Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 243
such a place was khalale. Our friends added that the sacrifice took place once every several
years, and only during a guinea corn year. Some of our friends said that it was done immediately
after the bull festival had ended, when the sorghum grain would have been put into water for
germinating to produce the ritual beer.
Our friends from Korana Basa also explained the role of Var ga Ghuna as the ritual custodian
(seventh born or thaghaya), which we quote because it provides a first insight into the role of
thaghaya being ideally only with the seventh born:
Var ga Ghuna starts planting and harvesting and he is considered as the father of all Vaghagaya.
After him, his son Duwar Nzihe takes over his function. They are related over three or four
generations. This function is going to stay with the Gaghuna because they are thaghaya. The
seventh son is the thaghaya. If there are not seven but only six or five it goes down, but never
above the number seven. It is always for the first wife and Ghuna was a son of the first wife. This is
why Var ga Ghuna is thaghaya of all Vaghagaya. All other thaghaya units have their khalale. The
different sacrifices do not follow any sequences. It is the diviner who is asked.
We will not go deeper into the meaning of thaghaya here, since we have a dedicated chapter
allocated to it later, in which we explain how the role of thaghaya could be transferred to one
of his younger brothers (see Chapter 3.18). Our friends pointed out that Var ga Ghuna as
thaghaya not only started planting and harvesting for all Vaghagaya, but that he was also
responsible for their lineage shrine in Korana Kwandama.
Our Korana Basa sources also said that one of the main functions of the ancestral sacrifice to
their khalale was to create unity as opposed to dispersion and scattering. We already know
that the Dghweɗe used patrilineal descent to create that cohesion, as did many cultures in
whom descent was the main device to bring about unity as opposed to scattering and
dispersion. This does not mean that patrilineal descent should be taken too literally, especially
concerning a major lineage section like the Vaghagaya. What was crucial was that har khalale
was carried out by the person who had the ritual entitlement for the custodianship of the unity
of all Vaghagaya on their commonly inherited land. Being as thaghaya the representative of
the seventh born of the first wife of the ancestor of a lineage section who himself was
thaghaya, was the application of that entitlement on the lineage level. Such a continuity of
local social cohesion was maintained to promote the fecundity of the land and its people.
We do not know, following the influences of colonialism and after national independence
when the belief systems of Christianity and Islam started taking root in the hills, when the last
sacrifice on this particular shrine was carried out. Also, the fact that people left the hills to be
seasonal workers in Maiduguri or Yola presumably weakened the unifying function of such
shrines long before Boko Haram finally destroyed Dghweɗe as a peaceful place. Considering
the current level of scattering and dispersion, we do not know at this point how any new unity
could be created in the hills, other than through future reconciliation.
Apart from the unity aspect, there are several questions related to the physical appearance of
the site. First of all is the upright stone (kwire), which we think represented Vaghagaya. We
do not know how high the stone was, or whether it was erected specifically for sacrifice or
whether it was a natural piece of rock. We also wonder about the Cissus quadrangularis
(vavanza), but do not know the variety or who the owner was. We strongly assume that the
sacrifical goat was a he-goat. What is also interesting is that the sacrifice consisted of blood
and stomach, but we cannot interpret that exactly, except perhaps to assume that the stomach
was a symbol of their mixed farming system with a reference to successful food production
based on dung for the fertilization of the terrace fields.
Neither do we know whether ritual sorghum beer was consumed and libated over the stone,
but perhaps not. We already know that no ancestor pots were kept at such places, because
ancestors of major lineages were genealogically too far removed. Our friends from Korana
Basa also told us that due to Var ga Ghuna being the seventh born (thaghaya) of all
Vaghagaya, this role would always stay with the Ghuna lineage as a result, and it had most
likely already become historical during my time. In our next chapter section we will show
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