The Nawuri of Ghana and the Social Life of the Gun

Abstract This paper is a study of the social life of the gun among the Nawuri of Ghana. The introduction of any technology comes along with different forms of appropriation and identity making. For the Nawuri, a Guan group in Ghana, the gun symbolises many things. It plays a critical role in rites of passage. When a baby is born, the news is given to the community through a gunshot. Similarly, when someone passes on, the funeral is also announced through gun shots. Considering the close attachment to the gun by this ethnic group this paper provides insights into the history and culture of the ethnic group using the gun as a lense of analysis. Issues discussed in this paper include the acquisition and uses of the gun among the Nawuri. The paper discusses how the Nawuri tried to understand the gun, a new technology, through the assignment of human attributes to the gun. The paper also illuminates the quest by the Nawuri to obtain honorific titles which emanate from mastery of the use of the gun.