Africana Periodical Literature 
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| Title: | The Interpretation of Naangmin: Missionary Ethnography, African Theology, and History among the LoDagaa |
| Author: | Hawkins, Sean |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Periodical: | Journal of Religion in Africa |
| Volume: | 28 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Pages: | 32-61 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Ghana |
| Subjects: | missionary history African religions deities Dagari Kasena Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft History and Exploration |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/1581826 |
| Abstract: | This article is a challenge to that written by Benedict Der in this same journal in 1980 (vol. 11, no. 3, p. 172-187), in which he claimed that the LoDagaa and Kasena in northern Ghana had always worshipped a single and absolute God. Der chose to see 'Naangmin', the prime noumenal force among the LoDagaa, as the 'ultimate objective' of sacrifice, albeit approached at times through the ancestors. More recently it has been argued that the word used for God, 'Naangmin', is a neologism meaning 'head deity' introduced by the missionaries. The present author argues that although Der's interpretation does not accord fully with the extant historical evidence, it is important to understand why he created this historical myth, namely the essential commensurability of LoDagaa culture of the 1920s with Roman Catholic theology of the 1980s. It was intended to counter those who claimed that the fundamental practices of the LoDagaa Christians, and non-Christians, came from the missionaries. Der's most glaring omission was the lack of indigenous voices, preferring the interpretations of missionaries which suited his own agenda. He wanted to protect LoDagaa beliefs from the condemnation of a remote Catholic hierarchy, wishing to legitimate 'traditional practices' by giving them a theocentric perspective. In the process he was forced to argue about ideas which had been changing for half a century as if they were static principles. Notes, ref. |
