The latest commission regarding bridewealth uses up an essential condition on the relationships procedure across the ethnicities from inside the northern Ghana, together with Dagaaba, Frafra and you may Builsa regions. Among Dagaaba, the newest bridewealth, kyeuri, primarily comprises including factors as libi-pe?le (cowrie shells, discover Contour 1), fowls, tobacco cigarette and you can soda crazy. In some cases, the amount of cowrie shells have to be consistent with that which try covered brand new bride’s mom. Various other occasions, ties out-of solidarity between the family or settlements of one’s bride and groom end up in a reduction in new percentage, just in case brand new bride’s agnatic kin dictate that in earlier times this new groom’s relatives billed a leading brideprice to possess a married relationship, he’s browsing in addition to insist on an excessive commission. Nevertheless, there are also standardized relationships money over the Dagaaba settings. Right now, an average of 2000 cowries, otherwise dollars similar, are often accepted since bridewealth into the Serekpere and its own environments. Which number signifies a great grave cures regarding some 20,000 and you can significantly more than cowries that was accepted in the same urban area from the 1990’s. During the context away from neoliberal economic policies, and dwindling farming production accounts contained in this fine ecological zone, our communication with gatekeepers revealed that this new cutback towards amount out of cowries is meant to build wedding affordable. It reduction in new bridewealth diverges from the really commercialised costs said in the urban areas within the Ghana and you can in other places (Shope, Resource Shope 2006; Posel & Rudwick, Source Posel and you can Rudwick 2013). Significantly, the fresh commission isn’t contingent upon the new things of your own bride to be, that is, whether or not the bride to be is extremely educated, divorced, has already offered delivery or perhaps not due to the fact advertised elsewhere (Borgerhoff Mulder, Reference Borgerhoff Mulder 1989, Source Borgerhoff Mulder 1995; Anderson, Source Anderson 2007). The latest typical norms governing the practice of bridewealth are set away if flexible despite the fresh bride’s socio-monetary reputation and/or number of liberties transferred.
The former together with pleads on the behalf of new groom’s kinsmen if the fresh new bride’s nearest and dearest seek in order to costs an exorbitant brideprice
Typically, a married relationship liaison try a man from the groom’s village whom has some relationships regarding bride’s settlement. The brand new dendeo guides the latest groom’s relatives on the bride’s agnatic kin, earliest in order to formally request their submit wedding also to pay the brideprice. Brand new relations of dendeo into the bride’s family mean that the second was careful on the bridegroom along with his kin. As bridewealth might have been transferred to and you will approved by the bride’s kin, the wedding connection is made and you can legitimated.
The brand new bridewealth one of the Dagaaba, while the around the societies into the rural northern Ghana, was a complex process of deals between your agnatic kin out-of the fresh groom and bride and you can, usually, an authorized, titled a great dendeo, a married relationship liaison
Normatively, new yirdandoo, your face of your loved ones, instead of the father of one’s bride, ‘s the caretaker of the cowries put https://getbride.org/no/blog/postordrebrud-priser/ as the relationship payments. On a team dialogue from inside the Nator, close Serekpere, appearing new part of lead of your own clan, Mwinyella, a research fellow member, told me, directing to their paternal uncle that is your face regarding his clan, that: ‘which guy is dad and so once i wed it might possibly be their obligation to help you [afford the bridewealth] for me’. But really, for group rather than info designated as the bridewealth, the fresh bridegroom and his agnatic kin are responsible for increasing they. Anderson ( Source Anderson 2007: 159) profile you to definitely within the options round the Africa, the marriage fee is normatively increased by groom’s ‘father, parent and you can father’s brothers, along with mom’s brothers to make brief contributions’. This changes, to an extent, from the Dagaaba account presented here. But really it resonates which have bridewealth means one of particular Frafra congeries, where normatively brand new groom’s father and you can dad’s brothers have the effect of paying the bridewealth and you can where they are unable to improve it the latest groom transforms to their father’s otherwise mother’s brothers to possess support.
