IDNO

LS.103400.MF

Description

Tallensi market scene.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Tallensi

Named Person

Photographer

Fortes, Meyer

Collector / Expedition

Fortes, Meyer

Date

Collection Name

Fortes Collection

Source

Drucker-Brown, Susan

Format

Lanternslide - Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

LS.103397.MF - LS.103405.MF were kept in the box now numbered C570/.

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).

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: "The market is a fundamental economic institution in Tale society, but we have space here only for a cursory comment on its function in relation to our main theme. Every kind of raw foodstuff, from grain to wild fruits and many varieties of cooked food can be purchased in the market. A visit to the market shows at once what the state of the domestic larder is; high prices indicate empty granaries, low prices, plentiful domestic supplies. The cooked food offered in the market illustrates the seasonal variation in supplementary diet very well. As soon as Bambara beans or frafra potatoes are lifted they appear, both raw and cooked in the market. The food most commonly sold in the market is porridge (saɣabo), the staple cereal food; but other cereal and pulse confections can be bought there, many kinds being especially prepared for sale, and rarely, if ever, cooked for home consumption. Such are maasa -fried millet cake, guor and kameha, both made of flour cow-pea. A number of women carry on a regular trade in these luxury goods and thus reap a steady income. Beer is always on sale in the Tale markets, manufactured and sold by a few regular women traders, all Nankansi as far as we know. Only in the markets have we seen intoxicated men; never at ritual gatherings. The market is also the main supplier of tobacco, which most mature men and many old women chew or smoke, but which only a minority are able to grow for themselves, and of kola nuts, imported from Ashanti by foreign traders, and universally chewed as a stimulant by by men, women, and even older children. Curdled milk (bigbihir), a luxury food, is generally obtained there too. The market represents the point of contact between the basic subsistence economy of the natives and the money economy which exists side by side with it." Fortes, M., & Fortes, S.L., 1936, ‘Food in the Domestic Economy of the Tallensi,’ Africa: Journal of the International African Institute,’ Vol. 9, No. 2, Problems of African Native Diet., pp. 237-276.). [ED 5/12/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 21/5/2008]