On January 3, 2021, nine members of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) received names from Alante N’dang Elders in Tchokmon village, Guinea Bissau. The occasion was historic.

Brassa Mada (Siphiwe Baleka) with Joana Cobdé Nhanca, sister of Kumba Yala, the late Balanta President of Guinea Bissau

Background

In July 2014, Richard Curtiss II, an African American, discovered his Balanta ancestry through DNA testing and traveled to Guinea Bissau to reconnect with the Balanta community. There he received the name “Ngadesa Tchokmon”. In March of 2015, he uploaded the first of the Balanta Homecoming videos onto YouTube and served as a consultant to the Balanta community in the United States. In March of 2019, using the Balanta networks established by Ngadesa Tchokmon, Sansau Malik Tchimna traveled to Guinea Bissau and began filming his documentary of the Balanta people.

On August 19, 2018 Ngadesa Tchokmon transitioned to the Ancestral Realm. Before he left, he told the Balanta community in Guinea Bissau that many more Balanta are coming to return home and to “get ready”. To continue his legacy, Sansau Tchimna and Siphiwe Baleka started working together in September 2019 and created the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) and the Balanta B’urassa Language Preservation Society in America (BBLPSIA).

In 2020, Siphiwe returned to Tchokmon and distributed Balanta Language (Krassa) Basic Vocabulary books that he and Sansou published. During that visit, Siphiwe Baleka received the Balanta name, “Brassa Mada” which means, “He Who Knows How To Do”.

When the COVID 19 pandemic caused food shortages in Guinea Bissau, Tchokmon was the first village that BBHAGSIA sent emergency food.

During 2020, several members of BBHAGSIA expressed interest in receiving a Balanta name. Several were planning to travel together to Guinea Bissau for the launch the Decade of Return Initiative but the COVID 19 pandemic forced the events to be postponed. BBHAGSIA then decided to create a process whereby its members could still receive names.

Nine members filled out request for name applications and submitted personality tests that were forwarded to the Alante Ndang elders. Money was collected to purchase the required items for the ceremony - pigs to be slaughtered and palm wine as both offerings to the ancestors and feast for the village. After several performances of traditional Balanta singing and dancing, a history of those who were taken was taught to the village.

Then, the names were revealed to Brassa Mada. The actual ritual ceremony - what was done in secret - was not filmed.

Below are the names. Note: Balanta people are unique in their social structure, language patterns, and naming traditions. To understand the naming tradition, read the Balanta Names Project paper by Júlio N'tchami at the end of this article. Truly, these are authentic Balanta names. As Júlio states, “Balanta, a people naturally similar to the Jews in what concerns the assignments of names that always appear through the situations that the person faced in life.” Thus, Balanta names reflect more the situations and circumstances as related to the family or village history and have little to do with the character or personality of the person so named. This should be kept in mind . . . . .

Here are the names of the newest members of the Balanta family:

Balvin Dunn - Kék’na which means “finding” of “searching”
Dalvin Solomon - Pan kobé which means “the family house has fallen down”
Jamel Lee - Bidan Loua which means “they deny the truth” as in “those who captured us deny the truth”
Josh Deckard - Kalabus which means “detain/prison” as in “he survived prison”
Kevin Collins - Midana which means “suffered/resisted” as in “he endured suffering/resisted”
Marcus Nellums - Wiltik which means “continue” as in “he will continue”
Melanie Young - Duturna which means “Be ashamed” (i.e. those who took us have shame)
Mesi Walton - Rat’na has two meanings “we have met” and “stole” as in “they stole us”
Michael Smith - Fun’na which means “help”

After the names were revealed, the village feasted . . . .

And the children danced. . . .