Why Do People Carry Parts of the Dead Like Hair, Clothing, or Bones Back Home to Bury? Part 1

What compels people to bring parts of the dead hair, clothing, bones home for burial? In April, I went up north to Bolga for my auntie’s funeral. Just as we were about to leave the yard, an announcement came over the loudspeaker: “If anyone is carrying a corpse, please declare it now.” I was stunned. A corpse? On board? I’d never heard of such a thing. I was confused, so I ignored it. I brushed it off. The trip commenced pleasantly. We made the customary brief stops Achimota, then Linda Dor, one of the most frequented rest areas for travelers in Ghana. Everything was normal until we arrived at the Kumasi station. There, we were given something to look forward to: a chance to get off the bus and stretch our legs while it underwent maintenance. Normally, at this juncture in the journey, I would be trying to nap. But I was so comfortable that I didn’t even want to get off the bus. At around 11 p.m., I heard some loud voices near the bus’s entrance. I was naturally sleepy, but the commotion was enough to get me to approach the source of the noise and try to make sense of the situation. There was a fellow passenger who was just as lost as I was. Together, we tried to piece together what was going on. Eventually, a bystander brought us up to speed. Apparently, parts of a corpse had somehow made it onto the bus. They were not with a living person. The driver had found the parts unacceptable, and they had to go. It scared me. Shocked me. Confused me. And honestly, for modern Ghana, it is a pretty wild thing to do. I swore I wouldn’t close my eyes for the next leg of the journey. But come on who can fight against something that is inherent to nature? We stood there for more than an hour, with people arguing over what to do and how to move forward. I returned to my corner, waiting until we were eventually summoned to board the bus once more. To this day, I still can’t figure out how the driver knew. It’s a mystery.