Ewo - meaning "freedom" in a loose translation - is the contrast to Kore - "slavery/serfdom". Pankab culture is built on slavery. Even Pankab wives are a form of slave - many are taken from their homes when their own nations are defeated and their children are massacred so they will only bear and raise Pankab children. Chiefs can have dozens of wives. Ewo is the concept of being a Pankab male and therefore able to take a wife and ask your chief for help and settle your own estates and problems if you so choose. It is independence and the concept of not being ordered by anyone else. Thus even soldiers, the backbone of Pankab society, are not truly "Ewo" until they are discharged.R.Rusanov wrote:Че ка, хлуйе, снехкът праболеди "либри" че "якели" не дин дещ?
[t͡ʃɛ ka, 'xlujɛ, 'snɛxkɤt prɐ'bolɛdi "libri" t͡ʃɛ "jakɐli" nɛ din dɛʃt?]
And what, exactly, do the words "free" and "equal" mean in this expression?
Kum - equal - literally just means people look and act the same. The inference is that people are not different or to be judged on a different basis for one another. This one translates poorly as Pankab society is nothing if not a stratified mess of various levels of slavery and control. Racist to boot.
Yōro - dignity - is the concept of honour. If you can look after yourself, provide for your wives, tend and control your slaves, protect your children, settle your differences, solve your problems, fight your disputes you are yōro
Awo - rights - is the possession of those who are Ewo. Largely it's property rights - the chief has given you a plot of land and it's yours until you die. It's also the relationship between chief and subject - you can call on him to help you if there is a problem in the community affecting you and similarly he will call on you to fight and work for him for a set period of time or special circumstances when you pledge yourself (i.e. when you're invaded) or if you make an agreement - an exchange of serfdom or service in return for benefits or payment. A slave has no Awo, nor does a wife - both are answerable to those who have Awo.
