Totemism is an important notion in the lives of people in Africa and the world over. Certain customs and beliefs identify different people across the world; totems play a significant part in Dagaaba beliefs and activities. However, there has not been much research on clans and their totems among the Dagaaba. The research was conducted out in four villages in and around Jirapa. Sigri, Ullo, Sabuli, and Jirapa Municipality, Upper West Region. Purposive sampling was used by the researchers to acquire data. To collect data, unstructured interviews and participatory observation were used. Those interviewed were between the ages of fifty and sixty. The findings showed that the Dagara take their totems seriously because of the crucial role they are supposed to play among the different clans. Totems were revealed to be highly venerated among the tribes in the municipality. In the study of Jirapa's (Dagara) totems, they discovered that the bulk of the totems were animal-based, though flora was also acknowledged. Another discovery in the research was that every clan was formed with the use of a totem, which the elders taught the younger generation about. The study concluded that, modernization and cultural dynamism have impacted their survival in the environment and if care is not taken the younger generation will not have access to totems because indigenous peoples failed to conserve and protect the environment for survival. The study made the recommendation that more research be done to determine the purpose of African indigenous symbols in various ethnic contexts.
| Published in | Social Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17 |
| Page(s) | 126-134 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Clan, Concept, Totemism, Dagaare, Jirapa
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APA Style
Dominic Alimbey Dery, Jonas Tangkpaa, Alexander M. Bedekuru, Maxwell Tengolzor Ba-an. (2023). Clans and the Concept of Totemism Among the Dagara in the Jirapa Municipality of Ghana. Social Sciences, 12(3), 126-134. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17
ACS Style
Dominic Alimbey Dery; Jonas Tangkpaa; Alexander M. Bedekuru; Maxwell Tengolzor Ba-an. Clans and the Concept of Totemism Among the Dagara in the Jirapa Municipality of Ghana. Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(3), 126-134. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17
AMA Style
Dominic Alimbey Dery, Jonas Tangkpaa, Alexander M. Bedekuru, Maxwell Tengolzor Ba-an. Clans and the Concept of Totemism Among the Dagara in the Jirapa Municipality of Ghana. Soc Sci. 2023;12(3):126-134. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17,
author = {Dominic Alimbey Dery and Jonas Tangkpaa and Alexander M. Bedekuru and Maxwell Tengolzor Ba-an},
title = {Clans and the Concept of Totemism Among the Dagara in the Jirapa Municipality of Ghana},
journal = {Social Sciences},
volume = {12},
number = {3},
pages = {126-134},
doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20231203.17},
abstract = {Totemism is an important notion in the lives of people in Africa and the world over. Certain customs and beliefs identify different people across the world; totems play a significant part in Dagaaba beliefs and activities. However, there has not been much research on clans and their totems among the Dagaaba. The research was conducted out in four villages in and around Jirapa. Sigri, Ullo, Sabuli, and Jirapa Municipality, Upper West Region. Purposive sampling was used by the researchers to acquire data. To collect data, unstructured interviews and participatory observation were used. Those interviewed were between the ages of fifty and sixty. The findings showed that the Dagara take their totems seriously because of the crucial role they are supposed to play among the different clans. Totems were revealed to be highly venerated among the tribes in the municipality. In the study of Jirapa's (Dagara) totems, they discovered that the bulk of the totems were animal-based, though flora was also acknowledged. Another discovery in the research was that every clan was formed with the use of a totem, which the elders taught the younger generation about. The study concluded that, modernization and cultural dynamism have impacted their survival in the environment and if care is not taken the younger generation will not have access to totems because indigenous peoples failed to conserve and protect the environment for survival. The study made the recommendation that more research be done to determine the purpose of African indigenous symbols in various ethnic contexts.},
year = {2023}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Clans and the Concept of Totemism Among the Dagara in the Jirapa Municipality of Ghana AU - Dominic Alimbey Dery AU - Jonas Tangkpaa AU - Alexander M. Bedekuru AU - Maxwell Tengolzor Ba-an Y1 - 2023/06/27 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17 DO - 10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17 T2 - Social Sciences JF - Social Sciences JO - Social Sciences SP - 126 EP - 134 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2326-988X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20231203.17 AB - Totemism is an important notion in the lives of people in Africa and the world over. Certain customs and beliefs identify different people across the world; totems play a significant part in Dagaaba beliefs and activities. However, there has not been much research on clans and their totems among the Dagaaba. The research was conducted out in four villages in and around Jirapa. Sigri, Ullo, Sabuli, and Jirapa Municipality, Upper West Region. Purposive sampling was used by the researchers to acquire data. To collect data, unstructured interviews and participatory observation were used. Those interviewed were between the ages of fifty and sixty. The findings showed that the Dagara take their totems seriously because of the crucial role they are supposed to play among the different clans. Totems were revealed to be highly venerated among the tribes in the municipality. In the study of Jirapa's (Dagara) totems, they discovered that the bulk of the totems were animal-based, though flora was also acknowledged. Another discovery in the research was that every clan was formed with the use of a totem, which the elders taught the younger generation about. The study concluded that, modernization and cultural dynamism have impacted their survival in the environment and if care is not taken the younger generation will not have access to totems because indigenous peoples failed to conserve and protect the environment for survival. The study made the recommendation that more research be done to determine the purpose of African indigenous symbols in various ethnic contexts. VL - 12 IS - 3 ER -
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