Introduction
The inherited colonial borders in many parts of Africa separate families and peoples from their material and spiritual sources of livelihood, such as land, ritual sites, objects, and officiants.Footnote 1 The division of Nyive, a community of Ewe-speaking people, into Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive by the Ghana–Togo border separated Ghana Nyive from important ritual drums, such as Aɖaʋatram (madness has led me astray) and the custodians of the drum in Togo Nyive.Footnote 2 What makes the Nyive case more interesting is that one of the taboos of Aɖaʋatram is that it does not cross a river, and the international border that separates Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive is the Tɔdze, a river.Footnote 3
Yet even though the border caused disruption, people continue to perform rituals in a way that emphasizes the connection and community between Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive. This paper demonstrates how the concept of the ritual archive can illuminate the mechanisms by which identities are maintained in the context of colonial separation. It draws on Toyin Falola’s use of “ritual archives” as a
conglomeration of words as well as texts, ideas, symbols, shrines, images, performances, and indeed objects that document as well as speak to those religious experiences and practices that allow us to understand the African world through various bodies of philosophies, literatures, languages, histories and much more.Footnote 4
It also draws on Andrew Apter and Lauren Derby’s reading of “fetish-archives” through the study of shrines as repositories of historical information. As they point out, “As privileged repositories of sacred objects, they convert external commodities into ritual resources, – “archiving” congealed temporalities within their walls.”Footnote 5 These point to the importance of rituals, objects, spaces, and associations as archives.
Aɖaʋatram is part of a ritual archive, one of those shared cultural practices, which is important in remaking a cross-border identity. While studies on Aɖaʋatram have examined its dance and music performance and associated rituals with these performances, its importance as a marker of identity, particularly among partitioned communities, has been relatively understudied.Footnote 6 Taking a closer look at the drum, the paper demonstrates how it functions to remake collective identity through its symbolism, origins, handling, and use.
The work first discusses the Ghana–Togo border and its impact on the ritual sphere of the borderland communities. Next, the article traces a “ritual archival search” that gleans evidence from the ritual drum before shedding light on how these elements of identity are remade on the borderlands.
Colonial borders and ritual violence
Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive were one polity known as Nyive. This was incorporated into the German protectorate of Togoland in the late nineteenth century. The main settlement was in the present-day Togo, with the area across, the river Tɔdze, being uninhabited. This gradually developed into a farmstead headed by elders accountable to the chief of Nyive. As members of the same family, there was daily interaction between people on both sides of the river. This included free movement to participate in activities such as birth, marriage, and funeral rites. Thus, before the partition, the river was not a barrier to interaction.
However, following Germany’s defeat in World War I, Nyive was divided between the British and the French using the river as the border. R. B. Bening, in his account of the settling of Anglo-French territorial claims between 1925 and 1926, states that the British did not give up their section of Nyive, which did not contain any settlements because of the prime location of the customs preventive service station on the banks of the river Todji (Tɔdze), the source of water supply.Footnote 7 In other words, but for British interests, British Nyive could have been united with French Nyive, highlighting the point that while attempts were made to consider local conditions, these were ignored if they did not advance the colonial project.
The British and French administered Ghana Nyive (British Nyive) and Togo Nyive (French Nyive) respectively as League of Nations-mandated territories. In 1945, these became United Nations (UN) trust territories. In 1956, a plebiscite was held in the British trust territory, following which Ghana Nyive joined the Gold Coast to become Ghana at independence in 1957. In 1960, Togo Nyive became part of the independent French Togo (Togo), effectively sealing the partition of Nyive into Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive, dividing families, lands, and the community.
The partition also resulted in the separation of people from their religious spaces and ritual objects, which play important roles in maintaining human relations as well as relations with the spirit world and the environment, which form an important part of Ewe cosmology.Footnote 8 Togo Nyive, regarded as the gbↄhohome (old town), is home to ritual objects, spaces, and officiants. These include drums, shrines, and priests. For instance, Aɖaʋatram, as noted above, is in Togo Nyive. The shrine that houses it is also in Togo Nyive. Other drums, such as Abento, which may deputize for Aɖaʋatram in Ghana Nyive due to its taboo against crossing a river, are also located in Togo Nyive. Besides, many of the ritual officiants are in Togo Nyive.
Though practitioners had already stored the ritual objects on the other side of the river, border administration rendered accessing them more difficult. Furthermore, the border did not bring about its taboo of not crossing a river, but the international border introduced a marked separation between the communities as two separate polities, which legally are in two different countries that hitherto did not exist; one group is now Ghanaian and the other Togolese. In other words, the colonial borders fragmented collective identities defined by the new colonial borders and nationalities.
The partition was reinforced during colonial and postcolonial administration, as the people were administered as part of the colonial boundaries within which they were circumscribed. Access to ritual spaces, use of ritual objects, and joint participation in ritual activities have been compounded by the border management policies of both the colonial and postcolonial governments, premised on Westphalian notions of sovereignty and territorial integrity. There have been instances when the borders have been closed, preventing people in Ghana and Togo from interacting with each other.Footnote 9 In essence, the impact of the borders on these communities includes not only the disruption of family relations but also cultural practices that are central to their ways of being.
The borderlanders were, however, neither passive in the making of these borders nor in their responses to the new identities imposed on them. There are cross-border joint political, economic, social, and cultural interactions just like before the imposition of the border and ritual archives such as Aɖaʋatram are useful sources in understanding the remaking of trans-border identities.Footnote 10 As Falola rightly points out, “In varied ways, a countless number of sages, priests, devotees, and practitioners created oral and visual libraries, which are linked to ritual complexes and secular palaces. Subsequently, cultural knowledge has extended from the deep past to our present day.”Footnote 11 Ritual archives are important knowledge repositories and essential sources in constructing the histories of these communities.
Aɖaʋatram
One of the most important drums in the Ewe repertoire is kalevuo/aʋavuo (bravery/war drums).Footnote 12 Kalevuo are ritual drums considered exceptionally important because they underpin the survival of the people from enemies, both physically and spiritually.Footnote 13 Some of these are regarded as community “gods.”Footnote 14 Thus, among the Ewe, drums are more than musical instruments for recreation; they are also used in the performance of rituals.Footnote 15
Aɖaʋatram is the most famous of these kalevuo. Footnote 16 It is found mainly among the northern Ewe or Ewedome, a subgroup of the Ewe-speaking people. Some of the Ewe communities that possess Aɖaʋatram include Ho, Peki, Wusuta, Dzolo, Ziavi, Tanyigbe, Hodzo, and Nyive. Misonu Amu, a Ghanaian ethnomusicologist, describes it as “the most important of all the war drums found in northern Ewe.”Footnote 17 Another Ghanaian ethnomusicologist, Kofi Agawu, also calls its dance the “most serious” of northern Ewe dances.Footnote 18 Others have described it as “The Most Feared Drum on Ewe Land.”Footnote 19 Taking photographs or videos of the drum is not allowed. These communities assert that if one takes a photograph of it, the picture or video will not appear, or the photographer/videographer could be afflicted with a disease. They also contend that the drum can play by itself. In other words, the beats played on the drum can sound without a drummer beating the drum to warn the people of an impending danger.Footnote 20 These depictions of the drum paint a picture of a frightful and ominous object, contributing to its “fearful” image.
As a non-community member working on this fearful drum, which is averse to strangers, the methodology was largely interviews and participant observation. However, co-performative witnessing was also important in appreciating the significance of the drum. Co-performative witnessing, as described by Soyini Madison, is “to be inside the breath and pulse of cultural performance as a feeling, sensing, being, and doing witness.”Footnote 21 Unlike participant observation, which she notes “does not capture the active, risky, and intimate engagement with Others that is the expectation of performance,” I was absorbed in the ritual performance, a feeling of being one with the performers.Footnote 22 In this regard, I felt the sense of dread felt by others regarding the potency of the drum even in the presence of its surrogate.
Aɖaʋatram is a large and tall single-headed open drum.Footnote 23 It is about four feet tall, hexagonal, and weighs about fifty kilograms.Footnote 24 According to Togbe Apasu, there are two types: aɖaʋatram gbedze and aɖaʋatram yibↄ. Nyive possesses the former, which is the most potent. According to oral traditions, the tree from which it is made was a human being who was transformed into a tree after some incantation. It is cylindrical in shape and black in color. The drum is covered with human skin, and the drumsticks used to play it are made of human elbows. It also has seven human skulls tied around it.Footnote 25 Its special tsihe (pad for carrying loads) is also said to have been made from human tissues. These human parts are from war captives.Footnote 26 The drum hence signifies the prowess of the Nyive in the wars against their adversaries.
The head of the drum also sports a gewuya (long beard) made from raffia. This not only gives the drum a fearful look, but it is also symbolic of the fearsomeness of the Nyive people in war. Nyive oral traditions recall that the Nyive were called Fiakpↄwo (“hide and watch them”) by their neighbors because they were so scared of them.Footnote 27 Historically, Nyive played an instrumental role in the 1830s in overthrowing the hegemony of Akwamu, an Akan ethnic group, over some Ewe communities, which had lasted for about a century.Footnote 28 They also fought with the Ga, Asante, and Dangbe.Footnote 29
The spiritual importance attached to the drum is reflected in the sacrifices performed by the chiefs and elders of both communities before it is beaten. The drum is located at Togo Nyive in the custody of the family of a powerful avafia, Kokomesatsi.Footnote 30 The drum has a shrine where it stands on a special stone. As custodians, they are supposed to perform the necessary rituals when the drum is brought out and sent back. Libation is offered, and an animal is sacrificed. In the past, this involved humans, but this has been replaced with a fowl or a goat. The drum is then decorated with its special ornaments comprising human parts from captives in the wars fought.
The location of Aɖaʋatram in Togo Nyive, as noted earlier, does not prevent its access and use by the people of Ghana Nyive. This further reaffirms the collective identity of the Nyive. Togo Nyive, as noted above, is referred to as gbohohome, and those in Togo Nyive are regarded as their ametsitsiwo (elders). This also shows the hierarchical relationship between Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive.
The drum is a ta ʋu (a drum carried on the head), and the carrier of the drum is a privileged position reserved for only men who are usually abrafowo (executioners). Rituals are performed for the carriers before they carry the drum. They are confined the night before it is beaten, and at dawn, they are sent into the “bush” for other rituals to be performed. In the past, this involved confinement for seven days as was for the enstoolment of chiefs.Footnote 31 Such rituals are supposed to ensure that the carrier is “holy” and free from any form of spiritual “filth.”Footnote 32 Among the taboos for the carriers is having sex before carrying the drum, as they believe that sex defiles the person. These rituals show the spiritual significance attached to the drum.
It is beaten only seven times for the entire duration of the ritual. It has a special beat played on it: Εdzro gidi, aƒetↄ gidi, Εdzrotↄ a kplↄ εdokoe vε (the bad stranger will reveal himself).Footnote 33 Strangers are regarded as enemies because the drum was made to protect the people from their enemies in wars, and hence, strangers were warned to stay off the proceedings because it could harm them.Footnote 34 However, at present, strangers in the community are not asked to leave the town when it is being played. As the mankralo explained, migration occasioned by occupational transfers in the formal sector means that people who are working in the community cannot be asked to leave, as this may affect their work. It is important to note that Ghana Nyive is one of the approved entry and exit points from Ghana and, as such, houses a border post with officers of the Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Revenue Authority, and other national agencies. Hence, on occasions when the drum is used, strangers are asked to join the chiefs who do not accompany the drum when it is carried about during the rituals.Footnote 35
When Aɖaʋatram is beaten, it invokes the deities and the ancestral spirits to partake in the event and to ensure its success. Evidence of the presence of the deities and ancestral spirits on these occasions is manifested in the actions of the drum carrier, who behaves like aɖaʋatↄ (mad person).Footnote 36 The carrier has no control over his movements and actions. Once the drum is placed on the head of the carrier, he is possessed by the spirit of the drum, which directs him.
The drum cannot be put down until it reaches its destination.Footnote 37 There are several ritual performances, including chants and the sprinkling of a specially prepared liquid, dzatsi, during the procession. This is necessary because, as indicated, the carrier normally loses his sense of direction, and the libation and other forms of rituals are forms of intercession and pleas to the spirits to enable the carrier to reach his destination safely. The libation involves calling up common ancestors on both sides of the border.
The drum also dictates the nature of the movement of the carrier, that is, whether he jumps, walks, or runs and at what pace.Footnote 38 It also dictates when to stop, start, and where to go. The drum carrier visits the abode of deities or other important people in the community during the procession to pay homage. These are not only on the Togo side but the Ghana side as well, highlighting the interconnectedness between these partitioned communities.
