Full name of site: Sumbrungu Painted Houses
Country: Ghana
Short description of site (also include multiple locations if applicable): Located in Northern Ghana, traditional earthen architecture has produced several remarkable villages with buildings painted with various motifs. the most famous of these villages is in Sumbrungu.
Criteria (cultural, natural, mixed): I, III, IV, V
Outstanding universal value / comparative analysis: there is a somewhat similar site already on the list in Togo, koutammakou, however there are differences between the two sites.

a vote from me - I think I might finish my votes soon enough....

These houses look very similar to those of the Gourounsi in Burkino Faso - just over the border. Are they the same ethnic group?

It appears the Sumbbrungu and the Gourounsi are very similar, if not the same. it is hard to tell if they are the same ethic group, i was using an ethnic map of Africa and it is very confusing.

perhaps a cross boundary nomination with Ghana and Burkina Faso

Xeres,

The Gourounsi and Gurunsi are the same people. They stretch from Burkina Faso to Ghana. In Ghana the Gurunsi are also called Frafra people. If you read, SUMBRUNGU-Survival At All Costs by Ayinibisah Ayelah (Falcon Press), you will notice that the founder of Sumbrungu, Ayinsure was originally from Yuam which is in Burkina Faso. The most important town for the Gourounsi in Burkina Faso is Yeliwonjo as compared to Bongo, Bolgatanga, Zuarungu, Sherigu and Sumbrungu in Ghana. I hope this answers your question.

Hi Gus,
Hope you read this to see if you get any "replies".
With your interest in/knowledge of the ethnic groups around Burkina Faso/Ghana I wonder if you could help me understand the ethnic make up of the group(s) described as "Batamarriba" with respect to the World Heritage inscribed area in N. Togo (close to the frontiers with both Ghana and B. Faso) called "Koutammakou".

Our Togolese guide called these people "Tamberma" and was insistent, when we crossed over into Benin, that the "Somba" people there (only a few miles apart) were a different group. Now that could of course be so, but their houses and way of life looked the same to us and the colonially imposed boundaries of Togo/Benin hardly seemed likely to follow genuine ethnic divisions.

Now I am aware that there are different "levels" of ethnic description and that some terms can relate to "language groups" etc rather than to individual "tribes" -or even to geographic areas. I have looked on the Web for explanations but with little light being thrown on the subject. The Wiki articles on "Demographics of Togo" and "Demographics of Benin" use all 3 terms but they are not further explained. So any explanation of the differences between "Batamarriba" "Tamberma" and "Somba" would be of interest to me.
Herwith a link to my review of the WHS and the dilemma our visit to it raised
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/koutammakou.html

The essence of what I am trying to understand is the extent to which the inscribed site called "Koutammakou" is "unique" within its boundaries or is a Togolese "construct" for the purpose of obtaining inscription (and, if it were so, that would not be a criticism, just an increase in knowledge about "the site"!).

Thanks