The relevance of indigenous communication systems amidst emerging modern media of mass communication - the case of Dagomba drummers (lunsi) of the northern region of Ghana

Abstract The paper focuses on lunsi (drummers) as promoters of indigenous communication in the Dagbon Kingdom in Ghana. The study fills a gap in research about lunsi cultural performances as indigenous communication. In ethnographic research, the study relied on personal observations, key informant interviews and focus group discussions to collect data from chiefs, elders and lunsi. A major finding of the study is that lunsi are vessels of speech, which not only transmit messages and entertain audiences but more importantly they encapsulate the Dagomba culture and strive to preserve it. The study concluded that the emergence of modern media of mass communication seems to trigger concerns about the survival of lunsi as a means of communication and transmission of culture. The study notes that the ubiquitous nature of modern mass media rather offers the lunsi a unique opportunity and a lever to strengthen cross-cultural communication and preserve the cultural patrimony of the Dagomba people.


Introduction
Indigenous communication systems are an integral part of the African socio-cultural heritage despite the introduction of modern forms of communication which seem to influence Africans to turn away from most of their traditional modes of communication (Ibagere, 1994cited in Wefwafwa, 2014, p. 301).There appears to be tension between indigenous modes of communication and modern mass media in both the urban and rural settings, with subtle shifts in the sociocultural structure.Possibly, contemporary traditional modes of communication exist by the "grace" of the slow pace of development or modernisation in many parts of Africa (Ibagere, 1994 cited by Wefwafwa, 2014) In Ghana the rate of change in traditional communication is fast, yet many traditional groups still make use of indigenous modes of communication like drumming.
Currently, it appears modern forms of communication and entertainment are reducing the relevance of the lunsi in, Dagbon 1 making people think that these lunsi do not play any significant role in communication (Zablong, 2010), but they play an important role as preservers of history and transmitters of the culture.
Moreover, despite the emergence of modern media, it is still the lunsi who announce the death of a chief or any other elderly person in Dagbon.The lunsi are primarily "court musicians", but they are not mere entertainers; like the griots in other parts of West Africa, they play a much more important role as preservers of the genealogies of the ruling class, the repository of the history of the people (McKenna, 2009) and holders of cultural wisdom.In fact, they live and relive the history of the people of Dagbon (Hudu, 2021;Salifu, 2010).Hudu (2021) has noted that the maintenance of the languages of performance is part of the practitioners' desire to preserve the cultural heritage of Dagbamba.In many instances, there is the belief that without a drummer there is no royalty and without royalty there is no group (Zablong, 2010).This tells how important the drummers are in Dagbon.
The lunga is an hour-glass shaped drum, and refers to both the instrument and the player, and the plural for both is lunsi (drums/drummers).There are two main instruments used in the performance of the lunsi; a small drum and the big drum.The small drum is the lunga and the big drum is known as gungong.A single gungong can be used to accompany one or several lunsi (drums) as an ensemble, and a lunga (drummer) can perform with or without the accompaniment of both instruments.
The lunga is an hour-glass shaped drum, with skin covering at both ends and thin leather strings holding the two ends (Plate 1).It can be played alone, but most of the time it is accompanied by the big drum called gungong.The lunga is placed under the armpit of the drummer, with his thumb he clutches a number of the leather strings and as he strikes the drumhead he pulls and releases the strings while his upper arm exerts and relaxes pressure on the instrument under the armpit.This produces the desired combination of high and low pitches of the drum language.The lunga is much more difficult to master than the big drum because the former is a "talking drum"; when the drummer plays it, he sends out messages that are "heard" and understood by those who know the language (Plate 2).
The gungong is a short cylindrical drum with the two open ends covered with animal hide.It produces a deeper and louder sound than the lunga, and complements the lunga by providing the rhythm that a dancer matches his steps to.A respondent said that firstly, the lunsi strike the Plate 1: Lunga instrument.
Source: Field Work, 2020.instrument called the lunga with a drum stick and then sing to say it verbally for the audience to understand better.This means that there is the blend of drumming and singing to disseminate the required information to the audience by the lunsi.
Studies done on the lunsi of Dagbon have focused on their role in preserving the culture of Dagbon but have failed to look at their role in communication in Dagomba society (Plockey & Asuro, 2018).There is no research yet on the performance of the lunsi as an indigenous communication system in Dagbon and it is in light of this gap that this study seeks to examine the role of lunsi as an indigenous communication mode among the Dagomba.The potentials the indigenous media have on the general development of traditional societies are many and there is the need for research to establish what roles such media can play in the modern era and in grassroots development generally.The study seeks to answer the following research questions: (i) What role do the lunsi play in indigenous communication in the Dagbon Traditional area?
(ii) How is information disseminated by the lunsi?(iii) How relevant is the role of lunsi in Dagbon in the modern era?
The research used an ethnographic methodology since the Dagbon lunsi is performed by social communities and needs to be properly interpreted by interviewing participants (Allen, 2017).Ethnography is much more favored because it offered the interviewers the opportunity to engage entirely in the practices of lunsi.Primary data was gathered through personal observation, focus group discussion and interviews.Secondary data was sourced from books, journals, dissertations and selected websites.
The sample unit for the study included selected communities in the Tamale Metropolitan arealunsi and some selected elderly men and women who are knowledgeable in drum language.The Tamale Metropolitan area comprises four traditional areas (Gukpegu, Sagnargu, Banvim and Lamashegu) each headed by a chief who exercises authority over the area in matters related to land, settlement of disputes between families, rallying the people for communal activities and other customary matters.Each traditional area has its own lunsi with the chief as their principal patron and a chief drummer (Lung Naa), who is the leader of all lunsi in the traditional area.The position of chief drummer is hereditary and anyone occupying it may not necessarily be the best lunga, but he would have had to rise through the ranks such that he would have acquired considerable experience or knowledge of the lunsi tradition.In that respect, the chief drummer is the best person to consult in matters of their profession, unless he directs you to any of his Plate 2: Gungong instrument.
subordinates.For this reason, the chief drummers of all the four traditional areas were the obvious choices as key informant interviews, and all of them agreed to be interviewed.
Every chief of a traditional area has a number of elders who advise him and sit in council with him to take decisions on the area.They are persons with considerable knowledge of the history and customs of their traditional areas, and among them is the one who speaks for the chief.One elder from each traditional was purposefully selected as a respondent, making a total of eight key informants.
Four focus group discussions of 8-12 persons in a group were also held.Participants in each group included at least two drummers, two or three members of any youth group and any three or four other adult natives of the area.

