Ethnographic and Costume Regalia of Paari-gbiele Festival in Northern Ghana

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VIII, Issue VII, July 2021 | ISSN 2321–2705

Ethnographic and Costume Regalia of Paari-gbiele Festival in Northern Ghana

Nyamawero Navei
Tumu Senior High Technical School
Tumu, Upper West Region, Ghana

Abstract: Paari-gbiele is an annual post-harvest festival celebrated by the Sisaala indigenes of Tumu Traditional Area in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region of northern Ghana. It is celebrated annually to mark the end of successful farming season. It also serves as a momentous occasion for the glorification of the almighty God and the revered agriculturally related deities of the indigenes of Tumu Traditional Area for their protection and blessings of seasonal bumper harvests to the farmers. Paari-gbiele equally provides suitable platform for indigenous education, communal interaction and cohesion which significantly contributes to the revitalisation and promotion of the rich cultural ideals of the Sissala people of Tumu Traditional Area. In spite of the aforementioned sociocultural relevance of Paari-gbiele for which reason it is celebrated annually, there exists scanty or no documentary account on the ethnographic and costume regalia of the festival. The study therefore examined Paari-gbiele festival to establish its ethnographic foundation and the costume regalia utilised during its celebration. Guided by qualitative ethnographic design, the study collected data from thirteen (13) purposively sampled respondents (Chiefs and elders) in Tumu Traditional Area through the use of focus group discussion, unstructured observation and photography. The findings of the study were discussed using visual, descriptive and thematic analytical tools. The study concludes that the celebration of Paari-gbiele festival has a long-standing ethnographic background whereby its annual celebration is characterised by the adornment of glamorous traditional costume regalia with codified cultural connotations and relevance to the people of the Tumu Traditional Area. It is therefore recommended that the chiefs and elders of Tumu Traditional Area should endeavour to continuously deploy such unique traditional costume regalia during the annual celebration of Paari-gbiele to preserve their culture and harness the associated tourism and educational values of the festival.

Keywords: Cultural Semiotics, Costume Regalia, Ethnographic, Paari-gbiele Festival, Sissala, Tumu Traditional Area.

I.INTRODUCTION

In Africa and for that matter Ghana, traditional festivals, to some extent, are mandatory memorable sociocultural events that form an integral part of the cultural heritage of ethnic societies. O’Suvillan and Jackson (2002) agree that traditional festivals provide avenues for propagating the unique cultural heritage of local communities. Therefore, festivals are seen as undisputed communal fora for the promotion and reiteration of the actual place identities of local communities of which their cultural norms, beliefs and

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