Dagomba

Dagomba, the dominant ethnic group in the chiefdom of Dagbon in the northern region of Ghana; they speak Dagbani (Dagbane), a language of the Gur branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Subject to the Dagomba are a number of peoples and parts of other ethnic groups, among them the Konkomba and Chakosi.

According to tradition, the Dagomba kingdom was founded by northern invaders in the 14th century. It extended south to the Black Volta River, but it was reduced in size by the conquests of the Guang (Gonja) in the mid-17th century. At the end of that century the Dagomba were subjugated by the Asante, who forced them to pay an annual tribute of slaves; this tribute was paid until 1874, when the Asante were defeated by British forces.

The Dagomba are farmers, their chief crops being sorghum, millet, corn (maize), yams, and peanuts (groundnuts). Most farm work is done by men; women often assist in harvesting. Dwarf shorthorn cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, and guinea fowl are kept; hunting and fishing are also practiced.

The Dagomba occupy compact walled villages, each household consisting of related men and their wives, children, and other dependents. The population is divided into commoners and chiefly families. The patrilineage is the basis of social organization among the commoners. Matrilineal descent is recognized and credited with the contribution of an individual’s spiritual attributes. The patrilineages are divided into hierarchically arranged segments; lineage heads, as custodians of ancestral shrines, exercise moral authority. The ancestral cult and an earth cult are the major features of Dagomba religion, although Islam and Christianity have had some success in the area.

For the chiefly class, the important kinship unit is a descent group known as the dang, composed of all descendants of a single grandfather or great-grandfather. In the centralized Dagomba state, only the sons of a previous paramount chief, the ya-na, may rise to that office, which is filled in rotation by one of three divisional chiefs.