Historical overview of the lunsi in Dagbon
According to oral tradition the first lunsi were descendants of the founder of the Dagbon Kingdom, Naa Nyagse, whose son, Bizung is said to have been the ancestor of all lunsi (Oppong, 1967).Bizung was an orphan and at meal times he was often neglected, and he had to use ingenuity to draw attention to himself to be served by striking on a calabash with a stick.The King made him a small drum and he learned to sing to entertain his father as he drummed.Soon his father died but Bizung continued with his drumming and singing within the palace for the other royals, who to this day are the principal patrons of the lunsi of Dagbon.
The lunsi play an important role in preserving and sustaining the culture and history of the people (Oppong, 1973& Zablong, 2010).In fact, they live and relive the history of the people of Dagbon.Much has been written about them, but little has been written about their role in transmitting the culture or their role in informing the people about contemporary events (Oppong, 1967).This study focuses on the role they play in promoting indigenous communication in Dagbon.
Lunsi are the traditional historians who keep the history of Dagbon in memory, which is recited any time there is the need for it (Zablong, 2010).One of such occasions is the epic historical narrative performed for important chiefs on special occasions (Bussotti, 2015).Lunsi, as part of the heritage of the society, do not only use the historical narratives to unite the people but also use them to let the chiefs know who they are by tracing the chain of their genealogies.

