IDNO

N.102167.MF

Description

Four Tallensi men consisting of one standing with his head cut out of the frame and wearing a cotton loin cloth. In addition, there are three men seated on the ground in the compound. The men are wearing short white shorts, and the man to the right is also wearing a cloth cap. In the foreground there appears to be the animal skin of a dead cow.

Place

W Africa; Ghana; Upper East Region [Gold Coast; Northern Territories]

Cultural Affliation

Tallensi

Named Person

Photographer

?Fortes, Meyer

Collector / Expedition

Fortes, Meyer

Date

22 November 1934

Collection Name

Fortes Collection

Source

Drucker-Brown, Susan

Format

Glass Negative Halfplate

Primary Documentation

Other Information

N.102167.MF - N.102179.MF were kept in the box now numbered C550/.

Clothing: “Frafra men now wear commercially produced slacks or shorts and various kinds of cotton smocks. By the 1970’s Fortes noted that “many [men] have two or three garments -a cloth and a tunic, for instance, while well-to-do men have considerable wardrobes” (1945: 11, n.1). These smocks or tunics are tailored from strips of cloth woven by non-Frafra men on a horizontal loom. The Frafra themselves do not weave. ... In the late 1930’s Fortes remarked: “All cotton goods are imported. The Mossi cloth used in former days is still a favourite. especially for loin cloths and caps, and tunics for special wear. The bulk of it is still imported for French territory, but there are some Mossi weavers at Boleya (Bolgatanga) and Zuarangu who add to the supply (1945:11, n. 1)”. Smith, F.T., ‘Frafra Dress,’ African Arts, Vol. 15, No. 3, p. 36-42+92.). [ED 3/12/2007]

Clothing: “In addition, the cut of the narrowband smock reflects status and social importance. The most widespread and ordinary type is the danseka, a sleeveless smock (Fig. 9). This type, which can be worn by any adult, is the typical male garment of northern Ghana. ... According to a Frafra tailor, “Anyone can wear a danseka, even a chief” (interview at Zuarangu, February 1973). Except for the danseka which is usually purchased in the market, a smock of any importance is commissioned from a “reputable” tailor, especially one who handcrafts his product.” (Smith, F.T., 1982, ‘Frafra Dress,’ African Arts, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 36-42+92). [ED 3/12/2007]

Context: Fortes explains the lay out of a compound and the importance of the dugdanna (senior wife) and her status is recognised. “One sign of this is that most of the ancestor and medicine shrines that are kept indoors rests in the dendanyo and rooms of the senior woman. They include a man’s personal shrines, as well as those of which he is custodian as head of a lineage segment. Sacrifice is offered to these shrines in this dendanyo, the woman and children of the family often taking part. A man’s ancestors keep watch and ward both indoors and out over the things, the place, and the people most precious to him. (Fortes, 1949, p.59). [Alicia Fentiman 15/4/2008]

Context: “When a man sacrifices to an ancestor spirit, any descendant of that ancestor has the right to be present and to share in the sacrament. The only exceptions are the cult of the clan or maximal lineage (bɔɣar). It would be incompatible with the functions of these cults as foci of social integration o the highest level of corporate structure to allow non-members of the lineage concerned to take part in them. But an ahəη may attend domestic sacrifices to any of his matrilateral ancestors and sacrifices to the founding ancestor’s shrine (bɔɣar) of the lineage of his true or classificatory mother’s brother. If a man proposes to make a sacrifice to one of his immediate antecedents (say, his father or grandfather), and if he is going to sacrifice anything larger than a fowl or guinea fowl (say, a goat or a sheep or a cow), he is in duty bound to inform his sisters.” (Fortes, 1949, p.321). [AF 15/4/2008]

Bibliographical Reference: Fortes, Meyer, 1945. Dynamics of Clanship Among the Tallensi (London: Oxford University Press).

Bibliographical Reference: Fortes, Meyer, 1949. The Web of Kinship Among the Tallensi (London: Oxford University Press).

Bibliographical Reference: Fortes, Meyer, 1987. Religion, Morality and the Person: Essays on Tallensi Religion (London: Oxford University Press).

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 14/3/2008] [Alicia Fentiman, 23/4/2008]