Krobo Coming of Age

The Krobo and their tribal cousins the Shai, both renowned for their beauty, mark the passage of girls into womanhood by performing a series of rituals known as Dipo. Living in the fertile plains around the towns of Odumasi and Somanya in eastern Ghana, the Krobo celebrate femininity and fertility under the auspices of the earth goddess, Nene Kloweki. Dipo rights have been practised since the eleventh century, and their popularity has not waned despite modern intrusions into traditional Ghanaian culture.

Beginning with a ritual that severs all ties with their childhood, the initiates enter a three-week period of seclusion, during which they learn the ways of adult women. Taught the finer points of personal grooming, female conduct, domesticity, and, finally, the art of dance and seduction, the girls undergo inner and outer transformation with the help of specifically appointed Dipo guardians. When the tutoring is over the initiates pass a final test in a ritual encounter with Tekpete, the sacred stone, which determines their virginity and, thus, their suitability to perpetuate the proud traditions of Krobo womanhood. In celebration of the completion of Dipo training, the graduates lavishly adorn themselves in beautiful beads and printed textiles for the Outdooring ceremony, when they publicly demonstrate their dancing skills for the chiefs, relatives, and, most importantly, prospective suitors who have gathered to admire the display of feminine grace and beauty.

Despite the influence of the Christian Church in Ghana, which actively discourages the Dipo, and a modern world that deems the rite anachronistic, the Krobo people consider it their most sacred and beautiful ceremonial tradition. Performed exclusively by women over many generations the rituals enhance female power and gives special status to their roles in the community.

Krobo Coming of Age

MAGIC OF BODUM BEADS

Krobo Coming of Age

Go back...