Types of lunsi performances and performers
The lunsi classify their performances into two main types; kali lunsi and daa lnusi, based on the occasion of performance and the audience.According to Zablong (2010), daa lunsi, literally translated, means "market drummers/drumming".Daa lunsi are all types of performances of the lunsi outside the palaces.This means all performances that take place for the general populace, except those that take place at the various palaces throughout Dagbon.These are performed anytime, anywhere for any Dagomba apart from chiefs.Such performances can be done at the market place (thus the name "market drumming") and even in drinking bars, or in homes where pito, a locally brewed beer from guinea corn, was sold (Zablong, 2010).On the other hand, kali lunga are performances that take place at the King's court and at the palaces of chiefs.The King of Dagbon and the chiefs and members of the ruling classes are the principal patrons of the lunsi, thus kali lunga may be translated as "heritage drumming" and is characterised by the narration of the genealogies of their royal patrons in both drum language and voice, interspersed with laudatory epithets and proverbs, and historical narratives.
Three types of drummers are also generally recognised as "good drummers": those who know the historical facts about the chiefship; such drummers need not necessarily have melodious voices but they are generally appreciated most by the elderly and those who are interested in knowing about the past.Then, there are those who have "sweet" voices and may or may not know the history very well; these are generally most appreciated (Plockey & Asuro, 2018) by the young men.Thirdly, there are those with a "flexible wrist"; that is, those who can play well and let the drum do the "talking" (Oppong, 1967).

Theoretical and conceptual framework
The theoretical stance of the paper supports "endogeneity" that is African scholarship that affirms socio-cultural context, experience/s, African subjectivities and insights and knowledge (from within); and in doing so, centres Africa, removing it from the margins/isolation (Mafeje, 2000).The theory espouses that indigenous knowledge is in continual (not inherently antagonistic) interaction with other knowledge systems, and because of that it is being re-vitalised and remains dynamic spanning different generations.Lunsi drummers do not merely entertain but essentially convey meaning to communities in which they perform.Thus, indigenous communication system creates communion in the process of performances enacted by lunsi drummers, which are impregnated with verbal and non-verbal messages.
As depicted in Figure 1, the overarching message transmitted by the lunsi and related symbolism communicated amongst the drummers and the audience leads to co-creation and sharing of meaning as a marker of their common identity.Given the relevance of drumbeats/ language of the lunsi, the statement that "Language and culture are the heart of building cohesive communities, without which there can be no equitable development" (STAR-GHANA, 2014), underpins the role of the lunsi in portraying and sustaining the culture in the Dagomba traditional area and beyond with the facilitation of modern mass media of communication.Notably, the lunsi communicate meaning to community members who take interest in their performance by sharing age-old revered messages worth preservation for future generations.Thus, the lunsi nurture community through symbolic performances, which create the context for interactions of peo ple.Source: Adopted from Manyozo (2018) communication takes place within the group who are involved in the communication process.This is to say that the Lunsitransmit messages among themselves.On the other hand, communication can be vertical in nature.This means that communication is directed to the larger community of the society in which it takes place.According to Mersham et al. (1995, p. 52), it is essential that successful communication with communities is approached within a purposeful and interactional framework.

