Homowo - Thanksgiving in Africa

Source: dearghana.com, ghanaweb.com

It’s almost that time of year again when we gather with our loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving: a tradition originating from a time when the arch rivals; Pilgrims and Indians, put aside their differences and sat down together at a ‘harvest feast’. But this tradition of giving thanks for food and harvest is not unique to North America. In Ghana, among a tribe called the Ga, a form of Thanksgiving called the Homowo Festival is one of the largest cultural festivals of its kind in Africa!

Unlike our Thanksgiving, Homowo goes on for about 3 months, starting with the blessing of crops as they are sown and following with a series of dances and rituals until the harvest is reaped and the ‘Thanksgiving’ feast is shared.

The Ga word for this festival, Homowo literally means “hooting at hunger” and the origin of this name and the Homowo Harvest Festival goes back to a very significant time of hardship for the Ga people - very much like our Thanksgiving that goes back to the significant dinner between Pilgrims and Indians.

The Ga of Ghana

To understand the significance of Homowo and farming for the Ga tribe of Ghana in West Africa, we must look back into their history.

The Ga have an interesting past of frequent migration around the continent of Africa. They traveled for many years before reaching the west coast of the Accra region of Ghana, where they now live. In this migration to pre-colonial Ghana, they suffered a severe famine brought on by poor rainfall. The people were so close to starvation that they embarked on a vicious cycle of food cultivation in desperation and in the hope of rain.

Fortunately the rains returned the following season and their labor was gratefully rewarded with a bountiful harvest. The Ga rejoiced with this blessing and remembered it by naming it Homowo, meaning "hooting at hunger". 

The Homowo Festival Rituals

Photo by Robert Ashie

The Homowo festival and the lead up to the feast starts in May and goes on until August usually but sometimes as late as September. The actual Homowo harvest feast is always on a Saturday but the exact date varies from year to year.

The start of Homowo Harvest Festival begins when the first crops are sown. One of the first crops, millet, is blessed by the traditional priests ahead of the rainy season in May. This is then followed by a series of rituals to mark the festival season. Among these rituals is a 30-day ban on drumming, and a few days of rest leading up to the feast where no land is worked or fishing is allowed. In rituals like these the Ga prepare to concentrate on their crops and calm the sea gods.

The 2 weeks preceding the harvest feast are filled with significant displays of family and community interchange. Workers leave the farms and go back to their homes singing, dancing and parading in the streets. They bring with them their harvested crops like maize and palm nuts.  Over the next few days any loved ones who passed away are remembered, the elderly are visited, gifts are exchanged between relatives and  any ongoing disputes should be settled.

Traditional dishes that are made for the Homowo feast are palm nut fish soup and a corn powder dish. The day of the actual feast is followed by dances and parades throughout the towns, which lasts several days.

Although there are significant differences between North America’s Thanksgiving and the Homowo Harvest Festival, the values behind these annual celebrations are the same, or at least stem from the same morals like hard work, perseverance, community and thankfulness for mother earth’s life-giving food. These traditional celebration are also times when family will reunite, travelling long distances sometimes, to celebrate and share a special dinner with their loved ones.

Author: Donna Van Wyk

SEO Copywriter and Content Strategist at DigiGal Marketing