STAGING AND BURIAL OF CORPSES AMONG THE DAGAABA PEOPLE
STAGING AND BURIAL OF CORPSES AMONG THE DAGAABA PEOPLE.
Dagaaba has a very unique culture and traditions.
Casting our minds to the ancient or traditional Dagaabas,
whatever they do was very unique and folks were very loyal and
obedient. They really revered tradition to the letter.
When it comes to funerals, they have special ways of
organizing and mourning their deceased relatives.
On attending any funeral among the Dagaaba people, besides
the messages sent by how the xylophone is played (Gyilibiri/gyilibie)
which can easily let one knows whether it is a man, a woman or a child
who is dead, they are always very interested in seeing how the
corpse is staged.
When you go for a funeral, whichever way the corpse is staged, has its interpretations.
Dagaabas hold the belief that there are two major types of deaths.
Natural death is when one grows old and falls sick and eventually dies.
Any other death is considered unnatural (pii kuu ).
Unnatural deaths include the following : accidents, suicide, murder, assassination, drowning in water, snake bites amongst others.
When it comes to snake bites, Dagaabas always believe that it is caused
by spiritual means such as witchcraft (kuu sÉglaa) or one of your relations has
defied one of the gods of the and it has not been pacified. It will
continue to occur in your family until it is discovered and corrected
by making the necessary sacrifices and rituals for it to be stopped.
When one dies a natural death, there are several ways of staging
the corpse be it male or female.
They always make a stage (paalaa ) to put the corpse for mourning.
When a man dies, they always stage the corpse to face the East (Sapare )
meaning he is waiting for day to break or sunrise to go to farm.
After staging the corpse, they will use the left leg to place on the right
leg or cross it on the right one.
When you see a man staged this way, it means, he is a respectable man.
On the other hand, if he has ever committed any crime such as incest
or had any sexual affairs with any family member or relatives wife, they
will not cross the legs.
So, when you go for a funeral and sees that the legs of the corpse
are stretched straight without being crossed, it means he did not live
a good life.
In any case, as a man, they will always hang a bow upside
down on the stage or by his house to show that a warrior has gone or
passed on.
In some communities, they always have different places for staging
men and women but when a woman becomes a man, it is allowed
for her to be staged at where males are usually staged.
Most Dagaabas hold the belief that when a woman is old and is in her
menopause and cannot give birth again, she is now considered a man.
It is only such group of women who are allowed to cook for a
certain group of persons on health grounds or other aspects in the
traditional setting.
However, every woman is staged to face the West or sunset (Saninge/mannoÉre). This means she is waiting for sunset for her to go home to cook food for the family.
When a woman of child bearing age dies, they always make a mound
(Kpokpori ) peg some wooden poles in a semi-circular form and then stage the corpse there for mourning.
Any funeral that you attend that you attend and the corpse is staged
that way, it quickly tells you that she is a young lady or a woman of
child bearing age (pÉge bidÉgra ) has died.
When a respectable woman dies, after staging the corpse, they will
use the right leg to cross on the left one.
Just like what happens to the men, if she has ever committed adultery in her matrimonial home, they will not cross the legs but they will leave them stretched.
When you go for a woman's funeral and the corpse is staged this way, it means, she didn't also live a good life.
When it comes to deaths caused by snake bites, whether male
or female, they stage them on logs ( dondolo zu/dangboglo zu )
for mourning.
Any funeral you attended and the corpse is staged that way, it means
the person died through a snake bite.
If someone was considered to be a witch or a wizard, they don't
stage such corpses and in most cases, they don't even mourn
them at all.
Dagaabas do not also stage their chiefs for mourning and they
even bury them immediately after death and the funeral is then organized later.
In real traditional Dagaaba homes or communities, these are the
various ways corpses were staged for mourning.
However, these days because of civilization and modernity, most of these things are ignored and corpses are put in
coffins for mourning.
Another interesting thing to note is the type of cloth used to bury the corpse with.
Dagaaba has a saying that 'every visitor brings his or her own
soup' (Saana nimiri la ka ba maÅ kaa kyÉ doge o zeÉre ).
In the same way, the type of death determines the type of cloth
and colour to be used in burying the corpse.
When someone dies a natural death, white cloth is used to bury
the corpse.
When one dies in war or battle field, red cloth is used.
If you die through gunshot, bow and arrow, dagger or any sharp object or weapon that spills blood, red cloth was used.
When one dies through snake bites, black cloth is used. It means your death was caused by witchcraft (yieÅuu la di).
Dagaaba has a very rich culture and whatever they do has its
implications or interpretations. When you see something happening in a particular way as a real Dagao, you don't need to
waste time in asking for explanation again. Everything explains
itself.
Our culture and traditions are unique and very interesting and
I encourage all Dagaabas to learn more about our culture and
do not allow it to fade off or die out or even get polluted by
other cultures.
Thank you (YÉ bareka ).
