Chapter 1
Ownership, challenges, and consequences are common idioms in the multi-tribal land of Lehleh Clan beginning with the first generation in Jorquelleh Clan among the Jorquelleh Kpelleh people. Lehleh Clan was located in the middle of prominent clans. Her major borders were North, South, East and the west; occupied with famous kings. On the South was the Bassau territory. Beneath it was the creation of the all Almighty God. Waters upon waters were rising, falling and hitting the land. Day and night the water behavior like that, it was water without end. Traditional historians pointed to that direction as the gateway of the white men in the Forest states. In the Eastern region was the large body of fresh water named Jorquelleh River, which separated Lehleh Clan from Nimba Clan. A look above the Western, Northern and Eastern directions were vast territories that went like a desert without end.
Lehleh Clan was the oldest, famous, and the only independent clan among these territories. She was referred to as a mother land. And as a mother land, she was privileged to occupy a unique soil – the soil that struggled to please mankind. Almost everything that existed on this soil struggled to please mankind. This land was not a cruel land. The palm trees gave oils. The forests provided woods for them to build their shelters. Some virtuous trees in the forest heaped their fruits for their consumption, and even the common ropes in the forests provided food and fruits for them.
Their existence had impacts on the forest. When certain portions of the forest were sliced, burnt, and scrubbed for a set purpose; like farming, it worked in favour of you. When the purpose was to breed rice, it bred it abundantly. If a man was tired of breeding rice, he had an option to plan cassava, eddoes or potatoes on the same spot. The soil could manage with the little remaining humus to breed the plant up to please such a person. The soil respected man labours a lot, and could pay for man labours far away from the way his friend man could pay for his labour.
When the soil was not fertile enough to breed up rice and crops, if a man of conscience felt sorry for the soil and left it for sometimes, the soil also managed to breed up new trees with beautiful leaves on the same spot just to please man eyes. There were always young and fresh green leaves in the land to make man had a fine look. No matter how strong and hot the sun was, the forest survived with green leaves in every dry season. Even the pitiful soil locked behind their huts that were fed with dirty waters containing few surviving seeds and green stems provided fresh greens for them to eat, especially the lazy ones.
The forest possessed over two hundred kinds of birds with many varieties of colours which pleased their eyes. These birds were always talking when the land seemed to be quiet and bereaved. Their voices were clear at night and traveled several miles away from Lehleh Clan and could be recognized in the neighboring clans. These birds were noted for making songs generally as people believed. They struggled for mankinds to understand them. When a lonely person was walking on a path, look downhearted, look down upon by societies; these birds unified their voices in one sweet accord and pleased such a person and reminded him about the wonderful work of God; that which fortified the glory of Lehleh Clan above the neighboring clans. These birds were always there somewhere in the jungle forests, on the road sides, on the refuses, in the trees that stood in the villages and over the roofs of houses, and sharing the beauty of the land with people and strangers. Among these birds, the species that was teachable to man and always proud of themselves despite of any circumstances was the birds that said do-do. And that was the name of these species.
The do-do birds preferred flying in pair more often. They are very proud and unique, weak at flying a long distance, but always hoping to do more. Whether in joy, in pain, and in sorrow; the do-do birds accepted the condition and considered themselves as wonderful creature and always appeared mentioning the name “do-do”, no matter how many dignitaries of birds were around. This species dominated the land of Lehleh Clan and were widely known in the land. If a child was learning how to call creature names from the forests, the do-do birds were the easiest name mentioned. The valour of the do-do birds illustrated that no one should disparage himself if even trials and hardships come. This was the main reason why the do-do species was loved by people of Lehleh Clan. But the do-do birds vowed not to live with any man. Many times some were caught living and brought in the villages, and spent weeks, months, and it possible year in a basket. The captured birds were fed well with enough left over. But the day any villagers made mistakes and opened the basket, the day of raising do-do came to an end. The do-do bird believed that if man controls your stomach, it is possible that he controls your moral values and break the principle you stand for.
The animals struggled to light the glory of the land, and it worked. The land manuvered to differ from other lands; they had wild lives from mouse to pigmy hippopotamus. To save citizen lives and for historical purpose, the government reserved large forest and avowed it untouched. Moreover, their noble prize, most amazed and wondered of the land was that their forest owned a large creature which cannot be found in the entire black world. They were the only black people that could boast of one of the world’s largest animals – the pigmy hippopotamus. Their forest also possessed elephants which gave them ivories.
