An Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Northwestern Benin and Its Ontological Implications

“Crocodiles are the Souls of the Community” An Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Northwestern Benin and its Ontological Implications Submitted by Sharon Merz to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology In February 2018 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………… Abstract In this thesis I explore human-animal relations amongst the Bebelibe of the Commune of Cobly, in the northwest of the Republic of Benin, West Africa, with a focus on how they relate to their tikedimɔmɔnte (true totem(s), literally “interdict(s)-true”). I start with an historical review of totemism, the debates it generated and how these contributed to the recent ontological turn in anthropology. I then explore the theoretical ideas I use for my analysis, which include “presencing” and the “ontological penumbra” (J. Merz 2017b; J. Merz and S. Merz 2017). Presencing builds on semiotics by explaining how people make meaning present through their engagement in and with the world around them, whilst ontological penumbras are the shadowy spaces of limbo that affect our whole being and that people need to negotiate as part of making sense of their engagement with the world. As part of these theoretical frameworks, I examine the “onton”, as introduced by Johannes Merz (2017b). Ontons are experiential, agentive and relational entities that are the result of presencing processes. Ontons, however, cannot be divided into representations (signifiers) and represented (signified) as signs can. An engagement in the world between different entities in an ontonic and thus nonrepresentational sense necessitates my introducing further notions including shared “ontonity” (instead of shared humanity) and “ontonhood” (rather than personhood). I demonstrate how these theoretical ideas work with reference to human-animal relations primarily amongst the Bebelibe in the Commune of Cobly. In order to do this, I provide an in-depth, “thick description” (Geertz 1973) ethnography that explores how people perceive and relate to animals through hunting, domestication, attitudes to eating meat, animal commodification, reincarnation, shapeshifting and totemism. As part of my analysis I also examine the impact of Christianity on human-animal relations by exploring several incidents involving Christians and their tikedimɔmɔnte. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Maps and Figures 7 Acknowledgements 8 Maps 10 Linguistic Note 13 Introduction 15 Background 17 Totemism 24 Overview 26 Chapter One 30 An Historical Review of Totemism 30 Evolutionism and Early Views: From Lubbock to Durkheim 32 Functionalism and Structuralism: Radcliffe-Brown, Lévi-Strauss and Others 53 Prevailing Semiotics and the Ontological Turn 61 Chapter Two 73 Research-Shadows and Rocks 73 Negotiating the Ontological Penumbra 73 Johannes, my Counterpart 81 Insider or Outsider? 85 Being an Anthropologist and a Christian 88 Participating in the Community 91 Research Conducted 95 Phase One 95 Phase Two 107 Chapter Three 109 4 Presencing and the Onton 109 Ontological Overview 111 Presencing Practices 120 Chapter Four 127 Hunting and Domestication 127 What Is an Animal? 127 Hunting 132 Domestication 143 Property or Sentient Beings? 145 Ploughing-Cattle 150 Territorial Control and Breeding 155 Chapter Five 160 Killing and Consumption 160 Social Consumption 165 Tiyɔsite (restoration) 169 Sickness, Danger and Animals Behaving Badly 181 Commodification 184 Chapter Six 203 Body-shifting 203 Socialising Crocodiles and Mischievous Monkeys 205 Big Cats and Elephants 215 Chapter Seven 222 Totem Crocodiles and Pythons 222 How the Crocodile Saved an Unammucaanɔ 223 The Headstrong Girl and the Python 224 How Our Ancestor Became Fully Human 226 Ani-mates 233 Family Status 240 5 Then and Now: Re-animating the Totemism Debate 243 Vignette One: Emile the Baker 247 Vignette Two: 1960s Crocodile Killings 254 The Role of Myths 260 Chapter Eight 265 Human-Animal Relations and Their Ontological Implications 265 Robert’s Story 275 Relational Complexities and Becoming 277 Conclusion 292 Appendices 299 How the Dog Saved Ukɔɔnɔ 299 Bebelibe Communities 299 Communities Represented by Interviewees 299 Other Mbelime-speaking Communities 301 Homestead Sketches 302 Figures 304 Sacrifices 308 Glossary 309 General Terms 309 Animals 317 Bibliography 321 6 List of Maps and Figures Map 1: The Republic of Benin and Surrounding Areas 10 Map 2: The Commune of Cobly and Surrounding Areas 11 Map 3: Bebelibe Communities and Neighbouring Groups 12 Homestead Sketch 1 302 Homestead Sketch 2 302 Homestead Sketch 3 303 Homestead Sketch 4 303 Figure 1: Two female and one male bɛhidibɛ 304 Figure 2: Akunpe and sorghum beer 304 Figure 3: One of Basaadi’s kɛyawedikɛ 305 Figure 4: Ditade at base of baobab tree 305 Figure 5: Cow head with knife, meat morsels and