This new commission out-of bridewealth uses up an important status regarding the relationships procedure across ethnicities inside the north Ghana, also Dagaaba, Frafra and you can Builsa nations. One of the Dagaaba, the newest bridewealth, kyeuri, mostly comprises such as points while the libi-pe?le (cowrie shells, find Contour step 1), fowls, cig and cola crazy. In some instances, the amount of cowrie shells need to be consistent with whatever are covered the latest bride’s mommy. Various other period, ties regarding solidarity within parents or settlements of your bride to be and groom bring about a decrease in this new commission, of course the fresh new bride’s agnatic kin dictate that in past times new groom’s members of the family charged a leading brideprice getting a marriage, he is going to and insist on an excessive percentage. Still, there are also standardised wedding money across the Dagaaba settings. At this time, on average 2000 cowries, or cash similar, are usually acknowledged given that bridewealth during the Serekpere and its environs. It matter represents an excellent grave cures of an amount of 20,000 and significantly more than cowries that has been recognized in the same urban area throughout the 1990’s. In context out-of neoliberal monetary formula, and you will dwindling farming efficiency profile within fragile ecological zone, our very own correspondence with gatekeepers indicated that the brand new cutback to the amount out-of cowries is meant to build marriage reasonable. So it losing this new bridewealth diverges from the most commercialised payments claimed in the urban areas in Ghana and somewhere else (Shope, Resource Shope 2006; Posel & Rudwick, Site Posel and you can Rudwick 2013). Significantly, the fresh payment isn’t contingent up on this new activities of bride-to-be, that is, whether or not the bride-to-be is extremely educated, separated, has given delivery or not given that stated in other places (Borgerhoff Mulder, Source Borgerhoff Mulder 1989, Site Borgerhoff Mulder 1995; Anderson, Reference Anderson 2007). The fresh new classic norms governing the practice of bridewealth are set away in the event the negotiable irrespective of the newest bride’s socio-economic status or even the amount of liberties transported.
The previous including pleads with respect to the fresh groom’s kinsmen in the event the the fresh new bride’s loved ones want in order to charges an exorbitant brideprice
Generally speaking, a wedding liaison is actually a person on the groom’s village which has many relationships on bride’s settlement. The fresh new dendeo prospects the fresh new groom’s family members to your bride’s agnatic kin, very first to formally require their own hand in relationships also to afford the brideprice. The fresh new affairs of your dendeo on the bride’s friends mean that the latter try considerate towards groom along with his kin. As the bridewealth could have been gone to live in and you will approved from the bride’s kin, the marriage union is formed and legitimated.
The bridewealth among the Dagaaba, as the around the communities within the rural north Ghana, are an intricate procedure of transactions amongst the agnatic kin out of the fresh new groom and bride and you may, normally, a third party, titled a good dendeo, a marriage liaison
Normatively, source hyperlink brand new yirdandoo, your face of one’s members of the family, instead of the dad of your own fiance, ‘s the custodian of cowries produced because the relationships payments. During the a team talk inside Nator, near Serekpere, indicating the fresh role of your own head of one’s clan, Mwinyella, a study fellow member, informed me, directing to help you his paternal uncle that is your face off their clan, that: ‘which man was dad and thus while i wed it will be their obligation in order to [afford the bridewealth] to own me’. But really, to own family members instead of tips appointed due to the fact bridewealth, the bridegroom and his agnatic kin have the effect of elevating they. Anderson ( Reference Anderson 2007: 159) account one inside the configurations round the Africa, the marriage fee are normatively raised of the groom’s ‘father, grandfather and you will dad’s brothers, and with mother’s brothers and then make brief contributions’. This changes, to an extent, regarding Dagaaba membership demonstrated right here. Yet it resonates having bridewealth techniques among certain Frafra congeries, where normatively the latest groom’s father and dad’s brothers have the effect of make payment on bridewealth and you can where he is not able to boost they the latest bridegroom converts to their dad’s otherwise mom’s brothers getting help.
