Amma Bio of Gbaŋmbɛ Katoo demonstrates the dance associated with sinyeele (balo or xylophone) music played at funerals. Male family head Nyua Kwadwo plays the sinyeele. Lying beneath the partially assembled instrument are calabashes that serve as resonators and produce the instrument's distinctive sound. A small wooden stool lies on its side nearby. Sanwa, 6 August, 1986.
The courtyard kitchen area of a partially enclosed compound has two hearths with cooking equipment placed around. Several low stools and a wooden chair sit among metal pots, calabashes (gourds) and other kitchen items. A mortar and a basket sit to the right. A stack of dried blocks (right, rear) suggests that an addition to the compound is planned. More blocks are stored inside the open room whose wooden door has been removed. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
Women in the house of Brɛmawuo work together to prepare the main meal of the day. The wives of the house sit on low wooden stools as they prepare food at clustered hearths. Each hearth is made of three laterite stones which hold the cooking pot above the fire. The women use an array of metal cooking vessels, calabash bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra) and a clay pot (on the front hearth). The clay pot was likely purchased from one of the potting villages on the west of the Banda hills. Beneath the thatched roof behind the women are hearths used during rainy weather. This house was revisited in November 2018 and several of the women pictured here were interviewed about how foodways have changed over the three decades since this photo was taken. Among the women pictured are (L-R) Adwoa Hana (stirring), Yaa Yaa Dankwa (Stirring), Ama Nwotwenwaa (holding a calabash), Abena Kuma, (standing in blue cloth) and Ama Mensah (standing in red cloth). Sabiye, 15 August 1986.