Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 260
Our friends also referred to the ɗuf ɗala ritual, which we know consisted of sorghum beer and
was only performed by those family men who could not afford to sacrifice a he-goat. Bulama
Bala also mentioned the 'slaughtering for God' ritual (har gwazgafte), and the tswila ritual
consisting of the throwing of guts of a sacrificed he-goat into the field ready to be harvested.
He speaks of tswila gharghaya, which indicates it was carried out on the hillside near the
house. It also indicates that the throwing of guts (tswila) was perhaps primarily executed to
the infields, which we know received the greatest amount of animal manure. We learn later
that tswila thagla, the throwing of guts as part of the harvest festival (thagla), was not as
essential as tikwa thagla, that is any liquid being libated over the three ancestor stones on the
eve of the harvest festival (see Chapter 3.13).
Plate 16a: Rope making by men in Dzga (1998)
Plate 16b: Women in Ghwa'a plant tigernuts (Cyperus esculentus)
The oral account
refers to the nuclear
family, consisting
of a father with his
wives and children,
as the corporate
base unit of a
farmstead.
I
frequently
saw
women and men
working
alone
during the hoeing
period, especially
in the outer fields.
Some were elderly,
which points to
great
social
flexibility
in
managing
the
seasons
among
generations.
However
certain
tasks,
such
as
harvesting
and
threshing,
were
organised in more
collective
ways,
and included people
from other local
families,
as is
shown in Plate 16a
and 16b.
In
another
interview in Korana
Basa (1995), we were told that in the past there was certain help for farming in the
neighbourhood, and some for harvesting. The type of help to gather in number was called:
•
•
•
zmana (was for farming only, not only including relatives)
thakha gave (was if only three or four relatives came to help with farming, whereby
the owner of the farm might compensate them with some guinea corn or millet.
Sometimes they would prepare beer to drink after farming)
wusa dughwe (was when your son-in-law would gather people to come to help with
farming. Beer was provided)
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