I bet you are wondering if this man in the picture won't fall off, or maybe he is ever comfortable resting the whole of his body on the rope round his waist. Africa is blessed with very many things and of course, nature's gifts are never found wanting in Africa as well.
The palm tree is never useless in all ramification, as it serves as source to very many products. From the palm tree we get these end/raw products namely:
My cultural topic
Without bothering you with very lengthy post about how my community deals in all the points I have outlined above, I will be writing basically about PALM WINE TAPPING as see in the above image.
Well surprisingly and also to the best of my knowledge, none has fallen off the tree till date
What is palm Wine?
Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree. Palm wine is known by various names in different regions and it is common in various parts of Asia, Africa the Caribbean and even South America.
In Nigeria, palm wine tapping is not only done for commercial purposes, it is also done for cultural reasons. In my community, tapping palm wine as an activity goes far beyond making some money, but majorly to keep/sustain the cultural heritage passed down memory lane. In my community, a man's ability to climb the palm tree, tap the sweetest palm wine and get a very large quantity of what is considered as original palm wine is considered the best tapper and becomes the envy of his friends and ladies around. On most occasions, we might have several of these men, but usually, they are few as not very many persons knows the secret behind getting a very original palm wine.
Why did your choose it?
Palm wine intake and palm wine tapping is a major cultural heritage of the southeastern Nigerians. You could see aged men and sometimes women gather at a point especially in the village square taking this alcoholic liquid in the cool of the evening.
The relief that seem to come to the soul, generally seem to be the major reason why people in my community like to take this wine and also to take it in group. You could usually see be chattering in loud voices when they are assembled to take the palm wine.....This is really fun to watch
What makes it special to Me and My local culture?
There are so many cultures in Africa and especially in my community. Some of these cultures are deemed well celebrated when there is abundance of the palm wine to grace it. For instance the NGBA:
This is a yearly event which is known as wrestling in English. At NGBA festival, able bodied men (Great farmers of yam tubers, palm wine tappers, hunters and in this modern times Scholars have been integrated.) come together to contest for fame. At NGBA, the last man standing becomes the champion.
What is expected of the winner?
To be considered a winner, he must have fallen the other contestants by making their backs touch the earth. This is so fascinating scene, because you get to see men with heavy chest build up.....hehehe!
What is usually the price?
Surely they won't engage in this if there is no price for it. Amidst cheers and echo of the name from the happy crowd, the winner will get a glass-full or two of palm wine personally handed over to him by the king (IGWE). Aside this, the winner will easily be able to woo any young, beautiful and unmarried lady of his choice.......