Doglientiri: an institutionalised relationship between women among the Bulsa of northern Ghana

Abstract

This article focuses on the institutionalised relationship between a married woman and a younger woman of her lineage. This alliance implies that the older woman incorporates her clan sister into her household and later marries her off to a man of her choice, preferably her own husband or one of his (classificatory) brothers. This specific form of sororal polygyny is firmly based on rituals and the structure of kinship relation among the Bulsa of northern Ghana. Women bear the ritual responsibility for their brothers' offspring and therefore acquire the right to adopt their daughters.