TANGAZA
COLLEGE
THE
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA
GHISLAIN INAI, SMA
SALVATION
IN ATR
Could the Mask of the Guere People be Seen as a Means
of Salvation for Them?
Moderator
Rev. Dr. Fernando
Domingues, M.C.C.J.
An Essay Submitted
in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements
for the Baccalaureate in Theology
NAIROBI
JANUARY 2004
To my “Sweet” Mother, Inaï Flyer Banseï Marthe, my Dad
Inaï Gabriel, in loving memory of Séa Joséphine and Séa Anne-Marie, also to all
my sisters: Juliette, Agnes, Virginie, Hortense, Agathe and Edwige this work is
dedicated.
When
many people have been helpful to some one and the person has to tell them how
grateful he/she is for their help, but cannot mention all of them individually,
there is a story told to say thanks to every one.
“There
is this type of lizard with red head and black body. It likes climbing walls
and goes even on the top of roofs. What happens sometimes is that the reptile
loses balance and falls on its stomach to the ground. When it falls, it looks
to its right and sees some people. Then looks to its left and sees more people.
It also looks at people in front and then at those behind. By this, it wants to
be sure that the people present have noticed how it, the Lizard, is a brave
creature.
Some
of the people present may have seen the event and others may not. In any case,
there is often no sign of appreciation from the crowd. So the Lizard decides
then to knock down its head and says to itself ‘Well! I have done well’, and
then runs back to the wall to climb it again.”
This
story is to say that many people’s efforts need to be acknowledged here, but
only, a few will be mentioned. So those who will not figure among those named
should also know that they have not been forgotten. Should they think so, the
attitude of the Lizard in the story should be theirs, and they should thank
themselves for their support.
The writing of this essay, in one way or another, was
made possible by many people. I shall mention but a few. First of all, I would
like to express my gratitude to my friends O’Brien Jeannie, Juliet C. Sakwa,
Kone Rokia, Kone Lucie and Francis Kabore.
My thanks also go to the SMA
Students of Nairobi who have supported me in this investigation and I am
grateful for that.
My gratitude also goes to
Pascal and Larissa Paroiëlle, Cécile and Koffi Kouamé the family that accepted
to represent my parents during my stay here in Nairobi. I am also grateful to
Mr. and Mrs Bah, the Inaï and Flyer. Thanks also to Jean-Camille, Zréwon
Michel, Paterson, Thomas, Mman Djaï
and a special thought for Mman Tao
Josephine.
I would also like to thank
the formation team of Nairobi Fr. Hugh, Fr. ‘Yalo’ who was a ‘Big Brother’ to
me and especially Fr. Cornelius Murphy who helped me with mastery of the
Queen’s English.
I cannot forget the priests
who have welcomed me into their parishes for mission experience. I would like
to mention in a particular way Frs. H. J. Daudé, SMA, who made me discover the
SMA, J. Haverty, SMA, with whom I did my ‘Stage’ in Kachia, Nigeria, John Dune,
SMA and F. Hevi and A. Bikini, SMA with whom I did my ‘Diakonia’ in Nairobi.
A special thanks to Fr. Fernando Domingues, MCCJ and through him to all
the Tangaza College staff. I did “drink”
from the spring of their knowledge and experience.
Above all, am very grateful to my Triune God who has called me to serve
Him. May this God who sent us the Saviour par
excellence, Jesus-Christ, Bless us all.
I, the undersigned, declare that this essay is the result
of my personal reflection, reading, scientific research, and critical analysis
of sources. It is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
Ecclesiastical Degree of Baccalaureate in Theology. This work has never before
been submitted for academic credit to any other college or university. All
sources have been quoted in full and acknowledged.
Name of Student: Inaï Ghislain, SMA.
Date: 03 February 2004
This essay has been submitted for
examination with my approval as the college supervisor.
Name of Supervisor: Fr. Fernando Domingues, MCCJ.
