Aboakyer festival
The Aboakyer festival is a deer hunting festival celebrated by the people of Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana.
Overview
The name Aboakyer translates as "hunting for game or animal" in the Fante language as spoken by the people of the Central Region. The institution of the festival was to commemorate the migration of Simpafo. The people migrated from the north-eastern African town of Timbuktu in the ancient Western Sudan Empire to their present land in the central coast of Ghana. The journey from the north-east to the western part of Africa was led by two brothers. The people believed that a god, whom theyA request was made to the god to change the sacrifice type, as they believed that sacrificing royalty could eventually wipe out the royal family. The god in return asked for type of wild cat to be caught alive and presented to it at its shrine. After the presentation, it was to be beheaded as a sacrifice. This was to be done annually in a festival.
Before the festival began the people settled the god at a town called Penkye. After the resettlement, the god became known as Penkyi Otu, to signify the final home for the god. To mark the festival, the people sought out the wild cat, as had been prescribed. Many people lost their lives in the process as the animal was to be captured live and transported to Penkye. The people made a second appeal to Penkyi Otu to provide an alternative to the wild cat. That appeal resulted in the decision to accept a mature bushbuck. Two hunting groups, the Tuafo and Dentsifo, have since bore the task of capturing the live bushbuck and presenting it to the people at the durbar. This festival is celebrated in May and it is a major event in Ghana. The warriors catch a bushbuck or deer without a weapon but with bare hands.