Proceedings of Cardinal Poreku Dery Second Colloquium - July 2011: Authors and Abstracts

 Colloquium Summary:

On Monday, 23 April 1906 the Missionaries of Africa also known as the White Fathers, arrived from Upper Volta, today known as Burkina Faso, to begin their missionary activities in northern Ghana. The small group consisted of Rev. Fathers Jean-Marie Chollet and Brother Eugene Gall from France and Oscar Morin from Canada as missionaries and a contingent of about 20 Africans as helpers. Socially and culturally, the region was still suffering from the consequences of the just outlawed slave raiding and the coming to end of terror regimes by war-lords initiated by such Zabarma generals as Samouri and Babatu. The populations were still to come to terms with the European (French, British and German) use of military forces to try to establish their colonial rule. Many of the ethnic populations and groups residing in what is today called the Northern Region of Ghana and also those in semi-urban trading centres such as Wa and Bawku had, over the past century, for reasons of security, come to adopt aspects of Islamization for their cultures and the centralising chieftaincy structure as their main socio-political systems. The rest of the populations and ethnic groups, mainly rural farming communities who did not subscribe to Islam and or did not adopt chieftaincy structure were forced to migrate into the arid and less fertile regions of the present day Upper-East and Upper-West Regions. A main feature of these populations was constant migration and redistribution of peoples throughout the territory (Ratray 19, Fortes 19) and the use of linguistic and cultural icons as identity markers rather than territorial localities (Goody 19). The words of Cardinal Porekuu Dery whose leadership portrait is partly the focus of this colloquium/workshop regarding his own family/clan history capture the general situation at the time.

            I grew up to learn from my elders that my people originally moved from Dagbong to Mossi country (Moo-tenga). How long they stayed there, I do not know. What I gather is that there was fission in the family after some time and a large portion of it moved away from there. They are said to have moved South. None of those of us still living remembers ever having been told the reason for the move from Moo-tenga. Was it due to a quarrel or some family disagreement? I do not know. As the group descended southward from Moo-tenga, it came into contact with some Kasena and some Gurunshi. My family must have stayed among and mingled with these people for a short while before moving further South. Further down, they came into contact with the Sisala. Their stay among the Sisala must have been quite long and their interaction with them intensive. For Isaaleng gradually replaced More as a medium of communication for my people.The final phase of their move brought them through Tumu, Gbal, Wiiro, Fielmuo, Nabing and Zoole. They eventually arrived at Konguol where they settled. I do not know what special event took place in Nabing and Zoole but my family has always felt emotionally attached to these places as the terms nabing-ma and zoole-ma continue to be used as praise-names for the daughters of our patrilineage. These two terms are clearly composites of Sisaala and Dagara words."

Religion and Socio-cultural Context

Given such a historical context, it was normal for these populations to rely on their African Traditional Religion and house-based clan formations as main source features for their social and cultural lives. Hence, leadership for the whole community partly depended on charismatic figures emerging from different descent and clan groups with excellent education in religious and cultural thoughts and practices and partly on custodianship of cultic institutions linked to the family and clan structures and the traditional religion. These included not only the localised institutions linked to the earth, the rain, the river and the sky as cosmic beings but also such abstract global notions as the Dagara bagr. These institutions supported the training of individuals who will ensure the continuity of traditional religion and its practices. These individuals, considered as custodians of the institutions provided a specific form of leadership based on religious authority.

This situation had begun to change, first with the installation of Islam in northern Ghana, and much radically later, with the implementation of the colonial enterprise and the planting of Catholicism in the area.  This period is bound to be the most exciting period for the study of cultural history of Northern Ghana. It has to be considered as the formation period when a society and a cultural area now known as northern Ghana was founded. A convenient way of studying the different socio-cultural elements and actors over the period is to focus on the portrait of Cardinal Peter Porekuu Dery (1918-2008), one of the main figures who fully participated in these changes and helped to shape the concept and practice of religious leadership during this period.

