Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 576
house; the family thaghaya inherited the lion’s share (including the
house and infields); we translate thaghaya as 'cattle in the house'
referring to the mixed farming system and the importance of dung
production in keeping soils fertile (see Chapter 3.10); see Chapter 3.18
to learn about the significance of the eighth-born child as a symbol of
bad luck; see also Table 6a which lists lineage-related local thaghaya
as ritual custodians for starting the planting and harvesting across
Dghweɗe (see Chapter 3.9 for more details).
Thagla
Harvest festival; we established that thagla was an annual festival that
stopped being performed some decades ago; see oral testimony from
Zakariya Kwire at the beginning of Chapter 3.13.
Thah lusa
'Black cows' was the name given to the ngwa yiye during dzum zugune
(see Chapter 3.14 for details); the dark colour of lusa was represented
by the darke, an indigo cotton dress (see Plate57i); we conclude that
the dark shade of lusa linked to a cow represented successful socioeconomic reproduction.
Thah tva
'Red cows' was the name given to the ngwa garda during dzum zugune
(Chapter 3.14 ); we think the colour 'red' might have been a reference
to the light orange-red colour spots of a cow, being a symbol for this
earlier stage of adult initiation (Chapter 3.22).
Thakara
Apical ancestor of the largest local clan group of Ghwa'a; compare the
two versions of the Dghweɗe lineage tree (Figures 12 and 12a) and
consult the Thakara lineage tree (Figure 12d) and its localised
representations across Ghwa'a (Figure 13) as presented in Chapters 3.4
and 3.6.
Thala
House shrine (no literal translation); there is the 'stomach' and the 'bed'
of thala (Figure 19c) and also the 'roof' of thala (Plates 21c and 22a)
above the foyer of a traditional house; see Plate 22b with the remains
of the foyer area of an abandoned house (Chapter 3.11).
Thayanga
People who can see things ordinary people cannot see; see Chapter
3.15 about ideas around Dghweɗe existential personhood; specially
gifted people referred to as thayanga were mainly seen as positive
personalities who could make predictions about the future; for example
rainmakers and peacemakers were seen as having such special gifts
serving the greater good of the community.
Thlace fice
Powerful rainmaker collects 'the root of the sun' (thlace = root; fice =
sun) to control wind and rainfall; see the legend about Zedima who
collected 'the roots of the sun and moon' from deep inside the earth to
cause a severe environmental crisis in order to assert himself over the
Wandala chief of Kirawa (see Chapter 2.2 for more details).
Tikwa
Any ritual liquid poured over ancestor stones (see Zakariya Kwire's
explanation in Chapter 3.9).
Tikwa ghriɓa
Long decorated wooden stick with ram's beard on top; was carried by
ngwa garda while running downhill during the first step of the second
stage of dzum zugune; see photograph in Plate 59i (Chapter 3.14).
Tikwa kupe
Ritual for first consumption of newly-harvested guinea corn; old and
new guinea-corn flour was mixed with water and applied to ancestor
stones; see Table 5a with list of bi-annual rituals (Chapter 3.8).
Tikwa thagla
Guinea-corn beer or any other liquid poured over ancestor stones
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