Don’t Overlook Our Native or Indigenous People: They Have Knowledge and Wisdom”: Spending Time with Reverend Blamo, Dyujay Daykeay and Guidi Wesley Responses to Guidi Wesley’s and Dyujay Daykeay’s Questions Episode Two: Standard English with Rabbi Gbaba Guidi Wesley’s Questions Gudi Wesley: HOW DO U LOOK AT OUR TRADITIONAL MEDICINE SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARDS TO HOW HERBALIST TREAT SOMEONE WHOSE FOOT IS BROKEN ? HOW DO U LOOK AT OUR TRADITIONAL MEDICINE SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARDS TO HOW HERBALIST TREAT SOMEONE WHOSE FOOT IS BROKEN ? Rabbi Gbaba: As I stated in my article, indigenous Liberians have a crucial role to play in rebuilding post war Liberia. They possess a wealth of knowledge and information that most Liberians with western education do not have. In this light Liberians must develop a policy of inclusion in all aspects of our national planning: economic, agriculture, health, education, healing and reconciliation, and so forth. Below I give you some examples of what I mean: 1. Liberia cannot have or develop a viable economy without the active involvement of the indigenous people of Liberia; 2. The bulk of the land space is owned by indigenous Liberians but they need some incentives (economic and material supports) to develop and till their land. For instance, traditional Liberians need farm-to-market roads to transport their goods and produces to market. Long time ago Liberia produced the best coffee in the world and traditional farmers were self-sufficient in producing their staple foods (rice, cassava, eddoes, plantains, potatoes) and cash crops such cocoa, coffee, and ground peas to name a few; 3. Traditional Liberians need incentives from government to engage in mechanized and large scale farming to grow their own staple foods, and improve other forms of industries such as weaving, carving, tapestries, and to improve culture and tourism, preserve our national forests, floral and animal species; 4. There is a dire need to include our history and culture in our national curriculum to teach future generations of Liberians about their common heritage and patrimony; and ultimately, to create self-awareness and national consciousness among all Liberians; 5. It is time for government policies to be tailored to the needs of the majority, to ensure their overall well-being and safety and to foster self and collective initiatives geared toward creating a robust economy and middle class and an egalitarian political system for the common good of all Liberians. Some Special Gifts of Indigenous Medical Practitioners or Herbalists and Artists Let me share with you some special gifts that indigenous Liberians possess. One of these is the gift of healing and traditional medicine or herbalism. With all of the sophisticated medical advances in the western world, western scientists have not yet figured out how traditional African herbalists or orthopedists are able to heal broken bones, limbs (hands, legs, joints, ligaments) simply by breaking the leg of a chicken when treating human bone injuries while the broken bones of the patient and the chicken heal at the same time. Some traditional herbalists learned their skills from traditional bush schools (poro, sande, negee, gbor, blon-yon, etc.), while others learned through the apprenticeship system—by studying the craft under the tutorship of a mentor or a gifted native herbalist or sorcerer (magician). All these ancient medical practices are worth being researched in order to bring about greater improvement to our health delivery system in the future. Traditional Pediatricians Traditional pediatricians are “country doctors” or magicians specialized in caring for and communicating with children with certain diseases and spiritual defects or mental illnesses. Hence, they provide children with appropriate medical or spiritual care on an as needed basis. Most of them possess supernatural powers obtained from the spirits of their ancestors or they are sometimes schooled in the culture of their respective ethnic groups by being members of secret traditional societies and institutions such as the Poro or Sande bush schools. Mostly a traditional pediatrician may perform his or her skills through the art of conjuring or sorcery; or sometimes through the process of apprenticeship—by learning some magical tricks or witchery from an elderly and celebrated lady or old man who acquired his or her craft from a renowned traditional pediatrician or by being a member of certain traditional secret societies mentioned above. At times the problem of the child may be related to the traditional people’s belief in reincarnation whereby a child might want to be named for a deceased relative as a result of which the child might fall ill and the parents might find it difficult to find cure for the child’s illness until they consulted a traditional pediatrician to figure out what the child wants. I had an aunt named Daydah who was a traditional pediatrician. She was a very short and awesome looking lady that was born with a special gift that empowered her to communicate with babies. She was so good at the craft of baby talk that Aunty Daydah was known throughout Krahnland for her excellent performance as a pediatrician. Parents from all regions of Grand Gedeh County and beyond took their sick children to her to help find cures for their children’s sicknesses or mental illness. For an example, she would take the new born child in a dark private room in her house and communicate with the child in isolation and then later return to tell the anxious parents what the outcome of her interaction was with the baby. Subsequently she would like any regular child doctor prescribe medications (in this case herbs that are mixed with pepper to pepper the child); or she would recommend certain types of foods or dietary supplements for the child to eat in order to get cured. At other intervals Aunty Daydah would sometimes provide counselling as