Doing Chumburung songs—A taxonomy of styles Gillian Hansford ...

Bassari near the River Daka. Gonja tradition 8 has it that in the mid 17 th century
two sections of the Chumburung people, Banda and Chinkee, went east with
them.
Amo̱-a-daŋ seems to be relating this version (Example 22). She says categorically
that it was not two sections, Banda and Chinkee, who fought the Ashanti, but
just the one section, Banda. Also another section called Chachiai did not fight.
Example 22
N se̱-ana ya kɔ-eee, (x3)
Kyo̱ŋke̱e̱-rɔ mo̱ŋ kɔ-aaa.
N se̱-ana ya kɔ,
Kyaakya-aye̱-rɔ mo̱ŋ kɔ-eee.
N se̱-ana ya kɔ,
bamo̱ e̱ gye̱ awure-eee.
Baŋdaa-rɔ ya kɔ,
Kyaakyaa-aye̱ mo̱ŋ kɔ.
Enee-e o ye-eee.
My father’s people fought eee
Chinkee didn’t fight aaa
My father’s people fought,
Chachiai didn’t fight eee
My father’s people fought,
they are chiefs eee.
Banda fought,
Chachiai didn’t fight.
Later on, in response to questions by the audience, the old lady clarified what
she had been saying, affirming that it was only the Banda section, and not even
the Gonjas, who fought and drove away the Ashanti. As Nketia says (1974) of
historical songs, what they “generally provide is not detailed narration of events,
but brief allusions to significant incidents” (1974). She then sang another song
in which she states the place at which the fight was.
The old lady went on to tell of the tension in which the Chumburung people
lived by being between the Gonjas and the Krachis. Later there were similar
tensions owing to the attempts by the British and Germans to be first in
8 Lumsden (1973) quoting Goody (1954).
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