Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 525
see that the two variations of yellow are very similar in terms of shades of yellow, and also
recognise that both descriptions contain the-the for egg yolk, and we like to think that 'egg
yolk' is the Dghweɗe word for this kind of lighter shade of yellow.
Conclusion
This chapter on symbolic classification and the classification of living and non-living things
including colour classification is very rudimentary and in many ways not at all conclusive.
However we wanted to present the few notes available, to add another contextualising aspect
to our history in fragments from the grassroots. We decided to put this chapter near the end of
Part Three because we like to think that by now the reader has developed a good
understanding of many of the specific complexities of the Dghweɗe culture.
Concerning the ways of classifying living things, we recognise a very practical approach,
mainly ruled by whether or not they were useful in terms of food, such as the distinction
between living things used for consumption and those that were not. We realise at the same
time that consumption was not always straightforward, and the further away from the house
and its infields some of the living things were, the more potential impact they could have on
whether a yield was considered safe for consumption. We remember in that context the
classification of wild animals of the bushland which could not be consumed. For example, if
someone came across the skull of a hyena while farming his bushland, he had to ask the
rainmaker to bless the land before he could bring a harvest from it into the house.
Another example was that Ɗagha peacemakers owned a ritual type of Cissus quadrangularis
called vavanz bungwe which allowed them to control leopards, and we pointed to the role this
played in their founding legend. It seems that the equivalent to this was sorcerers
transforming into baboons, because John frequently told me that very powerful male sorcerers
could transform into baboons, and the main evidence was always that someone he knew had
seen someone naked in the bush. I was always astonished at the level of conviction relayed, in
the claim that the sorcerers who had been observed that way were naked because they had
been caught by surprise just as they were about to transform back into human form.
We remember, from the chapter about existential personhood, that the spirit boundary
between human personhood and the personhood of living and non-living things in the familiar
mountain environment was seen as transient. Powerful healers, sorcerers and other gifted
individuals could transform and cross beyond human personhood. Perhaps living and nonliving things classified not for general consumption were seen as more suited to the secret
activity of spirit transformation pursued by sorcerers. At the other end of the scale, guinea
corn as the most important and divine crop was also considered to have a personality of its
own. We learned, in Chapter 3.8 about interaction with the seasons, that guinea corn had a
very strong ritual identity that needed care. For example, a whole terrace field of guinea corn
could magically disappear overnight if the rituals a farmer had to carry out before the harvest
were not performed correctly.
Much in the Dghweɗe subsistence way of living was vulnerable to crisis, either from drought,
epidemic or other disease, leading to the constant threat of food shortage. At the same time
the labour-intensive farming system and the need to keep the terrace fields fertile required a
certain population density. The relatively high population density had its reproductive roots in
the extended family which resulted from successful marriage alliances. This in turn brought
about conflict, not only over females but also over limited land resources which again was
regulated by a fairly strict regime of ritual activities. We have attempted to describe a very
complex form of egalitarian socio-economic organisation, and our reconstruction of the
Dghweɗe way of adult initiation hopefully illustrated this. The high ritual density
demonstrated by their adult initiation was based on a competitive system of wider kin
connections across extended families. Long-term marriage planning between families who
could intermarry was essential for the successful socio-economic future of the sons and
daughters of patrilineal families.
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