Tallensi

The Tallensi (also: Talega , Talni , Talensi ) are a people in Ghana with around 43,000 members. The Tallensi language is Farefare from the group of Gur languages . The Tallensi live in northern Ghana in the Upper East Region . The Talensi-Nabdam District was named after this people. The Tallensi became known in particular through the ethnological studies by Meyer Fortes in the 1940s and 1950s. The Tallensi are considered to be one of the so-called stateless societies in Ghana, which means that they form a society without a centralized political administrative structure having developed over time.

The overwhelming majority of the Tallensi are sedentary farmers who have settled in the areas they inhabit for many generations and therefore feel very strongly connected to their land. This is possibly also the reason why attempts at conquest repeatedly failed in the past or why the areas were avoided from the start. In addition, there was no political ruling organization from which one could possibly have forced tribute payments until the establishment of colonial rule.

Traditional settlement areas

If the regions north of the White Volta were visited in the first decades of the 20th century, about 11 ° 30'N and east of 1 ° W, the country was found to be relatively densely populated in terms of area with a population that had different dialects of the Mossi -Dagomba language group, i.e. the western group of the Oti-Volta dialects of the northern wing of the central Gur languages . In addition, the population living here apparently united a uniform culture. In addition to the complete lack of a political ruling structure, it was particularly noticeable among this population that there were no villages of these inhabitants, let alone cities. All over the country, the areas that belonged to individual homesteads were lined up. Often, for the stranger, no clear boundaries could be recognized either between the farmsteads or between the language dialects, that is, a more or less continuous transition to the other was discernible both politically and linguistically. These homestead settlements were called "Tale" by the locals and the residents who lived in them were called "Tallensi". Their neighbors were the Kusasi in the east , the Nankanse (or Gurunsi) in the west and the Nankanse or Mossi tribes in the north. In the south, the White Volta and the Mamprussi behind it formed a natural border.

Social structures

The Tallensi basically consist of two great primal clans. Each of the Tale settlements is committed to either one or the other of the two main clans. These are the "Namoos" and on the other hand the "Tallis". According to tradition, the clan founder and founder of Tongo, the main clan settlement of the "Namoos", was a man named Mosur, who once fled the Mamprussi country (from the city of Mampurugu) and with his followers in the valley country called a homestead association Tongo founded. He is considered to be the common ancestor and progenitor of all "Namoos" of the "Tale" country. Later emigrants from Mamprussi also founded co-clans in Tongo and the surrounding area, but they also see themselves as "Namoos".

The other clan, the "Tallis", also see themselves as the "real Tallensi". They are divided into two large groups: one of them lives a little north of Tongo, with its core settlement Bari, and the other lives on and on the Tongo hills. This second group is also known as the "hill tallis".

The Talli tradition, however, also ascribes different origins to its individual subclans. Four Talli clans, including the "Baari", the "Gbizug" and the "Wakyi", claim the primacy of the higher rank over the other Talli clans due to the fact that their ancestors, they claim, once emerged from the earth or descended from heaven.

All other Talli clans are considered to be offshoots of the first clans or as immigrants from other areas. But they were all already here when the aforementioned Mosur came to the area.

The Tallis have a sophisticated system of clan chaining, which is based on an alleged, but not really existing, relationship. Roughly speaking, every lineage of every clan is connected to a lineage of any neighboring Talli clan via a, partly invented, half-brotherhood, which binds one side for mutuality with regard to certain privileges and obligations towards the other side. Marriage to one another is prohibited and the members of both brother clans are united in a common religious cult.

Culture

Namoos and Tallis speak a common language, they have the same economic system that includes each other's clan and their laws on land ownership, inheritance, succession to clan positions or marriage and validity, etc. are identical. Both main clans also perform the same ritual practices and have the same religious ideas, even if the cults are different and there are also differences in ancestor worship. However, one has mutually agreed intermarriage for generations, which among other things also results in a uniform jurisprudence for both clans and a common type with regard to the individual domestic organization. Trade goods, gifts and goods are exchanged with one another in fulfillment of family obligations. Each Namoo has numerous personal relatives among the Tallis and each Talli among the Namoos.

Because of these numerous similarities, folklorists of the early 20th century grouped Namoos and Tallis as a common ethnic group under the term Tallensi.

The annual religious harvest festivals of the Tallensi are essentially:

the “Gingaung” festival of the Namoos
the “Daa” festival with the Baari and Gbizug
the "Golib" festival of the hill tallis.

