Regina Darkey
Madam Regina Darkey is a life-long resident of the Kpenoe Traditional Area, where she is a farmer, trained seamstress, and storyteller. Regina acquired her storytelling skills at an early age from one of her uncles who would gather the youth in the evenings to tell them stories as a means of education, and entertainment, and also to prevent them from succumbing to peer pressure.
As a farmer, Regina raises livestock and the following crop farming: cassava, maize, rice, beans, leafy greens, fruit, and vegetables for sale in the market. She also grows food for her family. Regina is a talented singer and serves as the chorister of the Kpenoe E.P. Church.
For all the generations in memory, the Èwè of Ghana’s Volta Region have relied on storytelling to rehearse their community values. Storytellers gain a reputation for their ability to spin a story. The community excitedly await a storytelling performance when Regina Darkey agrees to perform.
Traditional storytelling, as a genre, consists of narratives that play a fundamental role in a Ghanaian society. These include ideas or stories that are used to explain beliefs, events, and cycles. They may involve the actions of supernatural beings and occurrences.
Traditional stories or beliefs were once widely believed but may have lost their power and impact in terms of religion and spirituality. However, the narratives continue to impact the values and norms while telling moral stories and being used to educate the young about culture, appropriate socialization, and reinforce the ethnic group.
Regina Dake, a farmer from the town of Kpenoe near Ho, Volta Region’s capital, weaves a story:
The king’s ram repeatedly invades an Old Lady’s farm and eats her market vegetables. One day, the Old Lady has had enough. She catches the ram, kills it, and sends the meat home for cooking. The family will need firewood to cook the ram, and the Old Lady directs her grandchild to fetch some wood. As the grandchild walks to the bush, she sings, “Fia f’agbotsu ke!” A townsperson overhears her song and informs the King about the killing of his ram. The King orders the Old Lady executed and the grandchild enslaved. The moral of the story, “When you hide, people will find out.”
Fia ʄ’agbotsu ke, The king’s ram,
Mama wui lo, Grandma killed it,
Mama ɖaa míɖu Grandma cooked it—
Àzì góró! A giant peanut! (Regina Dake, 13 May 2016)
Dake sings “Fia F’Agbotsu Ke” using the voice of a small child. After each phrase of her song, the assembled farmers and their families respond with the line, “Àzì góró”/ “Oh, goody! A large peanut! There will be a lot to eat.” This story is a community favorite. Everyone rises, dances and claps. They laugh loudly showing their appreciation for the subtle changes in text and emphasis that Dake has incorporated to make the story her own.