Index

A

Accra, 44, 73, 87–88, 91–92, 123, 148

acephalous, x, 87, 91, 98

African frontier thesis, ix–xi, 2, 17, 19–20, 35, 77–78, 122

Agadir, 165–66, 172, 174, 180, 182–86

‘Ali u Lәhsәn, 180–82, 186, 190

ancestors

ethnicity,

kinship, xii, 5–6, 11, 21, 82

veneration (See ancestor shrines)

animals

sacrificial, 8–9

Asante

chiefdom, xi, xiv, 72, 76, 89, 92

tribute, 76

Atlas mountains, 160–61, 165, 172–74, 177–78, 180, 197, 201–2

autochthony, v, viii, ix, xi–xiii, xvi–xvii, 71, 79, 90–91

B

Bagirmi, 21

Bakoteng, 128

baobab trees, ix, xii, 80, 82–83, 92

Bangwon, 123, 130–31, 133–34, 148

baraka, 155–56, 163–64, 172, 175, 183, 192, 201

Bawku, 44, 98

Bay Gudal, 1, 24, 26, 31–33, 35–36

beer

brewing, 36

offering, vii, 5, 7–9, 11, 13–15, 84, 87, 115

ritual consumption, 23, 33, 109, 126

Bekpokpam, 72

Belgium, 162

birth, vii, xi, 7, 35, 53, 103, 106, 109–10, 113, 169

blәd, 159–61, 198

Bo’araam harvest festival, 58–59

Bonaab shrine, 45–46, 57–58, 60–61, 63–64

Britain, 36

Burkina Faso, xiii, xiv, 44, 71, 79, 98, 121–23, 130, 134, 136–37, 139, 147

Burkinabé, 79

Bwaba groups, 124

C

cairns, 48, 168

calabashes, 83–84, 87, 101, 104 (See also water vessels)

caterpillars, 23

ceramics, xii, 10, 16, 30, 42–43, 48, 53, 68, 96, 101,103–4, 106, 109–11

chicken. See fowl

chieftaincy, 1, 3, 5, 9–10. 12–36, 43, 49, 71–72, 74–81, 87–89, 91–92, 136, 146, 187, 202

Christianity, 2, 4, 61, 68, 178

citizenship, vii, xii–xiv, 79

Colson, Elizabeth, xii, xv, 2

compound abandonment, xiv, 95–98, 101, 106–14 (See also dabog)

Côte D’Ivoire, viii, 136

curation, xiv, 45, 87, 95, 97, 107, 194

Cuvok chiefdom, 17

D

dabog, 100, 112

Dagara

chiefs, 136

earth priests, 140

earth shrines, 124–27, 129, 133, 136, 138, 143–46

farmers, 136

frontiersmen, 124, 138, 142

group fission, origins, 136

relations with neighbours, 142–146

ritual, 129

speaking groups, xiii–xiv, 121–123

territorial expansion, 129–32, 134–37, 143–49

villages, 127, 129, 134, 138–39, 143–48

youth associations, 92

Dagara-Lobr, 127

Dagbani chiefdoms, 72, 74, 76, 79–80, 88–89, 92

Dagomba chiefdom, 74–80, 82–83, 88–92

Dan Fodio, Usman, 17

depositional processes, 15, 46, 48–49, 96–97, 101, 106, 108

diaspora, 1, 17, 29

Dimeo chiefdom, 17

disease, 9, 11

divination, 4, 6, 10, 21, 33, 107, 147

diviners, 1, 6–11, 23, 28, 30–31, 34, 130, 142

Douglas, Mary, 171

Dyan groups, 124

E

earth priests, 20, 75, 81, 84, 122, 134, 136, 140, 142–43, 148

East Africa, 62

enstoolment, 72, 88, 92

Ethiopia, 61

ethnobotany, 63

F

femininity, 81, 163, 182

fertility, 19–20, 23, 33, 45, 53, 80, 84, 102, 106, 118, 122, 132, 138, 142–43, 194

firstcomer-latecomer dynamics, xiii, ix, 77, 81, 87, 90–91, 122, 125, 132–33, 139, 142, 144–45, 148

Fortes, Meyer, xiv, 42–43, 45, 51, 96

fowl, vii, 11, 84, 87, 92, 118

France, 36, 87, 162

frontier expansion. See firstcomer-latecomer dynamics

frontiersmen, ix, 122, 124, 126–27, 137–38, 141, 143, 145, 148 (See also firstcomerlatecomer dynamics)

