Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 231
age of the bull festival by asking ourselves whether it was perhaps not that ancient as a
travelling festival of the wider community. Being a communal festival for the whole of
Dghweɗe, it might have its roots in the post-DGB period, meaning that perhaps it was more
linked to the oral historical tail end of the Tur tradition. We revisit some of the key aspects of
that hypothesis in our next chapter section, but first want to present Ndruwe Dzuguma's
account on the local knowledge of a rainmaker.
Rainmaker Ndruwe Dzuguma about his seasonal activities
We present below the core part of the oral account by Ndruwe Dzuguma of Gharaza, which
John and I taped in September 1995, and for which John later gave me an English translation
at my research station. Table 5h below presents the part entitled: 'Rainmaker's activities
during the seasonal year' but the interview as a whole also included other data. For example
he listed a sequence of key rituals which we will discuss in Chapter 3.9: 'Distribution and
custodianship of local shrines'. The ritual we will mention here is the mixture of freshly
ground sorghum flour and water poured over the rainstones by his junior brother (Plate 14),
accompanied by a prayer, which I witnessed being enacted for rainmaking.
Another part of the interview is related to Chapter 3.12: 'Ritual aspects of the house as a place
of worship'. We will discuss this interview in that context because one of the houses we
documented was that of a former rainmaker, and he had kept the rainstones of his father in the
traditional part of his house. We think that because the Gaske rainmakers did not own lineage
shrines in the form of groves or landmark rocks, it was the house of the senior rainmaker
which featured as a ritual centre for all his specialist lineage brothers across Dghweɗe.
The fieldnote account quoted below received only minor corrections since we want to
preserve as much of the oral authenticity of the original interview as possible. Ndruwe
Dzuguma was the senior rainmaker of Gharaza in Korana Basa, while his senior brother was
Taɗa Nzige of Ghwa'a. Taɗa Nzige's father's house was an important ritual centre in the past,
not only for the other rainmakers, but also because it contained ritual places as part of his
infields which played a crucial role during the adult initiation ceremony (dzum zugune). We
will learn all about this later in the relevant chapter. If we consult the annotated comments in
Table 5h, we notice that the parts in square brackets are additional references incorporated
into some of the annotations at a later stage for better ethnographic contextualisation.
Table 5h: Ndruwe Dzuguma's account of his seasonal activities
Rainmaker's activities during seasonal year (Gharaza 1995)
The rainmaker will first plant a seed of guinea corn or millet. This is
still done in the dry season. After that, they bring out the manure to the
fields. Even before bringing out the manure they will gather different
types of weeds and put them in dry river beds in valleys. After that
God will give us rain to start planting.
The first rain which is enough to start planting he recognises on the
movement of the sun. When it reaches the exact place for raining it
will rain. There is nothing they do before. It is just a matter of time
when the rain starts.
In line with the regulation of rain, the rainmakers consult each other to
decide when there should be more or less rain. The rainmakers from
different places will discuss among themselves the amount of rain they
need as well as using the stones to pour water on to them to produce
rain.
When there is not enough rain they will perform sacrifices and use
their rainstones. Then it will rain heavily. When there is enough
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Annotated comments
[Ritual] planting is done
for both, sorghum and
millet, during dry season
[ritually] puts weeds in
dry river beds so that God
can let it rain
Observes the position of
the sun [in relation to a
geographical landmark]
Consults with his fellow
rainmakers and they pour
water [mixed with guinea
corn flour] over [rain]
stones
Sacrifice over rainstones
[most likely called man
skwe] is done when there
