Major Cultural Practices of the Kassena Nankana People of Ghana and Burkina Faso

The Kassena-Nankana District is among the nine districts in the Upper East Region of north Ghana.The district was divided into different communities that had chiefs and some other traditional leaders known as Tindanas and Tigatus who had a lot of power and authority over their people.
This ethnic group can also be found at the Burkina Faso border and they speak the Kasem language.The kasenna being closely related to the people of Nankanni, were brought together to form the Kassena-Nankana administrative district in 1936. The chiefs were the traditional political heads, while the Tindana and Tigatus were the custodians of land matters. In Kassena-Nankana, individuals were not allowed to own land; instead, the family heads were in charge of the land for the family.
 The Kassena-Nankana people have a number of cultural practices that they hold dear. Among these cultural practices, marriage, agriculture, funeral, inheritance, and their general social coexistence are most important.
Weddings are quite eventful among the Kassena-Nankana people. Kola nuts, tobacco, and guinea fowls are some of the most common items used as bride price. These items usually don`t go without seven sheep and a cow given to the bride-to-be`s family. Grooms who don`t present a cow before marriage are obligated to do so after the bride dies.
 Intended grooms who can`t afford the bride price may have their male children pay for them before they pay the dowry for their own wives.
Agriculture is an integral part of Kassena-Nankana`s economy. They mostly grow crops like millet, sorghum, cowpea, Bambara beans, okra, cotton, rice, tomatoes, groundnuts, leafy vegetables, and onions.
They also rear livestock such as sheep, goats, pigs, guinea fowls, cattle, fowls, and donkeys. Some of them are fish farmers who particularly specialize in Tilapia and Mudfish. Despite their small farms and low yields due to poor soils and unreliable rainfall, the Kassena-Nankana people take their farming seriously and passionately, all the same. Another business activity they engage in is the trading of crafts, foodstuffs, and semi-processed food. They sell these commodities in local markets and outside their region.

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