Occasions for performance of lunsi
The lunsi performances are aligned to occasions and audiences with different content in the messages they deliver.During focus group discussions, it was confirmed that the occasions on which the lunsi perform can be categorized into two.Some of the participants described the two as obligatory performances and non-obligatory performances', but the descriptions showed that they match the categorization of daa lunga and kali lunga by Zablong (2010).
The obligatory performances include the weekly Monday and Friday dawn drumming at the chief's palace, which is called "Biegunaayo".It is also obligatory for lunsi to be present to drum for the enskinment of a new chief.Lunsi accompany their chief on his trips to other villages or towns to attend funerals or for the celebration of the Damba festival with another chief, or for public gatherings with government officials.In fact, there will be no gathering of chiefs without drummers, and when a chief arrives at a gathering without his own drummers, other drummers already present will meet him as he arrives, and usher him into the grounds.It is also the duty of lunsi to play at the funerals of chiefs, royals and elderly persons.A solemn drums-only requiem formally announces a chief's demise, and drumming forms part of the burial rites as the lunsi recount, both in song and drum language, the long list of the deceased chief's progenitors as the corpse is laid to rest.At every stage of a chief's funeral, which may run over the course of a year or more, lunsi are present.
In the past, accompanying the chief to war was one of the duties of lunsi.A drummer recounts in Chernoff (2023, p. 4): Sometimes it can happen too that a chief will go for a war.In the olden days when they wanted to go to war, they would go with soldiers and drummers.
The role of drummers was to motivate the warriors and to inspire them by reminding them of the victories of their forefathers: . . . the drummer would be beating the drum behind the chief.We even have some words we say when a chief is frightened and wants to run away, and we say these words and the chief will not be able to run away.(Chernoff, 2023, p. 4) Other obligatory performances of drummers are discussed in detail in section 5.4.
The non-obligatory performances, which have been described as daa lunga, include performances at the market place, marriage and naming ceremonies, funeral or at other public gatherings and festivities.In modern times, the gathering of people for public events like political rallies or welfare association events also often have lunsi in attendance either by invitation or of their own volition because they can always get the obligatory tip for singing praises to people.
On market days between the hours of 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm when the market becomes flooded with people the lunsi attend the market to play and praise traders and customers as they go about their businesses or as they chat among friends.Occasionally announcements are passed to the lunsi to make; for example, lost or found articles and other social announcements.
The lunsi play this instrument to praise God.They also play to praise Dagbon kings and chiefs and royals and this is done during festival celebrations and also during funerals of the kings, chiefs and elders of Dagbon.During enskinment of a new chief, naming of new borns, during communal labour, weddings, market days and public gatherings we are there to drum.With all these we are invited except the following four: "Biegunaayo", damba festival, and the fire festival.We don't go to any function without invitation.(A Respondent, 5 th May, 2020)

Relevance of lunsi indigenous communication performances
The lunsi are the historians and custodians of Dagbon culture as well as the preservers of the culture and tradition of the kingdom.They preserve the history, culture and traditions of the people in their memory and transmit them through drumming, poetry, and songs.That is to say they are the recorders and articulators of historical and present events.
As keepers of Dagbon history, they preserve the past of the people of Dagbon in view and in memory.They serve as sources of information regarding the culture of the people using historical narrations during their performances.This gives the opportunity for the gathering including those who are not familiar with some of the past events to learn.When people are in dispute over historical events or a traditional custom related to royalty, it is to an elderly lunga that they turn for resolution.
With a combination of narratives that are sung and tunes that are played on their drums the lunsi make it easy for people who want to learn about their culture and tradition to do so.The language of the drums itself is understood only by the royals and other non-royals who have taken interest in it, but the genealogies and historical narratives that are sung are easy to understand by many.
The lunsi also play another mundane communication role.Chiefs normally pass important messages through their elders, but in cases of emergencies when an announcement needs to be made for a public gathering or communal labour or a government function it is a lunga who is tasked to make the announcement like a "town crier".The lunga goes round the community at dusk, beats his drum to attract the attention of the audience before delivering the message.

The audiences of the lunsi
Although lunsi may play for anyone, including non-natives, who needs their services for any occasion, their principal patrons, as indicated earlier, are the chiefs and members of the royal families.Other descendants of Naa Gbewaa, the progenitor of the Mole-Dagomba group comprising the Mamprusi, Dagomba, Nanumba and Kusaasi in Ghana and the Mossi in Burkina Faso are also considered as their patrons.
However, on any occasion where the lunsi are present to entertain, they have an eclectic patronage and anyone can be selected and approached to be played for and sang to.Sometimes a lunga only needs to know where a person comes from or which ethnic group he or she belongs to, and the lunga will use his creativity to make a praise song for him or her.In this respect, even a Caucasian can be a patron.

