Nácia Gomes

Maria Inácia Gomes Correia , Nácia Gomes for short , also known as Nha Nácia Gomes or Nácia Gomi (born July 18, 1925 in Ribeira de Principal on Santiago , Portuguese Cape Verde ; † February 4, 2011 in Praia , Cape Verde) was a Cape Verdean traditional singer of Batuku or Finason.

Life

youth

Nácia Gomes was born on July 18, 1925 as one of twelve siblings in the village of Ribeira de Principal on the Cape Verdean island of Santiago. The entire family was raised strictly Catholic. Gomes never received any formal training and thus did not learn to write or read.

Gomes as Finadera

Between the ages of ten and twelve (according to other sources at the age of 15) Gomes began to participate in Batuku performances in private circles. Batuku is an oral tradition from Santiago that combines music, dance and poetry and features elements from other African traditions. Batuku songs were once performed as a vocal duel. The Finason is a sub-genre of Batuku and consists of a sung monologue with strong messages of a social, religious or even political nature, which does not involve dancing. The singers of Finason - especially women, called "Finaderas" - improvise solo singing verses about well-known historical events, about current local events or address interpersonal relationships and thus perform on all kinds of occasions on the Cape Verde islands.

At the age of seventeen Gomes began performing as a singer in her hometown of Tarrafal on the island of Santiago. The performances mostly took place at informal, private family celebrations such as weddings and baptisms, later also as part of regional music festivals, community celebrations and tourist events. Elisa Tavares describes Gomes' public singing debut in her dissertation Authenticity and Identity: Tradition and Change in the Creole Batuku Cape Verdes:

“At a wedding, as a young girl, she seized the opportunity when the leading cantadera left the Teruru [the place of singing, AdA] to have dinner. The returned Kantadera later put her back in her place. […] The then 17-year-old accepted the challenge and replied confidently that the Teruru did not belong to her or anyone else, and earned the admiration and respect of the older Kantadera. [...] The dispute between the established singer and the young candidate was fought out singing. Since Nácia Gomi proved herself as a Batuku singer, Txéka Olibera (the older Kantadera) confirmed Gomi's ability publicly, also singing. "

Gomes' Finason was particularly concerned with the social and economic conditions of her surroundings and growing up in the humble circumstances of the island of Santiago. She also addressed the circumstances that - before independence - were ignored by the Portuguese colonial administration and - after independence - by the national government. Many of their songs also had a strong religious tinge due to Gomes' upbringing. With her singing skills, Gomes was considered an “informal oral historian” who passed on the knowledge and traditions of her community through singing. Overall, Gomes won a lot of recognition in Cape Verde and was celebrated as the "Queen of Finason".

She also served as inspiration and mentor to younger artists such as Tcheka and Vadú . In 1985 the Cape Verdean scientist Tomé Varela da Silva wrote his work Finasons di Nha Nasia Gomes about the singer and also recorded many of her chants in writing.

International fame

Gomes only achieved international fame with the spread of CDs in the 1990s. Gomes began performing at international events such as the Seville Expo (1992), the Smithsonian Folklife Festival (1995) and the 1998 Expo in Lisbon. She recorded a total of three CD albums, including with the famous Cape Verdean Batuku singer Nho Ntóni Denti d'Oru . Gomes received numerous honors while he was still alive, the Cape Verdean airline TACV named one of its aircraft after Gomes, and it received diplomatic status from the Cape Verdean state.

death

Gomes was married to Paulino Correia de Oliveira, a contract worker who had returned from Portugal. The couple had four children. Gomes lived until the end of her life on the island of Santiago, where she was born. Nácia Gomes died on February 4, 2011 at the age of 85 in Agostinho Neto Hospital in Praia . The Cape Verdean government ordered state mourning on the occasion of her death .

Works

Cu Sê Mocinhos (CD), 1999 or 2000
together with Nho Ntóni Denti d'Oru: Finkadu na Raiz (CD), 2007

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Terza Silva Lima-Neves: Gomes, Nácia . In: Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates, Jr (Eds.): Dictionary of African Biography . Oxford Press, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5 , pp. 486 f .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Chissana Magalhães: Rainha do Finason faria 93 anos a 18 de Julho. In: Expresso das Ilhas. July 21, 2018, accessed December 5, 2018 (Portuguese).
↑ Elisa Tavares: Authenticity and Identity: Tradition and Change in the Creole Batuku Cape Verdes . Springer VS, 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-13802-8 , pp. 54 .
↑ ^a ^b Nacia Gomi morre aos 86 anos na Praia. Retrieved December 5, 2018 .

personal data
SURNAME	Gomes, Nácia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Correia, Maria Inácia Gomes (full name); Gomes, Nha Nácia; Gomi, Nácia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Cape Verdean traditional singer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 18, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ribeira de Principal, Santiago , Portuguese Cape Verde
DATE OF DEATH	February 4, 2011
Place of death	Praia , Cape Verde

[DAB-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Terza Silva Lima-Neves: Gomes, Nácia . In: Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates, Jr (Eds.): Dictionary of African Biography . Oxford Press, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5 , pp. 486 f .

[:0-2] Chissana Magalhães: Rainha do Finason faria 93 anos a 18 de Julho. In: Expresso das Ilhas. July 21, 2018, accessed December 5, 2018 (Portuguese).

[3] Elisa Tavares: Authenticity and Identity: Tradition and Change in the Creole Batuku Cape Verdes . Springer VS, 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-13802-8 , pp. 54 .

[:1-4] Nacia Gomi morre aos 86 anos na Praia. Retrieved December 5, 2018 .