Author: GastonJ
-
Sintu-Janjaagu: The Harvest Festival That Unites Niamtougou
Every year, as the first Saturday of April comes around, the market town of Niamtougou in northern Togo fills with drumming, dancing and the smell of bean fritters and freshly brewed millet beer. This is Sintu-Janjaagu, the great harvest festival of the Nawdba (also written Nawdéba) and their neighbors the Lamba, two peoples who share…
-
The Twi Months of the Year: Traditional Names, Meanings and the Akan Seasonal Calendar
A calendar does more than tell us when a new month begins. It can also preserve a people’s observations of nature, agriculture, weather and community life. Among Akan-speaking communities of Ghana, the traditional names of the twelve months show exactly how this works. Names such as Ɔpɛpɔn, Ɔgyefoɔ, Ɔbɛnem, Oforisuo and Ayɛwohomumɔ are not simply…
-
The Months of the Year in Nawdm: A Calendar Rooted in Nature and Farming
The names of the months in the Nawdm language tell a story about the relationship between the Nawdba people, their environment and their traditional way of life. Rather than being labels attached to January through December, the traditional Nawdm month names are connected to the changing conditions of the year: dryness and heat, hunting, preparation…
-
The 12 Kabiye Months: Agriculture, Seasons and Tradition in Northern Togo
The traditional calendar of the Kabiye people of northern Togo is more than a system for measuring the passage of time. Its twelve month names preserve a direct connection between language, agriculture, climate, food production and cultural traditions. Known in Kabiye through names followed by fenaɣ, meaning “month” or referring to the moon, the traditional…
-
The 12 Months of the Year in Ga: Names, Meanings and Cultural Heritage
The Ga language has its own names for each of the twelve months of the year, and those names are connected not just to the passage of time but to weather, rainfall, farming, fishing, vegetation, stars, festivals and other observations of the natural environment. Today, Ga-speaking communities use the Gregorian calendar alongside these traditional names.…
-
The Traditional Ewe Months: What Each Name Really Means
A month is usually treated as nothing more than a block of time on a wall calendar. But in many traditional communities, the names given to months carry something much richer: direct observations about the land, the weather, what grows, what burns, and what people actually do with their hands during that period of the…
-
The Nawdm Wall Calendar 2026: The Current Year Edition
The 2027 edition of the Nawdm calendar is already live, but if you are still in 2026 and want a calendar in the Nawdm language for the rest of this year, this is the one to get. The Nawdm Wall Calendar 2026 was reviewed in August 2026 to ensure all dates, movable feasts, and public…
-
The Twi Wall Calendar 2027: Twelve Months in the Akan Language
Twi is one of the most widely spoken languages in Ghana, used by millions of people across the Ashanti, Akuapem, Akyem, Fante, and Bono communities, as well as by a growing diaspora in the UK, USA, Canada, and Europe. It is a language with a long written tradition, a rich oral heritage, and a cultural…
-
The Kabiye Wall Calendar 2027: A Year in Togo’s Second National Language
Kabiyè is one of Togo’s two national languages, spoken by millions of people in the Kara Region and surrounding areas of northern Togo. It is a language with a strong oral tradition, a distinctive cultural identity, and one of the most remarkable coming-of-age ceremonies in West Africa. The Language Roots Hub Kabiyè Wall Calendar 2027…
-
The Gã Wall Calendar 2027: Twelve Months in the Language of Accra
Accra is home to millions of people from every part of Ghana and beyond. But the city has its own original people, its own original language, and its own original calendar of festivals and seasons. The Gã people have lived on this land since long before Accra became a capital city, and the Language Roots…