Fulbe, 17, 19, 24, 29–30, 35

functionalist approach, 42

G

gawula, 8

Gazawa, 17

gbondaan, 84–85, 92 (See also earth priests)

Ghana

house of chiefs, xiii

northern, v, xiii–xv, xvii, 41–42, 44, 71, 74, 90–91, 96, 98, 118–19, 121

Gili, 28

Gilvawa chiefdom, 17

Gisega chiefdom, 17

golib festival, 45, 49–51, 58, 65

Gonja, xi

Goody, Jack, 62, 76, 117, 122, 125, 134, 147, 149

governance, xiv

granaries, 2, 7, 15, 103, 105, 109–11

gravesites, xii, 111–14, 156–58, 165

griots, 124

Gudal

chiefdom, 5, 16–17, 19–36

Gudur

chiefdom, 1 , 5, 16–21, 17, 23, 24, 26, 28–36

shrines, 20–29

guinea fowl, 87, 92

guinea fowl war, 92

H

halalay, 9, 16, 20 (See also spirits)

Higi people, 19 (See also Kamale)

homicide, 134

house of chiefs, xiii, 88–89

hri, 13, 15–16, 24, 33

hyrax, 21

I

Idaw Tanan, 157, 161, 163, 172–77, 181–83, 199, 201–2

identity

ethnic, x, xii–xii, 80

immigrants, 6

Islam

influence of, 4, 17, 61–62, 69, 76

heterodox, 153–55, 159, 177, 199

Moroccan, 153, 155, 156, 165, 169, 173, 174, 177, 187, 203

orthodox, 153–55, 159 (See also minaret)

Islamic warriors. See Karantao; see also Zaberma

iron

bloom, 16

jewellery, 51, 53

market, 16

objects, 28–29, 36, 46, 51, 53, 56, 64–65, 96, 101, 104

smelting, 1, 5, 10

smithing, 5–6, 8, 10, 35–36

vessels, 24

Ivory Coast. See Côte D’Ivoire

J

Jaffien, 130–31, 148

jars, 7–8, 11, 14, 20, 36

jihād, 173, 175, 178

jnūn, 162, 165

judicial power, 76, 155, 202

K

Kamale people, 14

Kapsiki people, 19, 28, 31

Karantao, 131–32

Katamsa chiefdom, 17, 23

Ketik, 80

Kilwo chiefdom, 17

kinkiriis, 102–3. (See also spirits)

kinship, ix, xvi–xvii, 11, 16, 23, 42, 45, 81, 84, 87, 89–91, 93, 100, 122, 124, 125, 126–27, 129, 131, 133, 136–37, 139, 141, 155, 170–71, 180, 201, 196

Kitāb Ghanjā, 75

knowledge systems, xv, 153, 168–71

cultural, 195–96

esoteric–exoteric, 168–70, 190

Konkomba

ancestor shrines, 84–87

Bimotiev tribe, 72–73, 78, 82, 84, 87–89

ceremonial regalia. See kopanjok

chieftaincy, 71, 87–90

compounds, 77

earth shrines, 80–83

ethnography, 72

Komba tribe, 72–73, 78, 82, 87–89

people, xiii–xiv, 71–72

relations with neighbours, 73–78

kopanjok, 84

Kopytoff, Igor, ix–xi, 2, 4, 17, 19–20, 35, 77, 122 (See also firstcomer-latecomer dynamics)

Kudoro, 58

kuley pots, 23, 33, 36

Kumasi, 91

Kusasi

compounds, 96, 108–13

ethnography, 98

kinship, 98

material culture, 106, 116

people, xiv, 65, 95–96, 98, 112

shrines, 6

L

Lālla Maryam Gwugadir, 180–82, 186, 190

Lambussie, 123, 131, 133–34, 139, 148–49

land claims, vii, xiii

lateral cycling, 97, 107

Lekpokpam, 72

leopards, 7–8, 11, 15, 20, 23, 75

libation, 53, 81–85, 87, 89–90, 101–2, 107, 115

lions, 75, 181

littingbalm. See ntengbe

Lobi groups, 123–24, 147

locusts, 20, 24, 35–36 (See also shrines)

lqubt. See qubba

M

Maaca’b chiefdom. See Mosso

Mabas people, 14

Mafaw chiefdom. See Mofu

Mali, 67, 79, 131

Mālikī, 177 (See also Islam, orthodox)

