Page 9 - Exposition of Dagara Morality FNAL

1. PRIDE Furthermore, general courtesies like respect, obedience, honesty and so on, are
3.a. Polu sob baalu be ter tii e. The sickness of the proud person has no taught to children and the youth. As regards respects, a child has to comport
medicine. himself when listening to an elder. He is neither to give nor receive things with
the left hand. Children are often whipped if they are victims of it. In the case of
* For the Dagara, pride in itself is a kind of incurable sickness because the receiving an offer, if the child attempted using his left hand, the offer would be
proud person will not admit that he is proud so that he can be helped to come out withheld. Also, honesty is a virtue that the child has to cultivate. He is trained to
of it and be cured. tell the truth at all times for the liar among the Dagara is considered a bad person.
He can not be trusted and no responsibility can be entrusted to him, But since,
* It does not pay to be proud. This, pride goes before a fall. the child is being trained to be able to play his role and take up an occupation in
the society, he has to win the trust if the society by being honest, truthful and
3.b. Dubaa yel ke burale ti sour kuo a, o naa ko n'o pogyaa. The pig says that if respectful. No wonder tale-bearing, is a vice in a traditional Dagara society.
the billy-goat were bathing water, she would have given him/her his daughter Children have to desist from tale-bearing, for a talebearer is often described as a
trouble-causer, “Yir wille), that is a divider of the house. So, he is considered a
* The pig stinks more than the billy-goat when it enters mud that has menace to society and cannot be integrated into the society.
unpleasant odour yet it makes a mockery of the billy-goat.
Disobedience is one of the things that is not tolerated in the traditional Dagara
* This proverb portrays how proud people can be. There are people who society. For instance, it is uncommon that a son will refuse to accept the advice of
may not be better than others in life but because of foolish pride, they feel they his father especially if the father is on his death bed. Whether on his dying bed or
are better than off them. nor a curse from the father uttered against his disobedient child is believed to
bring abut the stipulated effect. However, there I room for reconciliation after
3.c. Maa so n yir mi kpieri dekpol puo. I-am-for-my-house lives in a deserted the curse has been uttered. The child in question can consult an elder of the
house house or an ash-thrower (He or she is a reconciler in the Dagara patri-house or
matriclan to apologise or “hold his father's knee” on his behalf to the father for
* There can be some proud people in the house who try to break up the disobeying him. If the father is satisfied, the curse is normally remitted after the
unity in the house trying to say that the house is theirs. As a result, other people father has used some water to rinse his mouth. So, for fear of curses the
may quit the house and leave him alone. traditional youth are very obedient. All these courtesies are thought though at
times informally, to the child to grow into the type of person accepted to society.
* This proverb can be used in the context of a household of community What is human life? For the Dagara, to live humanly or a human being is to be
where one is proud and so tries to put the society asunder. moral, physical health, good friends, a good family and enough possessions to be
reasonably comfortable. It is the duty of the parents and guardians to inculcate
1. AMBITION in their sons and daughters these social values; their role in society such as the
4.a. Fo ku tuou mhere penne ayi signe tie e. You cannot handle two rags in different roes to be played by women and men. There is diversity in the
both hands to get down from a tree education of children, according to their sexes; boys and girls, are taught in their
respective skills (me deb tome na be a, le na a pog tome me be). Man teaches
* Experience teaches us that if your two hands are already full, you cannot men and woman teaches women the role of life.
hold the tree firmly when you are either climbing or getting down a tree. Without
such firm grip, you can easily fall.
32 9 9
32