Rytuały pochówkowe starszych kobiet u ludu Konkomba z północnej Ghany

Abstract

Among the African peoples an important social and religious role is played by funeral rituals, which belong to so-called rites of passage associated with the change of status and social position of man. Among the Konkomba people of northern Ghana the rites of first funeral and second funeral are the most extensive of all the rites of passage. The present article describes and analyses the rites of burial (likpuul) of elderly women. These rituals differ in the richness of the rites and in their social significance from the simple burials of adults, children or infants. The first funeral of elderly women consists of burial, purifying rites and farewell rites. The Konkomba perform burial rites of elderly women in a solemn manner. About 300 people participate in them. Many people are obliged to take an active part in particular rites. An expression of regret and uneasiness after the death of important members of the community as well as the prestige and the social standing of elderly women in the patrilineal and gerontocratic community of the Konkomba people are the dances and songs which are accompanied by big drums and which are supposed to farewell those dead women. Young, unmarried men, girls and younger adult people of both sexes participate in the dances. The number of the dancing groups testifies to the prestige that the dead old woman had. A lot of time is devoted to the preparation of the dead body for the burial. Colourful materials with which the dead body is covered show the respect towards the dead woman. Four men, using water, say goodbye to the dead woman and apologise to her for all the troubles and problems which were caused to her by the living. The farewell words say about divination, which takes place during the second funeral. After the grave is covered with earth, a calabash symbolising the dead woman is broken in the place where the head lies and it is covered with earth. In the case of a woman’s death the mourning period of the first funeral lasts for four days. On the fourth day, the house where the dead woman’s body lay is ritually purified. Also, ritual washing of the dead woman’s clothes and materials brought by the ritual partners or relatives is performed. The first funeral is finished in the evening of the fourth day with a ritual of farewell to the dead woman (lisaachong). It consists of killing a hen in front of the exit hut of a homestead, sacrificing a cooked meal of yam and cereals to the dead old woman, which takes place within a homestead, and to the ancestors, which is done in front of the exit hut. According to the beliefs of the Konkomba the sacrifice of food on the last evening means the dosing of the mourning and farewell to the spirit of the dead woman who, from that moment, ceases to threaten the community. Burial rituals emphasize a change of the status of the dead woman who, through her death. was temporarily excluded from the society. Particular rites do away with the negative consequences following death and they make it possible for the dead woman to pass over from the visible community of the living to the invisible community of the dead. Besides, they help an individual and a community to accept the new state; they reorganize and integrate the family, lineage, clan and supraclan group. It is only the old people (male and female) who in view of their age, social status and children can reach the status of ancestors after they die. A necessary condition for the change of their status is the performance of rituals of the first and second funerals.