Hence, in order to properly understanding the relevance of this period, and to fully document the significance of memories on religion and leadership provided by Cardinal Dery and his contemporaries, the colloquium/workshop is looking for paper contributions that shed light on and analyse any social, cultural, political and religious phenomena that have taken place since the beginning of the last century.  

Contributors can focus their papers on any of these or any other theme they might find relevant. Papers should integrate the ideas and leadership role of Cardinal Dery in shaping the issues embedded in these themes.

Major themes for the Conference

1. Gender and Family Leadership since the planting of Christianity in northern Ghana (The evolution of marriage system, family life, and gender relations and the Christian impact thereof)
2. Traditional Society and Religious Leadership: (The changing role of traditional priests and other leaders and the changing significance of their tasks including divination, initiation rituals, sacrifices etc.)  
3. Catholicism and the growth of the clerical, religious and lay societies as fractured movements within the church (The changing identity and role of priesthood; religious life and social belonging)
4. Art, Literature (including music, performance, dance, story telling, proverbs etc) and the changes in forms of symbolisation and communication

 Authors and Abstracts

“If you do good you do it to yourself and if you do evil you do it to yourself”: retribution in the oral narratives of the Dagaaba

By

Gervase T Angsotinge

Former Lecturer University of Ghana; Assistant Director Pastoral and Social Institute

Abstract

The question of retribution is one of those questions which has baffled many religious sects. Are good deeds rewarded and evil deeds punished? Many religions seem to teach this. But is this always the experience of people in daily life? We can say that the contrary is true in some cases. So how do people explain this apparent contradiction? I believe the explanation lies in the ‘other world’ phenomenon. Among the Dagaaba this ‘other world’ phenomenon is to be found in their oral narratives. The Dagaaba inhabit the northwestern part of Ghana. They are predominantly a farming community. The Dagaaba are noted for their religiosity and their high moral standards. They believe that good is rewarded and evil is punished. This may not always be the case in this world but in their narrative world good deeds are rewarded and evil is punished.  Oral narratives for the Dagaaba are a very important source that exercises a strong influence in shaping the morality of the people. Before the coming of Christianity, we notice that moral instruction among the Dagaaba was transmitted from generation to generation by means of the oral narratives especially story telling. This paper examines two narratives: one dealing with animal characters and the other with human characters. An analysis of the two narratives shows how the Dagaaba view retribution. Retribution is to be viewed against the question of morality. Reward or punishment are not isolated issues. They are to be seen as teaching the need for morality. Hence, the saying “if you do good you do it to yourself and if you do evil you do it to yourself.  Morality, as the Dagaaba see it, deals primarily with relationships: relationship between man and his fellow men; between man and the ngmenme (spirits and their supernatural agencies); between man and Nature (animals, plants, earth, etc.).

 

 

Fostering Conducive Environment for Education and Sustainable Development in Northern Ghana: The role of Christian education

Africanus L. Diedong

ABSTRACT

The paper presents a historical overview of education in northern Ghana with particular reference to the vital role that Christianity has played in introducing western education in northern Ghana. Western education is a hundred years old in northern Ghana. However, can it be confidently said that the pioneering work of the early missionaries who introduced western education in northern Ghana despite all odds has not been in vain? Education is bedrock for the overall development of nation. There is enough evidence of the immense benefits the painstaking efforts by especially the early missionaries in investing in human capital formation is impacting on different spheres of human endeavours in Ghana and beyond. The early missionaries were transformational leaders, who wholeheartedly devoted their time and energies towards youth formation. In terms of infrastructural development in education the Church has shown the way with the numerous educational establishments dotted across the three northern regions. However, this commendable development is not without challenges and problems. Inherent in the current educational system in northern Ghana in particular, and in fact the entire country are grave systemic and structural weaknesses, which require strong moral and transformational leadership of the kind admirably exhibited by the forerunners of western education in northern Ghana to address the challenges and problems. The early missionaries in their efforts at implanting western education in the three regions of northern Ghana were very much interested in the material and spiritual well-being of people. Therefore, what constituted the philosophical foundation of Catholic education was the emphasis on the integral development of the human persons. Majority of students who obtained their education from Christian educational establishments have a sense of appreciation of the essence of holistic human development. However, current developments in our educational system seem to suggest that there is a sort of mis-direction and disorientation of values, which constitute the key ingredients of integral human development. This development needs to be addressed in order to pave the way for the creation of a suitable environment for maximizing the benefits of current developments in science and technology. The position of this paper is that the enrichment and broadening of the frontiers of especially basic education in northern Ghana requires the support, commitment and self-reliance of first and foremost, people from northern Ghana in partnership with the government of Ghana and other stakeholders to ensure that what has been achieved so far in education is sustained and enhanced.

