Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT
A diachronic/synchronic study was conducted to identify the typical traditional mourning dress of Akans of Ghana and their symbolic meanings. Nine old men and women were interviewed for primary data. Sources of secondary data were books, students' research reports, journals, and information from the internet. The findings revealed that typical Akan mourning dress included kuntunkuni, kobene, brisi, adinkra, koogyan, nkrawo abotire, a yellow or red loincloth, necklaces of seeds, tiny snail shells, hide, ayisaado, wreaths of leaves, straw bands, native or rubber sandals, and black and red body painting.The nature of death, age, character, and status of the deceased or the bereaved and physical and mental characteristics of the deceased prior to death determined what to wear at funerals. Conclusions drawn were that mourning dress was used to honour the dead, control the behaviour of the living, and direct support to the right people.
Introduction
STUDIES OF AFRICAN FUNERAL CEREMONIES have shown that "Africans generally believe that the deceased's spirit is capable of blessing or harming the living."1 This belief, which runs through Akan societies in Ghana, provides a basic rationale underlying an array of funeral rites and ceremonies.2 Clothes, accessories and cosmetics or body paintings are worn to express the loss of a person and the mourning of his or her death.
"Some of the typical mourning clothing items of Akans are appropriate for use at funerals because they have symbolic meanings."3 Casual interviews by the author at a traditional ruler's funeral in the Eastern region of Ghana to identify the various mourning clothing and their meanings revealed that many mourners wore special types of clothing, the symbolic meanings of which were unknown to the bereaved and the mourners. They had no knowledge about typical traditional mourning dress codes of their ethnic groups and also did not know the symbolic meanings of what they wore because, they had never been told, had never asked anybody and had not read about them from any document.
Knowledge and documentation of what the Akans of Ghana wear to mourn their dead will help to preserve an important aspect of Ghanaian dress culture and inform younger generations and other nationals about typical Akan mourning dress cultural symbols. The study therefore sought to identify typical mourning clothing...