Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides two article excerpts about funeral customs in Ghana, West Africa and showcases two YouTube videos about funeral customs in Ghana.
Selected comments from the discussion thread of one of these YouTube videos are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural and educational purposes.
I was motivated to publish this post because of the passing of Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General and Noble Peace Prize laureate, who was born in Ghana in 1938. Rest In Peace. Click https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kofi-annan-united-nations-dead_us_5b77e6e4e4b018b93e943c3b to read an article about Kofi Annan.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
My condolences to all family members and friends of those persons whose funerals are shown in these videos.Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these YouTube videos.
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This post replaces a 2013 pancocojams post on Ghanaian funeral customs that was entitled "Colors Associated With Funerals In Ghana, West Africa".
This post serves as a companions to the following pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/various-african-funeral-customs.html for a pancocojams post on other African funeral traditions including the nation of South African custom of "after tears parties".
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ARTICLES ABOUT GHANAIAN FUNERAL CUSTOMS
These article excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
[This is the almost the entire article except for photographs and an embedded video.]
From http://www.frazerconsultants.com/2017/04/cultural-spotlight-ghanaian-funeral-traditions/
CULTURAL SPOTLIGHT: GHANAIAN FUNERAL TRADITIONS
April 07 2017
[...]
"Celebrate Life of Deceased
Rather than expressing sorrow, Ghanaian funerals are a time to celebrate the life of the deceased. The funeral is a large social gathering where the phrase “the more the merrier” perfectly fits, as there could be as many as hundreds of funeral attendees, and everyone usually wears red or black clothing to symbolize their grief. Colorful billboard displays are made to notify everyone about the funeral.
A Ghanaian funeral is usually held on the weekend, with Saturday being the most common day, and it can be an all-night celebration. Funerals can be as expensive as weddings, or even more with the average funeral cost being between $15,000 and $20,000. Some family and friends of the deceased will offer a monetary donation to the deceased’s family to help pay for funeral expenses and to pay their respects to the deceased.
Music and Dance
A Ghanaian funeral is essentially a party celebrating the deceased’s life through music and dancing. The music is typically a Ghanaian mix of jazz, brass bands, and African rhythms; and it’s common for photographs to be taken of funeral attendees dancing and celebrating the deceased’s life. There’s usually food and drinks served, as well.
However, before the celebration begins, there’s usually a funeral ceremony with religious blessings and tribute speeches. According to the 2010 census, the most common religion of Ghana is Christianity with 71.2% of the population followed by Muslim with 17.6%, so the ceremony usually follows Christian customs.
Unique Coffins
Ghana is known for their extravagant coffins in the shape of unique objects, such as a lion, shoe, or chili pepper. The personalized coffins are made to reflect favorite interests and passions of the deceased, like this fish-shaped coffin for a popular Ghana fisherman.
Paa Joe is one of Ghana’s most famous coffin artists with five decades of experience in the funeral profession. He first became interested in designing coffins as a teenager and his first coffin was carved as the shape of a building for a real estate developer. Since then, he’s made a variety of fantasy coffins shaped like animals, cars, boats, shoes, cameras, phones, and many other significant objects. Check out this article for more Ghanaian coffin designs, including coffins by Paa Joe.
"That means the person was very friendly, very charitable, was good to socialize, was having a good communication with the people within the society," says Jamima, a family friend who attends the funeral of the 70-year-old Joanna Boafo in the town of Kumasi.
Ghanaians may spend as much money on funerals as on weddings, sometimes even more.
"An average funeral should cost between $15,000-$20,000," says Kwaku, a funeral planner who is in charge of 30 funeral parties on this one day alone.
That includes the obligatory giant, colorful billboards that announce funeral arrangements. The billboards, which may cost from nearly $600 to $3,000, are placed at strategic spots for everybody to see, often dotting the cities' skylines.
Most funerals are held on the weekends, most frequently on Saturdays. Mourners, usually dressed in black or black and red traditional funeral clothing, may travel to other towns or villages, and in turn they expect the bereaved families to provide food, drinks, music and dance.
The extravagance also extends to the caskets.
