Are James Delaney's less British habits of Nootka or African origin?

Are James Delaney's less British habits of Nootka or African origin? - Woman Wearing Pink and Red Floral Jacket

Part of James Delaney's more mysterious antics in BBC's Taboo (2017) is his occasional employment of somewhat "foreign" rituals, together with speaking in a distinctly non-English language (e.g. at his father's funeral or during his interrogation in the Tower).

What I wonder is if those are traditions that he picked up during his 10 years in Africa or from his mother's heritage, who was a Nuu-chah-nulth (or "Nootka Indian") supposedly "bought" by his father over in America. While the language seems somewhat Native American to the ignorant ear, his mother was sent to the asylum when he was still very young and I'm not sure she could have exerted much of an influence on him.

Do we know what language he was speaking? Was it an existing language whose origin we can pinpoint, maybe even the genuine language of the Nuu-chah-nulth, or something entirely different he picked up during his absence? Or did the show's writers exert some creative freedom there?



Best Answer

From RadioTimes:

The mysterious words Hardy’s character uses throughout the episode are from the Twi language, spoken by of the native Ashanti people from Ghana, Africa. The programme was advised on the language by Naomi Fletcher, Anthnoy Dwomo and Akwasi Amponsah from The Cultural Group.
—Huw Fullerton, "13 burning questions we have after the first episode of Taboo", RadioTimes

This seems to be a language that the character has picked up during his time in Africa, specifically in regions of Ghana, where it is spoken by the Ashanti people.

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Is James Delaney Native American?

James' birth mother is Anna Delaney who was a native of the Salish tribe in the Pacific Northwest (Nootka Sound area if you will). It was (and still is to some extent) common for the British to refer to and call a person by their native/country of origin as well as their occupation or place in society.

What language does James Delaney speak in taboo?

During key moments in Taboo (his father's funeral and giving a ritual cleansing to his new boat for example), James Delaney often speaks in a dialect that he no doubt picked up during his time in Africa. The language he is speaking is Twi, which is found predominantly in Ghana.

What is Delaney Nootka?

Delaney Nootka Trading Company is a newly established organisation, headed by James Delaney, with the aim of creating a personal business parallel with that of the East India Company.

Who is James Delaney based on?

'Evil disposed' But Delaney is, to some extent, reflected in notorious real-life figures of the 19th century. In the show, Delaney's father acquired rights to Nootka Sound in Canada. He may have a real-life equivalent in Irish adventurer James Hanna, the first European to sail to that region to engage in the fur trade.



Taboo | James Delaney - The Devil




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