This Cycle I am Nuna

The Nuna

The Nuna are one of several people called “Gurunsi." The others are the Winiama, the Lela, the Sisala, and others who live in Burkina Faso and Ghana. The Nuna speak Nuni and the population is estimated at around 100,000 people.

Village communities are organized such that homes are built close together and surrounded by farm fields. Nuna territory was also surrounded bushes in which the tsetse fly lived. This insect killed the horses raiders depended on. This was a military strategy designed to thwart the Mossi efforts to raid the villages . The Nuna have no system of chiefs or other political leaders, although the French attempted to create such centralized power during the colonial period. The French established local puppet rulers, and the families of some of these maintained nominal political power until the revolution in 1983.


Cosmology

Belief in Yi, the Supreme Creator, is central to Nuna beliefs. A shrine to Yi occupies the center of every village. An element the Creator God is Su, the mask spirit which is enshrined in the oldest and most sacred mask in the community. The spirit of Su can be harnessed to benefit the community or to cause harm to their enemies. When Su is properly appeased, communal harmony is achieved. He is responsible for providing women with fertility and is recognized for his role in the continuity of life. Each extended family maintains its own hut, in which the lineage magical objects are kept. The objects allow the family to maintain contact with the vital forces of nature. These objects are inherited by the ancestors and are the communal property of the lineage, providing protection and social cohesion among all members of the family.

Culture

Men participate in hunting during the long dry season. This is important for ritual reasons, since it is during this time that men may interact with the spirits that inhabit the bush. The mask play a particularly educational role in the initiation of the young boys who reached the age of 10. Young people learn the history from their community, as well as the rules and morals required to enter adulthood. Initiation also reveals the significances of the mask. The initiatory ordeal of each initiate is filled with obstacles: physical, morals and spiritual tests.

REFERENCES

movie trailer on Nuna masks:
http://www.customflix.com/Store/Trailer.jsp?id=207403
Nuna drum music: http://artqtserver.art.uiowa.edu:8080/Nuna%20drum%20mu56K_Aud_Str001.mov
artwork of the Nuna:
http://www.africans-art.com/index.php3?action=album&id_class=141

http://www.zyama.com/nuna/index.htm
http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Nuna.html