The Ghosts of Ngaingah
Published in
Freetown, Sierra Leone
25 USD
Add to
Add to
The Ghosts of Ngaingah is about a village located in the Kissi-Kama Chiefdom in the northeastern region of the Republic of Sierra Leone on Africas west coast, and a ritual curse that befell it. The Kissi have lived in that village since ancient times. Upon their refusal to follow ancient traditional practices at the local oracle near the Kuyoh Mountain, and at a shrine on the bank of Ndopie River, they heard a mysterious dirge one morning, before the sun reached its zenith. The villagers saw a crowd of ghosts with bundles on their heads, and accompanied by lots of animals. They were repeatedly chanting a mysterious dirge. The ghosts entered crevices in the Kuyoh Mountain and disappeared. The scratches they left on the hard rocks are still visible. This narrative, which contains humor, mischief and magic demonstrates how powerfully tradition and custom influenced the lives of the people of one ethnic group -- the Kissi.
