Steemit Engagement Challenge Week-2 || Share your Country's Culture by @gentles | #club100
Introduction
My fellow Steemians, it has been great joining this great community #steemitpakistan. I trust we are all doing well. We are already in the second week of the steemit engagement challenge and once again Steemit Pakistan has brought forth a very exciting contest which I am very pleased to partake in. In this contest, we have been asked to write about our favorite religious or cultural festival in our countries.
I am an African, particularly from Ghana, as we all might know how diverse African cultures are and how we tend to value them as they are the backbone of our societies. It is not different here in Ghana.
I will be talking about the Aboakyer festival in this post, this festival is one of the greatest festivals celebrated in the Central Region of Ghana by the Effutu people.
Sit down and enjoy the ride as I take you through this beautiful festival.
About the Aboakyer Festival
Aboakyer festival is a deer hunting festival, observed by the people of Winneba traditionality known as Simpa. They are located in the southern part of Ghana.
Aboakyer is a Fante dialect (spoken by the Central region of Ghana) translated into English as “hunting for animal”.
The purpose of the Aboakyer festival is to remember or mark the migration of the Simpa tribe. This festival is celebrated once every year and observed on the first Saturday of May.
source
Now let me get to the history ☺.
History of the Aboakyer Festival
The people of Simpa immigrated from Timbuktu in North-Eastern Africa to the now central part of Ghana led by two brothers. Timbuktu is an ancient town in the Western Sudan empire which existed millenniums ago.
They believed they were under the protection of a god they named Otu. In gratitude for the protection, the people asked Otu to name a sacrifice to be given to him. The god then asked for a royal to be sacrificed for him. Later, there was condemnation against human sacrifices so they had to stop.
They went again to Otu to plead for a change in sacrifice as the royal sacrifice posed a threat to the lineage of the royal family and could wipe them out. The god heeded their request and told them to sacrifice a live wild cat at its shrine every year.
Before the festival, the people resettled the god at a village called Penkye. The relocation resulted in the change of the name of the god from just Otu to Otu Penkye. When it was time for the festival, the people went hunting for a wild cat but lost many of their lives to capture it alive. The people again pleaded to the god to change the sacrifice. The god changed it and agreed to accept a mature deer.
There are a certain two groups of people that go hunting for the deer, they are, Tuafo, and Dentsifo. After capturing it alive, they present it to the people at the durbar.
This festival has been passed on to generations through stories and war songs. This method was used until the Europeans came to Gold Coast (now Ghana). The story was then translated from Fante to English.
How is the Festival Observed
As mentioned earlier, it is celebrated annually and every first Saturday of May. A day before the festival, rituals are performed ahead of the festival for protection from the gods of the land. The gods are then out doored for everyone to see.
On the morning of that Saturday which is the climax of the festival, a durbar is performed where a lot of dignitaries like the Chief, sub-chiefs, and then the rest of the populace will be present in wait for the catch of the warriors. The warrior groups in the communities go to their respective hunting forest to capture a deer using only sticks. The first group to present a deer to the Chief, the animal is stepped on trice and they are declared the winner and are seen as brave warriors. The deer is sacrificed. The people pray for a bountiful harvest, protection, and spiritual direction from the gods for the years that are yet to come.
Conclusion
Culture is the backbone of a society; culture is what defines the people. The Aboakyer festival is a great festival to witness, it is very prominent among Ghanaians. I have been going back home to my people to celebrate it with them every year and I will continue to do so because I don’t want to lose my cultural heritage. Our grandparents fought hard to pass it on to generations and we are going to do the same so that it won’t be lost as time goes on.
In this post, I talked about the Aboakyer festival as my favorite festival. It is a deer hunting festival by the people of Winneba traditionally known as Simpa people to give thanks to their gods for protection during their migration to their current location (central Ghana).
The festival is also used to pray to the gods for more protection, spiritual direction, and a bountiful harvest.
Wow I never heard of the simpa people before now. I am glad you to see such a rich and awesome culture. Thanks for sharing sir.
Well, you have heard of them now, and I'm glad you now know them from this post. Thanks very much for reading through my post.
Saludos amigo @gentles, pude aprender un poco más de esta cultura, se nota muy interesante.
Y mañana es el 1er sábado, debe celebrar. Te deso éxito en todos estos concurso.
Que la pases bien, Dios te guarde
Thanks very much for reading through @pelon53. I invite you to come celebrate with us when you get the chance 😊😃
@haidermehdi thanks very much for your kid review. I look forward to posting here more
You are always welcome here my friend :)
I am from the central region of ghana and you have described the festival like it happens. Thanks for promoting the Aboakyer festival to the whole world
That's quite an interesting festival in Ghana, I'm sue the memory must be a great one.
Thanks very much for reading through bro. The memory is indeed a great one
Great post my friend your explanation about Aboakyer festival is well simplify, and organize Ghana has similar culture with that of my country, Nigeria keep up the good work.
Nigeria is like a sister country to us. Thanks very much for reading bro
Good post