Key words: Early Christian Missionaries, mission schools, transformational leaders, western education, youth formation, self-reliance, integral human development

 

Conversion and Culture: The Case of the Dagara of Northwestern Ghana

Edward B. Tengan

Abstract

In discussing the relation between culture and conversion, authors like R. Horton(1971), Humphrey-Fisher(1973) and others have tried to examine how certain elements of a people’s culture have influenced the rate of conversion of the people. This approach was rather piecemeal, looking at conversion as a turning round at a certain point. More recently, missiologists like Hiebert (2006) argue that conversion should be seen as a paradigm shift which requires the transformation of the worldview that grounds the beliefs and cultural practices of a people. This paper adopts this approach to study the conversion experience of the Dagara of northwestern Ghana.  The first converts to Christianity were expected to deny their culture as ‘useless things’ that would hamper their sincere practice of the faith. After Vatican II, the bid for adaptation led to the taking on of Dagara terms and rites into the liturgy. However, the extrapolation of these terms and rites from their original cultural contexts did not necessarily mean that people left behind the unconscious connotations these terms continued to bear for them. Sincere conversion for the Dagara must be seen as a process of transformation both on the personal and corporate levels where Christians strive to put Christ and the biblical values at the centre of their lives. In as far as this process can only come to its fulfillment at the end of time, no inculturated Christianity can present a perfect fit between the gospel and culture. It is in this sense that the charge of ‘christo-paganism’ or ‘marginal Christianity’ cannot be the preserve of African Christianity as some missiologists (Hiebert (2006) Shorter (1977) Schwartz (2009)) would want us to believe.

 

A STUDY OF DAGARA PROVERBS IN CONTEXT

Prof. Paschal Kyiiripuo KYOORE

Abstract

This paper is the product of a study of Dagara proverbs that were collected in context in Ghana over many years. With the help of assistants when I was not physically present in Ghana, we collected proverbs as they were uttered in their context. We recorded the proverb, the age of the person who uttered the proverb, the gender of the person, the audience that was the target of the proverb utterance, and the context in which the proverb was uttered. From this information, I then translated the proverbs and interpreted them. The paper analyzes several of these proverbs, and identifies some key characteristics of Dagara proverbs: description of human behavior, evoking custom to express an opinion, concern for social mores, and using nature as symbol of human behavior or to portray a predicament. I argue that we can only decipher the real meaning of proverbs by taking into consideration the specific contexts in which they are uttered, and that proverbs continue to be one of the most effective medium not just of communication but also of learning among the Dagara people of West Africa.

 

THE PRESENCE AND WORKS OF THE BROTHERS OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (FIC) IN GHANA

Aloysius Porekuu

Abstract

The Brothers FIC as is commonly known in Ghana is a branch of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Fratres Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis (FIC) as its Latin version. This Congregation was founded in Holland out of human needs, the needs of the neglected youth of Maastricht a town in the south of Holland in 1840. Moved by human needs, and ibuied by the Holy Spirit, the founders, Mgr.Louis Rutten and Bro. Bernardus Hoecken, tried to bring some relief to those neglected youth whose parents were deeply engrossed in their work from early in the morning till late in the night for just a scanty wage to enable them feed their families. They were so involved in their work that they had no time to properly look after their children or give them a proper education. This led to a great religious indifference among the youth. With this brief background or history of the Brothers FIC and living therefore in the spirit of the founders of Mgr.Louis Rutten and Bro. Bernardus Hoecken  the paper discusses the meaning of living a religious life.