Coffins have become a statement in Ghana. They are usually brightly colored and elaborate. They may have fanciful shapes that resemble the dead's favorite objects, or represent their profession.
Thus, a carpenter may have a coffin shaped like a hammer, or a shoe for a shoemaker. There are also caskets shaped like Coca-Cola bottles and airplanes.
Ghanaians revere the dead so much that funerals are at the heart of Ghanaians' social life.
Lavish spending on funerals has invited criticism from political and religious leaders.
"We are investing in the dead rather than the living ... and that is bad," legislator Alban Bagbin once said.
Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, the Archbishop of Accra, said: "The surest way to remember the dead is not the type of coffins used to bury them nor is not the type of cloth or T-shirt won during their funerals, but doing something positive for the dead which would benefit the living."
Funeral rites also involve some official crying by mourners, as well as praying. The Boafos, like many grieving Ghanaian families, hold a church service for Joanna as well.
But the rest of the funeral ritual is purely party time.
"I think she would be very happy," says Richard, son of Joanna, as mourners are dancing and having a good time. "I think if she is anywhere, if my mother is anywhere right now, she will be very happy." "
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Excerpt #2:
From https://omgvoice.com/lifestyle/ghanaian-funeral 10 Things You Need To Practice At A Ghanaian Funeral
by Kwaku Darko, Oct 26 2016
"1. Don’t Wear Shoes If You’re A Close Relative
If you have a Ghanaian mother or father and you’ve lived all your life abroad and he or she dies and you come down for the funeral, you can’t wear shoes or snickers to the funeral, it is seen as impolite and a sign that you’re not sorrowful of your mum or dad’s passing. As a sign of showing pain, you have to be in slippers.
2. Don’t Sit Just Anywhere
Some seats are reserved for close relatives especially the ones at the front row and so when you find yourself at a Ghanaian funeral, it is important to wait and be ushered to a seat or ask where to sit before you sit anywhere.
[...]
4. Colour Of Clothes
When dressing to a Ghanaian funeral, there are a lot of things you need to consider before choosing your dress. First the age of the deceased and the colour of the attire to wear. Somewhere in other African countries, it doesn’t matter the colour of dress you wear, but in Ghana, this is very important and people take it personal when you dress in just any colour to the funeral. If the person is very old say, 75 years and above, it is alright to wear white or a combination of black and white. But when the person is considered too young, say between the ages of 20 to 60 years, you’re supposed to be in Black or Red or a combination of the two.
[...]
6. Don’t Bring Babies To The Funeral
Children between the ages of 6 to 10 are allowed but it is not advisable to bring babies to a funeral. This is because most Ghanaians believe babies are vulnerable and when there’s death, spirits hover around and can easily possess a baby, that is the superstition part of it. Also, babies can disturb proceedings at a funeral which is not right, that is the logic part of it"....
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Ghanaian Funeral
atokwamena72, Published on May 11, 2013
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Example #2: Professional Dancing Pallbearers - Ghana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvHhmGcFGnQ
Travelin Sister, Published on Jan 22, 2015
I traveled to Ghana, West Africa to attend a funeral for my mother-in-law and witnessed an amazing performance!! Professional dancing pallbearers proudly honored mom's "home-going" with breath-taking body movement, fancy footwork and incredible strength that would make any Ghanaian family proud.
GO GHANA!!
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Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Hiphop101ize, 2015
"if only my funeral will be so glorious and filled with joy, they'll weep afterwards but at a rare time where everyone in the family is finally coming together it can be a jovial occasion"
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2. Jonathan Longwe, 2015
"can anyone help me with the title to the song playing in the background at the start of the video plz?"
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REPLY
3. Just for The, 2015
"Sweet Mother"
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4. mizelsie, 2015
"PLS WHO SANG THE SONG @ 2:35. have been looking for it for long..thanx"
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REPLY
5. King Vee, 2015
"+mizelsie It's OJ apor jesu"
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6. Keith murray, 2015
"Why are they waving around, and holding American flags. Just curious."
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REPLY
7. Martine Quartey, 2015
"+keith murray It's not the American flag. If you look closely, you will see that the red stripes are wavy. Close resemblance but not the USA flag."
