Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 48
already mentioned Gudule clan group and Gudur. We also use Mafa sources to improve the
ethnography of our chapter on cosmology and worldview, because many of the questions I
originally asked about that subject had been inspired by my previous work among the Mafa.
Therefore we will use our Mafa notes to show that some of the cosmological and related
mythological views held in Dghweɗe also existed among the nearby Mafa. This is to support
our Dghweɗe oral sources with oral data from their largest montagnard neighbour.
There is one very important chapter to refer to, which is the chapter about the significance of
the seventh- and eighth-born child. The ritual role of the seventh born (thaghaya) has been
mentioned. He was seen as the lucky one because he inherited the house and most of the land
from the father. The role of the seventh born can be found in almost every aspect of Dghweɗe
ritual culture, while that of the eighth born is negative because in the past they were either
cast out or could even fall victim to infanticide. This was changed to adoption by the British
in the mid-1920s. The past rejection of eighth-born children can be seen as a cultural
expression of the fear of catastrophic crop failure, because the explanation of the idea behind
the history of infanticide was the belief that it made all previously born children survive.
Another chapter that demonstrates the importance of the Dghweɗe worldview of the past is
the one about the rituals around the birth of twins, which were seen as local reincarnations of
previous twins. We will show how the earlier mentioned cosmological pairing of blessings
from above and below, as examples of celestial and primordial earthly worlds, connects with
that of twins who were seen as reproductive reincarnations. We will hypothetically connect
this concept with the ritual and agricultural control the Dghweɗe liked to exercise by keeping
their terrace fields fertile, and show how cosmological control over fecundity was expressed
in the rituals around the birth of twins as manifestations of localised socio-economic
reproduction. This includes the fear of potential chaos and disorder which twins might cause
if they are not ritually treated and managed appropriately.
Towards the end of Part Three the chapters become more and more fragmented, and some of
them might almost appear disconnected from the previous ones. This for example is the case
with the chapter about decision making and the chapter dealing with the marriage system of
the Dghweɗe. We hope that by then we will have already sufficient ethnographic insight into
the Dghweɗe cultural practice of the past, and can indulge in a more conclusive presentation
of previous contextualised views learned from earlier chapters. Still, the reader might feel a
bit lost at times, and if this happens we advise going back to previous chapters to reconnect
with our underlying, though admittedly very fragmented, ethnographic narrative.
It is also possible to read Part Three in a different way, for example to just read one or two
chapters of special interest without reading the others. Each chapter includes an introduction
and a conclusion. This way we regularly review and summarise our views and interpretations
in individual introductions and conclusions, rather than mixing them in with the evidential
presentation of oral data. At the end of Part Three there is a chapter about the ritual
importance of the plant Cissus quadrangularis, often owned by the Dghweɗe peacemaker
lineage to regulate local conflict. We try to connect this plant with the ethnonym Godaliy, and
see it as a late pre-colonial development, and also show how it exemplifies the ritual density
so typical not only for the Dghweɗe but also for other groups of the region.
The most important Dghweɗe and other lingua franca vocabularies used in this book are
brought together in the Glossary at the end of the book, and contain references to the relevant
chapters, while the list of Figures, Tables and Plates is at the beginning. The Bibliography
contains published and unpublished works, and an extensive list of archival materials related
to the Dghweɗe and the Gwoza hills. Some of the more detailed references related to the
colonial history appear as footnotes. The list of Dghweɗe oral protagonists is also added to
the Bibliography to underpin their importance. My unpublished fieldnotes are often referred
to in the text as Mafa notes, Gwoza notes or Dghweɗe notes, and are also part of the
Bibliography.
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