GUONAA FRANCIS
guonaafrancis@gmail.com
(0249339071)
Dagaaba has a very unique culture and traditions.
Casting our minds to the ancient or traditional Dagaabas,
whatever they do was very unique and folks were very loyal and
obedient. They really revered tradition to the letter.
When it comes to funerals, they have special ways of
organizing and mourning their deceased relatives.
On attending any funeral among the Dagaaba people, besides
the messages sent by how the xylophone is played (Gyilibiri/gyilibie)
which can easily let one knows whether it is a man, a woman or a child
who is dead, they are always very interested in seeing how the
corpse is staged.
When you go for a funeral, whichever way the corpse is staged, has its interpretations.
Dagaabas hold the belief that there are two major types of deaths.
Natural death is when one grows old and falls sick and eventually dies.
Any other death is considered unnatural (pii kuu ).
Unnatural deaths include the following : accidents, suicide, murder, assassination, drowning in water, snake bites amongst others.
When it comes to snake bites, Dagaabas always believe that it is caused
by spiritual means such as witchcraft (kuu sÉglaa) or one of your relations has
defied one of the gods of the and it has not been pacified. It will
continue to occur in your family until it is discovered and corrected
by making the necessary sacrifices and rituals for it to be stopped.
When one dies a natural death, there are several ways of staging
the corpse be it male or female.
They always make a stage (paalaa ) to put the corpse for mourning.
When a man dies, they always stage the corpse to face the East (Sapare )
meaning he is waiting for day to break or sunrise to go to farm.
After staging the corpse, they will use the left leg to place on the right
leg or cross it on the right one.
When you see a man staged this way, it means, he is a respectable man.
On the other hand, if he has ever committed any crime such as incest
or had any sexual affairs with any family member or relatives wife, they
will not cross the legs.
So, when you go for a funeral and sees that the legs of the corpse
are stretched straight without being crossed, it means he did not live
a good life.
In any case, as a man, they will always hang a bow upside
down on the stage or by his house to show that a warrior has gone or
passed on.
In some communities, they always have different places for staging
men and women but when a woman becomes a man, it is allowed
for her to be staged at where males are usually staged.
Most Dagaabas hold the belief that when a woman is old and is in her
menopause and cannot give birth again, she is now considered a man.
It is only such group of women who are allowed to cook for a
certain group of persons on health grounds or other aspects in the
traditional setting.
However, every woman is staged to face the West or sunset (Saninge/mannoÉre). This means she is waiting for sunset for her to go home to cook food for the family.
When a woman of child bearing age dies, they always make a mound
(Kpokpori ) peg some wooden poles in a semi-circular form and then stage the corpse there for mourning.
Any funeral that you attend that you attend and the corpse is staged
that way, it quickly tells you that she is a young lady or a woman of
child bearing age (pÉge bidÉgra ) has died.
When a respectable woman dies, after staging the corpse, they will
use the right leg to cross on the left one.
Just like what happens to the men, if she has ever committed adultery in her matrimonial home, they will not cross the legs but they will leave them stretched.
When you go for a woman's funeral and the corpse is staged this way, it means, she didn't also live a good life.
When it comes to deaths caused by snake bites, whether male
or female, they stage them on logs ( dondolo zu/dangboglo zu )
for mourning.
Any funeral you attended and the corpse is staged that way, it means
the person died through a snake bite.
If someone was considered to be a witch or a wizard, they don't
stage such corpses and in most cases, they don't even mourn
them at all.
Dagaabas do not also stage their chiefs for mourning and they
even bury them immediately after death and the funeral is then organized later.
In real traditional Dagaaba homes or communities, these are the
various ways corpses were staged for mourning.
However, these days because of civilization and modernity, most of these things are ignored and corpses are put in
coffins for mourning.
Another interesting thing to note is the type of cloth used to bury the corpse with.
Dagaaba has a saying that 'every visitor brings his or her own
soup' (Saana nimiri la ka ba maÅ kaa kyÉ doge o zeÉre ).
In the same way, the type of death determines the type of cloth
and colour to be used in burying the corpse.
When someone dies a natural death, white cloth is used to bury
the corpse.
When one dies in war or battle field, red cloth is used.
If you die through gunshot, bow and arrow, dagger or any sharp object or weapon that spills blood, red cloth was used.
When one dies through snake bites, black cloth is used. It means your death was caused by witchcraft (yieÅuu la di).
Dagaaba has a very rich culture and whatever they do has its
implications or interpretations. When you see something happening in a particular way as a real Dagao, you don't need to
waste time in asking for explanation again. Everything explains
itself.
Our culture and traditions are unique and very interesting and
I encourage all Dagaabas to learn more about our culture and
do not allow it to fade off or die out or even get polluted by
other cultures.
Thank you (YÉ bareka ).
GUONAA FRANCIS
guonaafrancis@gmail.com
(0249339071)
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