1991 No. 1 CONTENTS - Institute of Social and Cultural ...

110 Dirk Verboven
From the late afternoon onwards and during the evening of the day of the
death, mock battles take place on the terrace of the mortuary house. The male
relatives, under the leadership of the eldest among them, go to the mortuary house
and assault its roof-terrace, brandishing their lances and shooting in the air. In the
course of the evening, groups of men from other families attack in turn the
mortuary terrace, imitating war and hunting scenes. Finally, each group conquers
the terrace, says thanks to the deceased, and descends to the yard, where they are
offered millet beer. Afterwards, each group leaves for the lay (the public square).
Successive lineages thus perfonn mock fights with the relatives of the deceased,
who stay on the terrace until the next morning.
During these mock battles, the female relatives are present in the streets
surrounding the terrace. They make vague dance movements and point their
calabashes in the direction of the terrace. Kneeling down, the widow, the mother,
and the sisters of the deceased scratch the ground with their calabashes. At a
certain moment the sisters of the deceased arrive holding millet stalks, which they
beat on the ground four times (left, left, right, right); holding their arms horizontally,
they balance laterally. The women 'congratulate' each other, roll themselves
in the dust, and throw sand on each others' heads.
As mentioned above, each group of assailants goes to the public square, north
of the village, after the mock battles. The first group to arrive there is stopped by
an elder, who engages in a hand-to-hand fight with the eldest of the arriving group,
but finally has to surrender. New groups arrive, and all the men engage in handto-hand
fights, some of them simulating getting into trouble or behaving as if dead;
but always the elders intervene and separate the fighters with apparent blows with
the fist or by knocking their straw hats, while at the same time always congratulating
both sets of adversaries.
On the second day around noon, a group of men from lower Ogol, including
adolescents and children, leaves the village and goes to the place called yagama
lay. They are divided into two groups and a battle develops, leading to a general
muddle, after which hand-to-hand fights develop. Meanwhile, the women have
also reached the place by a different road. They line up to the east of the men,
together with the orchestra. Suddenly, a rite flickers up to the south of the
fighting scenes; after a short round dance it is extinguished. Men and women
return separately, but following an identical route, to the village.
Meanwhile, the archery has started on the lay, beginning with the children,
followed by the adolescents, and finally the adults. Some marksmen approach the
target in a row and threaten it with their bows. They return to the centre of the
lay where one of them launches an arrow, without bothering much about the target;
they are encouraged by the surrounding women, the more so as they mimic and
feint From time to time, the archery is interrupted by salvoes of gunfire by
mourners from neighbouring villages who also attack the target. In the middle of
the lay, near the rock or stone anakade dumma (pierre du brave), the mortuary
blanket is exhibited, surrounded by women, relatives and the widow. New arrivals
first attack the target and then greet the blanket, brandishing their lances and