mother's side
- 3. children address father's brothers as “father,” mother's sisters as “mother”
- 4. aunts and uncles
- 5. grandparents
- 6. brothers and sisters
- 7. grandchildren
Terms of address extend the sense of family
- 8. family terms show closeness: many mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters
- 9. does not affect inheritance
- 10. don't show the differences between different sides; address them similarly
- 11. in-laws do the same in addressing husband's or wife's family
Family, line, and tribe
- 12. family like a tree with branches; from Adam and Hawa; separates and extends
- 13. dɔɣim and dunoli: immediate relatives and line
- 14. dunoli, zuliya, and daŋ: line and descent group
- 15. example: location of the dunoli with family head
- 16. women and drummers know more about the family
Knowledge of the family
- 17. education has spoiled the family; now no knowledge of the family
- 18. need to ask and learn about the family
- 19. formerly children spent more time with family elders
- 20. drummers and women show the family, especially at funeral houses
Example: Alhaji Ibrahim's lines
- 21. drummers show the family and the origins of the line
- 22. example: Alhaji Ibrahim's mother's line from Naa Siɣli
- 23. example: Alhaji Ibrahim's father's line from Naa Garba
- 24. example: both lines from Naa Luro
- 25. drummers have knowledge of people's families
Example: family doors of Yendi chiefs can die or shift
- 26. family like a tree: some branches grow and other branches die
- 27. Naa Garba's line
- 28. Naa Andani Jɛŋgbarga's line
- 29. Naa Abdulai and Naa Andani
- 30. chieftaincy dispute from the time of Naa Abilabila
- 31. the strength of Naa Abdulai's line in chieftaincy
Chiefs and commoners
- 32. door to chieftaincy can die; all commoners come from former chiefs
- 33. a chief is addressed as “my grandfather”
- 34. if a child is missing, drummer's announce that chief's grandchild is missing
Conclusion
- 35. talks of family will continue
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How families separate through marriage of different lines, through mixing of chieftaincy and commoner lines, and through inter-tribal mingling
Introduction: different ways a family separates
- 1. family separation from marriage and children
- 2. originally one family: Adam and Hawa
- 3. a family separates in three ways
Marrying a different line
- 4. example: drummer's daughter marries blacksmith
- 5. example: soothsayer's daughter marries maalam
- 6. example: barber marries drummer's daughter
- 7. example: Alhaji Ibrahim's sister married a butcher; how the line is separating
- 8. Alhaji Ibrahim has given a daughter to a drummer; expands the line
- 9. marrying outside the family line kills the line
- 10. maintaining the connection of your daughter's children to their grandfather's house
- 11. marrying inside the line is not compulsory; a choice; mingling and friendship are senior to family
- 12. marrying inside the family; marrying cousins; common among typical Dagbamba
- 13. examples: Naa Zanjina's wife Laamihi; Naa Siɣli's wife Aminara
- 14. marrying inside the family keeps the family alive; funeral example
- 15. the family's door is its work; the separation comes with the childrens' children
- 16. the different doors have standing in tradition: butchers, blacksmiths, barbers, drummers
- 17. butchers' line from Naa Dimani; they have their chiefs
- 18. blacksmiths, barbers, and butchers are one family; some outside people now enter their work
- 19. children do their father's work; different work can separate the family
- 20. giving daughter to someone who does the same work holds the family together
Example: separation of Savelugu drummers and Karaga drummers
- 21. example of how a line can separate or mix
- 22. Karaga Lun-Naa Baakuri from house of Palo; married daughter of chief; two lines
- 23. learning the story; Karaga drummer praised Palo-Naa Kosaɣim among grandfathers
- 24. how the door separated with Karaga Lun-Naa Blemah
- 25. all drummers from Bizuŋ; Abudu and Andani house drummers respect that
- 26. different towns' drummers are one family with different doors; from Bizuŋ and Lunʒɛɣu
- 27. separation from marrying different women; drummers are one family with different doors
Chiefs and commoners
- 28. child of a chief is a prince; marrying a chief leads to separation from family
- 29. child prince stays with mother's side, but no respect or allegiance to the mother's family
- 30. mother's side does not help a prince get chieftaincy; princes go to father's side
- 31. some chiefs share their children with their brothers or elders
- 32. chief's family does not extend as much as commoner's family
Marrying different tribes
- 33. some mixing with other tribes, but the children are separated
- 34. mixing with a tribe like Mossi is different from mixing with Gurunsi; spoils family
- 35. Gurunsis were slaves; children won't participate in customs; quarrels in the house; bluffing
- 36. modern times more mixing; spoiling families; still an issue in Dagbon
- 37. all right to marry other tribe's maalams (Hausas, Zambarimas); children remained in Dagbon
- 38. marrying other tribes was refused
- 39. even useless Dagbana is better; the grandchildren remain in the family
- 40. Dagbamba respect a large and extended family
Conclusion
- 41. transition to next chapter about what strengthens families
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Family and togetherness; benefits of a large family; how families extend; sharing children in the family; bonds of children from one mother
Staying together with people
- 1. an extended family has strength
- 2. family strength in trust; people coming together; strength of friendship
- 3. give daughter to marry a friend; friend's children become family
- 4. trust, patience, coming together, sharing good and bad
- 5. good to do things as a group; importance of funerals
- 6. take children to funeral houses to know the family
- 7. some families increase; other decrease
- 8. should not inherit anything from someone who did not want the family
- 9. should not attend the funeral of someone who did not want the family
The benefits of a big family
- 10. respect for a big family; include every relative
- 11. example: funeral elder collects the children of the dead person
- 12. Dagbamba way of living: don't separate people from the family
- 13. Dagbamba way of living: gather relatives; don't refuse them
Sharing children helps the family
- 14. give your children to be raised by your siblings
- 15. sharing children extends the family
- 16. voluntary; drummers do it to help child learn; child won't be spoiled
- 17. responsibility to a child who is given to you to raise; trust; no gossip
- 18. if child is not being trained well, take the child back
- 19. not training the child well breaks the family
- 20. share daughters to sisters
- 21. importance of the training to help the child
- 22. Alhaji Ibrahim raising many children from his brothers
- 23. a child may not know who is the real father
- 24. a child may see the love between junior and senior father and understand his relationship
- 25. example: son Alhassan refused to farm; how Alhaji Ibrahim challenged him and helped him
Strength of the mother in how children bond
- 26. Alhaji Ibrahim's brothers raised one another's children; respect among them
- 27. children of one mother and one father have strongest bond
- 28. the strength comes from the mother; different mothers may not have one mouth
- 29. example: Naa Andani and Naa Alhassan did not have the same mother
- 30. second strongest is having mothers from one mother and one father
- 31. children of different mothers may or may not bond; weakest among princes
- 32. different mothers versus one mother: important aspect of family life in Dagbon
- 33. Alhaji Ibrahim's house has many people living together; brothers from the same mother
Conclusion
- 34. summary of importance of extending the family; transition to the talks about children