Ancestral Values In Africa

An important part of the cosmology of West African peoples, the belief in ancestors affirms that life continues after death, that the spirit realm is not an alien world inaccessible to humans, and that even after death, relationships are not eternally severed between the deceased and their living descendants. Among the major ethnic groups in West Africa such as the Akan (in Ghana and the Ivory Coast), the Ga (in Ghana), the Ewe (in Ghana and Togo), the Fon (in Benin), the Yoruba and Igbo (in Nigeria), those who have attained the status of ancestors are given honorific titles such as Nananom Nsamanfo (Akan), and Togbi Togbuiwo (Ewe). These titles literally mean “grandparents.”

To be an ancestor, a person must be a progenitor because the cult of ancestors is composed of one’s descendants. But there can be rare exceptions where a person who did not have biological children, but who cared for the extended family, is accorded the honor. Apart from having descendants, one must lead a moral life worthy of emulation and one of community service. Traditionally it is believed that an upright life is normally rewarded with old age. Such a person who is endowed with experience and wisdom then becomes an elder within the community. The person must die of natural causes. Some types of death are considered to be a curse in West African communities and negate the prospects of becoming an ancestor (Assimeng 1989, 60). At death the proper funeral rites must be performed for the deceased person to ensure passage into the spirit world of the ancestors. The invocation of such a person by name in ritual signals recognition as an ancestor by living descendants.

Ancestors form the spiritual segment of their families and are the most intimate spiritual link between their living descendants and the spiritual world of God, the gods, and other spirit powers. They serve as intermediaries and mediators between their descendants and the spirit world, promoting the welfare of their descendants. A wide range of requests are therefore put to them by their living descendants, including requests for children, prosperity, a good harvest, and general well-being. They mediate these boons for their descendants from God and the gods. The ancestors are particularly seen as transmitters of life who enable their descendants to procreate. As Dzobo (1992, 232) points out, their concern with sexuality reflects a desire to increase the size of the family, ensuring the continuity of the family line. The ancestors are believed to reincarnate in their own families; thus, an emphasis on procreation benefits past, present, and future family generations.

The ancestors also offer protection to their descendants from inimical powers. A good illustration of this belief is manifested in a special sacrifice known as the San (debt)sacrifice among the Naga of northern Ghana. In this sacrifice a person is made to replace through divination the items supposedly used spiritually by ancestors to divert a spiritual attack on the person. Ancestors are also concerned with healing and may reveal healing remedies to descendants through dreams, and so forth.

The ancestral roles have an ethical basis. The ancestors are regarded as the guides and guards of the moral conduct of their descendants. Although they reward the good with boons, they punish or ignore belligerent and negligent descendants. They are also believed to provide spiritual sanctions to various traditional taboos, especially sexual taboos. Such taboos when broken destroy the moral fabric of the communities that they helped to establish. The filial bonds with their descendants also oblige the latter to act in a manner that does not tarnish their ancestral name.

Often the ethical role of the ancestors takes on a judicial aspect. This is implied in the belief that they reward or punish good and bad descendants respectively. They also serve as symbols of justice. Elders who adjudicate cases pray to the ancestors for wisdom and discernment and invite them to witness the proceedings. Anthony Emphirim-Donkor (1997, 125) notes, “This is to ensure that everything said and done is carried out in spirit and in truth.” The Egungun ancestral mask cult of the Yoruba of Nigeria also judges cases while the elders are masked as ancestors. Their decisions are regarded as those of the ancestors.

In performing all these roles the ancestors serve as important religious foci of social order and continuity. Among the Ewe, as Fiawoo (1967, 266) points out, “the values seton kinship find expression in the ancestral cult.” Filial piety as expressed in the ancestors and shared by others leads to a recognition of the social foundations of one’s life and fosters social cohesion, solidarity, and corporate identity. Ancestral links also engender the resolution to maintain the traditions of the ancestors for others yet to be born. This entrusts responsibility for the future in the hands of the living. The ancestors are therefore the key element connecting the symbiotic religious and social lives of the people.