Heterogeneity among tallensi

However, certain differences remain. The head of the Tongo Namoos, for example, has the title of "Naa". This is only the case with the Namoos, but not with the Tallis. The chiefdom of the Namoos is the “Naam”, which goes back in its origins to the mythical Mosur who once brought the “Naam” of the Namoos from Mampurugu to Tongo. Above all, this has a certain significance with regard to the choice of a new Tongo chief. The newly elected chief must receive his chieftainship from the hands of a “hereditary chief voter”, who is the official representative of the chiefs of Mampurugu. Other Namoo settlements also choose their "Naa", which, however, is subordinate to the "Naa" of Tongo.

With the Tallis, however, the "Tendaana" is the local head. This title literally means "owner of the land" and is to be understood precisely in this sense. The succession to the chief dignity is determined by rights within a patrilinearly defined bloodline. Nowadays the "Naa" of Tongo claims supremacy over all Tale settlements, but his real executive authority hardly extends beyond his own settlement. The executive authority of a "Tendaana", however, extends over his respective clan regardless of the area in which the homesteads of his clan members are located. Sometimes its power can extend to other clans, but that is a question of local authority and, above all, of the simultaneous presence of rival clans. In the case of the latter, however, one remains peaceful. No clan tries to gain supremacy over the other and would hardly be able to maintain it for a long time, even if one were to gain such dominance by force.

Despite all they have in common, Namoos and Tallis, and in particular the “Naa” and the “Tendana”, are separated from each other by a series of taboos. However, many of these taboos are only symbolic. So the "Naa" is not allowed to step on the earth with his bare foot, he is not allowed to pull out a single blade of grass or engage in agriculture, etc., since the Talli "Tendana" is the "owner of the earth". A "Tendana", on the other hand, is not allowed to wear any cloth clothing, only furs and animal skins. Traditionally, woven clothing, horses and firearms are taboo for all tallis, while for namoos they are a distinctive feature. There are also taboos of a moral nature. For example, possessions that have been lost in the country or animals that have run away or strayed must be handed over to the "Tendana" on penalty of a supernatural death. However, stray cows, dogs or wandering people (tramps) are then handed over to the "Naa". However, the most important prohibition rules of all concern the religious practices that are associated with an earth cult among the Tallis. Earth shrines ("Tongbana", "Tengbana") are often found here in sacred groves or on sacred streams or ponds, to which the Namoos as a whole have no access authorization.

Tallis and Namoos seem to have been bitter enemies in ancient times. The memory of this is not only kept alive in fairy tales and legends, but also vividly depicted in military pantomime and dance performances. B. Accompany funeral ceremonies or other festivities. The barrier that lies between the two main clans has still not been overcome, but there is no longer any irreconcilable opposition either, rather a kind of equilibrium prevails, which is afflicted with a certain mutual exchange interaction. Spatially and in a certain sense politically speaking, the “Tendana” of the “Gbizug” family stands in the middle between the two forces. His homestead is geographically in the middle between the Namoos and the Hill-Tallis, and he is not only the political but also the religious mediator between the two groups. The main “tendana” of the Baari can, if he wants, approach the “naa” of Tongo directly, which the “tendanas” of the hill tallis or the chiefs of the non-talli clans are denied without using the “tendana” "To have to pass the" Gbizug "whose task it is u. a. is to bring the concerns of the other chiefs to the "Naa" and, if necessary, to mediate between both sides.

In addition, the “Gbizug Tendana” is included in the installation rites of a new “Tonga Naa”. In the context of this he has the responsibility and the privilege for the offering of the most sacred fetish of the Tongo chiefs. The protection of the life and well-being of the new chief, and thus also the prosperity of the whole country, depends on this offering. Although the fetish “lives on his homestead”, neither the “Tonga Naa” nor his relatives can ever see it, only the “Gbizug Tendana” and the members of his lineage can. The “Naa” therefore also treats the fetish with the utmost reverence.

A balance of power between Namoos and Tallis is restored by the rain-making powers of the "Naa". Only Namoos are allowed to have rain medicine that their ancestors brought with them to the valley land. If the period of drought extends beyond normal, then all talli “tendanas”, led by the “Gbizug Tendana”, speak to the “Tongo Naa” and beg him to see to it that rain falls again. His rainmaking powers are considered so great that it will rain immediately if he only declares, in the name of the ancestors, to the "tendanas" that their wishes will be fulfilled. Such a case is e.g. B. for the year 1934.

Footnotes

↑ The current location Tongo at 10 ° 43 ' N , 0 ° 48' W .10.716666666667 -0.8 221
↑ Bari or Baari at 10 ° 44 ' N , 0 ° 48' W .10.733333333333 -0.8
↑ The office of “hereditary chief voter” is hereditary tied to a certain lineage.

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Meyer Fortes , Ritual festivals and social cohesion in the hinterland of the Gold Coast ; in: American Anthropologist , NS 38 (7), 1936, pp. 590-604
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