to how the child should be treated; or she would clearly state the name of a deceased relative of the parents after whom the child should be named so that the child’s health may be restored to normalcy. Interestingly when the child was given the name it desired or when the parents followed up with the traditional herbs or dietary supplements prescribed by the traditional pediatrician nine out of ten times it was most likely that the child became well again because its spiritual or medical needs were met. So, the Liberian government should think seriously about including traditional medicine in the curriculum of the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine so that Liberian medical doctors can benefit immensely from both western and traditional medical practices. Traditional Artists and Their Role in the Enrichment of the Liberian Educational Curriculum and the Preservation of Liberian Arts and Culture Traditional Liberian/African artists have a significant role to play in the enrichment of the African/Liberian educational curriculum as well as in the preservation of African/Liberian arts, history, and culture. Their role is also important when it comes to the healing and reconciliation process in post conflict Liberia because the arts are generally good media of communication and entertainment. They have the power to help people vividly understand important political, social, and economic messages that ordinary talking cannot convey to the targeted audience. Also, it is important to note that traditional African artists (musicians, carvers, dancers, etc.) are the key custodians of the culture of the African continent. Most of the songs they sing narrate the stories of old: they tell of how great ancestors of traditional Liberians or Africans performed great deeds, fought fierce battles and defeated their enemies and how powerful their ancient kingdoms expanded from coast to coast. Such music and other artistic artifacts should be preserved and interpreted to form part of our written history. They should be written into books, played on national radio and television, preserved in African museums and performed live on stage to instruct and entertain Liberians/Africans about their rich cultural heritage. The same applies to the various forms of dance, like the Grebo war dance, or the expressive gio glegban dance; or the dance that the “Blonyoun” from Grand Gedeh perform by imitating the animals in the forest. The acrobatic dance steps of the graduates of the Poro and Sande societies that the Gola, Kpelle, Vai, and Lorma artists perform are also an essential component of our national historical and cultural repertoires. These artistic expressions along with the various traditional and Settler ethnic dialects and languages should also be, preserved, taught in schools, recorded and shown to entertain and educate Liberians and international audience as well. Dyujay Daykeay’s Questions Dyujay Daykeay It will be a pleasure to have Hon. Gbaba responding to some of our concerns. Going back to 1940-1972, decision that was made in regards to the economy. How were those decisions made, and whether it was done in the interest of the indigenous as well. What sort of government we had in the 18 century? How were decisions made for the country? Rabbi Gbaba: Earlier in previous paragraphs I explained in simple Liberian English the governance structure of the indigenous people of Liberia prior to the coming of the Settlers in the early 19th century and before the introduction of the western democratic and republican form of government. The republican form of governance has three equal but separate branches of government: the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. The legislative branch passes laws; the executive enforces laws and oversees the day to day running of Liberia; and the judiciary interprets the laws and ensures transparent justice. However, indigenous Liberians mainly had a monarchical form of government ruled by kings and very rarely by queens; and Liberia then was divided into many splinter kingdoms and principalities governed by traditional kings, queens, and councils of elders. Traditional Liberian Governance Structures During the ancient times and throughout the early 19th century various traditional Liberian ethnic groups combined to form confederacies or leagues such as the Kwa confederacy in Eastern Liberia that consisted of the Krahn, Kru, Sarpo, and Grebo people; or the Mande confederacy that consisted of the Lorma, Mandingo, Kissi, Gbandi, Vai ethnic groups, etc. These political and military unions were formed to protect the Kwa and Mande speaking peoples in their respective regions or corridors in Liberia from invading neighboring and/or unfriendly peoples. They formed common traditional bonds and made truces known as “Doe-dee” unions. “Doe-dee” literally means: “of one or the same mother” in the Krahn language. I suppose various ethnic groups may have different terms for such traditional bonds as well. However, old-style or traditional Liberian ethnic groups that regarded themselves as “Doe-dees” (even up to this date) are forbidden to shed one another’s blood or to have skirmishes. In essence, this was one way in which sustainable and inter-ethnic peace and tranquility and rule of law were maintained among most of the traditional ethnic groups of Liberia. Overtime most of these unions or truces were broken due to the introduction of western political ideas and culture and also because of the divide and rule system that was introduced by the Monrovia government authority. This was mainly done to weaken the political powers of traditional kings and rulers, thus bringing into existence the paramount and clan chieftaincy or indirect rule instead of the recognition of the traditional kings and sometimes queens (like in the case of Madam Suacoco of the Kpelle ethnic group) who had great political sway over their subjects. The Authority of the Liberian Government Was Initially