Family history interview with Elders of Loobia Katoo dressed in customary attire for the Yualie Festival celebrated at the harvest time for sorghum and millet. Loobia Katoo supplies the custodian of the Jafun shrine to which offerings are made during the Yualie Festival. The family brought the shrine to Banda from Senyon (Northern Region) during the time of Dabla, paramount chief of Banda. In the background (left) calabash (gourd) bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra) are set out to dry. Left: custodian of the Jafun shrine, Kwadwo Kamiekunu (Jafun Bͻͻnyiifun); right: Amman Nyiimor (female head), 24 July, 1986.
Family history interview with Elders of Shiofi Katoo including Kofi Asare (Abakomahene; seated, second from left). Other members of Shiofi Katoo to the right of Asare, Kwabena Dibi, Yaw Krah, and (standing center) Mensah Listowell. Female head Kosua Yablewo, standing, back right. James Anane (interviewer), standing left. Ahenkro, 24 July, 1986.
Two carved wooden masks which are worn during masquerade dances celebrating special occasions among Muslim Ligbi communities in the Banda area are displayed. The masks pictured here were photographed in 1967 by René A. Bravmann, then a doctoral student at Indiana University studying African art history. The mask pictured left (13.25 inches in length) represents a thrush (Kokogyinaka in Ligbi). The one on the right (9.75 inches in length) is a "beautiful Gonja woman" (Gbanyamuso in Ligbi). The masks are periodically renewed with pigments made from plants and earthen materials. This masking tradition is referred to by scholars as "Do" but it is referred to in Bongase as "Bedu." For additional details, see Bravmann, René A. (1974) "Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa" (Cambridge University Press), pp. 147-177. A 2019 performance of Gbanyamuso at a Banda Heritage Event can be viewed through a link below. Bongase, December, 1967.
Two carved wooden masks which are worn during masquerade dances celebrating special occasions among Muslim Ligbi communities in the Banda area are displayed. The masks pictured here were photographed in 1967 by René A. Bravmann, then a doctoral student at Indiana University studying African art history. The mask pictured left (10.5 inches in length) represents a sheep (Saragigi in Ligbi). The one on the right (12.25 inches in length) is a bush cow (Siginkuru-ayna in Ligbi). The masks are periodically renewed with pigments made from plants and earthen materials. This masking tradition is referred to by scholars as "Do" but it is referred to in Bongase as "Bedu."For additional details, see Bravmann, René A. (1974) "Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa" (Cambridge University Press), pp. 147-177. Bongase, December, 1967.
Two Ligbi men from Bongase appear in masquerade regalia prior to a "Do" or "Bedu" performance at the commissioning celebration of the Banda Cultural Centre in Ahenkro. Their carved wooden masks represent a male and female pair of baboons (Mbong in Ligbi). Their heads and shoulders are draped in scarves, they wear raffia skirts around their waist, and over top of socks covering their feet they wear metal jangles on a chain wrapped around their ankles. They are accompanied by a number of men from Bongase. Pictured L-R: Fariah Salah, Kwame Yirikro, Abau Yaya, Abuu Doctor (masked dancer), Adoma, Ansoma Sala (masked dancer), Dandu, Alhaji Moro Mahama. A performance of Mbong at a June 2019 Banda Heritage Event can be viewed through a link below. Ahenkro, 21 July, 1995.
The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community gatherings and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. The Centre's motto/logo is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." Commissioned in 1995, the main building was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. The building is administered and maintained by the community. Ahenkro, July 1995.
This Asante-style "akonkromfi" chair belonged to Tolɛɛ Kofi Dwuru II who was the Paramount Chief of Banda from the time of his enstoolment in 1938 until his death in 1977. Kofi Dwuru purchased the chair in Kumasi during the 1930s. The chair's back rest and legs are studded with brass tacks. A leather cushion rests on the seat of the chair. For additional details, see Bravmann, René A. (1974) "Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa" (Cambridge University Press), pp. 89. Ahenkro, 25 November, 1967.
