Hunters (bͻfͻ; pl. bͻfͻͻlͻ in Nafaanra) with firearms, Fawoman, August, 1982. In times past, "bush" meat was important to local life. Archaeological evidence shows that people relied on a wide range of wild animals--from grasscutters to large carnivores--as sources of meat and valued materials like skins. From 1971 hunting was banned within the newly established Bui National Park (a Wildlife Protected Area covering more than 1800 km2). From 1989, Ghana's Wildlife Conservation (Amendment) Regulations (L. I. 1452) banned unlicensed hunting outside of park lands. Oral histories describe hunters as individuals whose knowledge of the land was important to communities as they sought to establish settlements in new areas. Fawoman, September, 1982.
Oral history of Sie Kwabena Manje Katoo (house), Ahenkro, describes the family member who was a powerful fetish priest who led the Nafanas on their journey from Kakala to the Banda area. The family holds responsibility of distributing gunpowder in times of war. The sacrifices and taboos of the house's fetish/shrine are described and a list of former male and female heads of family provided. To cite: Stahl, Ann, and James Anane. 2011. Sie Kwabena Manje Katoo, Banda-Ahenkro. In, "Family Histories from the Banda Traditional Area, Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana, 1986," pg. 38. Brochure circulated 1989, reissued with photos and additional histories in 2011. 2 pages.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Danluwi fetish; Kakala; Sie Kwabena Manje Katoo; Animal sacrifices; Family history; Taboos; Bui; Gunpowder; Migration
At a day-long celebration of the Banda area's rich cultural heritage at the Banda Cultural Centre in Banda-Ahenkro, a group of hunters from Fawoman performed dances passed down through generations of hunters. Known as Bɔfɔɔrɔ, ancestral hunters learned these dances from animals in the bush. Using an unloaded gun and accompanied by drums and percussion instruments made from hippo jaws and canines, hunters and women from Fawoman shared ten dances with the assembled crowd. Ahenkro, 28 June, 2019. Length: 00:19:57 minutes.
A hunter carrying a shotgun is joined by a senior hunter as he performs a hunter's dance (Bɔfɔɔrɔ in Nafaanra). Oral history recounts that the dances are those of animals observed and copied by ancestral hunters, generations ago. Accompanied by drummers (on right), the hunters perform in front of an assembled group of villagers during a family history interview. A young woman in the background uses a cell phone to record the event. A performance of Bɔfɔɔrɔ at a June 2019 Banda Heritage Event can be viewed through a link below. Fawoman, 21 May, 2019.
Photo of a industrially made steel flintlock mechanism, with flint mounted. Side view, with opposite side visible in right-angle mirrors. Photo by Andrew Hutton. Taken at the Army Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand.
Rights:
Creative Commons CC 1.0
Publisher:
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6314738
By HuttyMcphoo at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons using CommonsHelper., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6314738
An imported gunflint or strike-a-light recovered from late 19th-century Makala Kataa. Flint is a fine-grained stone that creates a spark when struck against iron. Gunflints were shaped pieces of stone placed into the hammer of a gun mechanism. Pulling the trigger released the hammer, causing the flint to strike a steel plate and creating sparks that lit the gun's powder. The flint's top face (bottom left view) has been beveled by the flint knapper and its side edges (top left) have been flaked or chipped. Its bottom surface is smooth (bottom right). Gunflints like these were made in large numbers in centers like Brandon, Suffolk, England and imported into West Africa in large quantities during the 18th and 19th centuries. These flints were also used to spark fires apart from their use in guns, giving rise to the name "strike-a-light." Photo scale in cm. Site Makala Kataa. 25 June, 1990.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Provenance:
Makala Kataa, Station 10, Trench 1, Unit 2, Level 1
Nafana men from Fawoman perform a hunter's dance at a heritage celebration organized by the Banda Heritage Initiative. Crouched on the ground, the men enact the process of tracking an animal as women sing and men drum in the background. The man in the front holds a gun. Ahenkro, 28 June, 2019.