The Kassena people are an

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

located along the 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

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 ...

border. They speak the

Kasem language Kasena or Kassena (Kasem or Kassem) is the language of the Kassena ethnic group and is a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana and in Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧� ...

. 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 Gurunsi or Grusi may refer to: * Gurunsi people, a people of northern Ghana and south and central Burkina Faso ** Gurunsi languages The Grũsi or Gurunsi languages, also known as the East Mabia languages,Bodomo, Adams. 2020.Mabia: Its Etymologic ...

meta ethnicity, a term used to describe a set of ethnic groups inhabiting northern

and southern

, as well as

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. 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 ) , 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. 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 The Mossi Kingdoms, sometimes referred to as the Mossi Empire, were a group of powerful kingdoms in modern-day Burkina Faso which dominated the region of the upper Volta river for hundreds of years. The largest Mossi kingdoms was that of Ouagad ...

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 ( , , ) 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 Kassena 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 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, five of whom are predominant:Navrongo, Paga, Chiana, Kayoro, Katiu and Nakon.

Home call

The Belgian anthropologist,

Ann Cassiman Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...

, 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 The Museum aan de Stroom (known as MAS; Dutch for: ''Museum by the Stream'') is a museum located along the river Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the sou ...

(MAS) in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium.Home Call
''kuleuven.be''.

References

{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Burkina Faso Ethnic groups in Ghana