There’s no secret of chattel slavery’s existence in American history and the gruesome actions taken during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Thankfully, I went to an elementary and middle school that did not shy away from discussing some of the realities of enslaved Africans and the ways in which they tried to find solace and freedom whilst being kidnapped, tortured, and killed. Something I remember vividly from elementary school was learning and singing “Follow the Drinking Gourd”, a folk song used by enslaved people as navigation to Northern states and Canada in hopes of receiving freedom. The drinking gourd, in this context, refers to the Big Dipper asterism located in the Ursa Major constellation. Two of its stars, known as the pointer stars Dubhe and Merak, lead directly to the north pole star Polaris in the Ursa Minor or Little Dipper constellation. These stars have been used as a sure way of finding northern direction for centuries in many countries. Interpretations of “Follow the Drinking Gourd” never explicitly state what a drinking gourd is outside of the Big Dipper asterism. Surely, music and art are to reflect real life. So, I took it upon myself to find out what a drinking gourd is.

As stated in African Folklore, an encyclopedia edited by Philip Peek and Kwesi Yankah, “…gourd is the botanically correct term for the fruit of the flowering plant (Lagenaria siceraria) widely cultivated in Africa.” Gourd is sometimes interchanged with calabash “the proper name for the fruit of a tropical American tree (Crescentia cujete).” This plant, technically a fruit, grows in a variety of shapes and sizes some of which bear a shape that looks similar to the Big Dipper asterism.

The gourd is safe to eat but it is most useful when dried. Judith Carney and Richard Nicholas Rosomoff’s book “In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World” mentions the gourd being used as a container, ladle, and percussive or stringed instruments. In their article on the calabash, Dr. Y lists the kora, xalam/ngoni, goje, and balafon as some of the instruments that are made from the plant. Peek and Yankah lists the banjo as another instrument made from the plant and played almost exclusively by African Americas between 1740 to 1830. The kora, xalam, and banjo all have a shape similar to the Big Dipper asterism.

Outside of the song, I’ve heard of a drinking gourd from reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (a story based in a fictional village in NIgeria) as one of the items in Okonkwo’s bag as Ezinma looked for his snuff-bottle, possibly made from gourd, too. In research, I found that the gourd is indeed used as a vessel for drinking pito (a type of beer local to Ghana), palm wine, milk, and other liquids throughout Africa. It is also used to make practical appliances like bowls and spoons, as well as household items such as lamps.

Even with these similarities, I cannot say for sure if it is the reason for the Big Dipper to be called the Drinking Gourd. I can say, however, that doing so was undeniable a way enslaved Africans in America maintained their cultural knowledge and roots.

In addition to its musical and practical uses, the gourd and calabash hold great symbolism in some African cosmology, proverbs, and mythology. In Yoruba culture as told by Babatunde Lawal, Igba Iwa is the calabash of existence that is cut in half representing the horizon; the top half of the calabash is the heaven/male sky named Orun, and the bottom half is the physical world/female Earth named Aye. African Folklore shares a few proverbs from the Hausa people regarding the gourd. Here are two that I appreciate:

• “A rrarabe da d’un duma da d’an kabewa” meaning “One will distinguish between the sweet gourd [true men] and bitter [false men]”
• “Kowace k’warya tan da murfinsa” meaning “Every gourd has its matching lid (half)”

Udee Bassey writes that Osanyin, the orisha or deity of herbs and plant medicine, upon meeting Shango gave him a gourd that allowed him to breathe fire and realize “his destiny as the orisha of fire and lightening.”

Following this article, I will be discussing the significance of the Ursa Major and Minor constellations in African folklore and mythology.