all about Kusaase and Bawku history

Geography

Bawku Naba

Around 400,000 Kusasi are found in the Bawku Districts of northern Ghana, a region inhabited by a mixture of peoples, including the Mamprusi who came over from across the White Volta in Mamprugu in the era preceding the colonization of the area and other minority groups like the Bisa or Busasi, Moshie, Fulani and Bimoba communities. The relations between Kusasi and other ethnic groups have been troubled in recent times. Control of Bawku and the paramountcy located there has caused sour relations and the ethnic distrust. Previously, the various ethnic groups maintained good relations, and ethnic intermarriages mediated by a substantial bride wealth settlement have been characteristic of the area.

The Kusasiland is divided culturally into two divisions – the western or Atoende division that lies to the west of the Red Volta and the Agolle division to the east. Though Kusasi constitute a fairly homogenous cultural and linguistic group, there are perceptible cultural and linguistic differences between Agolle Kusasi and Atoende Kusasi. The Atoende have been culturally influenced by their neighbours to the west, the Nabdem.

The multi-ethnic town of Bawku is the largest commercial town in the Upper East. Its growth has been in response to its commercial role and its attraction of traders and merchandise from Burkina Faso, Togo and beyond. Its specialties include kola nuts from Southern Ghana destined for Burkina Faso, livestock, onions and other local produce.

Traditional authority

Traditionally, the paramount chief of Mamprugu (the nayiri) installed five chiefs directly from Mamprugu to the Kusasiland. The main function of these chiefs was to keep open the trade route between Nalerigu, the Mamprusi capital and Tenkudougou in Burkina Faso, and to provide escort for traders and slaves from the north.

The Kusasis had no chiefs but rather Tindaanas. The Tindaana is a religious figure who serves as the intermediary between the gods of the land and the people of Bawku. As a result, when the British arrived and needed chiefs for purposes of indirect rule, the five Mamprusi chiefs were useful as aides and had their authority extended, thus strengthening the power of Mamprusi under the British empowerment. In Kusasi localities, some Tindaanas were made de facto chiefs by adding secular functions to their religious powers.

Control has changed several times between Mamprusi and Kusasi since the time of Independence. Bawku is now ruled by Naba  Asigiri Abugrago Azoka 11, a Kusasi, who is also the former president of the Upper East Regional House Of Chiefs.

Disputes over leadership and territory date from at least 1929, when, according to Naba Azoka, the British colonial government in 1929, specified the administrative districts in the then Northern Territories of the Gold Coast according to colonial boundaries. At that conference, he said, the Mamprusi District was clearly separated from the Kusasi District, and the Bawku area which the Mamprusis claim was the Kusasis’ original base.

Religion

The cult of the earth and the role of earth priests go further back in time. Kusasi traditional religion, like that of other neighbouring peoples, recognizes the role of the ancestors and local divinities represented by material objects like rivers, hills and forest groves in the lives of the people. Household heads have an obligation to make periodic sacrifices to the ancestors and the local gods for the prosperity of their dependents. They have traditionally celebrated the Samapiid festival in commemoration of their ancestors and for expression of gratitude to the gods for a successful year and the harvest. Today Islam and Christianity are also practiced.

Festiva

The Kusasi people celebrate the Samanpiid Festival. The festival is one that is used to thank God for a bumper harvest during the farming season. The festival was first celebrated in 1987.

Northerners being united by history and geography

Unity

Nevertheless and in spite of the linguistic differences and similarities, these people all feel 'northern' in every way, being united by history and geography. Their interrelationships in the past have been characterized by both friendship and kinship on the one hand and enmity and antagonism on the other. Powerful and better organized groups attempted in the past to
extend territory at the expense of their unorganized neighbours. Today mutual suspicions still obtain between groups.   This has sometimes led to conflicts such as those that have bedeviled Nanumba-Konkomba co-existence in recent times. In recent times with the creation of a sense of wider ethnicity and nationality among once acephalous people these peoples have tended to contest the overlordship of the centrally organized peoples like the Dagomba, Gonja and Nanumba over them.   Past friendships and alliance such as those that existed between the Dagbamba (Nanumba, Dagomba and Mamprusi) peoples have tended to be upheld to date.   However, some formerly antagonistic peoples have since reconciled and transformed their antagonism into friendships, even quasi-kinships.   For example, Gonja and Dagomba formerly arch-enemies now have a joking relationship.   Peoples who probably had no awareness of kinship now realizing their connectedness have established friends and joking relationships. Sisala and Kasena, both speakers of Grusi have a joking relationship just as Dagaba people have not only institutionalized a joking relationship they now have the friendship games in Accra.