Date: 02 February 2004
When
a child, there used to be “Festivals of Masks” in Tinhou, some which
we attended. This festival has a double function. The first one, which is the
obvious one, is to express delight about the year that is finishing
and the second is to give thanks to God for all He has done for the village
over the year. The reasons for which the village thanked God varied from one
family to another, but the common ones were good harvest, less deceased members
of the village and above all, to get into contact with Gnonsoa, who is
represented by the Mask. It is interesting to note that in western Cote
d’Ivoire, and probably in other parts of the world, Masks are associated with
ceremonies like funeral customs, fertility rites, curing of sickness, and
festive occasions.
The
rejoicing aspect is experienced through the whole liturgy of the festival,
which includes songs from a given group of women, beating of drums by a
specialist and the dancing of the Mask. After two weeks of celebrations, nan lan di
are slaughtered for sacrifice and consumption. On the very last day of the
ceremony, the oldest Mask does the libation on the public place of the village,
and prays for a successful year ahead. With the mud collected from the libation
place, the villagers make some marks on their foreheads as a sign of Pongne.
This act is done while one expresses his/her personal intentions silently. It
is also interesting to notice that it is the only time when people are allowed
to look into the face of the Mask.
Before that, one’s eyes were not supposed to meet those of the Mask because the
Mask is a supreme being and because of this, the human person owns him respect.
More
than twenty years after our childhood, here we are in Tangaza College Nairobi,
reading theology. At the end of these studies, we would like to bring our
little contribution to the building of the edifice of an African Christian
Theology. In this investigation, we would like to deal with Salvation in ATR
with particular reference to the Ceremony of Mask among the Guere people of
Western Cote d’Ivoire. More precisely, we wish to focus on how the Guere people
could have experienced Salvation through their Masks.
Masks
represent supernatural beings and as a matter of fact, are considered to be
means of contact with various spiritual powers in order to protect the clan or
the village against evil situations such as famine, plagues, failure in war
etc.
As
theology is defined as “faith seeking understanding” and “discourse on God and
anything related to God”, we would like to discourse on a specific belief of
the Guere people and how that belief can be related to our Christian faith in
God. We know that this enterprise will not be easy, but we are interested in
this topic and would like to do some research on it.
“Truly I perceive that god shows
no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right
is acceptable to him.”
It
is undeniable that one of the burning issues in theology today is the question
of knowing how do people experience God in religions other than Christianity.
In addition to this, we have the controversial topic of Salvation in these
other religions. Whether such Salvation is possible engrosses many theologians
today too.
It
is usual that when one goes to the Nairobi City Centre, he/she encounters some people
who claim to be saved and would like to know if their interlocutor is also
saved or not. Statements such as “my name is N, I was
saved since 1985 by Jesus my personal Saviour. How about you?” This is a relevant question that
needs an answer from each and every one of us. So the question that comes to
mind is, what could the answer of the ATR adherents be? Apparently, members of
non-Christian religions have no personal encounter with Christ, so who could be
their saviour?
Our
brothers and sisters from other churches, and probably some Catholics also,
often tend to demonise ATR, its practices and adherents. This could be due to
the missionary mentality of old which believed that all African religions and
religious practices were evil, if at all they existed. Some of the philosophers
and anthropologists said that Africans had no religions.
Investigating this latter statement would seem like beating a dead horse.
However, it is important to know that this statement, some would think, had
shaped the missionary mentality of old. For example, “[Christians] have too, often (…) seen their mission narrowly as persuading or
reinforcing their particular religion, sometimes even to the extent of imposing
it on others.”
How
could an ATR adherent answer the question, “Are you saved?” To find an answer
to this question is a real puzzle.
While
as an individual this question arises, we believe that it could also be the
case for the millions of ATR followers. Consequently, we would like to try and
find an answer to the question whether or not there is Salvation in ATR with
special reference to the Guere people of West Africa and their Masks.
