
The Kassena people are an
ethnic group
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
located along the northern
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
and
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
border. They speak the
Kasem language. Their king lives in the town of
Tiébélé. The Kasenna are closely related to the people of Nankanni and were brought together to form the Kassena-Nankana administrative district in 1936.
As of 2008 the (
Kassena-Nankana) area comprises two districts:
Kassena Nankana West and
Kassena Nankana East.
History
The Kassena people are a subset of the
Gurunsi meta ethnicity, a term used to describe a set of ethnic groups inhabiting northern
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
and southern
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
, as well as
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...
. The Gurunsi people are not actually closely related to each other and their classification as Gurunsi comes from a term used by a Djerma jihadist leader by the name of Baba Ato Zato to describe a group of soldiers recruited from multiple different ethnic groups within the same region. According to doctor Salif Titamba Lankoande, in ''Noms de famille (Patronymes) au Burkina Faso'', the name Gurunsi comes from the
Djerma language of
Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
words “Guru-si”, which means “iron does not penetrate”. It is said that during the Djerma invasions of Gurunsi lands in the late 19th century, a Baba Ato Zato (better known by the
Hausa corruption of his name: Babatu) recruited a battalion of indigenous men for his army, who after having consumed traditional medicines, were said to be invulnerable to iron. The term has stuck since then to refer to these people, but they are completely separate culturally and linguistically distinct ethnic groups.
The Kassena people form an arc of towns mostly organized as defensive strongholds from Ouagadougou to northeast Ghana. Historically, these towns were subjects of the
Mossi Empire This area became in the late 1890s part of a three-way competition between the colonial forces of the French, the British, and the Germans, trying to subdue Djerma warlords and fight also the warlike local population who resisted fiercely to maintain its autonomy, while vying to occupy as much territory as possible at the expense of rival colonial powers. Each of the three claimed part of the territory occupied by the Kassena, but the competition between the colonial powers was not resolved until the last year of the 19th century. After establishing the protectorates of
Yatenga (1895) and
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
(1896), the French annexed Kassena lands in 1897. Eventually the Germans withdrew to
Togoland
Togoland, officially the Togoland Protectorate (; ), was a protectorate of the German Empire in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400&nb ...
(modern Ghana & Togo), and an 1898 Anglo-French agreement officially established the boundary with the
Gold Coast (now Ghana). This partition divided the Kassena peoples among French and British administrative systems, with some Kassenas living in southern Burkina Faso, notably in the Naouhri province and the cities of Tiebele and Pô, and some living in Ghana notably in the Kassena-Nankana administrative district, Navrongo, and in the city of Paga.
Religious beliefs
The Kassena are historically a monotheistic animist people worshipping the Creator God "We" and venerating the ancestors. It is this same syllable "We" that can be found in many Kassena names such as "Webedouh", "Wettelne", and, "Wepouli." In traditional Kassena society the deceased are buried inside their family's ancestral courtyard.
Political systems
The traditional ruler in a Kassena town is called a "Peh." Each town has its own town "Peh" with the most powerful ruler being the
Tiébélé Peh.
Art
The Kassena people are known for their wooden masks, clay sculptures, and wooden jewelry, as well as their music. The Djongon is the name of the traditional Kassena dance festival where gatherers dance the Djongo or ''nagila'' dance.
Society
Traditional Kassena society is grouped into chiefdoms, six of whom are predominant: Navrongo, Paga, Chiana, Kayoro, Katiu and Nakon.
Home call
The Belgian anthropologist,
Ann Cassiman, conducted detailed ethnographic accounts of the Kassena. In her book “Stirring Life: Women's Paths and Places Among the Kasena of Northern Ghana”, she elaborates on the material culture, rituals and social practices as experienced in a rural Kassena village. This research also led to a museum exhibition entitled 'Home Call', housed by the
Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
, Belgium.
Home Call
''kuleuven.be''.
References
External links
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups in Burkina Faso
Ethnic groups in Ghana