If in the absence of a better criterion for the sub-classification of the peoples of Northern Ghana, we choose to adopt a language-based scheme, then the most widespread grouping of Northern Ghanaian people would be the speakers of that group of languages commonly identified as Moore-Gurma or Oti-Volta.   Within this group are the Dagbamba peoples.Oti-Volta Languages and their Speakers

Gur languages are sub-divided into sub-branches of related languages. The major sub-branches as far as Northern Ghana is concerned are the Moore-Gurma, also referred to as Oti-Volta branch of languages, and the Gur sub-branch of languages.   In terms of numbers and size the Oti-Volta languages are more numerous and individually are spoken by larger populations than is the case with the Grusi languages.

Deep History. The Languages of Northern Ghana

The Languages of Northern Ghana

MANY TRIBES IN NORTH

One way of identifying the peoples of Northern Ghana is through the languages that they speak.   Language can be viewed as a rough guide to ethnic differentiation.   A people may speak the same or similar dialects of the same language yet not see themselves as one ethnic unit.   Social and cultural differences as well as traditional enmities might divide such people despite shared language.   In pre-colonial times it was possible for communities to speak similar dialects and yet not have a sense of common ethnic identity.

The peoples of the Northern Regions of Ghana speak a variety of related languages. However, in spite of the closeness of their languages they did not have the opportunity to develop a pan-Northern Ghanaian linguistic medium of communication among themselves.   Therefore, even today these people use several languages including English (if they are educated literates), Hausa, (for those who have lived in the bigger Northern towns where Hausa trading communities had come into existence) and sometimes Twi, (for those who have lived in Southern Ghana) as media of wider communication.   Within the Districts some local languages may serve as media of communication between people who do not share the same first language or mother tongue.

Most of the languages spoken indigenously in Northern Ghana have been classified as members of the "Gur" sub-family of languages.   These languages are not however unrelated to other West African languages, since Gur itself is a branch of the North-Volta-Congo group of languages which together with the Kwa group (Southern Ghanaian languages belong to this family) and several others make up the Volta-Congo sub-branch of languages found mainly in West Africa.   The Gur languages are not however exclusive to Northern Ghana; many of the languages spoken in the northern parts of Cote D'Ivoire, Togo and Benin are members of the Gur branch of languages. The linguistic relationship between some of the Northern Ghanaian languages and some languages spoken in Burkina Faso, such as Moore, is so close that we can talk of the existence of mutual intelligibility.   However, not all Northern Ghanaian languages belong to Gur.   A number of languages such as those spoken by the Gonja people (Ngbanyito), the Nchumuru, and the Nawuri people are Guang languages and as such fall within the Volta-Comoe sub-branch of the Kwa group of languages.   Although the history of the Gonja people indicates a colonization of the vast area once occupied by the Gonja kingdom by a warrior group of Mende or Wangara origin, there are very few traces of the original language spoken by the invaders of the area who came from further north under the leadership of Jakpa.   Anufo (Chokosi) spoken in the northern-east corner of the Northern Region around Chereponi in the Chere-Saboba District in fact a Bia language akin to Nzema and the like.  These are thus closer to the Akan languages of southern Ghana than they are to any Northern Ghana languages.

Communities in Northern Ghana have known chieftaincy prior to the era of colonization

Communities in Northern Ghana have known chieftaincy prior to the era of

Nas Dasana Andani

colonization.

  For peoples like the Dagomba, Mamprusi and Gonja the culture of chieftaincy goes far back in time to the 15th Century. From these sources chieftaincy as an institution has spread to other parts of the North either by persuasion as formerly a cephalous peoples welcomed immigrant princes fleeing from dynastic disputes or by imposition. The British have also been responsible directly or indirectly for promoting chieftaincy in parts of the North where in pre-colonial times chiefs were either unknown or of not much importance.   The Northern chief, it will be observed, sits on a pile of skins unlike his southern counterpart.   It is therefore customary in Ghana to refer to the skin polities of the North where chiefs are 'enskinned' or enrobed rather than 'enstooled', as is the case in southern Ghana.   In a number of respects Northern chieftaincy differs from what obtains in the south of the country.   Succession is patilineal rather than matrilineal and among the Dagbomba peoples a person cannot succeed to a chiefly office that is higher than the one that his father once held in life.   In a few communities (for example Gonja) offices equivalent to queen motherships were traditionally recognized but not in the majority of Northern communities.   The office of magazia (a term of Hausa origin) is the local women's leader.   She is elected and need not have kinship connections to the chiefs.   There are however female chiefs among the Dagomba and Mamprusi groups.

