April 19 - The King of Nikki's Funeral!
I live in a very special post, and I've gotten to see many really remarkable cultural events. Most were small-scale, local events, like the fetiche intitiations that happen regularly in Peonga. Recently, however, the king of Nikki died and I got to attend his funeral. (Nikki is a town about an hour and a half from my village by motorcycle). This was a huge deal . The king of Nikki is the most important king of the Bariba people, a group that spreads throughout northern Benin and Nigeria. Every year, all the lesser Bariba kings visit Nikki to pay tribute to the king and ride their richly-decorated horses in a festival known as Gaani. This funeral was similarly large, with kings and their entourages coming from as far as Nigeria and Ghana. Not all who came were Bariba; there were also kings from other ethnic groups in the south of Benin. Benin's president, Boni Yayi, even flew in by helicopter to make a speech! About five of u...