FUNERALS
As elderly respect is in high regard in the Ewe society, funerals traditionally are extravagant events incorporating a multitude of events over a month’s span:
- Amedigbe: The body, previously preserved with herbs, is buried on this day usually two to three days after death.
- .Ndinamegbe: The day after burial principal mourners are received.
- .Nudogbe: Day for wake-keeping 4–6 days after burial.
- .Yofogbe: The day after wake-keeping lineage rituals are performed. Family members of the deceased receive gifts and donations for funeral expenses.
- Akontawogbe: Three days later donations are counted .
- Xomefewogbe: Several days after Akontawogbe a final cost of the funeral is calculated. If donations exceed costs, donations may be returned; if costs exceed donations additional sums may be raised.
Funeral donations are a main focus of ceremonies due to the high cost of an Anlo funeral. Costs include the coffin, burial clothes, public dances, food, alcohol, and provision of accommodations for distant guests.
In a more modernized and mobile society funeral ceremonies now usually take place over a single weekend, sometimes several weeks after death to allow for distant relatives to travel and allow for accommodation of employment or work. Anlo-Ewe funerals are the most likely to involve colorful performances of dance and drumming groups. Lively and spectacular performances if the deceased was an honorable and involved member of the community. Sometimes distant family members may commission performances months after death if they could not be present at the actual funeral.[3] Newborn Anlo Ewe boys are circumcised on the seventh day after their birth. They are also named on this day. Newborn Anlo Ewe girls have their ears pierced on the seventh day after their births. They are named on that day.[citation