The paved interior courtyard of the Banda Cultural Centre is surrounded by roofed verandas on three sides and a suite of rooms along its east side. The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community events and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. Visible along the porch in front of the guest rooms are headpans used by the Banda Research Project for archaeological excavation, tipped over to dry. A tree seedling, center courtyard, is surrounded by a fence to protect it from goats. Ahenkro, July 1995.
Female elders are seated under a thatch awning outside the Banda Cultural Centre on the day of its commissioning, Ann B. Stahl (seated center) has just been enstooled as an honorary Queen Mother of the Banda Traditional Council under the stool name Yadwo Gongo II. To the left is Binghamton University graduate student Alex Caton (Peni Yaa) and seated to the right wearing white cloth is Afua Wewa, one of the Banda Queen Mother's elders. A young man holds an umbrella over the Banda Queen Mother, Lelɛɛ Akosua Kepefu, who sits behind Alex Caton. Ahenkro, 21 July, 1995.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Queen Mother; Banda Cultural Centre; Enstoolment; Banda Traditional Council
Ann B. Stahl (left) and Sampson Attah (right) stand in front of the Banda Cultural Centre shortly before the building was commissioned (21 July, 1995). The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community events and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. The Centre's motto/logo is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." This is symbolized by an Adinkra symbol showing two crocodiles who share a common stomach (two heads, two tails, one stomach; referred to as funtumfunafu in Twi). The symbol conveys the meaning "why fight over food when you share a stomach?" The Cultural Centre's main building pictured here was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. The building is administered and maintained by the community. Ahenkro, July 1995.
Tolɛɛ Kofi Dwuru II was the Paramount Chief of Banda from the time of his enstoolment in 1938 until his death in 1977. Here the Nafana chief is pictured seated on an Asante-style "akonkromfi" chair with his sandaled feet resting on a carved wooden white stool to which protective leather amulets made by Islamic clerics have been tied on to the stool's central column. Two large cast metal bells rest on either side of the stool at its base. The paramount chief wears a white cotton cloth bearing geometric designs and Arabic script written in black, blue and red inks. To the right, an Asante-style "assipim" chair is propped against the wall. Suspended from a cord on the wall behind him is a collection of animal bones among which are large ungulate (hoofed animal) and carnivore skulls and jaw bones. For additional details, see Bravmann, René A. (1974) "Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa" (Cambridge University Press), pp. 88-95. Two photos. Ahenkro, 25 November, 1967.
Two Ligbi men from Bongase appear in masquerade regalia during a visit to Bongase by René A. Bravmann, then a doctoral student at Indiana University studying African art history. Front and side views. Mama Dri (left) and Mama Panyini (right) wear carved wooden "Mbong" (baboon in Ligbi) masks decorated with ochre and white paint, representing a male and female pair. Their heads and shoulders are draped in scarves. They stand in front of a house with a thatched roof and a raffia shade. Scholars refer to this masking tradition as "Do," while locally it is termed "Bedu." For additional details, see Bravmann, René A. (1974) "Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa" (Cambridge University Press), pp. 147-177, plates 77-79. A June 2019 performance of Mbong at a Banda Heritage Event can be viewed through a link below. Bongase, December, 1967.
Photo of an everted-rim pottery jar (Vessel B) excavated from Kuulo Kataa, Mound 101, Unit 2W 2S, levels 6-7, where the jar was positioned upright. A broken pedestal base (Vessel A, originally part of another vessel) sat atop the jar. The jar has a carinated shoulder and a rounded base. Above the carination, the jar's exterior surface is decorated with four horizontal grooved lines, between which are lines of dentate impression. Immediately above the carination in three locations around the vessel's circumference are triangular clusters formed by three circulate punctates joined by short grooved lines enclosing dentate impressions. In a zone marked by two parallel grooved lines, the jar's base is surface treated with carved routlette impressions. Rim diameter 20.8 cm at interior lip. Vessel height (base to rim) 15.8 cm. Photo scale in cm. Kuulo Kataa, 9 June, 1995.