Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 380
Plate 57i: DARKE – worn by ngwa yiye
Several blue indigo cotton strips sewn together. The Dghweɗe do not
have a word for indigo blue and refer to it as black (lusa). It was worn
by the ngwa yiye, the third stage participants of dzum zugune who were
also referred to as 'black cows' (thah lusa) or simply 'lusa' due to the
dark cotton robes worn as part of their dress code. The colour black
can be interpreted as a symbol of fertility with an underlying reference
to manure production, something explained in greater detail later in the
discussion of the third stage of dzum zugune.
Objects worn on the waist, legs and ankles:
Plate 58a: KWALANGLANGA – worn by ngwa kwalanglanga
Brass bells used for the second step of the second stage of dzum zugune. They
are larger than the crotal bells called khwa khwa (see Plate 58d below). The
smaller khwa khwa were used by young men who had not yet performed dzum
zugune and also by the ngwa hamtiwe, the beginners of dzum zugune. The
larger kwalanglanga bells give the name to the ngwa kwalanglanga dress code,
in the way the hamtiwe plant gives the name to the ngwa hamtiwe dress code.
The kwalanglanga bell on an iron chain (to the right) once hung from the waist
of a performer while he was dancing back uphill from Yawa (see Figure 22).
The ngwa kwalanglanga also wore female dress items, such as layers of
reversed gjuwa skins (Plate 51a) over their hips, which were usually worn over
the back by older women. They also used pakɗinda rods (Plate 54e),
traditionally only worn by married women, which they hung from the sides of
their war helmets (kba). We will discuss the female dress items worn by the
ngwa kwalanglanga in detail in the next chapter section.
Plate 58b: GWAMBARIYA – worn by ngwa garda
Bands of up to twelve alternate strips of black and white woven cotton,
sewn together. They were worn around the waist by the ngwa garda. The
ngwa hamtiwe used them to wrap around the neck of a billy goat, which a
candidate gave to his mother's brother if he wanted to start performing
dzum zugune ahead of him. They could be used by the men anticipating
dzum zugune to tie the gwargwara (Plate 57h) on the back of shoulders.
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