Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 351
This is certainly at odds with the Gudur tradition found in Dghweɗe, and also concerning the
Mafa of Kughum. During my visit in 1995, the belief of the Mafa of Kughum endured that it
was the chief of Vreke who started the bull festival among the Mafa, as he had originated
from Gudur. It seems that Kughum acknowledged this as an important past memory, but it is
crucial to remember in this context that the Gudule of Dghweɗe did not seem to have waited
for the Vreke clan of Moskota, but listened instead for the drums of their relatives in
Gudulyewe. This variation further underpins that it is better to accept Gudur more as a place
of legendary origin rather than of geographical chiefly origin.
However, in its historical phenomenon as a travelling myth, it was more likely connected to
the most recent wave of immigration from the eastern fringes of the northern Mandara
Mountains bordering the plain of Diamare, from where came not only the Gudur tradition but
also the large Mafa clans. The two most important ones were the Vuzay and Djele, who
eventually grew into the most numerous Mafa clans in the centre of the northern Mandara
Mountains. Similar to the Mughuze-Ruwa in southern Dghweɗe, they became the dominating
local clan groups in almost every Mafa village, where they incorporated many smaller clan
groups by forming ritual allegiances, a process I have described in The Way of the Beer
(Muller-Kosack 2003).
This happened long after the process of labour-intensive terrace cultivation of sorghum had
most likely started in the DGB area, which might well have already been connected not only
to rainmaking but also the celebration of manure production. In that very sense, the Gudur
tradition can be seen as a cultural accomplishment, but more in the form of a much later
regional manifestation of an egalitarian travelling myth about the spread and success of the
early agricultural revolution. The terrace cultivation of sorghum might have brought about a
particularly distinct culture of managing the high risk of food scarcity due to regular droughts.
This was in palaeoclimatic terms particularly severe in the most northerly part of the Mandara
Mountains. We will refer to this aspect of crisis exposure and its ritual management in the
chapter on the Dghweɗe adult initiation rituals (dzum zugune), but will concentrate here on
the Dghweɗe legend of how Gudule was banned from rainmaking and hence became a
cornblesser and initiator of the bull festival.
Legend of how Gudule was banned from rainmaking and its ritual implications
We know that Katala-Wandala was remembered by many of my Gudule protagonists as the
first wife of Tasa and that their two sons were Ske (Gaske) and Gudule.
Tasa = Katala-Wandala
Ske
Gudule
My Gudule friends (1995) told me that they were brothers of Ske, and what had separated
them from Ske was that Gudule cut off the white tail of Tasa's favoured cow, which led to
Gudule being banned from rainmaking. Apparently Gudule cut the white tail of his father's
favoured cow because he wanted to impress his girlfriend. When Tasa saw the missing tail, he
called Ske and Gudule and said to them:
'I saw that the white tail has been cut off. Whoever did that, do not be afraid to tell me. He will be
the best child for me and I will give a special gift to that child.' Gudule now admitted that he was
the one who had cut the white tail off the cow. The father said to him: 'If you did that you will not
make rain. You will have the vavanza to increase the yield of farm produce. On top of that, you
will be the thaghaya and you will be the first to start the bull festival, the roofing of the houses
and other traditional activities and sacrifices.'
There had first been a discussion of whether it was a bull's or a cow's tail, but the group of
men from Gudule finally agreed that it was a cow. Why would Gudule have wanted to please
349
