Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 180
We know that the expansion of the Vaghagaya lineages started from Korana, and that Ghuna
and Duwara were the first to leave to settle in Hudimche, but their descendants then moved on
to Gharaza. We assume that Hudimche was at that time still known as Gharguze, while
Korana had possibly already begun to exist. If we follow bulama Ngatha of Hudimche, it was
Kandile's mother who gave Hudimche its name, while Ghuna founded Gharaza. This is why
we see Ghuna as a lineage in Gharaza, while Duwara has vanished from our lineage tree, and
we can only speculate whether Wuzawa might be one of his descendants.
It was confirmed to us in Gharaza in 1995, that Ghuna and Wuzawa, the two present lineages
of Gharaza, had come out of Vaghagaya. The argument was that Ghuna founded Gharaza
after he came from Korana. This contradicts bulama Ngatha's account, who claimed that
Ghuna and Duwara had first settled in what would later become Hudimche. Also, Duwara
was not mentioned at all by our Gharaza friends, only Wuzawa, and it was said that they too
were descendants of Vaghagaya. Therefore we consider Ghuna to be the most important
major lineage next to Kurana and Kandile. While we know that Kandile had a different
mother, we can assume with some certainty that Ghuna was a brother of Kurana, because he
was the lineage priest for all Vaghagaya during my time. We will return to that below, but
first want to present some additional oral history data related to Gharaza, Gudule and
Gathaghure.
We were told in Gharaza, that when the descendants of Ghuna arrived, they found 'Dawa
Ndlawa' living there. He was from Gudule and left when they arrived, and we remember that
the Vaghagaya, presumably the descendants of Ghuna, were involved in the war with Gudule.
We were also told in Gharaza that the descendants of 'Yazagila' were found in Gaghaghure,
but not in Gharaza. It was added that Ɗagha were living in Gharaza. They were referred to as
'Thakida' and 'Dangadha' and are presumably two brothers. They came from Ghwa'a to live in
Gharaza and are not to be confused with the Ɗagha of Kadzgwara descent, but belong to the
Dghweɗe peacemaker lineage, and have as such an official role in Dghweɗe ritual life.
We want to briefly emphasise the role of Var ga Ghuna, who was the seventh born and
lineage priest (thaghaya), not just for the Ghuna of Gharaza but for the whole of Vaghagaya.
He would eventually be succeeded as lineage priest by Duwar Nzihe, also from the Ghuna
lineage but three or four generations apart. This means that he was from a lineage branch
which became separated from Var ga Ghuna's lineage branch three or five generations earlier.
We will discuss social relationship terms in Chapter 3.6, but at this point want to highlight
that the reason we think Ghuna was seen to be from the same ancestral 'kitchen' (kuɗige) as
Kurana, is because they both had the same mother. The custodianship role of the Ghuna major
lineage as thaghaya of Vaghagaya had manifested itself locally by a lineage shrine for all the
descendants of Vaghagaya, which was found at Ghuna's birthplace in Korana.
We do not know why the Ghuna rather than the Kurana lineage were responsible for their
shrine, but we do know that the shrine was called 'Kwirgwiya' and was situated in Korana
Kwandama. There was an upright stone supported by stones surrounding it, densely covered
with Cissus quadrangularis. In the past a goat was slaughtered and blood and stomach poured
over the stone. This was to symbolise unity as opposed to dispersion or scattering. The ritual
was called har khalale (har = slaughter; khalale = lineage shrine). I was told that a sacrifice
only took place every few years or more. We do not know whether this sacrifice dedicated to
Vaghagaya was still being carried out while I was there, but we doubt it. What is important in
oral history terms is that Korana was the place where this shrine was found, which confirms
that it is the starting point of the Vaghagaya local group formation (see Chapter 3.9).
The shrine for Vaghagaya is therefore an important local historical monument. I assume that
Boko Haram was not aware of this, otherwise they might have marked its destruction.
Perhaps such community shrines could be useful again in the future, to celebrate reunification
and the reconstruction of the Gwoza hills as a safe place. That the Vaghagaya once felt they
needed it to remind them of unity rather than scattering might also be a reference to the
former infighting they had successfully left behind them.
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