The people are animists (voodoo worshippers), originally from Burkina Faso. In the 11th century, there were religious wars with the Muslims who wanted them to conver to Islam, so they fled south into Togo and the area we now call the Pays Tamberma. By the 13th century, they had also spread across the border into Benin and today the area has a population of about 200 thousand. When they first arrived, the country was all forest/jungle, inhabited by savage animals like lions etc (sadly they've all disappeared now) so they had to sleep in the trees for protection. They then discovered the baobab tree, which is hollow, so they transferred these trees into houses, and slept up in the branches, protected from the animals. They lived by hunting and gathering, and this evovled into the agricultural and livestock society of today. When they were settled in the area, they began to clear the trees in the forest to make spaces for their houses and animals. Once space was cleared, they then chose a stone, some argile which they use to build the houses, a chicken and an arrow. They fired the arrow from a particular spot, and the place where the arrow landed was the new possible site for the house, as the distance between was large enough for agriculture and livestock etc. Then, they sacrificed the chicken on the stone, and stuck the feathers to the stone with the blood. If the feathers were still there the morning after, it meant that the spirits had given their approval and building could commence. If, however, they had been washed or blown away, it meant that there were evil spirits in that spot and another would have to be chosen.
Once the site had been determined, the father of the family then began to brew the maize beer that they drink often in the north - tchoukoutou. After three days, the beer was ready and he would call all the village to come and participate. Every person helped lay the foundations of the house, as well as sharing the beer of course. After the first layer had been done, it was up to the family to finish the house; this they do layer by layer, using the argile first, and cow manure on top as a waterproof finish. As the house was being built, the wife of the house made a kind of tube, which fitted into the hole in the shower area where the water from the bucket runs out of, and in effect, this serves as a kind of drainpipe as it stops the water running down the side of the house which can damage it. When the house was finished, the wife presented this pipe to her husband as a kind of sign that she too wants to protect the work that he has done. It's interesting that the houses actually have the same kind of wavy but big and hollow shape as the baobab tree itself, you can tell that that was the original model!
Outside the house, there are 2 large stones which have 'eyes' facing towards the house. These are fetish stones obviously, and they represent the protecting gods of the family, so their eyes point towards the house in order to protect the inhabitants. If something happens to one of the family, such as an illness etc, the father must go and pray to the gods to ask their forgiveness and sacrifice a chicken on the stones and again stick the feathers on it, using the blood. There were also several other stones, with their 'eyes' facing away from the house, towards what would have been the forest. These represent the spirits of animals that have been hunted in the forest by the family, and the size and shape of the stone varies, depending on what the animal had requested. These are also used for sacrifices, and occasionally an animal can also ask to be represented in a more physical form, by marks on the family's faces... Our guide's little sister for example, has a scar in the middle of her forehead, which is separate from those to signify her family, because an animal that her father had hunted requested to be represented like that. The skulls of the animals that have been hunted hang outside the house, whereas the skulls of animals sacrificed hang inside the second room in the house.
They are definite believers in all the animism and they have so many things for it... Like a special stone where you go to be cured from snakebites - and if someone goes to hospital for something like that, and they don't get better within 4 days, they bring them home and treat them on the stone because the stone takes 4 days to work so they believe if the hospital hasn't cured it within that time, it's because the snake was in fact an evil sorceror so it's only the spirits that can cure the person... Strong stuff!
So the house itself looks kind of like a castle with turrets, sort of; it's hard to describe exactly. WILL put photos up tomorrow, I know I've been promising since February but tomorrow it is happening! The houses have 5 different rooms, going from the first entrance room to the terrace right on top of the house. The first room is where the women prepare the food, not the kitchen, but here tasks like grinding maize or pounding spices or yam etc are carried out. The second room is the father's room. Here they hang all the potions and medicines, plus the skulls of animals sacrificed, and this is where the man of the house sleeps, to guard his family against anything that might arrive in the night. He sleeps on the ground, and there is a little kind of hollow in the wall where he keeps things like his pipe, so when he's finished using them they go directly back their and everyone knows they belong to him. There are also two small holes in the wall, by the side of the door. In effect, these act similarly to the arrow slits in old castles in England - from inside, one can see out, plus shoot arrows at his target, but from the outside, no one can either see in or harm the people protected inside. The third room is a hidden room, and genuinely, you can't tell whether there's anyone in there from the second room. This is to protect the women and children, or for the father to hide and attack an enemy who has entered the house.
The fourth room is the actual kitchen, and is raised up - kind of halfway between the rooms on the ground floor and the terrace right on top. Here the women cook, as well as store a little in pots on the shelf there. When they've finished cooking at night, they bring the food up onto the terrace where the family will eat round a little stone table. This table is not all it seems however, as if you raise the stone top there is a slit, again for an attack from above if someone comes in whilst the family are eating or sleeping. The women and children sleep here on the terrace - there are about 3 or 4 covered areas that serve as bedrooms, and also flat, raised surfaces for sleeping. In the rainy season, obviously everyone will sleep inside but in the dry season it's too hot as the stone guards the heat enormously (I speak from experience!) so they sleep outside on the terrace itself. The entry to the bedroom is literally just a hole, and at first we were dubious as to the practicality or even the possibility of this! However, apparently these are magic as is the one door to the house itself - they may appear small, but as long as you enter correctly, it's possible for anyone of any age or size to enter... Again, these are devised defensively; you enter with your feet first, backwards and come out in the morning the opposite way, head first, and so this ensures that you never have to turn your back on the outside and so on a possible enemy. Got our guide to demonstrate this style of entry, a photo of which is definitely going up somewhere on the Internet very shortly! The pointy turrets of the tata are in fact the covering for storage areas, two of them, where things like food that won't spoil are kept during the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment