Gur languages are sub-divided into sub-branches of related languages. The major sub-branches as far as Northern Ghana is concerned are the Moore-Gurma, also referred to as Oti-Volta branch of languages, and the Gur sub-branch of languages.   In terms of numbers and size the Oti-Volta languages are more numerous and individually are spoken by larger populations than is the case with the Grusi languages.

 

Oti-Volta includes the following groups of languages:

Gurma languages: Bimoba (spoken in the eastern part of the Tempane-Garu and Nalerigu districts).   Konkomba (or Likpakpaln spoken to the east of Yendi in the Oti basin) and Bassari (spoken in an area east of Zabzugu close to the Ghana-Togo border).

Dagaare- Wali-Birifor:   These are closely related languages which could even be described as more or less mutually intelligible dialects spoken in broad area within which are situated the districts of Lambussie-Nandom, Lawra-Jirapa, Wa and parts of the Bole district to the south of Wa town.   Also closely related to these languages is Safalba (to the south of Wa in the Bole district).

 

The majority of languages spoken in the Upper East Region are also Oti-Volta ones and include Frafra-Nankani, Talni, Nabit and Kusaal. These too are closely related and to a large extent mutually intelligible languages.

 

The Dabgani-Nanuni languages spoken by the Dagomba, Mamprussi and Nanumba peoples are found In the Northern Region of Ghana. They are very closely related languages and perfectly mutually intelligible.   The Dagbani languages are officially sponsored by the Government of Ghana and are taught in schools and used in radio and television broadcasts.

 

Below we discuss some of the major ethnic groups of people in the Ghanaian North pointing out some of the features of their social structure and history.   We begin with the Dagbamba peoples.

 

The term or ethnonym ‘Dagbamba’, as applied here, includes the three related ethnic units referred to as ‘Dagomba’, ‘Nanumba’ and ‘Mamprusi’.   The latter, by the way, also call themselves ‘Dagbamba’ while referring to the people known officially as ‘Dagomba’ as Yooba.   These people’s languages are very similar and are completely mutually intelligible.   Nevertheless each of these groups jealously maintains its ethnic distinction and integrity.   These people are united by shared myths which postulate common ancestry for their ruling estates.   The myth of Na Gbewa,    Tohazie and Gogonumbo are kept alive by them as well as the tradition which maintains that their founding fathers immigrated to what is today Northern Ghana from one of the seven banzam bakoi (Hausa for ‘the pagan or bastard seven’) states of Northern Nigeria. After settling at several places they eventually arrived in Northern Ghana.   The founder of the dynasty, Gbewa, some versions of the legend maintain, first settled at Pusiga near present day Bawku.   From there his children and descendants dispersed after quarrels over succession and founded their own kingdoms.   These include Mamprugu, Dagbon, Nanumba and Mossi in Burkina Faso.

 

The Dagbamba people (the more inclusive term is preferred here) occupy a considerable portion of the Northern Region.    The Nanumba live to the south of the Dagomba and the Mamprusi are found to the north of the Dagomba proper.   The largest of the three ethnic groups is undoubtedly the Dagomba, the people of Dagbon.   Their principal traditional town and traditional capital is Yendi located about 96 km east of Tamale.   Nalerigu, which lies at walking distance form the district capital of Gambaga, is the seat of the king of Mamprugu while Bimbilla is the seat of the Nanumba paramountcy and capital of the Bimbilla or Nanumba District.   The most important administrative and commercial town of the Northern Region is the metropolitan centre of Tamale, formerly also the capital of the Northern territories and later the headquarters of the Northern Region.

 

The Dagbamba, the people in question, are noted for their chieftaincy traditions.   The culture of chieftaincy is vibrant among them and remains an emotive issue.   The people’s attachment to the institution accounts for the zeal with which individuals compete for chieftaincy titles.   Chiefs (known in the singular as Na or Lana) are entitled to receive homage from non-chiefs or lower grade chiefs.   Many minor chieftaincy titles are often in the gift of the paramount rulers and claimants may appeal to the paramount chief and his counselors to be considered for appointment to vacant titles.   The kingship however has to be competed for and is now based on a gate system which allows for alternation between gates.   In Dagbon there are two such gates (lineages): the Abudulai (Abdu) and Andani gates.   This seems to have replaced or been superimposed on an earlier requirement that the legitimate candidates for succession to Yendi should be sons of kings who are holders of one of the three Dukedoms of Karaga, Mion and Savelugu (Yo Na).   The Mamprusi appear not to permit direct transmission of the nayiri-ship (kingship) from father to son.

 

Though most Dagbamba chiefs are males a few royal women ‘daughters of kings’ are appointed to a limited number of chieftaincy titles.   In the case of the Dagomba, holders of lower grade titles may seek to advance to higher levels and if they succeed they might have to move from one village to another where the higher title in vested.   Some titles are terminal however which means that the holders cannot aspire to higher chiefly offices than those they have reached.

 

Usually among the Dagbamba peoples a person is forbidden by custom to rise on the chieftaincy hierarchy to a title higher than that attained by his father.   This rule regulates the competition for chiefly office; but it can also be the source of anxiety among princes, especially when the occupants of higher titles live too long thus preventing their siblings or collaterals from accessing higher offices.   It is not customary to remove chiefs from office, as happens among Akan peoples.

 

The rules of chiefly succession draw attention to the patrilineal ethos of the society.   Dagbamba peoples recognize patrilineal descent.   Royal and princely statuses are based on descent.   But the system is also flexible enough to allow individuals the freedom to associate and ally themselves to relatives on the mother side and even to claim titles based on maternal relations.   The grand sons of Dagbamba Paramounts may claim certain titles, though not the ultimate rank of Ya na. Child fosterage practices were common in the past and were based on kinship ties.   The kinship system among Dagomba is more open than in the other patrilineal societies of the North.   In any case a person can opt for membership of one or more kin-groups (Dang in the Dagbani language) based on maternal or paternal kinship ties to the head of the group or its other members.

 

The attachment of the people to chieftaincy, an office which derives from their history and traditions and has interfaces with their traditional religious beliefs, has not in any way presented them from espousing Islam.   Most Dagbamba are Moslems; but their attitudes to Islam tend to be flexible and in some respects eclectic.   The celebration of festivals like the Damba (the Prophet’s birthday), Kpini (guinea fowl festival) and Bugum (fire festival) among others are important events in the traditional Dagbamba calendar.

 

The Dagbamba are farmers who cultivate grain crops – millet and sorghum, legumes and tuber crops for subsistence and for the market.   They also keep livestock.   Some of them are also traders. Dagbamba towns like Yendi, Gambaga, Tamale, Walewale are important commercial centres that predate colonization.   Today we find a number of Dagbamba people holding important offices in the Ghanaian civil and public services and in the armed forces.