THE HISTORY BEHIND THE NA’DATAA TUA.
Born and grew up in the northern region, Yendi to be precisely. The capital city of the Dagbon Kingdom. Many have been hearing the name Na’dataa Tua but never know what it’s about, where it is and probably why the tree was named Na’dataa Tua.
In this article, I will tell you a brief story about the colonial baobab tree called Na’dataa tua. The historical tree is found in Northern part of Yendi, Kuga.
You know what? There’s no need to jump into the dance floor when the big drum is not sound yet.
Let’s understand the meaning of the word ‘Na’dataa Tua’ here. The ‘Naa’ in the Dagbani language or dialet means a chief, ‘Dataa’ means a rival and Tua means a baobab tree. So, when you bring the three words together, you will get ‘Na’dataa Tua’ – thus, ‘The Chief’s Rival Tree’.
Before colonization, it was believe that, any man who found guilty of haven had an intimacy with any of the King wives will be sent to the Na’dataa Tua for the executioner to take care of the culprit head.
In one of the images below, you will see a stone, and it’s believed that, the executioner used to carry all the exercises on that stone. And when that’s done, the head will be thrown into the baobab tree’s hole. That was centuries back. This culture is no longer practice anywhere in the kingdom Dagbon.
Today many children, even grown ups in Yendi don’t know where the Na’dataa Tua is situated. Some don’t even know that, there’s somthing like that existed about 300 to 400 years back.
The Na’dataa or the baobab tree and the stone is still there and when visit Yendi today you will see it.
My visit to the Na’dataa Tua on the 26th March, 2023 brought the idea that, the Overload of the Dagbon Kingdom and the Yendi municipal assembly can make the place a tourist site.
By doing so, they can fence the place and make it look nice and attractive for visiters. This will go a long way to generate revenue for the kingdom.
It will also educate the young ones to know more about the Dagbon Kingdom. Less do many know that, Dagbon is one of the oldest Kingdom in West Africa. Let’s tell our story to the world.
Yendi Online 