A respondent said:
The audiences of the lunsi messages are primarily the sons and daughters of Yaa Naa (the King of Dagbon).That is to say it targets mostly Dagombas but there are instances where the messages go beyond.In many occasions such as national platforms or occasions that bring together people of different backgrounds, the lunsi do not concentrate only on Dagomba but the entire gathering.(A Respondent, 5 th May, 2020) Indeed, elements of communication, history, and social identification are all interwoven in every performance of lunsi.Even on purely social occasions when lunsi are invited to entertain, the choice of a tune or dance by an individual communicates something about that person's lineage.
For instance, there are dance tunes associated with various royal lineages and various social groups like butchers, black smiths and hunters, as well as other ethnic groups like the Mossi from Burkina Faso, who are distant relations of the Dagbamba, or neighbouring ethnic groups like the Gonja or Frafra.So, when a person requests a particular tune, that sends a message about his or her identity.The drumming may be preceded or accompanied by praise singing by a lunga, which firmly establishes the family or lineage of the individual, or his links (paternal or maternal) to a lineage.

Biegunaayo
Biegunaayo simply means "day break" which is a performance to wake the chief up to attend to visitors who will be coming to the palace.Biegunaayo is performed at the palaces of chiefs at dawn around five o'clock on Mondays and Fridays, and on the mornings of the two Muslim festival days.Mondays and Fridays are the days every chief in Dagbon sits in court to be "greeted" (i.e. to receive homage) by his elders and to have audience with visitors.The lunsi play on these days to announce daybreak, wake the chief up and remind him of the progression of the week or the arrival of a festival.Though a chief may receive visitors on other days except Wednesday and Saturday, the customary ceremonial days are Monday and Friday.
Besides "waking up" the chief to prepare to receive his visitors, the performance of biegunaayo also reminds the chief and his elders of the days of the week.Biegunaayo also helps remind the chiefs and their elders to seek wisdom, protection and guidance from God because these are days on which every chief organises prayers in the form of Qur'anic recitation or shares food to children as alms.
The Monday and Friday morning Biegunaayo is, however, not the preserve of the lunsi.On these days, a palace drummer called akarima also plays the twin talking drums (timpana, borrowed from the Ashanti in Southern Ghana) (Hudu, 2021).However, the "language of communication" and the content of the messages of the akarima and goonje are different from those of the lunsi.The akarima's main role is that of "an announcer" of events and of arrivals and departures of visitors from the chief's palace, though he may also have a stock of cryptic praise names that people give him to drum in their praise or to summon them when the chief needs them.Unlike the lunsi, the akarima is not a repository of the chronicles of Dagbon royalty, and his presence is not essential and obligatory in all traditional events surrounding the institution of chieftaincy in Dagbon.Indeed, while every chief needs and uses the services of lunsi, the akarima and his timpana are found only in the palaces of chiefs of high status, and so is the goonje.
The biegunaayo also serves as practicum for younger lunsi learning to follow their fathers' profession, as a drummer explains.
When we go, we go with small drummers who are learning to drum, and it is there that these children get to know how to use their wrists to beat the drum and they also get to know its songs.When we go, if there is a drummer who is learning how to sing, we will let him sing because maybe he will feel shy to sing in the day time.We drummers will beat drums after him for the chief to wake up.When it is early morning and it is a bit dark, whether the small drummer's voice is nice or not nice, he will sing; he will learn it until he knows it, and when he grows up, he will know the work of drumming.He won't feel shy again, and if he takes his head to anyplace, it won't fail him" (Chernoff, 2023, p. 2).

