Woman chief: Tijo Kpatuya, Naa Meimunatu Issah

Tijo (after tampion) Tijo Kpatuya naa Meimunatu issah, enskinned in 2012 and aged 92.

The Dagomba people of Northern Ghana are a patriarchal society practicing a patrilineal system of inheritance. However, there are also a number of female chiefs, or Pag Naa. The Pag Naa is the female traditional leader of an area or community. The female paramount chief of Dagbon is the Gundo Naa: the chief of Gundogu. All female chiefs in Dagbon are subordinate to the Gundo Naa and hold their authority and influence in relation to hers.

Like the Yaa Naa, who is the male paramount chief or king of the Dagomba, the Gundo Naa is the highest female authority among the Dagomba. The duties of the female chief include the settlement of disputes, the summoning of women for communal labour, supervision over the preparation of ceremonial foods during festivals, and the general day-to-day administration of female matters within her society. Furthermore, she is consulted when the Yaa Naa appoints a new male chief to be enskinned in her area of jurisdiction. Among the Dagomba, it is believed that it is only the woman who knows the real father of her children. So, in order not to bring different descendants onto the throne, the woman, in this case the female chief, is the right person to consult and guide the selection process.

The best-known female chiefs in Ghana are the so-called ‘Queen Mothers’ of the Akan people of Southern Ghana. They, however, cannot be compared to the female chiefs of the Dagomba. Their position is very different in many respects. The portraits in this section depict several female chiefs dressed in their traditional regalia. These consist of a combination of hand-woven cloth and parts of animal skins, signifying authority.
I was only recently introduced to the phenomenon of the Dagomba female chiefs, when on a trip to Yendi, where I visited the palace of the incumbent Gundo Naa: Hajia Samata. Coming from Southern Ghana and knowing little about chieftaincy in Northern Ghana in terms of its chieftaincy succession, I saw this project as an opportunity to learn and contribute to the (visual) conversation about the role of female chiefs in Ghanaian society. In addition, the project forms an extension of my earlier work in Gambaga, also in the north, on the gendered subjugation of women and alleged female witchcraft.