Shock seized the West African Dagara village as word traveled of a new decree.
Completely disregarding time-honored naming rituals, the tyrannical chief declared that going forward, he alone would name the village's children.
But an unlikely challenger eventually appeared.
One day, a mother was taking her newborn to the chief's house to be named when her baby asked where they were going from his crib.
She told him, and he responded that they could return home because he already had a name and it was Yagangnaa, meaning "wiser than the chief." So, they did just that.
Years later, while hunting lizards near the chief's house, a friend called Yagangnaa's name, which caught the chief's attention.
He knew he hadn't given any child a name that insulted his own authority.
When he asked Yagangnaa who named him, and the boy replied that he named himself the chief grew furious.
He committed himself to proving his superiority, and punishing Yagangnaa's family.
First, he called on Yagangnaa and gave him a huge basket full of millet and pebbles.
