P ace C4
BLACK HltTORY MONTH 1999
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Zwedru’s Children: Part One
B y S tephen R anks
In the year 1692, in the first month,
in the tenth year o f the headship ot
K orw olo, C h ief E lder o f the south
eastern dako, there w as a w om an in
the village o f Z w edru, near the river
Cavella, w ho w as heavy in child. Her
name was A kee, and her husband,
the father o f her child, was Sensobo.
In the first m onth, on the fourth
day o f the m onth, the w om an Akee
gave birth to a son. They nam ed their
son M ennah. The sons o f Sensobo
w ere Prero, Bodebe who is also called
B otsw ain, and M ennah. Prero was
the husband ofM im ba, and Botsw ain
w as the husband o f Couba.
A kee continued to nurse her new ­
born son with the aid o f her m idw ife
and her female servant. Sensobo now
knew that he w ould not see his wife
or son for the next eighteen m onths
until the child w ould be fully weaned.
“ It is now tim e for m e to go to the great
ocean’’, says Sensobo, ‘and find a
voyage that I can take again, and
bring hom e w ealth for may son. I will
have Bodebe, m y sailor, com e with
m e.” Y es, S ensobo and his son
B odebe w ere sailors, w ho sold their
skills o f seafaring to the european
m erchant ships that cam e up and
dow n the W est A frican coast. The
ships w ould stop often along the
“G rain C o ast’ to purchase "ethiopian
pepper.” Sensobo and his son had
gone on several voyages together,
Sensobo having taken Bodebe with
him the last four years now since he
becam e sixteen. T hey had even gone
all the w ay to a place the Europeans
called “ E ngland" twice, as w ell as
Portugal and Spain, and returned
bringing w ith them their earnings as
w ell as articles o f clothing, jew elry,
and other goods that are still to this
day being distributed am ong their
com m unity panton.
“W e will leave tomorrow morning.
M y son Prero, the fisherm an, will
rem ain here and w atch our w ives and
our children,” Sensobo thought to
him self. Prero w as a skilled fisher­
m an, having learned his trade nine
years ago w hen he was eight and sent
to live w ith his teacher for his train-
nedye omrane kani (lather has a dream,
to bring his son gold, i.e. wealth), Bi
got up and repeated the w ords with
him . T hen Sensobo, Couba, and
M im bejoined in. Next, Bodebe began
another rhythm, “Botsw ain dyadye
nam e nedye mwe kani, B otsw ain...
(Botsw ain has a dream , to bring ev­
eryone gold). Everyone was now re­
peating the new chorus line. Akee
could hear the chanting song and
smiled. Finally after twenty minutes
o f their melodic interchange, they all
broke out in cheer and laughter.
Sensobo came over to his son Bodebe
saying, "Yes, you are Botswain, now
go, and show the nye-puru (Europe­
ans) why they nam ed you thus!" It
was in fact the Europeans that gave
Bodebe his nickname "Botsw ain .as
a result o f seeing his superior skills as
a seam an, and also because o f their
inability to pronounce the names o f
the Kni.
Prero then turned to his father and
brother and hugged both ot them,
saying “M ay you both return swiftly,
and in peace." Bodebe, in turn said to
Prero, “dieju (brother), I will see you
soon. M ay you be safe and in peace.
W hat can go w rong?”
Early in the morning while it is still
dark, Sensobo and Bodebe rise from
their sleep to begin their journey,
gathering the supplies and food that
has been prepared. As they begin to
head to the door o f the hut, the family
say their final goodbyes, rhey step
dow n from the hut and begin their
w alk towards the outskirts o f the vil­
lage. Upon reaching it, they look up
at the sky and observe the position o f
the m orning stars, as this will serv e as
theircompass toward the riverCavella.
From there they will paddle their ca­
noe south until it reaches the cape at
the m outh o f the river. As Sensobo
and Bodebe head through the thick
forests, their one hand balances the
canoe on their shoulders, w hile their
other hand stays close to their knives,
ready to use if confronted by the
leopard, the python, or the sharp-
tusked hog. For some reason they
also dread the harmless skink lizard,
believing it to be poisonous. Their
w orst fear, however, is to be captured
and his interpreter are securing a crew
o f krumen Sensobo and B odebe
hurry down to take their place in lme.
As the captain and his interpreter go
down the line, followed by a kru inter­
preter, they are met by som e w ho
aleady speak Portuguese, and still a
few other who speak a mixed jargon o f
Portuguese and English. A s they ap­
proach Bodebe and ask his nam e, he
replies “Botswain", the nam e given
him by the English sailors. Soon
Sensobo aid "B otsw ain” are given
their assigaments: load 5000 lbs. O f
the melaguetta pepper, know n by the
Europeans by the nam es "ethiopian
pepper’ oi "guinea pepper." Then
they would ride the ship to the “G old
C oast" and load ivory, gold, and 360
“heads o f cargo” : three hundred and
sixty slaves. But to them seeing
“slaves” was not an alarm ing thing.