Precisely, we would like to know whether or not the Mask could be seen by us
Christians as a means of Salvation for the Guere people. This also means that
we are going to highlight the religious function of the Mask. How are we going
to reach this goal?
To
achieve our target, we have divided this work into five parts including the
introduction and the conclusion. In this introduction, we will try to give the
definitions of some key terms such as ATR, Mask and Salvation, terms which we
are going to use throughout this investigation. By this, we want to be sure
that there is a clear understanding of these concepts should any reader come
across this essay.
After
the definition of those concepts, we will present briefly the Guere people.
Perhaps, a chapter should have been reserved for them, but since this paper is
not an anthropological or ethnological study, we decided to mention them in the
introduction so that the reader will have a succinct idea about this group of
people.
In
the second chapter, we will try to see how ATR members, specially the Guere
people could experience Salvation. Also, we would like to see if the presence
of the Mask could be seen as a divine presence. For us to be able to answer
this question, we will tell a story that portrays how the Mask came into the
lives of these people.
In
the third chapter, we will examine what the Catholic Church says about
Salvation in other religions. Before reaching that point, we will have
presented the view of some theologians on the matter.
Our
fourth chapter will deal with some propositions on the relationship of
Christians with ATR, particularly the Guere people and their Mask. Also, we
shall try to look at the possibility of using some elements of these peoples’
religion in our Catholic liturgy.
It
is after these four parts that we will be able to draw the conclusion which will
contain an attempted answer to the question that stimulated this investigation.
In other words, the conclusion will contain a tentative answer to the question
whether or not the Masks of the Guere people could be seen by Christians as a
means of Salvation for them.
This
is any traditional religion which originated in Africa.
Usually, followers of these religions
have “belief in a Supreme Being, the Creator and Father of all that exists;
belief in the ancestors and spirits; belief in two worlds, the visible and
invisible, their interaction, their community and hierarchical character, the
way of celebrating.”
In ATR, God is not absent from ordinary life. God is neither abstract,
indifferent nor solitary. God is a being of relationships whose actions in the
history of humanity and the universe pass through the spirits that take care of
daily life.
The
Mask that we are talking about here is not that likeness of a person’s face or
that of an animal made either in clay, wax or wood to conceal the faces of
people during a masked ball. What we are talking about here is a human person
dressed in a costume. This costume is believed to make a new being out of the
person that wears it. This new being is imbued with symbolism and ascribed spiritual powers.
According
to Nilson, Salvation is “the condition of the ultimate restoration of
fulfilment of humanity and all creation effected by God’s action in
Jesus-Christ through the Holy Spirit.”
Christian tradition says that human capability alone cannot bring about the
needed reconciliation and restoration. Only God can do so. The CCC is more categorical “Salvation comes
from God alone.”
There
are two ways of understanding Salvation in ATR. On one hand some ATR adherents
consider a saved person one who lives life in its fullness in this present
life. Salvation is concerned with people’s present life. It is something of the
present reality. Krong says:
One can describe
African religion as a this-worldly religion of salvation that promises
well-being and wholeness here and now. It is a religion that affirms life and
celebrates life in its fullness; this accounts for the lively and celebrative
mood that characterizes African worship in all its manifestations.
On the other hand, some
other adherents of ATR believe that Salvation is the fact that one lives in the
community of the Ancestors after one’s death. It means that one becomes an
Ancestor too after death.
The
Guere
or Wè also known, as Wègnon, is an ethnic group found in West Africa, precisely
in eastern Liberia and western Côte d’Ivoire, an area of rain forest. In
comparison with other African people, we can say that this group has not been
studied a lot. They live principally by agriculture and hunting. These people
uphold their ancient tribal customs against Islam and Christianity, although
recently the Christian faith has been spreading among them. “Their cosmology is
quite complicated,” says Kovach.