Mambay chiefdom, 17

Mamprugu. See Mamprusi

Mamprusi, 42–43, 68–69, 72, 74, 88, 89, 119

Mandara

mountains, 1–2, 17, 24, 28, 35, 53

region, xv

religious beliefs, 4

Mangzela chiefdom. See Minglia

maqām, 158, 181

ma‘rūf, 158, 181, 184

marabouts, xvi, 155, 164, 174–75, 180, 183, 201–2 (See also saint descendants)

Marrakesh, 159–61, 172

maslaslam, 21

Mayo Tsanaga, 19

Mbesefwoy, 13, 16, 21, 30

metropoloes of power, ix, 2, 19, 90 (See also African frontier thesis)

millet, 7, 13–14, 23, 28, 76, 81, 84, 115

minaret, 159–60, 199

Minglia chiefdom, 17

miracles, 155, 177, 193, 197 (See also saints)

Mofu chiefdom, 17

Mofu-Diamaré chiefdoms, 17, 21, 31–32, 35

Mofu-Gudur

chiefdoms, 5, 17, 29–31

language, 5, 17

Mokong chiefdom, 17

Mole-Dagbani peoples, 74

Moroccan

ministry of religious affairs, 154, 159

Mosso chiefdom, 17

Mowo, 17, 21, 23–24, 26, 31–32

Mulāy Idrīs I, xvi, 166, 186–91

Mulāy Idrīs II, 177, 187

N

Na-Yiri, 72, 85, 89

Nalerigu, 73, 88

Namoos, 43

Nanumba chiefdom, 74, 92

natural features

bodies of water. See water

mountain tops, xii, 13

rock shelters, xii, 2, 9, 11, 28, 43, 45, 57–58, 62–63, 82

trees, 9, 63–64

Ndeveley chiefdom, 17

Ngom, 19

Nigeria, xi, 3, 34, 48, 70, 74

ntengbe, 80 (See also earth shrines)

Nyoo shrine, 45–53, 56–58, 60–61, 63–65

Nyoor stones, 139–40, 149

Nzema, 79

Nzulezu, 79

O

oral traditions, 2, 24, 43, 78, 79, 124–25, 129, 136, 149, 175

Oti river, 72, 74, 76

Ouessa, 123, 128, 131, 143, 149

P

paramount

chiefs, viii, xiii, 71, 74, 88–89, 146

chiefdoms, 71

personhood, 51

Phuo speaking groups, 121–22, 127, 131, 138, 142–44, 148

pito, 84 (See also beer)

placentas, 8, 11

places of power, xii–xiii, xvi, 62

Portuguese, 162–63, 174–75, 178, 182, 184

potters, 6, 9–10, 35–36

Q

quartz, 6–8, 43, 46, 78, 53, 58, 60, 63

qubba, 166, 183–84, 201

R

rain sacrifice, 21, 24

rain stones, 21, 30, 32, 35–36

rainmaking, 1, 3, 14

Rattray, R.S., 72, 98, 177

rooster. See fowl

S

Saboba, 72–73, 77, 89, 91–92

sacred groves, 45–46, 63–64 (See also natural features)

sacrifice, vii, 4, 6–7, 9–11, 13, 21, 23–24, 26, 28, 29, 33, 35–36, 44, 45, 53, 59, 82, 84, 89–90, 101–2, 108, 115, 122, 125, 126–28, 138–39, 144, 158, 193

saints

apostasy, 153–55, 159

belief in, 155, 160–64

cults, 155

death, 155

descendants, 155

patron, xvi, 160–61, 191, 197

sainthood, 155–56, 171

saints of the land, 160–61, 197–98

shrine architecture, 156–57, 167

shrines, 154, 156–202

Sangur, 75, 77

scavenging, 97

Sdī Brahim u ‘Ali, 161, 163–64, 172–77, 180–81, 196

Sdī Bū Qnādil, 184–86, 190

Sdī Ḥmad Lfāsī, 156–57, 171, 190, 200

Sdī Ḥmad u Musa, 161, 173–74, 177–81, 196, 199

Sdī Muhammad

Laxamīs. See Sdī Muhammad V)

