Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 255
We know from our Mafa study that local micro-migration increased after the 1980s, but in the
case of Dghweɗe we do not have similar source materials on the spatial development of
small-scale mobility. If we adhere to our earlier conclusion that manure production was
essential for keeping farmland constantly under cultivation, perhaps it was not so easy to
move animal dung produced in and around the house to the outer fields. This logistical aspect
also applied in the past if cows were leased out, because whoever was looking after them
would be able to use the manure to keep his infields under cultivation. We know that the word
kla pana literally means 'corn stalk', and that it relates to the labour-intensive making of fertile
soils behind terrace walls, but the number of fields marked as fallow in Figure 17 is only a
schematic illustration. We can only speculate as to whether fallow land was related to a lack
of sufficient manure, or whether it was the result of the distance between infields (vde) and
outer fields (kla pana), not to mention the bush fields (siye).
That most manure was brought out near the house can be linked semantically to the literal
meaning of the word thaghaya as a reference to the seventh-born son. Tha means cow and
ghaya is the word for house, and the combined meaning can be interpreted to refer to the
importance of keeping the infields fertile by the good luck represented by a seventh-born son.
If we include the spatial aspect of inheritance across several generations of the lucky
inheritance rights of the seventh-born son, we must also include the bad luck of the eighthborn child (see Chapter 3.18) who in the past was outcast or fell victim to infanticide. At this
point we want only to stress the spatial impact of the privileged inheritance rights of the
seventh born across generations. His entitlement presumably not only held farmland together,
but also meant that all his older brothers had to start their own farms. The spread of the
Vaghagaya lineages is a good example of this. This and the strategy of continuously manuring
the infields produced the best land where houses agglomerated into local neighbourhoods of
farmsteads.
We will see later in Chapter 3.22, in the section dealing with classifications, that the Dghwede
had different ritual regimes concerning crops harvested from bush fields and those cultivated
in outer and house fields. At this point, we notice that the word susiye for bushland not only
meant uncultivated land, but that it could also be used to refer to fallow land (siye). We think
that this meant that 'cultivated land' was first of all indeed a reference to terrace fields, while
bushland, or susiye, was not. However, if cultivated land fell fallow, meaning it became like
uncultivated bushland, it might have naturally recovered faster if it had been cultivated or
manured at some time before. John used the expression gwihe ce ghe (farmland of mine), and
referred as such first of all to the infields or house fields (vde) and the outer fields (kla pana),
and only secondly to his bush fields (siye). Uncultivated bushland (susiye) mattered less in
terms of land ownership and inheritance rights, but it was important for haymaking during the
rainy season and grassing animals during the dry season.
We reached a similar conclusion after being told that if a man had much gwihe, he did not
need siye. It meant that the distance to the house was too far to regularly bring out manure.
Only if there was not enough 'cultivated land' available would a man use his bushland to
cultivate his crops. If new bush fields were needed for cultivation, a man started clearing parts
of his bushland (susiye) very early on, and then hoed it one or two months before the planting
began. This was referred to as dhal susiye and meant as much as 'hoeing uncultivated land
during the dry season'. On the other hand, if a man did not have bush fields to prepare, he just
needed to clear his 'cultivated land' (kla pana). This included rearranging the terrace walls,
which was exclusively man’s work.
Our model does not show enough trees, and that we only put one palm tree next to each house
does not sufficiently illustrate the fact that useful trees could be found in much greater
concentration inside settlement areas. We therefore need to imagine a much higher density of
useful trees as an integrated part of the house fields, and in the next section we will first
present our oral sources on terrace fields in general and the quality of soils. In a later chapter
section we will see photographic evidence of useful trees and grasses. We will learn that
Dghweɗe terrace farmers had to walk long distances, not only to collect grasses for the
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