INTRODUCTION THE SUPYIRE PEOPLE AND CULTURE: AN OUTLINE SKETCH
The Supyire are inextricably linked to their family
It is likely that most, if not all, of the young people cultivating together were from one large extended family. A united family, working and living together in
harmony, is of the highest priority for the Supyire. The impossibility of success outside this context is expressed in a plethora of stories and proverbs such as:
You cannot lift a pebble with one single finger. The fool says, “The family is not good”, but in reality, the family is more savoury
than salt in the sauce. A united family is defined as follows:
“They do the same work.” “They listen to one another.”
“They follow the same customs.” “They eat at the same place.”
The Supyire are closely bound to the supernatural.
The name of God is never far from the lips of the Supyire. They will invoke his blessings at every occasion, such as:
Blessing Occasion
“May God sweep the road before you.” departure on a voyage
“May God make his mother’s milk sweet to him.” news of birth “May God give you a lot back in its place.”
the receipt of a gift “May God open the morning.”
good night greeting
To have access to God, one normally has to go through the channel of intermediaries who are closer to him than humans are: spirits who live in the bush, or
ancestors who live in the village of the dead. The field I witnessed being ploughed belonged to one family who would pay the young people with an animal, which the
young people would keep to celebrate the annual village festival. Then it would be slaughtered in honour of the bush spirits or ancestors, and provide a communal feast.
Summary
Typically then, a Supyire farms in co-operation with his extended family and seeks to maintain harmony in his relations with the family, and with the supernatural
beings who inhabit the earth, and indeed with mother earth herself. Regular sacrificial gifts are essential to maintain these peaceful relations, and if for some
reason the peace is broken, inevitably a sacrifice of some sort will be required to repair the damage and restore harmony.