Tuesday, November 12, 2013

THE EWE CULTURE.

location map of the Ewe people


 THE EWE CULTURE

The Ewe people are an ethnic group located in Togo formally French Togoland and Volta Region formally British Togoland; both formally Togoland or Eweland, and southern Benin. They speak the Ewe language and are related to other speakers of Gbe languages, such as, the Fon, Gen, Phla Phera, and the Aja people of Togo and Benin. 


The people are ruled by chiefs who have an assigned role in the community. Traditionally, chiefs are not to see the face of a corpse. They may take part in the funeral, however, once the corpse is buried or inside the coffin. They are not to have any contact with the corpse. Chiefs sit on a black stool. A white stool is reserved for 'honorary' chiefs. These are auspicious individuals who have been made a 'chief' as recognition for their contribution to a village. Certain rituals cannot be performed by an honorary chief, and must be attended by the true chief. The pouring of libations is an important ritual within Ewe society. Generally, only chiefs can pour libations, but sometimes, at a durbar, a linguist performs the role. Libations are poured three times, in honor of ancestors, life, and the libation's offerer himself.


A drum
 In architectural works and craft, the Ewe people were shown how to weave 'Kente' cloth. In the Akan wars against the Ewe; Ewe people were captured and some remaining Ewe survivors were enslaved by Akans and made to be weavers. Ke means 'to open' in Ewe and te means 'to press'; the Ewe hold that the word Kete thus describes the weaving motion of the feewww.hypertextile.nett. The hand-woven Kente cloth is not just any kind of fabric that we use to cover ourselves. Kente weaving is a genuine form of popular art, rich in traditions and also in new inventions. Most men are also into the crafting of drums. Hand-weaving is effectively one of the vital organs of the Ewe culture.
a kente cloth
In the cultural fabric of the Ewe the loom is intimately linked to music and dance. These three arts are traditionally learnt and practiced by everyone. And so, Hand-in-hand Weaving opens with a Textile Performance by the weavers of the village of Klikor, along with their families and children. They bring along their best cloths and instruments, both textile and musical. To the accompaniment of a sacred weaving song, they weave and dance before their traditional kings, before the diplomatic representatives and a delegation from the Italian government.www.kganu.net

As part of culture, the Ewe people use a system of giving the first name of a child as the day of the week that the child was born. This arises from a belief that the real name of a child can only be determined after the child has shown its character. However, as a child is a person, not an object, the child must be referred to by some name in the interim, so a name is provided based on the day of birth. A final name is given at a naming ceremony, seven days after the date of birth. 


Ewe religion is organized around a creator/creatures deity, Mawu and Lisa. Mawu and Lisa (Goddess and God) to the Ewe is the Supreme Being and is remote from daily affairs. In addition the Ewe believes in many secondary gods (trowo) that are worshiped in unique ways. They also believe in spirit ancestors and divination is practiced. Se is a word for law, order and harmony; Se is the maker and keeper of human souls; in an abstract sense, Se is destiny. Ewe people are also Voodooists.

The Ewe people have a variety of dance.An example is the Agbadza, is traditionally a war dance but is now used in social and recreational situations to celebrate peace. War dances are sometimes used as military training exercises, with signals from the lead drum ordering the warriors to move ahead, to the right, go down, etc. These dances also helped in preparing the warriors for battle and upon their return from fighting they would act out their deeds in battle through their movements in the dance.www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_MDVzF5Jjl

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