Gurunsi Peoples
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The Gurunsi, or Grunshi, are a set of related ethnic groups inhabiting northern
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
and south and central
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
.


Pre-colonial history and origins

Oral traditions of the Gurunsi hold that they originated from the western Sudan passing through the Sahel. While it is unknown when the migration occurred, it is believed that the Gurunsi were present in their current location by 1100 AD. Following the 15th century, when the Mossi states were established to the north, Mossi horsemen often raided Gurunsi areas for slaves, but the Gurunsi peoples were never fully subjugated, remaining independent. According to doctor Salif Titamba Lankoande, in ''Noms de famille (Patronymes) au Burkina Faso'', the name Gurunsi comes from the Djerma language of
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesHausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...
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. They set up the Zabarima Emirate within Gurunsiland, which makes up far northern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso.


Partition

The people who speak closely related
Gur languages The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Iv ...
and dialects and classed by the Mossi under the umbrella term Gurunsi form an arc of village communities mostly organised as defensive strongholds from the Koudougou residency west and northwest of Ouagadougou in colonial times to the northeast of current day Ghana. Historically, these groups were subjects of the Mossi kingdoms. 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 Gurunsi villages, 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 ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...
(1896), the French annexed Gurunsi lands in 1897. Eventually the Germans withdrew to
Togoland Togoland was a German Empire protectorate 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 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kno ...
(modern Ghana & Togo), and an 1898 Anglo-French agreement officially established the boundary with the
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
(now Ghana). This partition divided Gurunsi peoples among French and British administrative systems, facilitating the political and cultural divergence of sub-groups on each side of the boundary.


Gurunsi ethnic groups

The term Gurunsi is used as a meta term to refer to a group of very loosely relate peoples. The ethnic groups classified as Gurunsi do not share a common language and have distinct cultural practices. Some of the largest Gurunsi ethnic groups are the Frafra, Nabt and
Talensi Tallensi, also spelled Talensi, are a people of northern Ghana who speak a language of the Gur branch of the Niger-Congo language family. They grow millet and sorghum as staples and raise cattle, sheep, and goats on a small scale. Their normal do ...
in Ghana as well as the Ko, Lyele,
Nuna Nuna is the name of a series of manned solar powered race cars that have won the World Solar Challenge in Australia seven times: in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015 and 2017. The vehicles are built by students who are part of the "Brunel Sola ...
, and Sisaala in Burkina Faso. The sub-groups
Kassena The Kassena people are an ethnic group located along the northern Ghana and Burkina Faso 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 brough ...
and Nankani inhabit both Ghana and Burkina Faso.


Art and architecture

The Kassena people are known for their clay houses which are built by the men and decorated by the women on the exterior with geometric patterns.


References


Bibliography

* Bayili, Blaise. ''Religion, droit et pouvoir au Burkina Faso. Les Lyele du Burkina Faso''. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1998. * Duperray, Anne M. ''Les Gourounsi de Haute Volta. Conquête et colonisation, 1896-1933''. Stuttgart: Steiner, 1984. * Jacob, Jean-Pierre. ''Le sens des limites: maladie, sorcellerie, religion et pouvoir chez les Winye, Gourounsi du Burkina Faso''. Neuchâtel: Faculté des lettres hèse de doctorat 1988. *
Levtzion, Nehemia Nehemia Levtzion ( he, נחמיה לבציון; November 24, 1935 — August 15, 2003) was an Israeli scholar of African history, Near East, Islamic, and African studies, and the President of the Open University of Israel from 1987 to 1992 and the ...
. ''Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968. * Tauxier, Louis. ''Le noir du Soudan, pays mossi et gourounsi''. Paris: Emile Larose, 1912. * Tauxier, Louis. ''Nouvelles notes sur le Mossi et le Gourounsi''. Paris: Emile Larose, 1924. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurunsi Peoples Ethnic groups in Burkina Faso Ethnic groups in Ghana