Last week a seven day funeral was held in Dipale. It was the funeral of the former chief's eldest son. He was also our counterpart Ibrahim's senior uncle. He died 7 monthes ago. So many people came to Dipale for the funeral. We have never seen so many people in our village.
On the first day of the funeral, members of the dead person's family get their head shaved. If they don't want to get their head shaved, they pay money.
While they shave everyone's head, the drummers are playing continuously. They only stop to shoot off guns between shavings. They invited Scott to sit and play with them for a little while. Being one of the cheif's drummer is a tradition that is passed down through the family. At a very young age the drummers teach their children how to play the traditional songs. The drummers also act as oral historians. The songs they learn tell the story of the Dagomba people.
Sorry about the sideways video. We can't rotate videos in one of our cameras.
Actually we can we just learned how,but it is too late now
After all the members of the family has shaved their heads, all the elders gather under a canopy to have prayers.
The whole community gathers around the family as they go to meet the elders for prayers.
The two with the brown hats are the eldest son and daughter of the dead man. We aren't too sure who the guy in the white is, but he looks awesome.
After the prayers have concluded, two of the grandchildren dance with the drummers
On the last day of the funeral, the family leaves their compound and circles the house three times. Two of the grandchildren wear cardboard hats and leaves are placed around the bottom of the hat. It is kind of like a big parade around the house.
The cheif's warriors stand around the compound and shoot guns off when the family passes by. They are only shooting blanks, but it is still a little frightening. Since the village is prodominantly muslim there is no alcohol. An interesting aspect of the cheif's warriors is that they are allowed to drink, which means they were a little toasted. So the only people in the village who drink are the ones with the guns.
The chief's grandson rode the cheif's horse for the march around the compound. Many of the visitors waited to see the family come around the house. The men under the umbrellas are chief's from nieghboring villages.
After the family has gone around the house three times, everyone celebrates and they shoot off guns like crazy. It is so loud. Then all the members in the family dance to the drummers.
During the evening, after a prayer and dinner break, everyone gathers back at the funeral house. There is druming and dancing until day break. We stayed up until two in the morning. it was a blast.
incredible! I thought Scott was going to shave his head at one point of this post.
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