Sambanlunga
The Sambanluga is another crucial and exclusive performance of the lunsi.The sambanlunga is a historical narrative that is rarely performed except for high-ranking chiefs.It is performed for such chiefs on their enskinment and probably once every year during the major Islamic festival of Eidul-Adha.The sambanlunga performance is an opportunity for both royals and the commoners to learn about the history of Dagbon.This is done in the night before or on the eve of the said festival celebration in the presence of the chief and his subjects.
The performance of sambanlunga is divided into two major sessions; the zeritobu (laying foundation for the main performances) and the second session is Nabalima (main performance) which is the narration of the epic where the drummers take the audience to another stage by changing the tempo and rhythm to tell them that they have reached the climax of poetry.At this point, the singer calls on the chief to grant him the permission to proceed with the task when the permission is granted.
Zeritobu is not a separate performance by itself, but it serves as a preamble to the main narration, and it is believed that if the drummer goes through this stage successfully, he will succeed in all performances at the next stage.It is a serious embarrassment if a drummer commits errors during the epic poetry recitation.For this reason, only a few experienced drummers dare accept an invitation to perform sambanlunga.
In the performance of the event, the poet recounts the genealogies of drummer ancestors whose blessings and protection he wishes for that performance.As he recounts their histories, he furbishes up the family tree; showing the history between the kings and the drummers, and again, invoking the spirits of these ancestors and drum spirits (the instrument is believed to have a soul on its own) informing them that the night is for them, leading with them to enable the performer have an excellent performance, for failure is unbefitting of them.As he enumerates these ancestors, he salutes them with their praise epithets as well.The singer opens with the call: "yetoga yelima ka ndeei bohim yeligu" (the spirit of oratory, speak so that I may learn to speak) (Salifu, 2008).The next call is: N' yaba pamima zim ka m moni sagim zunzung'o (grandfather, add flour into the pot so that I stir-up) (Respondent, 1st January, 2020).
To wit, he is asking the grandfather to take control of the situation, for, he as a mere child cannot handle this unassisted.It is believed that both the spirit of the instrument and the ancestors of the singer play a major role during the performance.Failure to acknowledge any of them can cause his mess-up which is a serious embarrassment not only to the lunga (singer) but to the king and his elders as well.During this performance, the drummers recount the history of legendary and renowned personalities of Dagbon.The narratives are often eulogising the past chiefs, warlords and other legendary figures.This occasion has spiritual connotation in it and is therefore mythical as the drummers invoke the spirits of their ancestors to guide them in their epic poetry narrations.It is imperative that in detailing the genealogy of past chiefs, the performer does not make a mistake, for if he does, it is an abomination and a serious disgrace to the entire family of such a drummer.
After the successful conclusion of the preliminary stage of zeritobu the drummer moves to the next stage, "Na Balima" at which stage the drummers change the tempo and rhythm, signalling that another high point has been reached, a stage in which they do not only acknowledge their benefactor but also seek for permission to proceed with their assignment.This is the idea Salifu (2008) acknowledges that he, the performer asks the chief to come out and supplicate for God's intercession, so that the nation will be peaceful and prosperous.As the drummers continue to persuade the king to come out using his beautiful praise names, he will eventually come out and listen to the history of his successors and his own story.A drummer made it clear that, during this occasion, they tell the king both the successes and failures of his predecessors with emphasis on the successes and urge him to copy the good examples of his predecessors.
An important aspect of sambanlunga is that it combines music, narrative, song and drama.One of the most popular episodes of the sambanlunga is the episode of the victory of one of the Kings of Dagbon, Na Luro, in a battle against an enemy king.Once the lunga, in his narration, reaches the point where Na Luro decapitates the enemy, the drummers break into the victory dance called bangumanga.
All this while, some women who would have been waiting for this moment inside the palace will troop out dancing into the grounds carrying pots and pans to enact the victory of Na Luro.At this point, the audience are no longer passive recipients of history lessons but become vicarious participants in the history.Table 1 provides a summary of the types of performances by lunsi.

