THE TALLENSI 357
Na'am brings Taleland into the political orbit of the Mamprusi, The prototype and fountain-head of all no! am is the Chief of Mam-purugu. To be valid, the mystical attributes which constitute its essence must be ritually vested in the holder by him or by someone endowed with net am by him. Na'am is also an ancestral heritage and therefore most appropriately held by those who belong to the same stock as the Chief of Mampurugu, i.e. the Namoos. Accordingly, the elector of most Tale and many Gore chiefships is one of his sub-chiefs, the Kuna'aba, The Toyraana alone among Tale chiefs elects subordinate chiefs, on the same princple. A hierarchy of chiefships results, all miniature replicas of, the fountain-head na'am in structure and participating in its mystical virtue.
But the analogy of a feudal system1 would be misleading. The chiefs appointed by a single elector — and by extension their clansmen — speak of themselves as 'kinsmen' (mabiis). In Taleland they assisted one another in war, sometimes to the detriment of ties of real clanship or of ritual collaboration.2 They would also protect one another's clansmen from illegitimate molestation by their own people. Similarly, Tale chiefs refer to Kuna'aba as their 'father' (ba), implying that they owe him loyalty, respect, and ceremonial deference. They would not make war on his settlement nor he on any of theirs. They would try to protect clansmen of his travelling in Taleland from molestation, as he would their clansmen travelling in Mampurugu. But Kuna'aba has no economic, juridical, administrative, or military rights sanctioned by the native political system over any Tale chief. His ceremonial investiture by Kuna'aba is the crucial act conferringchiefship on a man (even if he isactuallyselected by an administrative officer). Nevertheless, Kuna'aba'smodernjudi-cial and administrative authority rests solely on the sanction offeree represented by the Administration. It is significant that he was
1 The Administration has always regarded Taleland as part of the
State', undex1 the ultimate rule of the Chief of Mampurugu, through his sub-chief and deputy, the Kuna'aba, who was considered to have full jurisdiction over 'Kurugu Division*. Kuna'aba and his councillors were created a Native Authority and Court in 1932 as the only official court in the Division vested with judicial and administrative authority. In the native political system, Kuna'aba's sphere of electoral authority does not correspond to a political or 'tribal' unit.
2 e.g. the people of Sii, Talis by clanship ties and ritual observance but holding a chiefship from Kuna'aba, together with their clansmen the people of Yindu'uri, usually supported Tongo in war against their fellow Talis for this