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Glossary
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Glossary Talen (or Talni) Terms ba’er (pl. ba’a): ancestor shrine bakoldaana: diviner, soothsayer bo’ar (pl. bo’a): ancestor shrine devoted to the founder of a lineage or clan Bo’araam: the annual harvest festival focused on the bo’ar cult Bo’arana: a ritual o‹ce, esp. in Shia, lit. “the custodian of the bo’ar” bo’artyii: a portable shrine, lit. “bo’ar in a bag” Golibdaana: a ritual o‹ce in Tengzug, lit. “the custodian of the golib drum” Gologo (or Golib): the annual festival marking the start of the farming season kaab: ritual sacrifice, “prayer” kambona (pl. kambonse): Asante “gunman,” used in northern Ghana for an Asante kambonaaba: local “chiefs” created in the early colonial period Kpatarnaaba: head of the Kpatar clan of Tengzug and senior custodian of the tongban Ngoo kpeem: the dead, ancestors (see also yikpem) moog (or mo’o): uncultivated land, wilderness, “bush” (cf. teng) mung: red fez, the symbol of chiefly o‹ce na or naaba: a secular o‹ce-holder or “chief ” Naawun (or Naayin): the creator god, “heaven” Namoo: Talensi descended from migrants from Mamprugu and elsewhere soob (pl. soi): witch Talis menga: autochthonous Talensi, lit. “real Tale” (cf. Namoo) teng or tong: the earth, soil, settled or cultivated land, the cult of the earth (cf. moog) tengdaana: earth priest, lit. “custodian of the earth” tongban (pl. tongbana): earth shrine Tongnaab: the ancestor-deity of the bo’ar cult, lit. “lord of the earth” Tongrana: the chief of Tongo, the leading Namoo o‹ce-holder yihiyii (or yilenyilug): the “shade” or “shadow” of a god or ritual power yikpem: lineage ancestors (see also kpeem) Yikpemdaan: a ritual o‹ce, lit. “the custodian of the lineage ancestors” yin: destiny, fate yir: family, lineage Yiran: a ritual o‹ce in Tengzug, the caretaker of the Yanii Tongnaab shrine Twi (or Akan) Terms abusua: matrilineage aduruyofo (or odunsini): herbalist, “medicine man” (see also oduru) afunsua: “carrying the co‹n,” funerary custom used to determine cause of death batakari: “northern”-style woven smock, often studded with protective talismans bayi: witchcraft bayi boro: maleficent witchcraft, lit. “hot bayi” kwaem: the forest (cf. sarem) obayifo: (pl. abayifoo): witch obosom (pl. abosom): tutelary deity, “god” obosomfo (pl. abosomfoo): ritual specialist, collector and guardian of abosom odikro: village head odom: poison bark used in ordeals odonko (pl. nnonkofoo): slave of northern origin oduru (pl. aduru): medicine (see also aduruyofo) oduru bone (or oduto): bad medicine, poison okomfo (pl. akomfoo): ritual specialist, “fetish priest,” one who is “possessed” by a god okyeame: spokesperson or “linguist” omanhene (pl. amanhene): the paramount chief or king of an Akan state sarem: the savanna grasslands, “the north” (cf. kwaem) suman (pl. asuman): lesser “god” or talisman (see also obosom) 238 / Glossary ...