Dancing at a Funeral

 Saturday, March 1   Dancing at a Funeral

Today we drove from Accra to Ghana’s second largest city, Kumasi.  Kumasi is in the region of the Ashanti, an enormous tribal group who make up most of the population of the north of Ghana. 

We stopped at a small village along the way to see the local market and the production of casava flour.  After parking the van we walked into the village: 

We came upon the roasting of the casava into flour in large pans over an open fire.  The temperature outside the roasting area was in the 90s: 


There was food shopping along the roadside: 


And the hairdresser was there, too: 

We continued on to Kumasi, where, we were told, on Saturdays there would be a number of Ashanti funerals.  They are not at all like ours.  The burial of someone who dies happens promptly, but the funeral is later, once the oracle has determined that the dead person’s spirit has arrived in the world beyond.  If the oracle says the spirit did not arrive, there are sacrifices which will help it along.  So, the funeral is a celebration of the arrival of the spirit in the world beyond.  Red and black are the colors of a funeral, and we had been asked to bring black clothing to wear today.  Deaths are announced with large posters: 

The funeral we attended was that of a man who had been a “chief inspector” for the police. 

A street was closed off for an entire block, and green artificial turf was laid down, along with a red carpet down the middle.  The family sat on one side of the red carpet, and on the wall facing them were multiple large poster-sized photos of the deceased man: 

There were two bands, one at each end of the funeral.  One was traditional: 

And one was modern, with people dancing.  I was welcomed while taking this video: 

We were warmly welcomed, and we were invited to dance, too! 

Hot and tired, we checked into our hotel.  Tomorrow we’ll attend the Akwasidae Festival.  More then.

Comments

  1. Ralph P. LockeMarch 14, 2025 at 5:18 AM

    Wow, what a different feeling, once we (thanks to your videos) travel to a more densely settled region! I love that they have two different kinds of music, and don't feel the need to promote one and disparage the other. "It's all good" seems to be the attitude. Interesting about the funeral happening some days after the burial--like the memorial service or "celebration of his/her life" that we have here sometimes.

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