Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 364
consider most likely to have been responsible for this transformation, but we have already
pointed out that the introduction of chemical fertiliser was probably crucial.
Our main oral protagonists in reconstructing the stages of dzum zugune are Kwire Zakariya
and dada Ɗga from Ghwa, who in 1996 were about 85 and 90 years of age, and we rely on
their memories. The fact that not all of our elderly male friends had performed dzum zugune,
or who had not fully completed it when it stopped being performed about fifty years earlier
(mid- to late-1940s), made it very difficult to find reliable sources who could recount from
personal experience. This chapter begins by reproducing a reconstruction of the four stages of
a typical dzum zugune which I drafted while in Dzga in 1996. I have decided to make only
very marginal changes to that field summary as it was written while under the impression of
the actual field situation, because it contains summaries I would not be able to reproduce any
better in hindsight. I consulted John Zakariya extensively while writing it, and want to thank
John for his assistance at that time.
During the 1996 field session, some people still had material items relating to the various
objects used or worn in celebrating dzum zugune, and they kindly lent them to me for a few
hours for documentation. Unfortunately I cannot remember whether I saw those items before
or after writing the field summary of the four stages. Stella Cattini, who was also present at
the time, corrected the English of my account. She also assisted in the documentation of the
material items presented later in the chapter section containing photographs and drawings.
The drawings were made by Stella in Dzga in 1996 as an addition to my photographs, and she
has kindly allowed me to reproduce these as additional illustrations.
Dzum zugune had a strong spatial dimension, in that particular places played a role in public
performances, depending on which stage the group was trying to complete. There might have
been an athletic dimension, for example during the second stage the participants had to take
part in a running competition. I have failed to exactly map all the relevant places, and can
therefore only give an approximate indication of how the different locations related to Ghwa'a
in a geographical sense. This is illustrated in Figure 22, and it is important to note that the
boundary drawn around Ghwa'a is equally only an approximation. After presenting a
summarised reconstruction of a typical dzum zugune, we will explain the spatial aspect of the
various stages, together with documentation of material culture relating to them for better
visualisation.
In terms of the material culture linked to the various stages of the Dghweɗe adult initiation
rituals, the various items of dress worn by the participants in each stage will be emphasised.
Changing ritual dress for each performance stage was an important part of dzum zugune, and
it often happened in a specific spatial context. For example, after participants had run
downhill they had to change their dress before they could dance back uphill. We will learn
how important the different materials were, such as fibre, cowrie shells, leather and goatskin,
and also war helmets, shields and weaponry. We will interpret items of dress, not only in the
context of the progressive stages, but also in the sense of the materials of which they were
made. For example we will see that bandoliers played an important role and that the materials
of which they were made started with fibre and plants and progressed to leather, then war
helmets were added and finally full traditional war gear was worn on the journey towards
completion of dzum zugune.
Apart from our initial field description and the presentation of its material aspects, we will
attempt a critical appraisal of what we have presented so far, by revisiting the remaining
fragments of our fieldnotes and adding elements not yet mentioned, and discuss possible
variations and other complexities such as questions of kinship or links to rituals covered in
earlier chapters. This includes the question of why the Gudule did not perform dzum zugune.
Then we will give a summary of how the equivalent to dzum zugune was performed among
neighbours in the Gwoza hills. Finally we will attempt to review the function of dzum zugune
as a communal ritual, and will suggest that it can be interpreted as a cultural form of crisis
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