Traditional Marriage Rite in Ancient Senya Beraku

 

TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE RITE IN ANCIENT SENYA BERAKU.

Abeiku Okai

Senya Beraku has four major ceremonies marking the cycle of life from birth, through adolescence, marriage to death. They are:

1. Ada ntuyi - Naming ceremony

2. Itwe-itwe - Puberty Rite  (different paternal  houses or clans (Se-ye) have different names and rituals for adolescent rites)

3. Ijo-nsɔyi - Marriage Ceremony

4. Edi-mbɔyi - Funeral 

The focus here is on Ijo-nsɔyi (marriage ceremony).

When an adolescent boy or girl traditionally passes puberty by undergoing the required Se-ye (paternal house) rites, he or she, from that day, becomes ready for marriage, especially the girl. However, he or she is not forced into premature marriage but rather, he/she would now be exposed to the necessity of marriage and preparation towards it. She would now be considered a 'ponkuba' (a young girl ripe for marriage). 

For the adolescent girl, her beauty and physical changes would begin to attract potential suitors, for which reason she would be jealously protected by her brothers and male cousins who would fight (aku) against anybody trying to take advantage of her.

If any of the young men in the community had an interest in her, he would first consult his father, who would also cast his gaze upon her for a time to ascertain her behaviour and possibility of becoming a good wife to his son, who is also known as 'ponku' (a young male mature for marriage). If the father were satisfied, he would then inform his wife, saying, "This is the request of your son."

At this point, an official investigation would be made into the background of the ponkuba. If there were no observed challenges from her background, the ponku's father would send a pot of 'abɛtɛsi' (abɛ [palm] - tɛsi [alcohol]) called 'furfur-nta' (an alcoholic drink which is not taken into account in the event of divorce) to the ponkuba's father, requesting her hand in marriage to his son.

The ponkuba's father would receive the furfur-nta, saying, 

"My acceptance of your furfur-nta is not a guarantee that you have my daughter. It only tells whoever sent you that my daughter, as far as I am concerned, is not engaged to any person under this sun. Kindly go in peace and say to he who sent you that exactly eight days from today, I shall respond positively or negatively to his request."

If the ponkuba's father was deceased, his brother would stand in as a legal father and receive the furfur-nta.

Immediately after the departure of the messenger, the ponkuba's father would send for the elders of his family as well as the elders of his wife's family. The two family elders would discuss the request gracefully and open an investigation into the family of the suitor to ensure there was no issue of crime, immorality, witchcraft, laziness, and other defaming genetic diseases. If the investigation proved complimentary, her mother or guardian would be tasked to consult the wishes of her daughter in order not to impose their wish on her.

If she refused the request, however, she would have to give convincing reasons for her refusal. If she were to be found pregnant or seeing another man in secret, she would have brought shame to the family and so be subjected to the necessary customary sanctions. 

If she accepted the request, the elders would then discuss the proposal as a whole and at the dawn of the promised eighth day, her father would send pin-nta (acceptance drink) of a pot of abɛtɛsi to the suitor's father, thus granting the request and paving the way for the necessary rites. 

Seven days later, the suitor's father would also send an 'inuu-nta' (head drink) of a pot of abɛtɛsi to the ponkuba's father. He would accept the drink and asked the daughter to kneel before him. He would perform an 'inuu-mpayi', pouring some drops of the abɛtɛsi on her head, admonishing her to be submissive to her husband throughout her marriage life. 

On the afternoon of the next day, the suitor's father would send an 'aweyi' (a range of items including strung beads, cosmetics, pieces of new cloth, underwear, earrings, necklaces, wristlets, scaf, etc) for her to use during her marriage life. 

Right from this moment, her mother and elderly women in her family would begin to instruct her secretly in the act of copulation and procreation. The man (ponku) would also be taken through the same secret instruction on sex and procreation by elders of his paternal house. Both of them would also be put on a special diet by their respective families to prepare them physically for the union and its complementary copulation and procreation. 

The feeding continued until the ponkuba's next menstruation, which gave the assurance that she was ready for uniting in love. Her mother would then send a small piece of blue cloth called 'Mpa-idɔ' (prime love) to the ponku's mother, notifying her that her daughter was ready to copulate and procreate with her son. 

Two days later, at dawn, the ponku's father would send a pot of abɛtɛsi known as aba-nta' (wisdom drink) to the ponkuba's father to reward him for his wisdom (aba) for safeguarding and steering his daughter's life to positive and useful maturity. Included was also a pot of abɛtɛsi known as  'aba-nta' (hand drink) to the mother to reward her for teaching her daughter the art of using her hands (aba) for household chores. Another pot of abɛtɛsi known as 'aku-nta' (fighting drink) is sent to her brothers and male cousins for jealousy fighting (aku) to protect her from male intruders who might have used deception to rob her of her virginity.

The next day she would be adorned in green, signifying fertility; gold, signifying royalty; 'kenyi-nte' with strung yellow, gold, and green beads; and gold ornaments. Together with her friends who would also be dressed beautifully, she would be paraded through the community, shaking hands with people, moving from house to house to announce the marriage. 

The parading would end at the house of the groom, who would refresh her and her friends with two pots of _aheyi_ a kind of sweet drink (fa-nta) prepared with corn. He would then send them off gracefully. 

In the evening of the next day, her family would engage a married female jester, known as 'mbani' and other married females to accompany her with songs to her groom's house. She would dress in blue to signify love.

When they reached the house, they would enter his bedroom. Customarily, he would be served with 'nunkyi', an aphrodisiac prepared with herbs and turtle's eggs. He would eat it under the supervision of the jester as the singing continued. 

After eating the 'nunkyi', the jester would cover his bed with a calico called _ejujow_ or 'ijowɔde' (contracted, 'jɔɔde') 'krada', which was given to her by the bride's parents. After that, the bride would be left in the room and the jester and her team would leave to give a joyful report to the bride's parents.

At the dawn of the next day, the jester and her colleagues would go and collect the 'ejujow', expecting to see blood from the bride's broken hymen from the first copulation, which would prove that she was indeed a virgin ('ayifur') until that fateful night with her husband. 

The jester would then dress her in white and parade her through the community, announcing her purity with a complimentary song. They would sing a call-and-response song, extolling her purity:

Ngo-ee ngo-ee 2x (It is broken)

Mo soso ngo tɔr-tɔr (her hymen is broken)

Ngo-ee ngo-ee 2x (It is broken)

Ika mo ayifur krɔnkrɔn (It reveals her pure virginity). 

From that day, she, as a bride, officially becomes a 'ka' (wife) or 'jowuraba' (mrs.) and the groom becomes a 'kur' (husband) or 'jowura' (mr.).

The next day the jowura's father would send an 'adowa-nta' (praise drink), a pot of abɛtɛsi to the jowuraba's family, rewarding, praising, and appreciating them for successfully keeping their daughter in purity. 

If she were, however, not found to be a virgin (ayifur), her parents would suffer shame and ridicule while the marriage would not be allowed. They would also be made to compensate the groom's father. 

On the very day the praise drink is presented, the bride and other women, including the jester, would prepare varieties of food, and a wedding feast known as 'poduba agoo', would be organised in front of the groom's house. 'Adaa-ebi' (bandsmen) would provide music (adaa) entertainment. The new couple would be made to dance, followed by eating, drinking, and general dancing until the ceremony ended. 

NB: These meticulous traditional marriage processes are no more followed due to primarily Akan influences, modern social changes, and Christianity and Islam. 

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Ref: Parry, Samuel, 'The Senyans of Guan' (1971)