They purchased slaves, or servants,
too, for use in their village. Their
slaves were well treated, w ell fed.
M any o f them becam e part o f fam i­
lies, could marry, had rights, and could
even buy their freedom. So w hen
Sensobo and Bodebe saw their A fri­
can brothers being put upon foreign
vessels, it did not even enter their
m inds thay they would not be treated
by the Europeans any differently than
how they treated their own. O fcourse,
to personally be caught and m ade a
slave would be a totally different m at­
ter. No African welcomed being made
the farm, crawled over to the goat and
bit it. Next, the snake made its way
over to the ox and bit it. It quietly
slivered over to the goat and bit it.
Next, the snake m ade its w ay over tot
he ox and bit it. It quietly slivered over
to the lamb and bit it. Finally before
leaving, the adder cornered the chim ­
panzee and bit it. The next m orning
the man rose to m ilk his goat, but the
goat w ould not give any. T hen he
a servant.
That evening in the village, Prero
returns bringing his catch o f fish for
the day. After handing it to his wife to
prepare, Prero goes and fills a cala­
bash bag with hot w ater then goes to
take a bath, pouring the w ater over
his long arms, shoulders, and short
legs, w hile using a soap m ade from a
sapindacee tree. A fterward, he lubri­
cates his m uscularbuild with palm oil.
But inside A kee’s hut, she notices
that her son is sick, eating the food
given him, but the food does not stay
in him. Quickly A kee sum m ons her
servant to find the fruit o f a certain
tree, have them boiled, and brought
back. This tree, the Akee, was known
to cure m any ailments. W hen Akee
was herselfbeing carried in the womb
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ing.
T hat w arm night, w hile A kee and
her child M ennah ate separately in
her oblong clay hut, S ensobo and his
sons and their w ives and children ate
together, eating fish and sw eet pota­
toes, along w ith a concoction o f red
pepper soup. Sensobo then began to
explain to the fam ily his plans oftak-
ing another voyage starting in the
m orn in g , an d his d esire to take
B odebe w ith him. B odebe becam e
excited, “ I am going on another voy­
age? Oh, I am happy!! I will bring back
m any things for all o f you, and espe­
cially for m ay beautiful C ouba!"
Sensobo continued, “ Prero w ill be
the fam ily head w hile I am gone. He
will protect, he w ill provide, in the
nam e o f the G reat N yesw a” (GOD).
Prero already knew w hat to do. His
duties starting tom orrow w ere all too
familiar to him. H e had been trained to
do this for the last four years, as was
the fam ily custom . A good son will
always hum bly obey his “B i" (fa­
ther), and will alw ays protect his “D i"
(mother).
B odebe still in an excited mood,
jum ped up from the table and began
to dance, singing, “ Bi dyadye name
by a w arring tribe and sold into sla­
very. The blue stripe running down
the forehead to their nose, they b e­
lieve, will protect them. Carefully they
note landmarks on the way, as these
will aid them during their return. After
a tw enty kilom eter trek, they finally
reach the river.
A s the sunrise begins its ascent
over the distant N im ba m ountains,
the w om en in the village o f Zw edru
head out to work their plantations. A
Prero goes to check on his m other
and the new born, Couba and M im ba
and their w omen servants prepare
them selves to w ork in their fields.
T hey have been preparing a new field
all this month w hile the ground is dry.
In tw o m ore m onths the rainy season
will begin and the ground will become
m uddy and im possible to work.
The field has now been cleared.
The bush and trees have been cut
dow n and left to dry. Couba and
M im ba bum them, then hoe the soil,
m ixing with it the ashes o f the burnt
b ru sh and v eg etab les. S oon the
ground will be ready for sowing.
Sensobo and B odebe now reach
the coastline. A lready a Portuguese
ship has anchored and the captain
A story o f a West African family in Liberia, and a young girl's life as she is brought to 1 irginia.
with difficulty, this tree had been
used to help her m other give birth to
her, after which, in thankfulness,
mother named her baby thus. But
now will her baby live?
The young boy M ennah contin­
ues to grow strong, now having
reached his eighth year. Except for
when he was sick as a baby, M ennah
continues to steadily mature and gain
wisdom. The villagestorytellerwould
often come to the village and recite
the ancient tales to the children who
came to listen. M ennah w ould listen
intently, so to learn and understand
the meaning o f each story, ready to
respond in case the old man should
pose a question to him. O n this occa­
sion the storyteller related: “There
was a man who was very happy and
satisfied with what things he had. He
had a goat that yielded milk and gave
his drink. He had an ox that plow ed
the field and produced food. He had
a lamb that grew wool w hich he used
to clothe himself. And he had a chim ­
panzee that w as his dom estic pet and
w ould help him by scaring aw ay the
birds from the field, and w ould bring
in firewood for the man to keep warm
O ne night a P u ff A dder snuck onto
the chimpanzee, was crying and beat­
ing him self saying, “W hy are the three
ofyou blaming yourselves? Why, all o f
you spent all day with him while all I did
was make him laugh at night and scared
the birds while gathering firewood by
day." Just then, the Puff Adder ap­
peared in the yard in front o f them and
began to laugh at them saying, “Now
who will take care o f you?’