Limited to the Coastal Regions of Liberia For the most part the authority of the Liberian government was confined or limited to the coastal regions of Liberia and it did not extend more than fifty miles inland into the hinterland where the bulk of the indigenous people lived. Liberia prior to the early 1900s included Maryland, Sinoe, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Grand Cape Mount where the Settlers lived, and members of the indigenous sects that lived in these regions were excluded from holding high ranking government posts or they were barred from active participation in the Monrovia government. So for the most part most of the indigenous people of Liberia were either not recognized as citizens of Liberia or they lacked representation in government. Basically they paid taxes without representation in government. Also, the natives did not enjoy equal access to educational opportunities, except a few native sons and daughters who were privileged to live with Settler families that were allowed to go to school but they very seldom held any significant government positions such as district or provincial commissioners back in the day. However, gradually a handful of educated indigenous Liberians broke through that political and social barrier and married daughters from influential Setter or Americo-Liberian families. They were privileged to hold some top government posts like Momolu Dukuly who was Secretary of State under President William V. S. Tubman, and Momolu Massaquoi, a son of a Vai king and queen that was a Liberian diplomatic in Hamburg, Germany, just to name a few. The Expansion of the Monrovia Government Authority in the Hinterland of Liberia in the Early 1900s It was not until the administration of President Arthur Barclay (1904-1912) that the Liberian government made reasonable attempts to expand into the hinterland of Liberia and to protect Liberia’s frontier borders with France and Great Britain that were encroaching upon the territories of Liberia. The Liberia Frontier Force (variedly called Liberian National Guard and now known as the Armed Forces of Liberia) was formed during his administration to protect Liberia’s border posts with Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire. President Daniel E. Howard succeeded President Arthur Barclay. He ruled Liberia during a very difficult financial and political period (1912-1920). In 1915 the Kru people resisted the Monrovia government’s authority and expressed their loyalty to Great Britain. They wanted to annex with the Africans in neighboring Sierra Leone but the United States sent their war ship (the USS Chester) in route from Turkey to America to quash the Kru rebellion. So, if you want to know why the Southeastern region of Liberia has been mostly neglected by the Monrovia government it is because the Kru, Grebo, Sarpo, and Krahn people resisted the authority of the Monrovia government for a very long time. They are sometimes feared and referred to as “hard-headed” and “stubborn country people” by previous administrations. The Bulk of the Indigenous Population Were Granted County Status and Political Inclusion and Representation during the Tubman Administration in 1964, One Hundred and Seventeen Years after Liberia Declared Her Independence! Mr. Daykeay, the time period that you inquired about (1947-1972) occurred mostly during the administration of President William V.S. Tubman. He made more attempts to include the indigenous people into the greater socio-political arena of Liberia more than any Liberian president did. However, the bulk of the indigenous population were not included into the political decision making process until 1964, when President Tubman through his Integration and Unification Policy declared the hinterland provinces (Central, Northern, Western, and Eastern Provinces) as four leeward counties: Grand Gedeh, Nimba, Lofa, and Bong Counties. Consequently,he appointed indigenous Liberians from those regions to head the new counties. They included Moses P. Harris of Grand Gedeh, George Farngalo of Nimba, James Y. Gbarbea of Bong, and Robert Kennedy of Lofa. Also, the ruling True Whig Party appointed local Senators and Representatives to represent the indigenous people from the hinterland of Liberia in the National Legislature for the very first time in the history of Liberia. This major political change took place about fifty years ago and by then Liberia was in its 117th year as the first independent Republic in Africa! President Tubman’s Open Door Policy brought about the upsurge of mining and agricultural concessions: LAMCO, Bong Mines, Liberia Mining Company, B.F. Goodridge Rubber Plantations, Firestone in Cape Palmas, a lot of gold and diamond mining, and a spur in the production of local agricultural products such as rice, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, and timber, etc. Rabbi Joe Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. Educational & Cultural Consultant October 30, 2014 N.B. Most of the historical facts in this document can be accessed and verified through Wikipedia search on the internet. The rest of the information on our traditional history and culture are based on oral tradition, eye witness accounts, and personal experience of the author. About the Author: Dr. Gbaba has over forty years of experience in research and academic work in the areas of education, playwriting, acting, directing, and educational research on the history and culture of Liberia. The author was for Acting Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Liberia and has a diverse background in the humanities. He holds a B.A. degree from Liberia College, University of Liberia, an M.F.A. in Theatre from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the U.S.A., M.Sc.Ed. in Elementary and Special Education and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He can be contacted at gbaba5@aol; or gbaba94@yahoo.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 11:16:13 +0000