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REPLY
6. Keith murray, 2015
"+Martine Quartey hmm interesting okay I appreciate it. Do you know what flag it is then?
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REPLY
9. Martine Quartey, 2015
"+keith murray I believe those are just scarves/hankerchiefs."
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REPLY
10. Julius Bernotas, 2016
"Those are US-flag styled handkerchiefs (not really a flag), my guess is that they chose them because they look cool and recognisable. I don't think there's any meaning for that."
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11. Corey Pillow. 2016
"Guys, those are not flags. They are just handkerchiefs with american flag colors. They mean nothing to them. The handkerchiefs were just picked at random. They sell so many handkerchiefs with different designs on them. These people probably don't even know that that's the color pattern of the american flag. To them it's just a piece of nicely styled cloth. OR, it could be that the person they are burying was an American citizen who died in the US, and got their body sent back to their homeland to be buried there."
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Pancocojams Editor's note: Ghanaian dance traditions that I've seen in various YouTube videos include waving white handkerchiefs. Notice that women standing on the sides of the dancing pallbearers are waving white handherchiefs.
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12. MrKofi Haynes, 2016
"As nice as this is and I am not sure who the person that died is, Ghanaian's will tell you they don't have enough to help when one is in need. The same people will spend so much money to have a funeral with all sort of food that when the dead was alive could not afford to eat."
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REPLY
13. S. Cunningham, 2017
"MrKofi Haynes, Well said."
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14. melisa lopez, 2017
"This is just beautiful, we cry enough in life, at least rejoice when we die"
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15. Autumn Johnson, 2017
"This is how we do it at Secondline Funerals in New Orleans."
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16. joshua anang, 2017
"That was a nice performance. .I think the person is over 70...so they need to rejoice over his age.."
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17. Angie GraGRaMe, 2017
"so, are they dance in order to show respect? i think is wonderfull to have this happiness when someone pass out, would u explain me what's the purpose of thos dance?
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REPLY
18. wendywu, 2017
"Angie GraGRaMe you wouldn't understand or culture. We usually morn first and celebrate the life later with music and dancing"
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19. S. Cunningham, 2017
"I'm Ghanaian, and far from this being a 'tradition', it's something that has been imported from other cultues in recent years, rather like the practice of posing dead bodies at wakes. Wearing white at a funeral usually signifies the 'celebration' part of the funeral. White is worn when the deceased is either very young or very old. The whole dancing pall bearers thing, is pretty commercial. The family pays for them to dance, and the more you're prepared to pay, the more elaborate the dancing. I know loads of people seem to love it, but personally I find it undignified, and don't like it at all. But hey ho; different strokes eh?"
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20. Atiya Roberts, 2017
"to all the black people laughing and making fun of videos such as these, here is your hx lesson. haven't you learned by now that lot of the "peculiar" rituals and traditions we practice or observe is rooted in African rituals and traditions. you may not like it or agree with it but at least respect it.:
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21. rmorris100, 2017
"No laugh they do this in New Orleans: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mWV6q8VreoE"
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22. Jude Abijah, 2017
"Wow I hear them speaking Ga, not many of them in the country"
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REPLY
23. John Moose, 2017
"I was thinking the same thing"
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REPLY
24. lovecharity16, 2017
"+Jude Abijah When I was still in Ghana, 15 years ago, there were a lot of Ga people, I lived in Accra. Didn't realize the language is going away. I'm an Akan myself, I speak twi, this is news to me. Thanks."
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REPLY
25. Jude Abijah, 2017
"lovecharity16 I think there's a still a large minority of Ga people in Accra but I didn't realize there would be a large concentration of Ga people outside of their homeland (Greater Accra/Eastern regions). However Ga people make up less than 10 percent of the population"
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REPLY
26. lovecharity16, 2017
"+Jude Abijah I believe the Ga-Adangbe are the 4 largest group in Ghana."
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27. LaToya Farrell, 2018
"Celebration of life! Amen🙌🏽🙏🏽"
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28. Raymotives Worldwide, 2018
"Almost every occassion calls for Dance in Ghana....Ghanaians dance when a baby is born....Ghanains will also dance when one dies."
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