Aboakyer festival: The pulsating deer hunting tradition in Winneba

The name “Aboakyer” translates to “hunting for game or animal” in the Fante dialect spoken by the people of the Central Region.

The festival was instituted to commemorate the migration of the Simpafo, the traditional name for the people of Winneba.

They migrated from the northeastern African town of Timbuktu in the ancient Western Sudan Empire to their current location on Ghana’s central coast.

The migration, led by two brothers, was believed to have been protected by a god named Otu.

To show their gratitude, the people consulted the custodian of the god, a traditional priest, to determine the god’s preferred sacrifice.

Astonishingly, the god requested a human sacrifice from the royal family. This practice continued for several years but was eventually halted due to the people’s growing aversion to human sacrifice.

The people requested the god to change the type of sacrifice, fearing that sacrificing royalty could eventually deplete the royal family. In response, the god asked for a type of wild cat to be captured alive and presented at its shrine to be beheaded as a sacrifice.

This annual ritual marked the beginning of the festival. Before the festival’s commencement, the people settled the god in a town called Penkye, renaming the god Penkyi Otu to signify its final home.

Initially, the people sought out the wild cat as prescribed, but many died in the process since the animal had to be captured alive and transported to Penkye.

Consequently, the people made a second appeal to Penkyi Otu for an alternative, resulting in the acceptance of a mature bushbuck.

Since then, two hunting groups, the Tuafo (Number One) and Dentsifo (Number Two), have been responsible for capturing the live bushbuck and presenting it at the festival durbar.

Celebrated in May, the Aboakyer festival has become a major event in Ghana. During the festival, warriors catch a bushbuck or deer not with weapons but with their bare hands.