In many communities the office of tendaana (earth priest) coexists with that of chief. It is suggested that earthpriestships predated the institution on chieftaincy in most parts of the North.   While chiefly families do not claim any autochthonous status earthpriest lineages often do.   Eathpriests are essentially priestly figures who supervise ritual activities concreted on the earth.   In addition to their priestly duties or as a consequence, they usually serve land owners who apportion land for building and farming purposes. These rights have been taken over by chiefs in some communities.

The traditional religious beliefs still count for much among the peoples of the North.   There is frequent recourse to the ancestors and the divinities in accounting for incidents in the lives of people.   Sacrifices are made to invite the intercession of the ancestors and the local gods. It is even believed that humans can themselves through witchcraft harm their neighbors and kin.   However, in some of the communities Islam has taken deep roots which date back to precolonial times.   Islam is particularly strong among peoples like the Dagomba, Mamprusi, Gonja and Wala. Not only do we find people bearing Moslem names the recognized Moslem feasts such as Eid UL Adha and Eid UL Fitr are celebrated, even if the actual celebrations are not devoid of traditional non-Islamic features and people pray faithfully five times a day, and attend the mosque on Fridays.   Islam was introduced via the trade that brought Hausa and Wangara traders to these parts.   Where and when the ruling elites espoused Islam many of their subjects followed suit and Islam was on its way to becoming the religion of the state.

Christianity arrived in the decade that coloniasation was introduced in the North.   Of the Christian dominations the Catholics seem to dominate in the North, particularly in the Upper Regions.   It is worth noting that the centenary

Celebrations on the coming to the North of the White Fathers, a Catholic missionary society, are scheduled for 2006.   The Catholics were able to establish a firm foothold here and it would appear that the colonial policy of reserving particular areas for particular religious denominations was a factor in the predominance of certain denominations in the area

Since the colonial era many of the settlements of the area have developed in rural towns and even metropolitan areas

Elefant

Since the colonial era many of the settlements of the area have developed in rural towns and even metropolitan areas.

 This is particularly true of the Regional capitals like Tamale (the Northern Regional capital which was also headquarters of formerly Northern Territories), Bolgatanga (capital of the Upper East Region and formerly Upper Region) and Wa (capital of the Upper West Region which was carved out of the Upper region).   District towns have also gained in importance as commercial, administrative and educational centres. Notable among these are Bawku, a large commercial centre about 85 kilometres east of Bolgatanga, the Gonja towns Salaga (once a very famous settlement that attracted visitors from far and near), Damongo and Bole, Gonja towns, Yendi, the traditional capital kingdom and seat of the Yana, King of Dagbon, Gambaga (a historic town lying next to the seat of the Nayiri, king of Mamprugu, and also the first headquarters of the Northern Territories), Navrongo (a significant British colonial district headquarters for the West Mamprusi district and the seat of the first Catholic missionaries to the Northern Territories) and Tumu, the capital of the Sisala district. The University of Development Studies has its campuses spread between Tamale, Navrongo and Wa.

Regrettably the North lags far behind the rest of the country in terms of literacy rates.

 The social organization of the peoples of Northern Ghana is informed by patrilineal descent ideologies which differentiates these people from the Akans of Southern Ghana. There are however differences in the application of patrilineal norms. Corporate groups of kin or relatives exist whose members trace putative ties to common ancestors.  Property rights and succession to traditional positions would be based largely on paternal ties. Sons succeed fathers or failing sons siblings succeed and inherit property.   In some respects Northern peoples like the Dagomba and Gonja and a few others seem to accord more or less equal importance to relationships traced to maternal and paternal relatives.  Among the Dagomba extended family groups have been identified which bring together individuals who are related by either maternal or paternal ties or a combination of both.

In many Northern Ghanaian communities marriages are exogamous and are forbidden between relatives.   As a condition for the formalization of a marriage the bride or his family has to make transfers of prescribed goods and services to the parents and relatives of the bride.   The quantum of goods and services and their types seem to vary between northern societies; in some communities the transfers are no more than symbolic.   In some communities livestock were used and still continue to be used although this is being resented by would-be grooms.

this article gives an account of the indigenous language patterns of the different ethnic groups, their social customs and distinctive customs.

By PROF. A.K. AWEDOBA

ABSTRACT

Baobab tree

This is a detailed survey of the socio-demographic patterns of the peoples who inhabit the Northern half of Ghana.

 this article gives an account of the indigenous language patterns of the different ethnic groups, their social customs and distinctive customs.

