Ritual songs for girls’ nubility rites at Bono Takyiman, Ghana

Abstract

Among the Bonos, particularly those within the municipal area of Takyiman, nubility rites are an important aspect of social life. The weeklong rite of passage forms a transition from girlhood to womanhood. It is a cultural norm among the Bonos of Takyiman for girls to remain virgins until their initiation. Nubility rites (bra goro) are performed to give permission or the right to marriage and for that matter sex life and child bearing. The initiation ceremony serves as an advertisement and a proclamation to community members, especially men, that a girl is of age and available for courtship and marriage. In the Bono belief a girl who falls pregnant without waiting for the initiation into womanhood brings a curse on the family and the community. She is described as kyiri bra (one who hates initiation and transition). During the ceremony, the girl is honoured with presents in the form of money, clothes, suitcases, and so on for keeping her virginity until she has come of age. This article outlines and discusses some of the songs sung during the weeklong nubility ceremony, their significance and the message for the initiate–the ‘new woman’ and her friends in the community.

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