The ancestral beliefs partially account for the way religion is intertwined with various aspects of West African life. The links of the ancestor cult with economic and political life gives a sense of continuity and security to living descendants. As founders of communities, the ancestors are linked with land, a traditional symbol of identity for their descendants. The ancestral traditions of land use also affect economic life. The legitimacy of political authority is also vested in the ancestors. In most West African communities those who hold political authority do so in proxy for the ancestors. They are responsible to the latter and regularly function in priestly roles, communicating and maintaining communion with the ancestors on behalf of themselves and those whom they lead.

The ultimate role of the ancestors is to serve as symbols of an ideal after-life, and of the possibility of salvation for those still living (Dovlo 1993). Most West African peoples hold that after death one must cross a river between the world of the living and the world of the ancestors, so as to be integrated into ancestral spiritual segments of their families. This is the ideal after-life scenario, in which one finds peace in being reunited with the family. It reaffirms the sense of community that forms the basis for the entire cult of the ancestors. Those who do not cross this river become “wandering ghosts.” They remain restless in the world of the living and are considered hostile to the living.

The roles that ancestors play generate a mixture of respect, filial love, fear, and reliance in their  descendants. The latter perform various rituals of communication, communion, appreciation, remembrance, and consultation so as to be in harmonious relationship with the ancestors. The rituals involve libation prayers, offerings, animal sacrifices and festivals, as illustrated by, for example, the Adae Festival of the Akan of Ghana.

The rituals performed for the ancestors have led to a debate as to whether they are simply venerated, or actually worshipped. Peter Sarpong (1970) and Fashole-Luke (1980)argue that they are only venerated and not worshiped. Others (Sawyer 1966, Pobee 1979,66) argue that though pietistic adoration may not be strong in rituals directed at the ancestors, many of the elements of ancestral rites are not different from those accorded to the gods or God. Bolaji Idowu (1973, 180) has also argued that the notions of veneration and worship are psychologically too close for a distinction to be made in the case of the ancestors. Moreover, some ancestors are apotheosized into gods, as is particularly the case among the Yoruba of Nigeria. Among the Mende of Sierra Leone, the Supreme Being is regarded as the great ancestor. It is therefore difficult to rule out the fact that the ancestors enjoy a level of worship and rituals pertaining to them that go beyond veneration.

It seems that insistence that the ancestors are venerated and not worshipped involves a level of apologetics that seeks to make them comparable to saints, so as to make them acceptable in a Christian context. This, however, involves imposing a Christian and Western template which insists that “only God deserves worship.” The position of West African traditional religions would be that “only God deserves ultimate worship.” In that case, the ancestors may be accurately seen as receiving veneration and a degree of worship in traditional West African religion.

References

Dovlo, Elom. 1993. Ancestors and Soteriology in African and Japanese Religions. Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 3, no. 1:48–57.

Dzobo, N. Values in a Changing Society: Man, Ancestors, and God. In Person and Community, eds. Kwasi Wiredu and Kwame Gyekye. Washington, D.C.: The Council for Research into Values and Philosophy.

Ephirim-Donkor, Anthony. 1997. African Spirituality. On Becoming Ancestors. Trenton, N.J.:African World Press.

Fashole-Luke, E.W. 1980. The Ancestors: Worship or Veneration—Introduction. Sierra Leone Bulletin of Religion, n.s. 1 (December): 37–50.

Fiawood, D.K. 1976. Characteristic Features of Ewe Ancestor Worship. In Ancestors, ed. WilliamH. Newell. The Hague: Mouton.

Idowu, Bolaji. 1973. African Traditional Religion. A Definition. London: SCM Press.

Pobee, J.S. 1979. Towards an African Theology. Abingdon/Nashville: Parthenon Press.

Sarpong, Peter. 1970. A Theology of Ancestors. Insight and Opinion. 6, no. 2:1–9.

Sawyer, Harry. 1964. Ancestor Worship I—The Mechanics. Sierra Leone Bulletin of Religion 6,no. 2 (December) :25–33. 

——. 1966. Ancestor Worship II—The Rationale. Sierra Leone Bulletin of Religion. 8, no. 2(December) :33–37.