Ethnographic and Costume Regalia of Paari-gbiele Festival in Northern Ghana

Abstract

Paari-gbiele is an annual post-harvest festival celebrated by the Sisaala indigenes of Tumu Traditional Area in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region of northern Ghana. It is celebrated annually to mark the end of successful farming season. It also serves as a momentous occasion for the glorification of the almighty God and the revered agriculturally related deities of the indigenes of Tumu Traditional Area for their protection and blessings of seasonal bumper harvests to the farmers. Paari-gbiele equally provides suitable platform for indigenous education, communal interaction and cohesion which significantly contributes to the revitalisation and promotion of the rich cultural ideals of the Sissala people of Tumu Traditional Area. In spite of the aforementioned sociocultural relevance of Paari-gbiele for which reason it is celebrated annually, there exists scanty or no documentary account on the ethnographic and costume regalia of the festival. The study therefore examined Paari-gbiele festival to establish its ethnographic foundation and the costume regalia utilised during its celebration. Guided by qualitative ethnographic design, the study collected data from thirteen (13) purposively sampled respondents (Chiefs and elders) in Tumu Traditional Area through the use of focus group discussion, unstructured observation and photography. The findings of the study were discussed using visual, descriptive and thematic analytical tools. The study concludes that the celebration of Paari-gbiele festival has a long-standing ethnographic background whereby its annual celebration is characterised by the adornment of glamorous traditional costume regalia with codified cultural connotations and relevance to the people of the Tumu Traditional Area. It is therefore recommended that the chiefs and elders of Tumu Traditional Area should endeavour to continuously deploy such unique traditional costume regalia during the annual celebration of Paari-gbiele to preserve their culture and harness the associated tourism and educational values of the festival.

Youth participation in traditional cultural practices in contemporary Tumu: An exposé on the Ceremonial Costume Art of Fuowie Nasolo, a youth cultural iconic figure in Tumu

“…Navei (2021) concurs that Kanton was a famous hunter and one of the leading known warriors who fought and succeeded the slave raiders in Sisaala land during the era of the slave trade. With such unbroken records of achievements, the people of Tumu, led by the Kanton family, have set aside 29 th January yearly to commemorate his heroic and hunting prowess that contributed immensely to the development of the Sisaala enclave (Navei, 2021). As a heroic icon, Kanton's annual commemorative event always calls for the adornment of war costume regalia for the performance of bayilla (war dance) which he once actively participated in.…”

“…In contemporary Tumu, traditional cultural practices have notoriously survived the associated negative effects of post-colonialism that are generally witnessed in Africa (Ghana) to the extent that the place identity of Tumu is well-defined, preserved, and promoted during traditional cultural ceremonies. While previous studies have generally noted that colonialism, Western education, and globalisation have adversely affected youth participation in traditional African cultural practices (Ofori et al, 2021;Dennis, 2018;Sibani, 2018), it is observed that a good number of the youth in the Tumu Traditional area are noted for their active participation in traditional cultural practices, particularly during the celebration of the Paari-gbiele (post-harvest) festival (Figure 1 A, B, C & D) in this contemporary era (Navei, 2021). This creates a contraction, and for that matter, a contextual lacuna that needs further examination to reveal the motivation behind youth cultural activism in contemporary Tumu.…”

“…Africans' distinctive traditional cultural practices set them apart from other human societies (Idang, 2015). Although Africans are noted for their rich cultural practices and arts (Ofori, Kushiator, Baah, & Agyeman, 2021; Dennis, 2018;Sibani, 2018), it is also observed that colonialism and/or globalisation have adversely affected youth participation in traditional African cultural practices (Navei, 2021;Ofori et al, 2021;Dennis, 2018;Sibani, 2018). According to Ofori et al (2021), cultural assimilation largely accounts for youth abandonment of African cultural practices for that of western cultures.…”

“…The urgent need for African cultural restoration to protect and preserve the unique identity of Africans, as recommended by Sibani (2018), remains the key reason why there is high youth participation in traditional cultural practices in Tumu as reported by Navei (Navei, 2021). Tumu is an ancient Sisaala (corrupted as Sissala) community situated in the Sisaala East Municipality of the Upper West Region of northern Ghana.…”

“…Acquaah et al report that some of the smock regalia are strictly worn by a certain class of people during public ceremonies, and attached to some of the special smock costumes, are multiple leather-cased charms and talismans worn during ceremonial events for protection and other purposes. It was also reported that during the celebration of the Paari-gbiele festival, its Sisaala-celebrants were observed to have adorned glamorous traditional costume regalia which has codified cultural connotations and relevance to the people of the Tumu Traditional Area in the Upper West Region of Ghana(Navei, 2021). Through the costume regalia, the social status of the Paramount Chief of Tumu Traditional Area could be distinguished from others; the spirituality of the warriors and hunters of Tumu Traditional Area was communicated through their costume regalia, whereas, the traditional costume of drum performers during the Paari-gbiele festival was equally identified.…”