 

 

Archiving Our Christian Religious and Cultural Heritage; A Research Proposal and Rational

Alexis B. Tengan

Abstract

A proposal on the archiving of our religious cultural heritage has to be conceived as an action research and documentation project on Religion, Culture, Economy and Society with the aim to fostering leadership formation and excellent practice of Church Evangelization in Northern Ghana: In this paper, I will first outline the objectives underlying the above statement, which in a way could be considered as a thesis statement. I will then discuss very briefly the historical conditions which are serving as the background for this proposal. (I have dealt more deeply into the historical conditions in a separate paper). I will then devote some time and space on evaluating the project rational with the hope to defending its importance and relevance for the church and the society at large. The next point in my presentation is to propose a methodological scheme about archiving and documenting heritage especially those which are in endangered conditions and suffer from fear of perishing. The final part of my presentation will consider cases of endangered archive in the local community of northern Ghana and discuss possible strategies for their documentation and salvation.

 

 

Quality Teaching in Rural Schools in Northern Ghana: the True Investment for the Future

Gregory Dongkore

Abstract

Over the past two decades educational standards in Ghana have been falling. While there are many reasons for such developments, it is disheartening to note that politicians and decision makers continue to ignore the underlying causes of the nosedive of educational achievements in Ghana, especially in the rural areas. This paper argues that until educational equity is restored in Ghana, the country as a whole will continue to suffer a deficit of intellectual and economic development. As a developing country we must tap from the best skills of the best of our society. This will not happen if, from the outset, some of our talented children are already precluded from the basic literacy and mathematical skills simply because they happened to be born in rural communities. My personal dream is to ensure that the rural communities receive adequate education. That is the only way to stem the tide of the rural-to-urban migration that has created the new social phenomenon of street children in urban centers in Ghana.  Several proposals have been made on how to improve the educational standards in Ghana. My attention is, however, directed toward the Upper West Region for which research has been very scanty. My preliminary survey and the available literature will indicate that giving rural communities their fair share of qualified teachers is what would reverse the imbalances between the north of Ghana, which has the majority of rural schools, and the south of Ghana which has a preponderance of urban and better schools.

 

 

Shifting and Contested Relationships: Migration, Gender, and the Family Economy among the Dagaaba of the Upper West Region of Ghana in the Twentieth Century.

Gariba B. Abdul-Korah

Abstract

The impact of labor migration on gender and the family economy has received considerable attention in the scholarly literatures on migration and gender studies in African societies for some time now. However, much of this literature was produced in the southern African context and focused mainly on the colonial and postcolonial periods simply because labor migration in African societies has until recently been perceived as a colonial construction. In West Africa, few have sought to understand the interconnections between labor migration and gender – how migration defined and redefined relationships between men and women in terms of roles, status, access to productive resources, marriage, and inheritance of property. I explore the ways in which male out-migration impacted intergenerational relations among males (young and old) and cross-gender intergenerational relations in Dagaaba society in the twentieth century.

 

 

Between Aspirations and Realities: Northern Ghanaian Migrant Women and the Dilemma of Household (Re)production in Southern Ghana

Isidore Lobnibe

Abstract

A major outcome of the decline of African agriculture and economy in the 1980s was the sustained interest in the studies of agrarian change and the special effort scholars have put into exploring the ways in which domestic and gender relations in regions newly incorporated into the international economy through labor migration were being reshaped. This paper explores the challenges that Dagara migrant women from northwestern Ghana have faced during this period as they have migrated with their husbands to the southern part of the country to take advantage of farming opportunities. It examines the circumstances and reasons behind women’s participation in what had been a seasonal migration under-taken by young men, drawing on three women’s stories to argue that most migrant women must balance their husbands’ projects of accumulation and survival in the south with their own desire to return to their home region in the north—a dilemma that they cannot easily resolve because they lack an income of their own.