Among the main ethnic groups 

 Northern Ghana comprises the three northernmost administrative regions of Ghana: the Upper West Region, Upper East

Region and Northern Region. These lie roughly north of the Lower Black Volta River, which together with its tributaries the White and Red Voltas and the Oti and Daka rivers, drain the area that comprises Northern Ghana.   Northern Ghana shares international boundaries with the Burkina Faso to the North, Togo to the east and Cote d’Ivoire to the lower southwest. To the south Northern Ghana shares regional boundaries with the Brong Ahafo Region and the Volta Region.

In colonial times the area now covered by these three regions constituted the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast and were administered by a Chief Commissioner who was responsible to the Governor of the Gold Coast for its administration.   The area and its people were designated as the 'Tribes of the Ashanti Hinterland' by the Gold Coast anthropologist, Capt. R.S. Rattray who wrote a two volume account on that title describing the social institutions of the communities in this part of modern Ghana. The effective colonization of this portion of Ghana came after the British had established their hegemony over the rest of the country. Ashanti it would appear had for long served as a buffer preventing direct access to the Northern parts of the country. The conquest of Ashanti at the dawn of the Twentieth century opened the way to the North. Even before then Britain had made efforts to control the area through the treaties that it made with local rulers and opinion leaders through George Ekem Ferguson. These treaties became necessary owing to a desire to control the commercial activities and the international trade that converged in Salaga in the precolonial period. Salaga was where savanna produce of various descriptions were exchanged for forest produce – principally Kolanuts. Whoever controlled this Northern emporium of Salaga was well positioned to control and exploit the International trade. Several European powers were in contention including the Germans, the French and the British. Initially they agreed on a neutral zone that extended northwards from the White Volta-Daka confluence as far as 10ÚN. And westward from 0Ú 33' E. as far as 1Ú 27' W.   The agreement did not hold and although the British eventually came into possession of the bulk of the North, stretching up to the 11Ú parallel they did not control Eastern Dagbon including its capital, Yendi, the lands of the Chokosi (Anufo), the Konkomba, the Nanumba and other peoples straddling the now Ghana –Togo border in the North. These fell to the Germans.   Between their defeat at the battle of Adibo in 1896 and the end of the First World War, the kingdom of Dagbon was partitioned between the British and the Germans. Unification of that Kingdom came in 1919 when Eastern Dagbon and some of the other northern parts of what used to be German Togoland were ceded to the British to be administered as part of the Northern Territories Protectorate. These parts eventually became part of Ghana after the UN plebiscite of 1957 in which most of the affected northern people voted to remain with the rest of Ghana.

Northern Ghana today is home to a number of different peoples speaking a variety of related languages and exhibiting considerable cultural similarities. Some of these peoples claim to be autochthonous while others like the dominant or aristocratic lineages among the Dagomba, Mamprusi and Gonja claim descent from warrior immigrant groups that invaded the area and imposed their rule over the indigenous peoples. They intermarried with these peoples whose daughters they took as wives and whose languages and social norms they eventually adopted. Their traditions of foreign origin and the associated exploits remain and are recited by professional court drummers and fiddlers.   These have been recorded by modern historians. Thus, in the traditional states of Northern Ghana migrant groups and indigenes coexist. 

On ritual occasions the differentiation may be dramatized in rituals which highlight complementation and opposition.  Migrant groups, usually the conquering minority have often adopted the local languages and absorbed the social features of the indigenes among whom they found themselves. The integration has in many cases been so effective that a visitor, unless told, could not possibly guess the differences. However, in some parts the differences between royals and commoners still matter in local affairs.

Many Northern people, though not all, had until recently facial markers that were either for ethnic and clan identification or for therapeutic and aesthetic purposes. By these marks it was possible to tell an individual's ethnic origin.   Though a few old individuals still spot facial features these marks are now rare and out of vogue. In some communities traditional leaders are campaigning against facial marks.

Much of Northern Ghana falls within the savannah vegetation belt. Rainfall is modest in many parts of the area and

Allows for the cultivation of cereal crops and legumes. Agriculture and agro-based industries still remain the main stay of the peoples of this zone. Varieties of millet and sorghum as well as rice are cultivated. Rice cultivation in the low lying areas close to the banks of the Volta and its tributaries is of some commercial importance. The rice industry may have declined somewhat from what it used to be in the 1970s but it still remains an important local industry. Tubers are cultivated as staples in the middle and southern parts of the area which today supplies the bulk of the countries

Requirement for yam.   Animal husbandry has since traditional times been an integral feature of agriculture in these parts of Ghana. The industry is declining however. In addition to agriculture trade and craft production are important to the people of the Northern zone.