Dipo is a rite performed by the Ses (Shai) people made up of the Dangmes in Kordiabe, Ada, Krobo, Klo, Osudoku, and Ningo among others.
This rite is performed to initiate their young girls into adulthood. It is the next social status transformation ritual after birth and has been one of the most well-preserved cultures in Ghana over the years.
History has it that this rite was initially performed at Shai Hills, which was the first habitation of the Se (Shai) people before they were expelled from the area by the British Colonial Masters in 1892. Several tribes among these Dangmes used to stay in caves in the hills.
According to records, they were sacked after allegations that they were offering human sacrifices to their gods and the place was converted into a resource reserve to protect flora and fauna.
During their stay, they used one of the many hills at the now resource reserve – (Mogo Hills) as a campsite for their young girls who were eligible to go through the puberty rites (Dipo).
Assistant Manager of the Shai Hills Resource Reserve, Ishmael Otoo, explained on the People & Places show that the girls were camped at the site for about 6 months in the past. During this period, elderly women from their clans trained them and taught them virtues, thereby preparing them for womanhood and marriage.
Ishmael Otoo further explained that the girls left indentations on parts of the rocks where they camped. He noted that these indentations were left as a result of constant grinding by these girls. According to him, two schools of thought have emerged that suggest that the girls were grinding the substances they used to use on their bodies to smell good as part of the training process and on the other hand, they were grinding food with grinding stones that left the marks.
“You can see the indentations here, we don’t really know what they were doing but it is assumed they used to grind the things to put on themselves, ie. The myrrh and other ornaments they used to put on the girls to remove bad scent and to smoothen their skin so that men can approach them after the rites for marriage.
There’s another school of thought that they used to grind their food items especially cereals, millets, and other things from the rocks. The museum has the various stones that they used to grind. It is believed that one can only estimate the number of people who came here for the rites when you are able to count the number of groves and you cannot because they are a lot,” he told Wonder Ami Hagan on the show.
Ishmael also noted that the number of ladies who were housed on the hills at a time depended on the availability of ‘puberty-ripe’ girls. He however indicated that though the rites are still performed in many Dangmbe communities, modernization has led to a reduction in the number of days.
“Depending on the number of ladies who are ready for the rites, so they don’t have a fixed number but it was done once a year. Let’s not forget that they are still doing it but modernization and change in the way they do it has also affected it. In those days, they used to do it for ladies who are above 20 years but now even if you are below 10 years, you can still go through and the number of days has moved from six months to one week,” he noted.
Ishmael further explained what the markings on the bodies of these young girls signify.
“When you go their place, what you see is they cut the hands of the ladies that go through and their backs. The markings on the hands signify that now she is ready for the market ie marriage and she can do all her house chores. And the markings at the back also show that she is now able to carry her baby very well,” he added.