Sdī Muhammad bin Slīmān al Jazūlī, 173

Sdī Muhammad V, xvi, 173, 188, 190–91, 197

semiotics, 168–69, 190

Shilha

people, 162, 164, 201

saints, 202

village, 156, 201

shrines

ancestor, 6, 10–11, 45, 84, 101–2, 103–4, 113, 121, 125

Bundi, 134

chiefly, 14, 21, 104

clan, 8–9, 11, 20

communities, 9, 11–13, 20, 168, 170

earth, xi, xiii, 45, 71, 74, 80, 82–83, 87, 90–91, 121–22, 124–25, 127, 129, 132, 134, 138–41, 143–44, 146

household, 6, 11, 58

locust, 24, 26–29, 31–33, 35

Mixyrux, 13

nature, 9, 11, 101, 162–65

parish fission, 127, 129

personal, 8, 101

pilgrimages, 158, 191–93

rain shrine. See suku yam; rain stones

ritual protection, 124–25, 144, 161

shrine of tears, 8

symbolism, viii, 154

water. See water, bodies of

Yendi earth shrine, 77

Sirak

chiefdom, 1, 4–5, 10, 19–20, 30

earth shrines, 5–11, 16, 20–21, 29, 32–34

Sisala

chiefs, 136

earth shrines, 124, 127, 129–36

group fission, 151

kinship, 129

relations with neighbours, 143–46

ritual, 133

speaking groups, 121, 124, 127–29

villages, 130–32

skins, 75–76

smith/diviners, 8

smith/potter caste, 6, 9–10, 35–36

sorghum, 7, sorghum, 7, 15, 32, 77

spatial distribution

lineage segments, 125

shrines, 104, 116, 149

spirits

ancestor, 4, 6, 11, 22, 35, 45, 84, 101–4, 113, 121, 125, 141

bush, 124, 133

dangerous, 2, 7–8

earth, x, 101–2

land, x, 102, 122

nature, 9, 11, 14, 32–33, 80–81, 101–3, 105, 122, 124, 133

of the dead, 13

twin, 7, 8, 10–11, 33, 35, 84, 90, 103, 122

venerated, vii, xii, 1, 4, 6–7, 11, 13, 33, 79, 102–4, 106–7

stones

assemblages, 46–49, 51

grinding, 11–12, 14–15, 35, 37, 46, 53, 58, 60, 105, 111

kubile stones, 126–28, 138, 141, 143

shrine, 129, 136–38, 145, 148, 183

suicide, 126–27, 134

suku juk, 11 (See also ancestor shrines)

suku yam, 14, 16

Sukur

chiefdom, 1, 4–5, 10, 16, 19–20, 29–31

shrines, 10–16, 21, 24–31, 33, 35–36

šurfā, 155, 164, 166, 174, 188, 201–2

T

Tallensi

compounds, 42, 49

elders, 56

fertility, 53

gender, 51

initiation, 51

kinship, 45

material culture, 41, 43, 46, 48, 55, 58, 60–62, 65

oral traditions, 43

people, v, xiv–xvi, 41–43, 62, 65, 79, 96

ritual practice, 41, 45–46, 49

Tamale, 73, 77, 83, 91

tendaana, 45 (See also earth priests)

tengan kube, 126

tengan kuur, 126–27

tengan tie, 126

tengansob, 126–27, 142

tengbana, 45, 102 (See also shrines)

territorial cults, 138

Timbuktu, 74

tlagama, 14

tlisuku, 14, 16, 21, 33

tluwala, 14

Togo, 55, 71–73, 76, 98

Tonga, xii

Tongnaab shrine, xii, xiv–xv, 42, 45–46, 57–59, 61–64, 149

Tongo hills, xiv–xv. 41–45, 57–58, 61, 63, 65, 69, 79

tson vwad, 14, 16

U

Udah, 28

Umbor, 80

utindaans, 74, 80–86, 88–90 (See also earth priests)

V

vegetation, 64, 172

Volta

river, xii–xiii, 74, 98–99, 121

region, 72, 122, 125, 127, 136–39, 144–45

Upper. See Burkina Faso

Voltaic region, xiv

W

Wandala state, 21, 26, 28

water

bodies of, xii, 4

shrine. See suku yam

vessels, 103, 110–11, 114

Weberian sociology, 169

wise, 130–31, 148

witchcraft, viii, 45, 78, 83, 102, 142

World War I, 76, 182

World War II, 4

Wula, 10, 14, 28–29

X

xidi, 14

Y

Ya-Naa, 74–75, 77, 88–89, 92

Yaane. See Tongnaab

yams, 76–78, 81, 85, 87

Yendi, xiii–xiv, 73–78, 80, 82–83, 88–92

Yideng Bay, 23, 25, 36

Yiran, 49, 58

Yoruba, xi

Z

Zaberma warriors, 131–32

Zangina, 74–75 (See also Ya-Naa)

zāwīyas, 175, 178, 183

Zidim chiefdom, 17, 23, 36

Zimbabwe, xii

Zoku ceremony, 13

zong, 104, 109, 114

Zorse, 97–98, 100, 106–7, 116