Having
presented the state of the problem that led us to embark on this investigation,
we tried to present what the objective of this investigation is. Now, how we
were going to tackle the problem? In other words, we presented our methodology
of work and then we gave the definitions of some terms so that the reader will
be informed on the meaning of the concepts that we are using. In the process of
giving the definitions, we presented the Guere people including where they are
found. And now we would like to tackle our next chapter, which consists of
studying a possible experience of Salvation in an African Traditional Religion:
the Guere people and their Mask.
“Whether
articulated in a great or in unsophisticated conceptual pattern, or not
articulated, our knowledge of god (…) is the form in which ideationally god
appears to each of us, less or more richly.”
A
pastoral letter of the late Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga, former Archbishop
of Nairobi, concerning salvation was published as an appendix in the book written by P.N.
Wachege. This letter was a response to some Christians who criticised his
homily of Easter Sunday at the Holy Family Cathedral in the year 1993. What His
Eminence said in his homily was not reported in this book. However, in the
response to his detractors, the Cardinal did say: “If you
are asked: ‘Are you saved?’ answer in this way, ‘Yes I have been saved. Through
faith and baptism, I have received forgiveness: I am a new creature and I share
in the new life. I have the firm hope of heaven (…) see Phil 3:12-16” This answer provokes a question:
What could be the answer of the people who are not Christians? This part of the
essay will not aim at helping the followers of African Traditional Religions to
answer the question whether they are saved or not. It will rather be presenting
how some elements in the African Traditional Religion could be means of
salvation for its followers for indeed, “a study of the beliefs and practices
of the African peoples leads to the theological observation that African
traditional religion is a religion of Salvation and wholeness.” We shall be more specific by
referring to the Guere people and their Mask. In order to help us reach our
objective, a story will be told. This story will show the salvific role played
by the Mask in the life of the Guere people.
Because African
Traditional Religions are usually handed down orally from one generation to the
next, we would like to write a story that was told by an elderly person from the
village Tinhou. This story portrays
the role of the Mask in the life of the Guere people and to an extent how it is
experienced as a means of salvation for them.
Way, way
back, there was a small village called Tinhou.
This village had something particular that no other village had ever had. That
particularity is that all the living beings were living together. All kinds of
animals were living together with humans. All trees were covering the grasses
that could not bear the sunshine. A river called Kinniwen was flowing through the village and made sure that it gave
itself to the trees so that they grow to cover more grass. All animals went to
quench their thirst from Kinniwen and
so did the human beings. Children were running naked all over the village and
the human baby could breastfeed on any animal that was around, should its
mother go to fetch some water or some firewood. There was peace and harmony,
rejoicing and happiness. There was neither sound of weeping nor of crying.
Life
expectancy in Tinhou was one hundred
years and those who lived longer lived as long as a tortoise. The first chief in Tinhou named Kaїdgea Flyer Banhi lived as long as a tree and he saw his
children’s children up to the twentieth generation. All beings living in Tinhou spoke the same language, Gbôholu.
One day,
something special happened. Out of curiosity, the family of Bohodê, decided to
taste human flesh. Bohodê’s family
therefore killed a human baby and had it for supper. The family of the human
baby cried bitterly. It came as a surprise to all the villagers that one of
them disappeared. This never happened before in Tinhou.
Only
Gnonsoa and Kaija flyer Banhi knew what had happened. Of course, Bohodê and his family knew too.
Foreseeing that the same thing would happen repeatedly with other animals, Gnonsoa decided that Kaija Flyer joins Him in the place where He lived so that
He will take some actions against Tinhou
and its inhabitants.
When
Flyer joined Gnonsoa where He lived,
He decided to send a servant Gblôh Kalah
to separate the animals from the human beings. Gnonsoa then instructed Gblôh
Kalah (the Mask) saying: “Go and sing in Tinhou:
‘Pongné pâh oh, Pongné pâh oh.
Gblâduê.
Pongné pâh oh, Pongné chê pâh oh
Gblâduê.’