Now, there were stony, hilly, and mountainous areas; and as well as gravel lands all over Lehleh Clan. These places looked impossible for farming, but they contributed immensely to the success of Lehleh Clan. In these places minerals were arranged disproportionally, except gold which may have been found in each of the seven clans that united to make Lehleh Clan. The minerals extracted from these places when managed properly, could lay a solid foundation for Lehleh Clan and adopted fundamental values to the people and also gave hope to the next generations to come, come, and come…
The stony, hilly and gravel lands gave gold abundantly, while the diamonds and irons were associated mostly with mountainous areas. Some mountains like Tolomana Mountain, Weatoyea Mountain, Gitaji Mountain and Jinaypeleta Mountain possessed extra-diamonds that villagers talked about. In fact these diamonds provided water for thirsty hunters in the forests. Few of these diamonds traveled from the earth crust and landed on shore, mostly when hunters were not around. On several occasions some were seen and their brightness over-ran certain portion of the dark forests. But hunters did not go around; they concealed themselves from the light of the diamond. They believed that the diamond was carried on the head of an evil spirit who only found his way by the light of a shining stone. On several occasions women were said to have escaped from unknown bright light while on their way coming from their various farms. The large diamond reverted with the same path straight under the ground to the earth crust. Suddenly, when the large diamond reached the water under the ground, the water washed the diamond and floored on the upper land, especially in a ditch beneath a mountain. And through this means, the thirsty hunters drank mineral water. It was cold, leaving a pleasing natural taste in the mouth after drinking. This was an adventure associated with Tolomana, Weatoyea, Gitaji and Jinaypeleta Mountains that which hunters shared with their wives and children at home.
People lived on this soil and died poor. They starved, suffered, and went to the next world without boasting of a single thing left behind for the next generation. The sun rose and went down with people labours for little or nothing. There was no improvement in the lives of peasant labourers. Few continues to allure in wealth and many continue to allure in destitution. But among the few, some left lasting marks upon which the next generation could build Lehleh Clan.
It was a wonder that Ben Sr. lived in the Forest States – Lehleh Clan. He was directly under the clan’s law. He had no right to intimate anyone’s right and no one had such right on him. He was not European developed oriented. He was a black man who was merely bearing the name of the white man for the Clan to remember the incidence of the white men on their land. He was subject to the law that guided the Clan. He pursued the success of his culture and legally gained ground, but morally wrong; and as a result he placed the law on a turning scale and needed to be amended to match with the kind of society he Ben Sr. and his household had created. Even though he was not a powerful figure, and he had never entered into the people’s parliament, but his action demanded for change.
Maybe the next person to be powerful and automatically with different mentality would be Ben Jr.; the first son of Ben Sr., who lived in the bosom of the white men. His day would be today; the letter day, the day that improved and advanced man’s positive and negative actions. There had been positive changes and absolutely no eradication of any evils. Some common signs of evils associated with the Forest States traced the modern states and they are today’s realities. They are home marks –guardian or parental influences, poverty, mismanagement of the masses sweat -corruption, winking at corruption, laziness, dependency syndrome, influential forces – culture, tradition and religion, deceptive advice, constructive and destructive criticisms, inadequate distribution of national wealth, false promises, injustice, elephant power and development of hatred and elimination of the masses friends. The realities of today are evidence of man’s past struggles among the Jorquelleh Kpelleh people where I looked deeply into their culture three centuries back. For them, the future is destined and stable. Our past acts upon us and our present reminds us continuously about whether we are capable to do these things we promised in the past. Our faith is our witness and your belief is a covenant between you and your creator. Your efforts bring success, and something is always responsible for the rise of someone, and someone responsible for the rise and fall of someone and nothing happens without happening. If so, what happens after an evil had been done? This gives rise to Future Ambush. It is this simple but complicated question that the Jorquelleh Kpelleh people struggled to answer. In this manner, proverbs became common in their daily activities. The Jorquelleh Kpelleh people had a syrupy dialect. They added proverbs to make their language more standard. If you do not understand them, they called you thirsty person – one who does not understand reality.
