August 4

                Today was shrine day. I will be writing a very long ethnography describing today’s proceedings, so I will try here to write only a short summary. Beth and I arrived at the shrine around 8am. The day’s proceedings had not officially begun, but there was an old women building a fire at the front of the shrine and holding her limbs to the flame. Someone told us that she was part of the sick ward and the fire was supposed to heal her. A woman with a small child offered to show us how to salute the shrine. Get down on all fours and touch your tongue to the floor, then touch your right elbow to the floor and then your left. (I later regretted putting my tongue to that floor when I saw all the things that go on it, as well as the way it is cleaned.)

                The ceremonies run all day. The drums play at intervals throughout the day, and goats and chickens are sacrificed in shifts for various things. When the animals are offered for sacrifice, they are first tested to see if the offer will be accepted. The animal is made to lie down, and if it tries to get up, the Gids do not accept. After a few tries, the person offering is asked to make some kind of confession. Once all the animals are accepted, the offerers stand in a circle and strangle the animals while the drums play. The corpses are then bled over the fetishes (stone and wood objects on an altar, meant to represent the God’s) and then taken out to the back to be butchered and cooked. At the end of the day, the meat is served and everyone present is expected to partake in the meat, even the baffled Canadian observers.