Yam

The yam is a large root vegetable that resembles a tube. The vegetable is sometimes called a tuber. It is widespread in West Africa, and because it usually develops after the rainy season, it is the first vegetable to be harvested by the West African people. This gives the yam its special significance among African people. The yam is not to be confused with the sweet potato, which has origins in Asia. The yam is indigenous to Africa.

Almost all the people of Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, the Cameroons, Benin, Togo, Guinea, and Sierra Leone know the importance of the yam. Nothing is more sacred as a vegetable than the appearance of the new yam. It portends a good season, productive activities in the villages, and even good childbirths.

Yam festivals are common in West African villages. The appearance of the first yam is occasion for celebration. There could be, as among the Akyem people of Ghana, a coordination between celebrations and ceremonies of origin and the first appearance of the yam. Festivals that celebrate the yam are ceremonies dedicated to friendship, family, and the welcoming of strangers, especially those who have no or limited food. By the festival, the people are declaring that there is enough food for everyone and that all are welcomed to partake of the feast.

Great yam festivals in Africa are the places for thanksgiving and reverence for overcoming hunger. The Homowo Festival of the Ga in Ghana is really a celebration of the victory over hunger. The Iriji festival in Nigeria is also such a celebration. Although the method of the celebration may be different from one region of West Africa to another, the style is similar and the purpose is the same. The people will have dancing and drumming calling forth the powers of the yam. They will have skits and performances that hark back to the days when the ancestors lived on the Earth, and they will eat, drink, and be happy that the yam has appeared.

When the festival is about to begin, the women in Ghana would go and dig up the yams and carry them home. People come out to see who is carrying the largest yam because it is considered honorable to have the biggest yam on your farm. The women are responsible for preparing the feast, and they choose a young man to carry the biggest yams to the festival. Other young men are asked to play on the drums announcing the coming of the yam. There is great joy and anticipation about the taste of the yam. A long procession of important dignitaries follows the young men who are leading with the yam. The crowds gather to watch the procession as men and women in their beautiful kente clothes participate in the sacred procession. This is the way the yam is celebrated in many parts of West Africa.

There are variations as in the case of Nigeria, where among the people the families often make an ancestral altar on the first morning of the yam festival. The good Earth, Ala, and the yam god, Ihejioku, must be respected by this altar of the ancestors, and thus they are asked to attend the [Page 731][Page 732]festival. Among the Ibo, the men go to the farms and dig up the new yams and bring them back for the women to cook. They must dig carefully so as not to bruise the yams, and then they make thanks in the village square so all can see what is being produced around the village. They offer the ancestors the yam, white chalk, and a chicken. The chalk symbolizes well-being, and the chicken is for slaughter. A feast then ensues that includes many people. The yam is the king of thanksgiving; it is the ultimate vegetable for friendship and the maintenance of the society for another year.

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