Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 127
Taɗa Nzige’s account also clarifies what in the British report was referred to as: 'Rumours
circulated extensively throughout the hills to the effect that the Clans would be forced to
descend to the plains en bloc where they would be reverted to slave status'. He not only
describes how the bulamas were severely bullied to name recruits, but also that they were told
that eventually all Dghweɗe should descend and resettle in the plains. He also gives direct
insight into the Dghweɗe’s fear of being reduced to slave status, when the elders answered
lawan Buba by saying that all they wanted was to be free from Hamman Yaji and his troops.
It appears that the Dghweɗe still had a deep seated fear of being forced down from the hills
like slaves, and it seems that the British officials who were writing the report were not willing
to address this, but would only refer to the montagnards as being very conservative in
outlook.
The other aspect Taɗa Nzige clarifies is the importance of ritual consumption of sorghum
beer as part of the Dghweɗe local religion. In 1953 the great majority of the hill population
was still practicing their religion in the context of the traditional seasonal calendar of which
har ghwe was a ritual key event. Taɗa Nzige first describes how those named as recruits
interrupted their attempt to celebrate har ghwe at Bla Ganage’s house by destroying the beer
pot. We learn all about the house as a place of worship in Chapter 3.12, and only emphasise
here that the ritual beer of har ghwe was to celebrate the sacrifice to someone’s deceased
father (dada), and forcefully interrupting the communal consumption of beer in the context of
this was highly offensive. It certainly showed that the authority of the bulamas in the hills was
seriously in jeopardy. Already, in the context of the beating of the bulamas in Gwoza, one
recruit, Pakuɗa Gadanga from Dzga, was removed from the list because he was known to be
able to brew a lot of beer for har ghwe. This might sound not to be a very convincing point
for a non-Traditionalist, but for the bulamas it certainly was. We will learn later, in the
context of the description of the Dghweɗe adult initiation rituals (dzum zugune), how
important the economic ability of a traditional Dghweɗe man still must have been in 1953 to
produce a large amount of ritual beer to share with his neighbours. The ability of Pakuɗe
Gadanga to brew a lot of beer for har ghwe identifies him as a highly respected member of his
community, and shows that the bulamas under pressure named someone less productive as a
recruit for the resettlement scheme.
The cultural significance of ritual beer consumption is further highlighted by Taɗa Nzige,
when he describes how Baraya forced his way into Ɗawa Gaghuda’s father-in-law’s house to
arrest Ɗawa’s wife. Ɗawa’s wife had attended her father’s har ghwe celebration, which was
dedicated to her grandfather. Taking her by force out of the house during the ceremony was a
highly sacrilegious thing to do. Although the British name Baraya as one of the main
perpetrators in overstepping the boundaries of acceptable behaviour during the incident in
Ghwa’a, they completely missed the point of the overall situation. Baraya was only a chima, a
messenger, who originally came from Kunde, and trying him alone for provoking a breach of
peace in Ghwa’a, and accusing the bulamas of being the other provoking local figureheads in
the conflict, was more than unconvincing. In that way, the blame rested almost entirely with
the montagnards, especially since they had beaten and subsequently banned their bulamas.
The bulamas could be labelled as corrupt, and the montagnards as being backward and
conservative in outlook, while lawan Buba was praised as a highly respected man. We have
not mentioned yet that he had admittedly been removed from his post only three years earlier
for 'minor peculations', in other words, corruption, but that was unmentioned, and his longstanding history as village head of Gwoza was emphasised instead.
The above indicates that the British authorities might not have wanted to ask too many
questions, for fear of more 'rebellious' behaviour spreading across the hills. The now more or
less established new Muslim elites in Gwoza remained their main political allies in the aim to
successfully navigate the cultural intricacies of the mandated hill area. It seems that the effort
of British indirect rule to introduce self-government to the hills and plains alike, had now
finally been defeated, indicating that it was not possible to bridge those intricacies by
goodwill alone, and that a price had to be paid. That price was to scapegoat the people of
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