DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0033
SiwAN Customs
13
Death. When a man dies, they strip off his clothes, press with their hands on his
abdomen, and wipe off the body. Then they cry. ’When their cries are heard, all the
women in the neighborhood and of the town go to the house of the dead. They simply
cry if the dead is an old man, but if he is young they beat their faces until they bleed,
although they are forced to abandon this directly the men see them.
Then the town crier goes through the town, telling them the name of the graveyard 48
and the people ask him who is to be buried in this graveyard and he tells them the name of
Fig. 7.
the deceased. At the same time the women climb to the roof of the loftiest house and
wail, this serving as a second announcement. The reason for all this is that in Siwah walk-
ing in the funeral procession is compulsory.49 Any one who does not give an adequate
reason for not attending the funeral (e. g. that he is so ill he is unable to walk) is arbi-
trarily fined.
All work stops in Siwah when anyone dies. As soon as the men take the deceased
to his grave, the women take his wife, who is now a ghoula, to the spring to be washed.
at the expense of the first passer-by whom she meets or sees when she comes out after her period of mourning. A
close parallel to this institution of the ghulah is found among' all the Fanti-speaking tribes of the Gold Coast. The
Fanti widow, after the funeral of her husband, is led to the beach by a number of elderly widows. She bathes, and is
then led back to the deceased’s house, where she is confined to the death chamber for eight days. At midnight on
the eighth day, she is again taken to the beach, carrying on her head a pot of live embers. The widows accompany-
ing her cry the warning “Look out, look out! A widow is coming.” On hearing this cry such folk as are about
take themselves off at once — if caught they are well thrashed by the women. The fire, “an emblem of cleansing”,
is thrown into the sea, and the widow herself is thrice ducked. Finally, she is escorted back home to the accompani-
ment of the same warning cries. She is then once more “clean”, A. ffoulkes, ‘Funeral customs of the Gold Coast
Colony’ (Jour. Afr. Soc., vol. 8, no. 30, London, Jan. 1909, p. 157 sq.).
48 There are two cemeteries now in use by the folk of Stwah Town itself: one to the northwest and one to the
southwest of the town. The graves are shallow pits, often roofed lengthwise with palm logs, the bodies lying extended
in the usual Mohammadan posture. Many of the graves are marked with headstones of curious aspect (figs. 1-6),
and small food bowls or braziers of local pottery (figs. 7-8) are frequently set at the foot of the grave.
49 At Tetuan it is believed that at the grave-side the ginn immediately choose another victim: therefore the
bigger the crowd the less the individual risk among those attending the funeral; E. Westermarck, ‘The nature of
the Arab ginn’ (Jour. Anth. Inst., vol. 29, London, 1899, p. 254). It is conceivable that some such idea may under-
lie the compulsory attendance at funerals in Stwah.
13
Death. When a man dies, they strip off his clothes, press with their hands on his
abdomen, and wipe off the body. Then they cry. ’When their cries are heard, all the
women in the neighborhood and of the town go to the house of the dead. They simply
cry if the dead is an old man, but if he is young they beat their faces until they bleed,
although they are forced to abandon this directly the men see them.
Then the town crier goes through the town, telling them the name of the graveyard 48
and the people ask him who is to be buried in this graveyard and he tells them the name of
Fig. 7.
the deceased. At the same time the women climb to the roof of the loftiest house and
wail, this serving as a second announcement. The reason for all this is that in Siwah walk-
ing in the funeral procession is compulsory.49 Any one who does not give an adequate
reason for not attending the funeral (e. g. that he is so ill he is unable to walk) is arbi-
trarily fined.
All work stops in Siwah when anyone dies. As soon as the men take the deceased
to his grave, the women take his wife, who is now a ghoula, to the spring to be washed.
at the expense of the first passer-by whom she meets or sees when she comes out after her period of mourning. A
close parallel to this institution of the ghulah is found among' all the Fanti-speaking tribes of the Gold Coast. The
Fanti widow, after the funeral of her husband, is led to the beach by a number of elderly widows. She bathes, and is
then led back to the deceased’s house, where she is confined to the death chamber for eight days. At midnight on
the eighth day, she is again taken to the beach, carrying on her head a pot of live embers. The widows accompany-
ing her cry the warning “Look out, look out! A widow is coming.” On hearing this cry such folk as are about
take themselves off at once — if caught they are well thrashed by the women. The fire, “an emblem of cleansing”,
is thrown into the sea, and the widow herself is thrice ducked. Finally, she is escorted back home to the accompani-
ment of the same warning cries. She is then once more “clean”, A. ffoulkes, ‘Funeral customs of the Gold Coast
Colony’ (Jour. Afr. Soc., vol. 8, no. 30, London, Jan. 1909, p. 157 sq.).
48 There are two cemeteries now in use by the folk of Stwah Town itself: one to the northwest and one to the
southwest of the town. The graves are shallow pits, often roofed lengthwise with palm logs, the bodies lying extended
in the usual Mohammadan posture. Many of the graves are marked with headstones of curious aspect (figs. 1-6),
and small food bowls or braziers of local pottery (figs. 7-8) are frequently set at the foot of the grave.
49 At Tetuan it is believed that at the grave-side the ginn immediately choose another victim: therefore the
bigger the crowd the less the individual risk among those attending the funeral; E. Westermarck, ‘The nature of
the Arab ginn’ (Jour. Anth. Inst., vol. 29, London, 1899, p. 254). It is conceivable that some such idea may under-
lie the compulsory attendance at funerals in Stwah.