Ritual archives and trans-border Ewe identities
This section examines how a ritual archive such as Aɖaʋatram offers important insights into the history, worldview, and practices that reflect Nyive responses to their partition by the border. It shows how, as I have argued, “shared cultural traditions became anchors of a shared identity, some of the performance of which was tied to spaces that cut across such borders.”Footnote 39
Origins
The origin of Aɖaʋatram in Nyive is shrouded in mystery. While there is general agreement that it was initiated for war, it is uncertain which war and when.Footnote 40 In Nyive, it is claimed to have been brought from Notsie in Togo when the Ewe migrated from the tyrannical rule of King Agorkorli to their present locations in the seventeenth century.Footnote 41 This history of the drum as part of the migration narrative ties the origins of the people with other Ewe-speaking people. Notsie is regarded as the cradle of the Ewe-speaking people in Ghana and there are several festivals among them, such as Anlo Hogbetsotso and Asogli Teduduza, that commemorate this exodus with pilgrimages to Notsie during the annual festivals.Footnote 42
Besides pointing to a common origin with other Ewe-speaking people, it reflects the shared identity of the Nyive as one people before the partition. These identities are not lost on them as many of them take offence at any attempt at differentiating between the two towns, as they “still hold on to their ancestral belief they have one blood running through them.”Footnote 43
Drummers
The drum can only be played by men. Women are not permitted to play the drum because of the history of the drum being used for war. As explained, wars were mainly a man’s affair and hence the taboo against women playing it.Footnote 44 Gifted drummers on either side of the border can be selected to play it. They usually start by playing the drums that accompany Aɖaʋatram until they can play its drum language, which is in both Ewe and Twi. Special rituals are then performed for them, and they are then entrusted with drumsticks to signify their maturity. These are called Akyerema.
The collective identity of both Nyives is manifested in the drummer being from either Ghana Nyive or Togo Nyive, which points to the non-recognition by the spirit forces in the division of the Nyive by the international border.
Dancers
Dancing to Aɖaʋatram is reserved for only warriors, important chiefs, or elders on both sides of Nyive, that is, Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive. In some Ewe communities, the dance is also performed by executioners who have fortified themselves against the spirits of the people they have executed.Footnote 45 The dance involves actions that mimic fighting and executing the enemy, and this symbolizes bravery.
Those who can dance to the drum also show the hierarchical structure of the chieftaincy institution. It is also indicative of the gendered nature of royalty as it is reserved for military heroes (not heroines).Footnote 46 The drum, hence, signifies valor, royalty, and hierarchy.
Uses
Aɖaʋatram performs multiple functions in this partitioned community. It is not beaten at random but only on “serious” occasions.Footnote 47 This includes wars, pandemics, and funeral rites for important personalities.Footnote 48 As noted earlier, it is the most important war drum in some Ewe-speaking communities. The possession of such a drum reveals the military prowess of this community. The materials used in making it and the objects that adorn it or are used in playing it, as indicated, are from war captives and are a testament to their gallantry. Aɖaʋatram has been instrumental in invigorating the army to victory in these communities.
Another important role of Aɖaʋatram is its healing functions during the outbreak of epidemics and contagious diseases such as chickenpox, cholera, and COVID-19. In this community, as in other Ewe-speaking communities, diseases are believed to have spiritual causes as well.Footnote 49 This could come about because of the failure of the people to observe some taboos or perform some rituals. It could also be due to evil forces bent on wreaking havoc on the people. Hence, resolving them involves supernaturalism.
Ewe drumming communities understand Aɖaʋatram to possess the powers to end the epidemic or prevent the community from getting it.Footnote 50 It is played seven times around the town to prevent the disease from getting into the community. For instance, when the community was attacked by chickenpox, Aɖaʋatram was played to drive the epidemic away. Similarly, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was used to protect the community. As the mankralo of Nyive proudly asserted, no member of the community got the disease because of Aɖaʋatram. Footnote 51 Hence, the drum serves as a source of healing and protection for both communities.
Aɖaʋatram is also used in the funeral rites of warriors and important chiefs such as fiaga (paramount chief), asafohene (war chief), dutↄ (owner of the town), and zikpuitↄ (stool father) in both Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive. It is played on the ninth day of the funeral rites. Funerals among the Ewe are seen as a transition from the world of living to that of ancestors. This is informed by the spiritual beliefs of the people, which hold that life continues in the hereafter, hence the saying Togbe yi kɔfe (the chief has gone to the village) when a chief passes on. These ancestors possess the power to influence the lives of the living. Funeral rites are therefore important in making the proper transition, as failure to do that could lead to these spirits becoming malevolent.
