YAM
The yamis a lar ge rootve getableth at resemblesa
tube.The vegetableis sometimescalledatuber. It
is widespread in Wes t Africa, and because it usu -
ally developsaf ter the rainyse ason,it is the first
vegetable to be harvestedby the Wes t Afr ican
people.Thisgivesthe yamits specialsignif icance
amongAfr icanpeople.The yamis not to be con -
fusedwiththe swee t potato,whichhas or iginsin
Asia.The yamis indigenousto Africa.
Almostall the people of Ghana,Ni ger ia, Ivory
Coast,the Cameroons, Be nin,Togo,Guinea,and
SierraLeoneknowthe importance of the yam.
Nothingis moresacred as a ve getablethanthe
appearanceof the newyam.It portendsa good
season,productiveactivitiesin th e villages,and
evengoodchildbirths.
Yamfestivalsar e common in West Afr icanvil -
lages.The appearanceof the firstyamis occasion
for celebration. There could be, as amongthe
Akyempeopleof Ghana,a coordinationbe tween
celebrationsand cer emoniesof or igi n and the fi rst
appearanceof the yam.Festivalstha t celebrate the
yam are cere mo niesded icatedto friendship,
family,and the welcoming of strangers, especiall y
thosewhohaveno or limi ted food.By the festival,
the peopleare declaringthatthereis enoughfood
for everyoneand th at all are welc omedto partake
of the feas t.
Great yam fes tivalsin Africaare the places
for thanksgivingand reverenc e for overcoming
hunger.The HomowoFestivalof the Ga in Ghana
is rea lly a celebrati on of the victoryover hun ger.
Th e Iriji festivalin Ni geriais alsosuc h a ce lebr a-
ti on. Alt houghthe methodof the cel eb ration may
be di fferentfrom oneregi on of WestAfrica to
another,the st yle is si mil ar and the pu rp ose is the
same.The peoplewil l havedancing anddr um -
mi ng calling forththe powersof the yam.They
willhaveskit s andperformancesthathar k back
to the dayswhenthe ancestorsli ved on the Earth,
andtheywilleat, dri nk, andbe happyth at the
yamhas appeared.
When the fes tivalis aboutto begin,the women
in Ghanawouldgo and di g up the yamsan d carr y
themhom e. Peoplecomeout to see whois car ry -
ing the largestyambecauseit is con side red hon -
orableto havethe biggestyamon you r farm.The
women are responsible fo r preparing the fe ast,
and theychoosea youngmanto carryth e biggest
yamsto the fest ival. Otheryoungmenare aske d
to play on the dr umsannouncing the co mingof
the yam.Thereis greatjoy and anticipationabo ut
the tasteof the yam.A longprocession of im po r-
tantdignitariesfol low s the youngmenwhoare
lea dingwit h the yam.The crowds gath er to watch
the procession as menand womenin the ir beauti-
ful kenteclot hes participatein the sa cre d pro ces -
si on. Thisis the waythe yamis cel ebratedin many
partsof WestAf rica.
Thereare var iations as in the caseof Nigeria,
whereamongthe peoplethe fami li es oftenmake
an ancestralaltaron the firstmorningof the yam
festi val. ThegoodEarth,Ala,andthe yamgod,
Iheji oku,must be respectedby thi s altarof the
ancestors,andthu s theyare askedto attendthe731