You and your friend get what’s sweet and you and your relation gets what’s bitter. – Mamprusi Proverb
Dry Season Mystery Spots
Here’s a puzzle for you! Have a look at the satellite image above which was taken in December 2016. Notice all the white spots scattered across it? Below is the same aerial view taken in the rainy season. Notice that the white spots are missing? So what do you think the spots are? The white […]
Magic Traps
On a recent hike I came across piles of recently harvested beans on a large stony area. Each large pile had a small shea nut tree branch and a piece of dried okra set on top. My guides were Bimoba who spoke no English and a little Mampruli. They managed to communicate that the branch […]
Gbinnya’ari: Laziness in Mampruli
Sometimes other languages say it best. The word for laziness in Mampruli is gbinnya’ari which is transliterated as “butt roots.” So a lazy person is a gbinnya’adaana or “one with butt roots.” They’ve been sitting on their butts doing nothing for so long that they’ve grown roots!
Zenabu’s Baby Naming Ceremony
My good friend Kolbugri‘s second wife Fozeaa just had another baby girl and they invited us to the suna (baby naming ceremony). I was honored to be invited to the observe the ceremony where the Muslim elders come and bless the child. This is a private ritual that I had not yet seen in my […]
Magic Charms, Black Cats, and the Power of Jesus
Follow the title link above to read an article and photos I contributed to IMB.org about magic and superstitions objects in northern Ghana.
Buŋŋa putoo zugu ka Naawunni mɔŋŋi u yiili.
It’s because of the donkey’s wickedness that God refused him a horn. – Mamprusi Proverb
Mamprusi in the Basel Mission Archives
William discusses some rare, century-old images of Mamprugu taken by Basel Mission doctor Rudolf Fisch on his 1910 excursion into the “Hinterland” of Gold Coast. The images capture scenes and cultural expressions that are no longer found in Ghana’s Northern Region.
2017 Fire Festival Photos
This year’s Fire Festival was the rowdiest I’ve experienced. Normally I just attend the main events with the paramount chief – parade, torch throwing, praising singing, water distribution – and then go back home. This evening I hung around for about an hour after the NaYiri returned to his palace and I observed all the […]