Steemit Engagement Challenge Week-2 || Share your Country's Culture by @phlexygee | #club100

Hello to you my fellow steemians in this great community #steemitpakistan. I believe you are doing good in your respective residents. In fact I am very pleased with the privileged offered to us by the authorities of the community to showcase and express our views towards our favorite cultural or religious festivals in our individual countries.

I hail from Ghana and there are variety of cultural festivals due to the numerous ethnic groups in the country.
My favorite cultural festival is Aboakyer, which is celebrated in the Central Region of Ghana by the effutu people of Winneba.

source

Aboakyer is a fante language which simply means hunting for animal.

Without further ado, let's ride into my favorite cultural festival in Ghana.

About Aboakyer Festival

---

The Aboakyer festival is one of the great festivals in Ghana, and it is in commemoration of the migration of the Simpa tribe.
Aboakyer is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of May in each year.

source _{The warrior group of Winneba getting hold of the live bushbuck without harming it with a weapon.}

History depicts that the Simpa tribe moved from the north-eastern African town of Timbuktu in the ancient Western Sudan Empire to their present settlement in the central coastal areas of Ghana. It believed that the migration from the north-east to the western part of Africa of the Simpafo was led by two brothers. After arrival, these two brothers believed that a god they called otu has saved them from all dangers and misfortunes of their journey, therefore they consulted a traditional priest to act as an intermediary to help ask what the god Otu would be pleased with as a sacrifice for their appreciation with regard to safeguarding them in their journey. The priest did as requested by the brothers, and the god demanded a human sacrifice from the royal family of the Simpa tribe.

source _{A great hunter who has exhibited bravery by catching the live bushbuck for the festival.}

The people coped with the human sacrifice for awhile, but got fed up along the line, since the royals where gradually diminishing. They made an appeal with Otu through the priest, and otu accepted the appeal, but the human sacrifice would rather be replaced with the sacrifice of a live wild cat that will be presented to the god following the practice of the sacrifice whereby the wild cat will be beheaded, the Simpa people later made another appeal to Otu because in the hunt for the wild cat, many people lost their lives trying to catch the wild cat and bring it to Otu at Penkye (the settlement of the god), interesting Otu accepted their second appeal and demanded the presentation of a live bushbuck which will be beheaded for the sacrifice.

There exist some two hunting groups in Winneba (Tuafo and Dentsifo) who have taken it upon their selves to catch the live bushbuck and present it to the people at the durbar for the sacrifice.
There are other two warrior groups that have emerged in Winneba and help in catching the live bushbuck.
Among the groups, the group that succeed in catching the live bushbuck is announced the winner and therefore regarded as being bravery.
King regards are giving to the winning group from the chief and the natives, and after that, the bushbuck is sacrificed which then marks the beginning of the Aboakyer festival.

source _{The Simpa chief together with the queen mother being carried in a palanquin during the celebration of the Aboakyer festival.}

Aside being a commemoration for the migration of the Simpa people, the Aboakyer festival also helps to have a productive harvest, as well as to get spiritual guidance from the gods concerning the following year.

Conclusion

---

The Aboakyer festival is an interesting festival to experience. It is well renowned in Ghana, and it happens to be my favorite festival.

Thank you for taking a little time of your schedule to learn about a new cultural festival.