Dagomba & Nanumba

 

The Dagomba today have been broken up into two sub-groups: the Dagbamba and the Nanumba.These two groups have extensive connections both by familial links cross-culturally and by heritage and origin. The Dagbamba and Nanumba are frequently identified as the current Dagomba due to their close cultural heritage and alliance against conflicts with the Gonja.The people speak the Dagbane language, which belongs to the Mossi or Mole Dagbane, a sublanguage of Gur.Much of the group today is located over and nearest to the Burkina Faso border. The Dagbon kingdom is centralized around Yendi, which was once located east of the White Volta River.The Dagomba were pushed by the Gonja and forced to relocate, crossing the White Volta. By the end of the 1600's the Dagomba were able to return to the area and established a new capital also named Yendi, a fairly small market town, located east of Tamale near the Togolese border. The Dagbamba and its fellow sub-groups under the Dagomba are known for their sophisticated oral culture which is accompanied and largely supported by drums and other musical instruments. The Dagomba have preserved in their drum histories a rich historical narrative, interwoven with myth, which records the origins, migrations, battles and genealogy of their royal rulers.

The Dagboni culture is highly dependent upon their Islamic influences and beliefs. They do also incorporate ancestor worship. Each village identifies with a particular ancestral spirit and performs ritual sacrifices. Rule and inheritance are patriarchal and patrilineal. The Dagomba primarily base their livelihood on farming millet, rice, peanuts and beans. Since they are located near the impeding Sahel their land requires spacing of up to five years before the land can be farmed again after each crop. Society is highly hierarchical as is evident in the arrangement of their homes. The village community is a settlement of circular compounds surrounded by farmlands and bush. The chief lives in a domed hut in the center of the village, higher than the other huts. All other huts face the chief's home in a circular pattern, arranged by specialty which is signified by the outside adornment of the hut. The drummers' quarter is an important section of the village in a royal chiefdom, because they perform services for the chief on all state and politically significant occasions. Commoners are scattered in compounds traditionally built of mud and thatch, the men live in rectangular rooms and women in circular rooms.