 

 

 

 

 

Missionary and Colonial Movements into Northwest Ghana since 1929: Dagara Reception of Catholic Missionary Activities

Alexis B. Tengan

Abstract

Within the general cultural pattern and discourse of the Dagara peoples of North-West Ghana, and perhaps for many African cultures, every encounter involves a timeless set of relations taking place within spaces in motion which are also acting as agents of the encounter. The awareness and understanding of the spaces in motion and the relatedness of the beings and elements within them are essential for the full understanding of the encountered relation, and as such, a complete analysis of it cannot be restricted to the understanding of one element or being, be it local or foreign. Indeed, a proper analysis of any encountering relation should entail proper referencing to the geographical and cosmographic view that exists as a spatially all-encompassing context for all agents involved in the encounter. In terms of Dagara spatial visions, the space-above figured as Rain and the space-below with Earth as its figure are the globalizing spaces in motions and within which all encounters are viewed and contextualized. This view of the universe is captured and located in the physical and social structure of the house building and community. It is therefore, within this view that this paper is proposing to study the environment of church-building (social, metaphysical and physical) in north-west Ghana since the area’s first encounter with the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers and White Sisters) and the Christian Gospel in 1929.

 

 

The use of Religious Education in Fostering Inter-religious Peace in Ghana

By

Nonterah Nora Kofognotera

(Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium – Student)

Abstract

Ghanaians are known to be very religious and are described by Joseph Osei, a Ghanaian writer, that even if it is possible for any country to refute the famous saying by the African philosopher, John Mbiti, that Africans are „notoriously religious‟ “it certainly would not be Ghana, where almost everybody is associated with one religious tradition or another.” Ghanaians are deeply rooted in religious beliefs and this shape and influence their life in many aspects – spiritually, socially, economically, educationally, and even politically. Thus, they strongly believe in the supernatural. This makes religion hold a significant stake in Ghana. The society is a multi-religious one, where religion has made a lot of influence on the social, moral and economic aspects of the society. Like most religions, the three main religions practiced in Ghana uphold peace. Nevertheless, there are inter-religious conflicts which have caused much loss to Ghana as a nation. Educating the (religious) Ghanaian people to appreciate the value of peace from their own religious background and learn to live with the others who are of different faith tradition remains pivotal in the Ghanaian search for peace.

 

 

Paul’s Call for Reconciliation and its Relevance for the Church with Particular Reference to Africa

Richard K. Baawobr, M.Afr.

Abstract

One of the important themes Paul explores in his writings to the communities that he founded was the issue of reconciliation. Although God is the one to whom people are reconciled, it is achieved in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus reconciles humanity to God and at the same time reconciles people among themselves. This article will first all explore how Paul approached the subject of reconciliation in his letters. The second part will consider how this was later developed in the letters attributed to Paul. In the third and final part, attention will be paid to the importance of this theme for the Church, with particular reference to the Church family of in Africa.

 

 

Evangelising the Dagaaba through Bible Translation: Then and Now.

By

Dapilah N. Fabian

(UBS Bible Translation Consultant, Accra)

Abstract

The late Cardinal Dery was already mature and capable of taking independent decisions when the Missionaries of Africa (then called the White Fathers) arrived in what is now the Upper-West Region of Ghana, to begin their missionary activities. As an early convert, Cardinal Dery grew with, and went through the changes that the early church among the Dagaaba experienced. He observed and actively participated in the development of the early Church in the area, first as a lay person and then as part of the clergy and finally as the leader of the Church as a whole. The late Cardinal Dery participated in the administration of the young Dagaaba Church as it grew in the hands of the expatriate clergy, and also when the administration of the young Church was handed over to the native clergy. The late Cardinal Dery therefore served as a bridge in the history of growth of the Church among the Dagaaba. Firstly, he was the bridge between the traditional religious practices of the Dagaaba and Christianity as a whole. If we are to extend this analogy further, he was the bridge between the expatriate clergy and the clergy of the sons of the land. In this second role, he steered the young Church through the vagaries of two cultures both serving as vehicles on which the message of the scripture rode. Both roles in which he linked the expatriates and the local clergy as well as his linkage of the Daaaba religion and culture to that of missionaries can constitute fertile research areas. However, we have chosen to look at the language element as the vehicle of transmitting the Gospel message to the Dagaaba in a form that they can understand.