Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 272
We do not know where the useful trees were preferably cultivated, but there were generally
more trees found inside settlement areas. Our short summaries of the various tree uses in
Table 7b above do not mention any locations. We assume that it was not just because there
was more manure that there were more useful trees on the infields, but also because they
wanted particular trees near the houses. Again we have failed to document any of this, but
were able to present a list of various uses and make some cross-references to other chapters,
such as the type of trees the seventh born (thaghaya) was entitled to inherit.
We also see in Table 7b that we do not know all the botanical names, such as is the case for
the shiwe tree, which seems to be quite an important tree. Apart from its many practical uses,
such as firewood and its medicinal use against stomach upsets, it also served to make handles
for tools and a funeral drum called timbe. We also know that it was used to make the ritual
tsaga stick which played an important role in the bull festival (see Figure 21a of Chapter
3.13). The latter use makes this tree very similar to the lave tree (Plate 18c), even though the
lave tree might not have had any other uses, other than its fruits being consumed. Still, this
might just be a gap in our information, and perhaps it also was used to make tool handles.
There are so many gaps in our knowledge about useful trees. Often we do not even know how
they appear in order to distinguish one from another. This surely is an indicator of how many
useful trees there were. The images presented in Plate 18a to Plate 18f do not match the
comparatively high number of useful trees listed in Table 7b. That some of them lost their
specific usefulness can often be indirectly concluded, the use of mahogany oil from the fruits
of the tsra tree, and the use of the wa'iye tree (Plate 18d) for roofing and other wooden
supports, being good examples.
There is also the nguthe, as well as the ndagha tree, for which we have no Hausa or botanical
name. They both have similar uses, including treating stomach problems, while one has sweet
fruits and the other has leaves for making sauce. We see that leaves to make sauce also
applied to other trees on our list, for example the madisa tree, for which we also lack a
botanical name. We wonder whether these trees whose leaves were used to make sauce were
close to the house, but perhaps not, and a woman working in the outer fields might have
collected them on her way home.
Borassus aethiopum (wurighe), Anogeissus leiocarpus (wa'iye) and Kaya senegalensis or
mahogany tree (tsra) were the three trees passed on to the seventh born (thaghaya) following
the death of his father. As mentioned above, we will learn more about the inheritance rules of
traditional assets later in Chapter 3.18. Concerning the wa'iye tree, we have very little
information apart from that it was an important tree for roofing houses. We will see in the
next chapter about the architecture of a house, how much timber was also needed to build the
wooden supports for the flat roof areas marking the foyer of a house (Chapter 3.11).
We often find Tamanrindus indica (ruwe) next to houses, as well as the mahogany tree (tsra)
and the Borassus aethiopum (wurighe), also known as African fan palm. These were all,
according to my observations, frequently found growing inside settlement areas. The fan palm
must have been the most important useful tree, because we can see that the list of its uses is
very long. The shoots of germinated seedlings, known as hypocotyls, had the reputation of
being an aphrodisiac, a hormonal attribute which might have given the fan palm its name
(wurighe). They were still very popular during my time. I was given a bunch, and was told
that they were good for my virility, but it was hinted that I should not to eat too many once,
otherwise my stomach would feel very heavy, as if I had eaten stones.
Their androgenic function was well known across the region and we wonder whether this was
also why the newly germinated leaves (dzadza) from buried seeds or fruits were used during
the twin ceremony (Chapter 3.19). The trunk of the fan palm served as a seat, and there were
many other practical uses for most parts of the tree. For example, the fan-shaped leaves were
used to repair leaking roofs while the leaf sticks were arranged for beds. We learn later in the
chapter about adult initiation (dzum zugune), how the finer and softer parts of fresh palm
leaves (dzadza) were used to make body adornment worn around both ankles by ambitious
270
