At a day-long celebration of the Banda area's rich cultural heritage at the Banda Cultural Centre in Banda-Ahenkro, Nafana people from Boase share customs associated with their wedding celebrations (Bijam). Two young women dressed as brides wear local strip woven cloth and carry walking sticks as they approach the Banda Cultural Centre, accompanied by female relatives and young girls dressed in nubility attire. After circling the event grounds, the girls are seated and the women perform a series of songs and dances accompanied by calabash drums. Men and women well-wishers toss maize kernels in the water of the calabash drums as they dance. Afterwards, the brides, covered by cloth, dance behind an elder relative as other women prepare their path by pouring water from a bucket. Afterwards, locally made grain beer (pito) is poured into a calabash, overflowing to signal that the brides were virgins at the time of their marriage.In a final dance, female relatives dance with a bowl of food, after which gifts are presented to the bride's family. Many of the women wear locally made strip-woven blue-and-white textiles as wraps. Ahenkro, 28 June, 2019. Length: 00:22:01 minutes.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Date:
2019-06-28
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Performance; Nafana (African people)
Subjects Facet:
Dance; Songs; Music; Rites and Ceremonies; Marriage customs and rites; Gourd, Calabash; West African strip weaving; Drums (musical instrument); Heritage
At a day-long celebration of the Banda area's rich cultural heritage at the Banda Cultural Centre in Banda-Ahenkro, people from Ahenkro share Nafana songs and dances associated with with girls' puberty rites (Manaa Ndiom) and wedding celebrations (Bijam). The film opens with photos of girls dressed in Manaa Ndiom attire during the 1995 inauguration of the Banda Cultural Centre. A series of songs and dances performed at the 2019 event follows, accompanied by the rhythms of calabash drums, calabash rattles and, in some cases, a wooden drum. The group is joined in the first song by District Chief Executive Mary Konneh who plays calabash rattles and dances. Seated under the shade of the canopy, Afua Donkor demonstrates how to spin cotton while others sing and dance. Young people can be seen using their cell phones to record the action. Many of the Elder women who perform wear locally made strip-woven blue-and-white textiles as skirt wraps. Ahenkro, 28 June, 2019. Length: 00:15:57 minutes.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Date:
2019-06-28
Subjects:
Performance; Cell phones
Subjects Facet:
Nafana (African people); Dance; Songs; Music; Rites and Ceremonies; Marriage customs and rites; Gourd, Calabash; West African strip weaving; Drums (musical instrument); Rattles; Heritage
Gbԑԑnlԑԑ Katoo in Gbao celebrates the funeral of the caretaker of a shrine who was understood to have been killed by the 'fetish' because of harm he allegedly planned against family members. In this case, the funeral involves special forms of drumming, dancing and songs as part of a thanksgiving to the shrine. Here, two women dance (Ma Millah, center, Adwoa Kupo, right). To the left Yaw Ble plays an antelope antler horn. He wears a strip-woven smock adorned with amulets sewn into leather packets. Two photos. Gbao, 8 August, 1986.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Gbao
Subjects:
Amulets; Gbԑԑnlԑԑ (Gbeenlee) Katoo
Subjects Facet:
Funeral customs and rites; Dance; West African strip weaving; Rites and ceremonies; Drums (musical instrument)
Gbԑԑnlԑԑ Katoo in Gbao celebrates the funeral of the caretaker of a shrine who was understood to have been killed by the 'fetish' because of harm he allegedly planned against family members. In this case, the funeral involves special forms of drumming, dancing and songs as part of a thanksgiving to the shrine. Here, Yaw Ble wears a strip-woven smock as he plays an antelope antler horn and dances. To the left, women play calabash rattles and Kwabena Nika plays a double iron gong. Drums that belong to the shrine are played as he dances. Four photos. Gbao, 8 August, 1986.
Gbԑԑnlԑԑ Katoo in Gbao celebrates the funeral of the caretaker of a shrine who was understood to have been killed by the 'fetish' because of harm he allegedly planned against family members. In this case, the funeral involves special forms of drumming, dancing and songs as part of a thanksgiving to the shrine. Here Adwoa Kupo (left) dances as Yaw Ble (right) plays an antelope antler horn and dances. He wears a strip-woven smock to which amulets encased in leather are sewn. Gbao, 8 August, 1986.