As the old storyteller finished his
fable, he raised his finger high in the air
and asked the children, “Tell me now,
what was the snake’s name?” The chil­
dren were silent, all in deep thought.
Then Mennah raised his hand and
ages, and even gave them a few sheep
from his own herd.
One day M ennah and his two broth­
ers, Bodebe and Prero, departed to the
fishing grounds. They returned with
snapper, catfish, m udskipper and
tu rtle. U p o n retu rn in g , M ennah
learned that his wife Bina was now
pregnant. During the evening m eal o f
fish, okra, tomatoes, fruit and turtle
meat, everyone in the family talked
about M ennah and Bina’s future child.
They also m ade sure that Bina not eat
any o f the turtle, as they believed that
when the child was bom it would crawl
on its belly like a turtle. In tim e Bina
gave birth to her child, a son, whom
they nam ed N adi, after B ina ’ s brother.
The next day, the w om en arose to
labor in the pepper gardens. They
“As the old storyteller finished his
fable, he raised his finger high in the
air and asked the children... ’
W Yi\
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A
Illustration by James King
w ent to plow the field but the ox
refused to move. So next he decided
to shear his lamb but the lam b kept
running away. A fter toiling all day
w ithout any success, he finally re­
tired to his hut that night to build a fire
to eat. B ut the chim panzee had not
brought wood. This sam e thing con­
tinued every day with the man ’ s prized
anim als, w ho had been his cherished
fam ily for m any years. Soon the m an
had hunger pangs, due to the birds
swooping into his field and eating his
food, and was dying o f thirst. He be­
came cold at night from no firewood
and his clothing was wearing out. After
one month the man cried: “I am no
longer happy now; all I can do now is
lay d o w r and die.” W hen the animals
saw that the man who had cared for
them had died, they became sad. Then
the goat spoke up saying, “This is my
fault, for I thought he loved m e less than
you three, so I refused to give him milk.”
But the ox quickly jum ped in, “N o, I am
at fault. I believed that I was the one
appreciated less than you three, so I did
not plow his field to produce food.”
“You are both wrong," said the lamb.
“It was me that he did not love, so to
teach him a lesson I swore that I would
never again give him m y wool.” Now,
said, “the snake’s name is “Jealousy”.
The old man put his hand upon the boy
and nodded his head in the affirmative
as he drove home the point further “No
one is greater than another, but all in the
family contribute to its happiness.”
Later the time came for Mennah to
choose a nyeno (wife) among the girls
o f the village. U pon notifying his fa­
ther and m other o f his selection, they
will approach the parents o f the girl to
ask permission to purchase their son’s
future wife. W hen he becomes o f age
he will then bring her home. M ennah
has been developing a fondness for a
young girl named Bina, whose father
is Kru and her m other Grebo. One day
M ennah approaches Bina and places
a flow er in her hair to signify his inter­
est. Sensobo and A kee visit the par­
ents o f Bina to ask their permission,
w hich is granted. Then, Sensobo ne­
gotiates the dow ry price: two oxen, a
cow, and a goat.
Ten years later, finally M ennah
brings Bina home as his bride. She
now enters the rectangular hut that
now will becom e her home, made o f
palm fronds, and having three rooms
and chairs. Sensobo had purchased
two oxen and two cows for them from
the m oney he had earned on his voy­
pluck the ripe berries, soak them in
water for several days, then lay them
out to dry under the hot tropical sun.
As A kee w as busy gathering the pep­
percorns, she suddenly fell sick. The
w omen brought her inside to her hut
and laid her down w hile the servants
fanned her with palm reeds to cool her.
Couba fed her a drug m ade from the
skin o f bananas, kola nuts, and the
fibre o f pineapple leaf, w hile M im ba
had her drink limejuice. When Sensobo
and the young men returned home,
they then learned o f A kee’s condi­
tion.
Becom ing weaker and burning wi th
fever, C ouba and M im ba stay up
throughout the night nursing Akee,
feeding her a concoction o f rice and
com soup, and junum o (palm wine) to
help ease her pain. Sensobo came over
to A kee's bed, kneeled down, and
began to whisper in her ear while hold­
ing her hand. W hat he said to her the
women could not hear.
The next morning, Sensobo and the
w omen cam e out o f the hut. Sensobo
then instructed his servant to go dig a
hole. F orthe next three days following
the burial, no work in the fields was to
be done in the village o f Zwedru.
TOBECONTINLED...
Gerald M. Chase
Richard L. Weil
CHASE & WEIL
Attorneys at Law
722 S. W. 2nd Avenue, Suite 240
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 294-1414
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