Indigenous Source Of Entertainment In Northern Ghana: Better Life With Steem

Hi family

It's yet another beautiful day to share with you how we entertained ourselves in northern Ghana before the advent of video games and social media. I hope you all are fine and kicking.

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In the 90's and some early parts of this century, when technology hadn't gained greater heights in Ghana, have you ever wondered how people dealt with stress, boredom and entertained themselves?

It's undeniable that advancement in technology has offered the world a better way of entertainment. However since entertainment had always been part of human culture, our ancestors also had better ways of relieving stress.

Let me take you back to some of the major sources of entertainment to the people of northern Ghana, the Dagombas to be precise.

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Have you heard of story telling?
Nowadays it's rare to see children telling stories. Back in the days, not only children but elders took part in story telling.
In the nights, right after supper, it was a culture in Dagbong to tell stories. Usually, children will gather around grandparents to listen to them. While the children loved listening to the night stories, the joy of the old could be felt in the suspense with which they told their stories. Children were asked to tell the moral lessons in every story told to them. This wasn't just a source of entertainment but another way of instilling our Ghanaian cherish values in the younger generation.

Some source of entertainment were gender based.

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For instance, teenage girls engaged in what is called "Simpa" and "Tora" in Dagbani. "Simpa" and "Tora" are dances in our culture. They are mainly for ladies. Young ladies will dance to the melodies of our local drums while displaying their beauty and contour. This also served as an opportunity for the unmarried to select their spouses.

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For the males, we had wrestling know as "Va goɣu" in Dagbani. Young men will gather every night to display their strength. They fought among themselves until a winner was declared. They were normally presented with gifts and hailed in society. This game in particular attracted so much attention. Aside entertainment, it also served other health purposes.

Today, in our world we have lost all this amazing cultures. People will rather rely on the internet for entertainment. But no matter how much we ignore our traditional source of entertainment, we can't deny the good role they played in our societies. Culture, indeed is unique

Do you think we should hold on to our traditional source of entertainment, or are We better of with technology?
Please leave your thoughts in the comments session and remember to vote and resteem my post.

Thanks so much for reading my post.