IDNO

N.102514.MF

Description

Ten? Tallensi men seated amongst some foliage; annotated as being “outside ?Samoro waiting to be called in”; each of the men appears to hold a bow? Their clothing is not visible.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Tallensi

Named Person

Photographer

Fortes, Meyer

Collector / Expedition

Fortes, Meyer

Date

?February - ?April 1934

Collection Name

Fortes Collection

Source

Drucker-Brown, Susan

Format

Film Negative Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

N.1022349.MF - N.102559.MF were found in the negative album “II” now numbered C557/.

Context: “Adolescence and Principal of Reciprocity: For a Tale boy the years between 13 and 20 bring changes in degree rather than in kind to relations with his parents. There is no affective or social break to mark a transition from childhood to adulthood among the Tallensi. Even among the Hill Talis initiation into the cult of the External bayar is not associated with adolescence; it can take place at every age. A boy’s social development is a process of gradual advance along lines laid down in early childhood.” (Fortes, M., 1949. The Web of Kinship Among the Tallensi , (London: Oxford University Press), p. 198 - 199.). [ED 6/12/2007]

Context: “A striking feature of Tale social organisation is the system of inter-clan linkages which constitutes one of the principal forces of cohesion in the society. ... The network of inter-clan linkages is one of the principal factors by which the socio-geographic region we have called Taleland is differentiated as a distinct segment of this greater society.
It is one of the main factors of social equilibrium in Tale society. Dissension between neighbouring clans is kept in check by the mediation of maximal lineages linked by identical ties to both; and warfare is inhibited from disrupting the entire social order by the intervention of social and ritual obligations arising inter alia out of the fact that enemies are related directly or indirectly by clanship ties. It is this, in part, that gives Tale wars the complexion of acute family quarrels.
A maximal lineage is not only an organic genealogical unit, it is also ipso facto an organic ritual unit. The focus of its genealogical differentiation from relative autonomy in relation to other like units, as well as of its corporate solidarity and its continuity in time, is the cult of its founding ancestor. The material symbol of this is the shrine (bayar) of that ancestor, custody of which is vested in the head (i.e. the most senior male) of the lineage. Among the Talis each segment of a composite clan had its lineage bayar, distinguishing it from the other segments of the clan. But, in addition, groups of maximal lineages belonging, severally, to different clans, and not necessarily united inter se by tie of clanship, collaborate in the cult of their collective ancestors. The collective ancestors are believed to dwell in a bayar known as a External Bayar. An External Bayar is usually a sacred grove, or a shallow cave in the hill-side, where the community meets for the ritual of the cult. The most important rites of the cult occur during the Harvest festival, when thanksgiving are offered and young men of the group are initiated into its mysteries by special ceremonies.
Clanship ties, as we have mentioned, constitute the principal factor of social integration among all the Tallensi. Among the Talis the cult of the External bayar is another important factor of cohesion and equilibrium. It unites segments of different clans in the worship of the ancestors, and is common to the majority of Talis clans. It represents a system of social bonds that cut across and counterpoise those of clanship. But this system is itself counterpoised, on the plane of religious values, by the organization of the Earth cult. Groups of maximal lineages belonging severally to different clans, which are not associated in the cult of the External bayar, collaborate in the rites of the Earth cult. Each such group has its special Earth shrines, generally in the form of sacred groves (tangban). Thus each maximal lineage of a composite clan among the Talis has one field of corporate social relations in terms of clanship ties, a different field of corporate social relations in terms of the External Bayar cult, and yet a third field of corporate social relations in terms of the Earth cult. The system as a whole forms a remarkable structure of mutually balancing fields social and politico-ritual relations integrated into a complex unity. Sectional loyalties in one direction or on one level are counterpoised by similar loyalties in another direction or at another level. And the system as a whole stands under the governance of the supreme sanctions of Tale social life, the ancestor cult and the Earth cult. To crown it all, moreover, there is the ritually sanctioned and regulated polar opposition of Talis and Namoos focused in the relationship of the chiefship and the tεndanna-ship.” (Fortes, M., 1949. The Web of Kinship Among the Tallensi, (London: Oxford University Press), p. 5 -6.). [ED 6/12/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 5/12/2007]