Aboakyer
The aboakyer festival is a festival which takes place annually in early May in the Ghanaian coastal town of Winneba takes place. It is also called the "Winnebah Animal Hunting Festival" and is an expression of the traditional religious practice of the local population. Its origins are said to go back to the Fetu people (Effutu) in historical times, who once founded Winneba.
Time of the festival
"Penkye Otu", the main god in the historical Fetu kingdom, used to be asked about the exact time of the festival. In the 1950s, however, this time was set for the first weekend in May, as the festival also attracts numerous visitors from the more remote area as a cultural attraction and therefore also has an economic aspect. It always took place at the end of the dry season, where sacrifices are made to the ancestors and gods anyway for a happy new year, which according to the traditional calendar system begins with the rainy season that begins in the month of May.
Traditional content of the celebrations
The focal point of the festival is an animal hunt, which is organized as a competition between two Asafo companies of Winneba, always between the company that forms the "Tuafo" (scouts and vanguard) in the Winneba army and those that form the "Dentsifo “(Main body) represents the army. Membership in one of these two companies is hereditary for the native Fetu (Effutu) through the patrilineal bloodline. This means that the company in which the father was integrated is also the company in which the son (and daughters) will serve. Non-fetuses who have settled in Winnebah do not care which company they wish to join. The leaders of these Asafo companies, the “Supi” and also the Asafo women have considerable political influence on local issues in the city, such as the succession in certain offices, unless the occupation is hereditary.
Course of the main ceremony
The hunt
The participants in the competition have to undergo a ritual ablution on the sea beach, which is conducted by both their “supis” and one of the “Penkye Otu” priests. The hunters, usually around 2,000 or more in number, then begin the hunt in response to a start signal, although they are unarmed and have only short horse mackerel with them. When hunting, an animal must be caught alive and unharmed, as it should then be sacrificed to the gods. The captured animal is then tied up and carried through the city by the winning team and presented to the "Omanhene" (king). Dances, drums and singing frame the whole thing. Then, after the victorious company has received its honor, the animal is brought to “Abosomba”, a special place in the center of the city, which is considered to be the “place of meeting with the gods”. Here the animal is presented to the priests of the minister of God "Akyeampon" and a little later transported to the sacred grove of "Penkye Otu".
Ebisatsir ceremony
In the sacred grove, the next day, Sunday, the animal is killed in a special ritual, beheaded and its meat cut into 77 parts, each part for one of the 77 traditional city gods of Winneba. These are then boiled and placed in a special bowl in the grove. This part of the Aboakyer festival is called "Ebisatsir", which translates as "looking into the future".
This is done with a special bowl that is marked with colored lines. The colors, as well as the substances with which the lines were drawn, all have their symbolic meaning. So white ( chalk ) stands for drought or famine; black ( charcoal ) stands for rain, but also for flood disaster; red ( red ocher ) means bloodshed or conflict and white ( table salt ) symbolizes abundance and peace. First, a ball of iron ore is placed on the upwardly curved bottom of the vessel . The priestesses then dance around this pot until the ball rolls off the raised area and stops in front of one of the lines. This is then Penkye Otu's answer about what the coming year will be like.
Cultural environment
The arrival of the British, a parade of the Winneba Asafos, an election for "Miss Aboakyer", a football game and much more with music and dance frame the festival nowadays. Many also take advantage of the opportunity to get married, as it is customary to have a feast on this day.
In the event of an unsuccessful hunt, the Winnebah authorities have previously declared the Aboakyer Festival over and set a new date for it. This happened, for example, in 1990 and around 25,000–30,000 visitors were just as disappointed as the local traders, innkeepers etc.
Footnotes
literature
- Robert W. Wyllie, "Gods, Locals, and Strangers: The Effutu Aboakyer as Visitor Attraction", In: Current Anthropology (Chicago), 35 (1), 1994, pp. 78-80