In the journey of time, there would have been many things you would have seen and loved about this place. A home almost everyone would be glad and pleased to visit. We don’t have that time travel yet we still have a story to share. Let’s have a great listening ear as we journey to Ghana. In Ghana not anywhere but in the land of greatness and great soil. In the land of bravery which is the northern part of Ghana. Then we narrow it down to the land of peace and “Kavuni” That’s Tamale, my hometown.
A brief Talk about Tamale, my hometown
We start with the geographical settlement. Tamale is a great city that is the capital town of the northern part of Ghana. It is made up of many tribes like Wale, Mamprusi, Dagbombas, Frafra, and others. But it is most known for the people called Dagbombas. The land is presentable geographically. No rocks, no mountains just flat land anyone would love.
In farming or Agriculture, we have the best soil I can think of. The most appreciable product almost everyone would love is Shea butter. It only grows in Northern Ghana and let’s say mainly in Tamale. Tamale is known for its agricultural harvest. We do cultivate legumes crops and others. What we are known for is our cereals. These crops are like our friends we can’t do without during our farming seasons. Crops such as rice, millet, sorghum, and the climax of it all are Maize which we get as our favorite food from.
Who are we? (The people of Tamale)
We are the Dagbombas. The land for the spiritual leaders of the nation. Well, we might differ with this but to me and what I have heard and learned from my grandparents. Tamale and Dagbombas will forever be the saviors of the land. Tamale is the land most Dagbombas. The people of Dagbombas are spiritually inclined. They believe in the gods and they worship them. They believe that is what keeps them happy and that is their hallmark.
Yaa Naa Source
We Dagbombas are been governed by the chief. The chief is called “Yaa Naa” which means Strength Chief. He is the overlord and he owns us all. We run to give him the praises he deserves and he is respected as how every nation respects its president. We give him appellations like “Tihi ni mori Lana” meaning the owner of The trees and grass, and “Gbagnli” That’s a lion that seeks to represent his strength s it is compared to that of a lion. He is feared and he is strong too.
“Kavuni” is our world which is also part of what we are. Our identity and what we stand for. Our norms and that we will never do as Dagbomba. There are things that a Dagbombas will never do. No matter what the circumstances are he will never do he would rather die than do it. That is what “Kavuni” Stands for. The real identity we all stand for. An example is never following your wife’s orders. Your wife can never order you to do some. You only do it if you please but not an order. This isn’t about anything other than Tradition. (Let’s understand this). We will never do what our blood doesn’t what and we will stay to promote it. So when one day you hear a Dagbombas saying “Kavuni” just know he would never do whatever is in question there. Because he knows where he or she is coming from. That is who we are. The people of my hometown Tamale.
What makes us unique?
Uniqueness is a must. It makes everyone stand out and makes your identification easy. that’s why I don’t joke about what makes me a person from Tamale, a Dagomba. I always hail the things that will keep my identity intact. I will speak about four things that make us unique for this post’s sake. They are our language, our food, our festivals, and our customs. These are the four things that I will speak about don’t forget I will add a bonus one of how we sometimes look (tribal marks).
1.Our language.
My language, their language our language. That is Dagbani. A great language I can speak. A language that many run away from. A language that is even scaring too for an enemy. That is Dagbani. That is what we speak. Most words I type here are in Dagbani. It is the first and primary thing that one will use to identify us. It is our key identity.
2. Our festivals.
Our festivals need energy. Many people say that if you haven’t eaten this number of balls of Banku you can’t speak their language. It isn’t that. That is what the tribe is about. It is born through strength and everything about it is curved through strength. We have the “Bugum” festival which is the Fire Festival. We use fire in celebrating it. we do celebrate it to honor an olden day’s chief whose child was found using fire as a light source. We have the Damba festival and also the “Kpini” festival. “Kpini” here means Turkey. These are the free festivals I will speak of. these festivals have when we celebrate them and they come with their various reasons as I said about the fire festival. This is one of the things that identifies and makes us unique.
3.Our Food.
TZ with Salinvogu Source
We all eat food. As I said about our agricultural background, cereals are what we like to cultivate. This is for the fact that what we eat or what we are known for is cooked from these cereals. We have the “Saggim” which is TZ. TZ is made from flour from maize. We can also have TZ from other grains like Sorghum and millet but we widely use maize for TZ. It is a great food almost all Dagbombas love. It is what we eat and we grow what we eat which is maize. We combine it with soups such as “Bra”, and “Salinvogu” which is “Ayoyo” and “Mana Zeri” which is Okra soup. Those are what it goes with. Most of us love TZ with “Bra”. It makes it appealing to eat. I’m already salivating. 😂😂😂😂
4.Our Customs.
When we talk about fabrics, speak about the layout of my “Batakari” and my “Bin gbaa”. Most people call it “Fogu”. This is one thing we are known for. Our Chiefs wear the greatest of designs; when you see them you don’t need to ask again. That is how unique it makes us. We all do wear it because that is what we are. When you see me in my Batakari, no need to ask where I am from because you will see it well in me.
The bonus is sometimes our tribal mark. Each tribe has how it is done. We all might live in Tamale as different people but the tribe marks will inform you rather you asking which tribe someone is from. Ur tribal mark simple is the “one one” we call it. On the face and when you see someone with it. You know that person is one of us. The people of Dagbog.
Misconceptions about us.
Many say a lot of things about us. They have their information and we don’t even know where they got it from. Some say in our hometown we don’t have electricity and no development. It isn’t true. Some even went further to say we practice FGM, but it isn’t true. We value our women because they are our homes. They build them because they raise our kids. The last thing I will talk about is the practice of early marriage. We don’t do it. we don’t betroth any underage child to anyone. That is not us. If someone does that and is a Dagbomba doesn’t mean that is the culture. For the culture, we don’t do it. but to that person’s personality, they can do it. But we the people of Tamale, Dagbombas, we don’t do that.
This is about my hometown and us the people of Tamale. I hope you have learned something and cleared some misconceptions about us. The next time you visit Ghana, do well to come to Tamale and experience hospitality from the people of Tamale. Any visitor who has ever visited Tamale can testify. Thanks for passing by. Let’s get interactive in the comment section.
Thank you