On the ninth day, which marked the final day of the funeral rites of Togbe Tsatsa II, the asafohene (war chief) of Ghana Nyive, Nyive asafowo led by Togbe Gugu VII, the commander of the combined Nyive warriors wearing their avawu (war dress) with red pieces of cloth tied to their hands and heads to signify the seriousness of the occasion and chanting war songs, charged from Togo Nyive across the border post into Ghana Nyive.Footnote 52 Members of both communities joined them as they proceeded to the funeral grounds in Ghana Nyive. The dances were charged and full of symbolism. With his sword in one hand and a human skull in the other Togbe Gugu performed some traditional warrior dances that spoke to the military skills of the people.
Aɖaʋatram was not brought to Ghana Nyive to perform the funeral rites because of the taboo; in its stead, Abento, the second most important drum in Nyive, was brought from Togo Nyive to Ghana Nyive to “deputize” for Aɖaʋatram. Footnote 53 Abento is a tall, single-headed drum. It is also decorated like Aɖaʋatram with human skulls and sports the gewuya. It is, however, played with sticks. The drum is usually draped with a blue cloth, which symbolizes peace. The skulls are also covered with cloth when brought out in public to keep the human parts that are sacred from public view. When it is not being played, the drum is also covered with a warrior’s dress (see Figure 1). Unlike Aɖaʋatram, Abento does not have a taboo against crossing a river.Footnote 54
Figure 1. Abento drum at the funeral rites of Togbe Tsatsa II, Ghana Nyive, 2 February 2013. Source: Author.
It is worth noting that though Togbe Tsatsa was the chief of Ghana Nyive, he was also regarded as one of the chiefs of Nyive, hence the need for the use of Aɖaʋatram in line with proper burial rites accorded to chiefs of Nyive, irrespective of which side of the border the chief is on. This transition must be accompanied by the appropriate rituals, including the playing of the appropriate drums heralding his arrival in the land of the ancestors. Aɖaʋatram and Abento thus not only represent a symbol of unity between the living in the partitioned community of Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive, but they also unite the departed in the ancestral world. Their importance in the sustenance of relationships between the partitioned communities is seen in their role in navigating the taboo against crossing a river.
Thus, a close reading of Aɖaʋatram reveals identity remaking within a longer historical and cultural spectrum among the Nyive astride the Ghana-Togo border. Aɖaʋatram remakes the fractured unity that the colonial border wrought among the Nyive. This is manifested in collective ownership and joint cross-border uses in times of war, calamities and during the funeral rites of important chiefs. More importantly, the interchangeability between Aɖaʋatram and Abento during chiefly funeral rites in Ghana Nyive to avoid the taboo reveals not only the historic and symbolic value of these ritual drums to this partitioned community but also their importance in the meaning-making of relationships.
Conclusion
This paper examines Aɖaʋatram as a ritual archive that sheds light on identity remaking between the people of Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive, divided by the Ghana–Togo border. In many African borderlands, similarly, separated by colonial borders, it offers insights into the importance of ritual archives in understanding identities in the borderlands. In the partitioned community of Nyive, this collective memory is encoded in the use of Aɖaʋatram, and its surrogates in ritual performances in both Ghana Nyive and Togo Nyive in a world infused with people, ancestors, deities, and other types of spirits that point to the complex and multifaceted conception, symbolic or meaningful representation of drums.
However, like all historical sources, a ritual archive has to be read contextually and critically complemented by other sources such as oral interviews, participant observation, and co-performative witnessing because of some of its shortcomings.Footnote 55 This includes multiple or varied interpretations, performances in esoteric or coded language, and access to ritual objects/rituals due to taboos. Researchers must also pay attention to ethical issues regarding access and use, not only by getting consent but also by respecting the cultural values of the people, particularly regarding their exposure to the public.
Ritual archives are critical to understanding identities because they illuminate people’s conceptions and constructions of themselves and others. A drum evokes ideas about politics, religion, philosophy, history, law, gender, and more in these communities and shows how people’s lives crisscross and intersect with each other beyond disciplinary confines and offers an interdisciplinary approach to history writing on African societies.
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