The lunsi and the emergence of new communication technologies
Though a lunga no longer goes round the village in the evenings to make announcements from the chief's palace as it was done in the past, that role having now been taken over by the numerous FM radio stations in Dagbon, the emergence of modern media of mass communication has not reduced the relevance of this ancient form of communication; on the contrary the modern media is promoting indigenous communication especially the art of lunsi.
The modern forms of communication have become a tool which lunsi can deploy for relevance.There is a blending of the modern and indigenous communication that may sustain the work of the lunsi.This is seen in the use of lunsi music by local radio and television networks and the presence of lunsi in almost every public function whether a chief is present or not.
A participant at one the FGDs had this to say: Nii binshegu dinkanna dipagiri ndosolizugu' [any new thing that comes leaves its mark along the pathway].Integrating this our culture with modern media can help us a lot.It will help preserve culture and also expose the beauty of the culture to the people of the world and provide opportunity for the young ones tolearn the culture.(Respondent, 1 st June, 2020) The lunsi are regularly invited to perform live on radio and television stations to entertain, educate and inform their audiences.This shows that the lunsi are still relevant to the people and the modern forms of communications can complement and sustain them.Apart from the live performances, video and audio recordings are aired on special traditional programmes, which helps in the preservation of culture and tradition.
A respondent said: The audio songs of the lunsi are played on radio every day.The use of radio, TV and social media platforms helps in spreading our profession.It helps preserve culture and also exposes the beauty of the culture to the people of the world and provides opportunity for the young ones to learn the culture.(Respondent, 1 st June, 2020) There is also the formation of cultural groups among students at the various educational levels.What is needed to be done further is the infusion of cultural content into the educational curriculum.

Discussion
The lunsi are vessels of speech in the Dagbon.They are generally the storehouse of knowledge and traditions of Dagbon.This is clearly demonstrated during Sambanlunga and other performances.These findings are similar to the work of Koroma (2016) who is of the view that culture, tradition and values of human beings are identified and known through the interaction of individuals using language as a medium.Their activities and presence mark and serve as a symbol of identify of the tradition and culture.Their activities are as old as the Dagbon society itself with a long historical antecedent tracing back to where they were first established.Migration and trading activities in Ghana and for that matter the society has brought cultural respect to the work of the lunsi.Even in recent times, they still perform multi-dimensional roles in Dagbon society.This finding is similar to the work of Zablong (2010) who is of the view that the lunsi are a group who preserve and sustain the culture and history of the people.
Despite the contributions and importance of the lunsi to Dagbon, the relationship between lunsi and younger generation is fading due to diminishing recognition of the crucial roles played by lunsi in Dagbon.In these changing times, the lunsi appear to have lost some goodwill among many of the younger generations who are not very familiar with the customs and the obligations that exist between lunsi and their patrons or the people they sing praises It is the custom to give a lunga a small tip in appreciation when he sings your praise.In modern times not many are aware of the tradition, while some people feel that some lunsi embarrass them in public by insisting on singing their praises for a tip even when they decline their overtures.
The use of instruments in the communication process has been supported by Bussotti (2015) who asserted that indigenous communication systems exist alongside exogenous forms such as the mass media, schools, extension services, postal and telephone services.The mass media cannot operate in isolation; it has to operate with the society so as to reflect the needs of the people on one hand (Itsekor et al., 2014).On the other hand, the lunsi rely on the use of traditional mode of communication, even on special occasions when the audiences are heterogeneous and the message is meant for all despite the fact that the non-indigenous folks would not understand the content.
Lunsi play several roles in the promotion of the indigenous knowledge and communication in the Dagbon Kingdom.They also play a communication role in the kingdom.The lunsi ensure horizontal communication in Dagbon in the sense that there is always feedback by way of the appreciation of the audience which is shown by the continuous flow of cash tips from satisfied patrons.The most important roles played by the lunsi however remain as historians and custodians of the royal genealogies Dagbon Kingdom.
They serve as reservoirs of information about the tradition and culture of the people, and as such they are the only people who can communicate it to those who have less knowledge about it through performances and historical narrations during their performances.
The collaboration between various systems in the communication process is similar to the work of Derbile and Laube (2014) who observed that the use of indigenous communication system and knowledge is an opportunity for societal development.That is, they give end-to-end