Any
being that hears this song and is not of the same being with my daughter Bah Gnompoh shall lose its voice and run into
the forest where it shall live for good.” The Mask was so ugly that no animal
could look at it and live. They all run to the forest except the domestic ones,
which include the Nan Lan di.
When
the living beings, especially the wild beasts and the reptiles left Tinhou, Gblôh Kalah remained to explain to those who remained in Tinhou why this happened and that from
now on, it will remain to protect them. “In addition to this”, says the Mask,
“you will be called Lôgnon. And you have the authority to kill
and eat any living being. Except that which is of your kind, you shall not kill
because “ka Gnonsoa nean, konoamon nien”
This
story teaches us four main points:
1. Kalah
(Mask) was sent to save Lôgnon from Bohodê’s future killing acts. Can we say
from this that Gnonsoa saved Lôgnon because Gnonsoa loved it above all else as Gn.1: 31 seem to imply in the
creation story.
2. Lôgnon (the being-in-the village) is
made in Gnonsoa’s (God’s) image. Is
this not what Gen 1:26a says about human beings?
3. Lôgnon has authority over all the beasts
as Gn.1: 26b also says about human beings.
4. Lôgnon should not kill its fellow Lôgnon like Ex.20: 13 asks believers not
to do.
After this story,
which portrays clearly the work of God among the Guere people through the Mask,
it is now appropriate to ask whether the Mask could be a way
divinity is present to us.
Having
accomplished its mission, Gblôh Kalah
remained in Tinhou. If we can recall
that Gblôh Kalah came from God, we
will quickly accept the fact that its presence among the Guere people could be
experienced as the presence of God. We have to bear in mind that God uses a
means that is understandable to a community to reveal God's self.
God
used Buddha to be present to the Buddhists; God used the Koran to be present to
the Muslims; why can God not use the Mask to be present to the Guere people? It
was the will of God that the Mask be known to the Guere people whose culture is
only transmitted orally. This, therefore, makes it difficult for the Mask be
known to other people. The Mask has no “dignity or beauty” to make people,
other than Guere, take notice of it as God's presence. There was nothing that
could draw people to it (see Is. 53:2-3), despite the fact that it was a
manifested presence of God. Take for example an ambassador. When representing
his/her country, the diplomat is not there in his or her own right. Whatever
he/she says will be considered said by his or her country. So his or her
presence in that country is the presence of the country that sent him or her.
Likewise with the Mask; its presence to the Guere people is the presence of
God. Moreover, why is it that the terrorists attacked the American Embassies in
some countries? It is because the embassy is
considered to be the country that it represents. If an embassy is seen as a
country present in another country, then the Mask is God's presence to the
Guere people. This may seem unconceivable, but Cantwell says: “Whether
articulated in a great or in unsophisticated conceptual pattern, or not
articulated, our knowledge of God (…) is the form in which ideationally God
appears to each of us, less or more richly.”
God
had been present to us in many different ways and most often, we have not been
able to recognise that presence because “our eyes were kept from recognising
him” (Lk.24: 16). Because God is God, we expect some extraordinary things from
God, and yet God uses means such as the Mask to be present to us. Lane reminds
us “God in the normal course of events and especially in the history of
salvation addresses the person in human condition.”
One
thing is sure; God manifests God's self in ways and times that we least expect.
For example, the disciples of Emmaus; their eyes were kept from recognising
Jesus because they did not expect him to appear in the form he did. Neither
were they expecting him at that time. Yet, that was really Jesus. Peoples’ eyes
may be kept from recognising God in the Mask as the disciples’ eyes were kept
from recognising God with them on the road to Emmaus. How can God manifest
God's self in a human-made piece of art? One may wonder. However, it will be
interesting to have in mind that the more a mean seems unrealistic to manifest
God's presence, the more likely it is to be God’s revelatory work. How many
times was Jesus accused of blasphemy because he called God his father? For the
people of his time, it was inconceivable. The Jews thought that the messiah
could not come into the world in the way Jesus Christ came; born of a human
person. Yet the truth was that Jesus was the Messiah. God always comes to us in
experiences, ways and time that we least expect. No one can expect the Almighty
God, Creator of everything to be present in Kalah.
