Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 270
had long replaced this old technique. Iron tools were still forged and repaired sometimes,
although not very frequently according to my observation.
Table 7b: List of useful trees in Dghweɗe
Botanical
name
Borassus
aethiopum
Dghweɗe and
other languages
Wurighe
Hausa: Giginya
Anogeissus
leiocarpus
Wa'iye
Hausa: Mareke
Nguthe
Ndagha
Ziziphus
mauritiana
Ziziphus
abyssinica
(not sure)
Ficus
trichopoda
Ficus polita
(not sure)
Diospyros
mespiliformis
(not sure)
Khaya
senegalensis
Tamarindus
indica
(not known)
Lave
Hausa: Magariya
Shiwe
Short summary of various uses
The fleshy part of the fruits was eaten. Seeds were buried
for one year. The germinated shoots, wurighe (muruchi in
Hausa), and the buried part, kukule, were cooked. The
leaves were used to repair leaking roofs, while the stems
were arranged for beds. The stems of the leaves were also
burnt and salt was produced from the ashes. The parts of
newly germinated leaves they used for dancing. They were
called dzadza, which were also used to tie around the necks
of twins and twin pots. Also, the mother and father of twins
had dzadza tied around their necks (see Chapter 3.19).
From the bark, they hammered out fibre (see Plate 18b).
Used for roofing.
Fruits are very sweet. Used for firewood. Also used to treat
stomach problems.
Leaves were used to cook sauce. Also cut to produce
firewood. Used to treat stomach problems.
Used to make tsaga stick for the bull festival (Figure 21a;
Chapter 3.13). Fruits were collected for consumption.
Used to make tsaga stick for the bull festival. Firewood.
Bark was used against stomach upsets. Used to make
handles and also used as a threshing stick (malakwa). Trunk
used to make funeral drum (timbe).
Bala
Hausa: Ganji
Glavda: Ghavda
Tikwe
Hausa: Duruma
Is also the tree that has given the Glavda their ethnonym.
Interestingly the word ghavda derives originally from the
Fulfulde (see Blench 2020).
Ngurangura
Hausa:
Kenya/Kanyia
Tsra
Hausa: Mad'atchi
Engl: Mahogany
Rainmaker ties carpet grass (ghalaghala) to it to control the
growth of crops. Rainmaker attaches carpet grass to control
the strong wind.
Ruwe
Hausa: Tsamia
Engl: Tamarind
Gwalama
Diospyros
Skhakike
mespiliformis Engl: ?Ebony;
?Jackalberry
(not known)
Madisa
Leaves were used for the sauce. Reportedly was also used
as fencing (not sure).
Fruit for oil making. Firewood. Making beds. Now also for
door frames. Bark to treat stomach upsets. The trunk was
used for the funeral drum (timbe) and hourglass drum
(dadiwe).
Young leaves for cooking sauce. Fruits are used for making
yakabra (Hausa: kunu). Used for firewood. Used to make
handles (dvare) for hoes.
Used for firewood. For making handles for sickles, and
used as a threshing stick (mbalakwa).
Fruits were buried in ashes until they turned black and were
then eaten. Used for firewood. Trunk was used for the
funeral drum (timbe) and dancing drum (ganka).
Leaves were used for sauce. Used for firewood. Used for
making tool handles, like for sickles. Used as a threshing
stick. Used for traditional roofing.
As mentioned earlier, another change was already in progress during my time in Dghweɗe,
which was that an increasing number of houses had zinc instead of thatched roofs. The
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