Chapter 11. Catching and classifying fish among the Dwang

Abstract

The goal of this chapter is to discuss an endangered fishing practice, and the naming and uses of fish among the Dwang of the Bono East Region of Ghana. I discuss a (defunct) communal fish catching process known as kese /kə́sə́/, in which the poisonous plant Adenia cissampeloises, also called kese by the Dwang, was used to kill the fish and harvest them. I then turn to the Dwang names for six freshwater fish, which is a classification of sorts. I explore the semantics of the fish names, especially their classes, such as ka- for singular versus n- for plural (e.g., káwá/nkáwá), on the one hand, and ɔ- for singular versus a- for plural (e.g., ɔtʃwɪrɛ/atʃɪrɛ), among others. I discuss some medicinal and customary uses of the fish which have almost disappeared. The chapter is therefore a discussion of endangered indigenous knowledge of a plant and fish.