Category of performance Type of occasion Purpose
Non-Obligatory Performance Marriage and naming ceremonies.
• To grace and entertain the gathering Funerals rites • To bid farewell to elderly people who have passed on • To mourn with the bereaved family at the death of a relative and also entertain them during the funeral.
• Remind the people of their tradition • Giving announcement National occasions • To entertain and grace the occasion • To entertain the gathering • To tell stories or historical accounts Source: Field Data, 2020 communication to the chiefs and the people.They give interpretation and meaning of symbols in the kingdom and also alert the people when there is the possibility of conflict arising.
There exists a complex structure in the operation of the lunsi.They do not work haphazardly; they follow and reflect the multifarious system in which the traditional area operates.This is similar to the finding of Adeniyi (2019) who notes that indigenous communication systems are made up of combination of different media peculiar to the culture of different societies.The top hierarchy of the lunsi is related to the top hierarchy of the various chiefs in the Kingdom of Dagbon.Their activities therefore stand to preserve this unique culture and tradition.
The findings also revealed that they use praise names in the form of proverbs during performances.Salifu (2008) noted that the praise names are categorised into two: negative praises and positive praises.While the positive names intend to give encouragement to the chiefs and advice to the larger audience, the negative ones are meant to give rivalry content to the opponents.This is an act of demeaning the opponent.The use of negative praise names on people is also observed by Nwosu (2013).
Despite the emergence of modern communication systems in Dagbon, indigenous communication still has a place in the communication process in traditional and customary matters.The lunsi sometimes leverage on modern communication technology to make their performances more accessible to the people.Two recent Sambanlunga performances, one on the occasion of the enskinment of a new sub-divisional chief in April 2022, and the other on the night of Eidul-Adha at the court of the King of Dagbon in June 2023, succinctly demonstrated the marriage of tradition with modernity in lunsi communication.While the chiefs sat on the ground in the forecourt of their palaces with the ensemble of drummers facing them and the audiences also seated on the ground on both sides as in the old ways, the presenters of the historical epic narratives sang into microphones that carried their voices through loudspeakers into the night distances.The performances were also captured and streamed on social media; thus, the epic narration of the history that would have been confined to the immediate surroundings of the chiefs' palaces and would have been accessible only to the chief and the audience present, reached Dagbamba in all parts of Dagbon and the diaspora.Oyesomi and Okorie (2013) indicated that effective communication which operates in a society through the mass media cannot operate in isolation because it has to operate with the society so as to reflect the needs of the people.The use of modern mode of communication such as radio, television as well as the recent introduction of social media, has helped in the airing of lunsi activities in the form of recordings which help in reaching the larger world.This, in a way, promotes cross-cultural communication and appreciation of cultural diversities.
There are some suggestions that modern communication has the potential of eroding the culture and modes of traditional ways of communication in the long run.Waisbord and Mellado (2014) has made the contentious observation that traditional modes of communication exist by the "grace" of the slow pace of development or modernisation.There seems to be a disconnection in interpersonal communication between people and the lunsi due to the use of modern means of communication such as radio and television in airing traditional messages.There is the possibility of cultural eradication through the merger of the modern communication with the traditional communication by the lunsi.On the contrary, as illustrated by the use of technology in the recent sambanlunga performances cited above, the work of lunsi can be enhanced by technology.

Conclusion
Lunsi play several roles ranging from serving as the reservoir of knowledge about the tradition, entertainment, and education and give a sense of cultural identity of the unique tradition of Dagbon.They make communication simple and serve as the intermediary between the chiefs and the subjects during durbars.They give interpretation and meaning of symbols in the kingdom and also alert the people when there is the possibility of conflict arising.
Lunsi performances are now challenged by some changes, and the insufficient compensation packages they receive for their performances, which demotivates them.The study concludes that the emergence of modern media of mass communication in Dagbon does not necessarily affect indigenous communication process in the traditional area.The lunsi rather leverage on the presence of the modern communication channels to make their work complete and easier.Modern media of mass communication such as radio, television as well as the recent introduction of social media have been helping in the airing and advertising lunsi activities to the people of Dagbon and the world at large.
In view of the dwindling interest of the youth in the activities lunsi it is recommended that traditional authority in collaboration with the lunsi families establish a training body to whip up interest in lunsi performances by the lunsi groups, and particularly re-orient the performance of the specialised groups, which usually undertake poetry recitation at public events.
Figure 1.Conceptual framework for the lunsi role in indigenous communication in Dagbon.