Nonetheless, it is necessary to bear in mind that
The presence of
God in the world communicated through the religious dimension of human
experience, is neither a presence directly available only to a privileged few
nor a presence mediated simply through logical deduction to the learned.
Instead the reality of God in the world is a presence that is accessible to
all.
To date, there has never been an
unmediated revelation of God in the sense of God, speaking directly to God’s
people without any intermediary. In other words, there had never been “direct
epiphanies which manifest God in se.” If the previous statement is true,
and we know that before Jesus Christ came, God revealed God’s self to humanity
of which Guere people are part. Then God did not reveal directly God’s self to
the Guere people. God certainly used a means, which the Guere people believe to
be the Mask. Moreover, “It must be noted that
God is not absent from ordinary life. The God of the Africans is neither
abstract, indifferent nor solitary. He is a Being of relations; his acting in
the history of man and the universe passes through the spirits that take care of daily life.”
Having
tried to show that the Mask is the presence of God, we are led to the question,
could the Mask be considered a sacrament?
The
quick answer that comes to one’s mind after having gone through the previous
section, which showed the mask as the presence of God, is yes!
However, this
question needs a thorough study before giving any answer. Consequently, the
first step we are going to take here is to
know what a sacrament is.
This
question has been dealt with from different aspects. Here, we would like to
deal with it in the sense of its definition. The word sacrament is broader than
the seven different moments of liturgical celebration that we have in the
Catholic churches. Schmaus puts it clearly: “Neither in the New Testament nor
in the early Church is [the term sacrament] limited to those actions which we
call sacraments [today].”
This
word sacrament is the Latin
designation of the Greek word mysterion designated.
There was a great leap from the use of the word mysterion to that of sacramentum.
In the early Church and in the time of the New Testament era the expression
that was used to describe what we call today sacrament is mysterion. This word could express three
different things in the New Testament.
As we know a
word used many times loses its original meaning, so too, the word mysterion was used a lot especially in
the cultic milieu and it had a rather negative connotation. Tertulian being an
apologist used a new word to transliterate
the concept mysterion. He therefore talks of sacramentum, a word he picked from the Roman
culture.
As
time went on, and reflection deepened, the concept sacramentum, brought into theology by Tertulian, underwent many
changes, major and minor. Today, sacramentum,
can be defined as: “A presence that is the result of the divine communication
with human through God's word of revelation and the human response in faith to
that word.” Theologians estimate that this
divine relationship that is established by God (sacrament) must change the life
of the person, who receives it. A sacrament has three elements in itself:
1-The
ultimate meaning of human experience, which is the element in it, is perceptible
to human beings. Schmaus called it Sacramentum
Tantum.
2-The divine
saving presence is expressed through that element, which in itself is still a
sign (Res et Sacramentum).
3-The
transformation of humanity brought about by the sacrament. “This is exclusively an effect; the final reality caused by that which is
both reality and sign.” (Restantum).
After
this definition of the sacrament, can one say that the Guere Mask is a
sacrament? The answer to this question will constitute our next part.
From what
had been said, nothing can make someone who knows the role of the Mask among
the Guere say no. From the story, we learned that the Mask was sent by God,
therefore it is the visible manifestation of an invisible reality. In view of
this, the Mask is a sacrament since the sacrament is also defined as a visible
sign of an invisible presence and reality of God.
A sacrament
is sometimes seen as that which makes us experience the love, power and
presence of God. We think that Kalah
or the Mask has satisfied this condition. For example when we refer to the
story, we realise that it was out of love that God sent Gblôh Kalah to the Guere people so that they may be saved from the
future malice of Bohodê. God's
presence and power expressed through the presence and action of the Mask,
delivered the Guere people. The Mask