cornmeal porridge 306 Figure 6: Ya̰nta medicine horns 306 Figure 7: Dog roast 307 Figure 8: Soya cheese made by Geneviève and her family 307 7 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the friendship and collaboration of the following people who agreed to be interviewed or provided information in other ways. Sadly, several of them have died† in the meantime. Arekpa Abibe Komou Taouéma Kokou Simkoua Jean Biga Abdoulaye Issiaka M’boma Sinhouga Soma Wenyani Jacques Douté Jeanne Moutouama Alphonse Tabidiéni Rachelle Douté Rachelle Tchiéké Moutouama François Taouéma Kouagou Elisée Gnammi Jonas Moutouama Kombetto Taouéma Léontine Gnammou Dominique Moutouama Kossi Taouéma Osée Gnammou Moutouama Moutouama Laurent Tawéma Kombetto Gnammou Toumoundagou Moutouama Nicodème Tawéma Kombiéni Hountondji Leonie† Moutouama Philippe Tchétékoua Daniel Idani Cocou Moïse Nambima N’Ouémou Tchétékoua Kombetto Idani Namboni† Nambima Yadou Thomas Tchétékoua Rebecca Issifou Afoua Namboni N’Tcha Comlan Toumoundagou Béhinin Kombetto André† Nèkoua Yaté Toumoundagou Jean Kombetto Denise N’Sermè Jacob Toumoundagou Julienne Kombetto Emmanuel N’Sermè Sambiénou Toumoundagou Vincent Kombetto Martine N’Tadé Boniface† Toumoundagou Albert† Kombetto N’Ouemou N’Touni Sanhongou Yantékoua Etienne Kombetto Opportune Sambiéni N’Koua Yantékoua N’Tcha Kossi Kombetto Simon Sambiéni N’Naki Pauline Yarou Fatima Kombetto Valery Sambiéni Pauline Yebè Daniel Kombiènou Monique Sambiéni Salifou Youalé Takpèmè Sanhonga Komou Jean Sanhongou Kouoti Hélène Ziminri Etienne It is important for the majority of those who collaborated in my research that they are properly acknowledged (see Phase One, Chapter Two). I have used pseudonyms in the main text, however, to help safeguard the identity of those who feature in my thesis. I have maintained the nature of their first name (French or local), but this is not indicative of their religious orientation. 8 I also want to thank: SIL Togo-Benin for allowing me to pursue my postgraduate studies. Samantha Hurn and Tom Rice for their much-appreciated guidance and encouragement during the past three years. Sambiéni Bienvenue and N’Tadé Claire for their invaluable help with networking and establishing new contacts, interpreting during interviews, transcribing and back-translating Mbelime recordings, and helping with household tasks. And finally, a heartfelt “thanks” to Johannes, my husband and counterpart, for his encouragement to persevere, patiently enduring my verbal processing of ideas and providing feedback, taking on other tasks that allowed me to focus on my studies, and preparing much needed tasty curries. 9 Maps Map 1: The Republic of Benin and Surrounding Areas J. Merz, 2017. Used with permission. 10 Map 2: The Commune of Cobly and Surrounding Areas J. Merz, 2018. Used with permission. Cobly, the main administrative town for the Commune. Other villages visited during my research. 11 Map 3: Bebelibe Communities and Neighbouring Groups J. & S. Merz, 2018. 12 Linguistic Note Mbelime (formerly known as Niendé or Nyende) is a Gur or Voltaic language (Simons and Fennig 2017) spoken by the Bebelibe (sg. Ubielo), the auto- ethnonym of those who speak Mbelime. For the purpose of this thesis, with the exception of the words “Mbelime”, “Bebelibe” and “Ubielo”,1 I have spelt vernacular terms according to the Mbelime orthography (J. Merz et al. 2017). Although Mbelime is a tonal language, I have not marked tone, as this would be meaningless to most readers. One of the more challenging aspects of spoken Mbelime, as well as other related languages in the region, is that people use the phones [l], [r] and [ɖ] in free variation. Following French convention (French being Benin’s national language), /ɛ/ should be written as “è”, but is often written as “e” or even “é”; whilst /u/ is written as “ou” or sometimes “u” and /ɔ/ is often written as “ô”. Consequently Mbelime, Bebelibe and Ubielo have been spelt in a variety of ways in literature (Mbèlimè, Mbélimé, Mbèdimè, Mbèrme; Bèbèlibè, Bèbèdibè; Bèbèrbè; Oubièlô, Oubièrô, Oubièdô, for example). Further variations of Mbelime, Bebelibe and Ubielo result when people mix different conventions. Mbelime vowels are pronounced as follows in English: /a/ as [ɑ:] as in “daft” /e/ as [eɪ] as in “hey” /ɛ/ as [ɛ] as in “bed” /i/ as [i:] as in “pea” /o/ as [ǝʊ] “go” /ɔ/ as [ɒ] in “hot” /u/ as [u:] as in “blue” 1 When writing in Mbelime, these words are written as Mbɛlimɛ, Bɛbɛlibɛ and Ubiɛlɔ. The correct French spelling for these words is: mbèlimè, Bèbèlibè and Oubièlo. Otherwise, when writing Mbelime words with nominal class markers, the phoneme /d/ is used for the three phones [l], [r] and [ɖ]. The phonemes /l/ and /r/ are used for loan words that have them. 13 Each vowel is articulated, including word-final vowels, so /Bɛbɛlibɛ/ is pronounced as [bɛ-bɛ-li-bɛ], for example. Some Mbelime vowels can be nasal.

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