By Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh

Since ancient Gá-Dangme law applied principally to persons belonging to the Gá-Dangme nation particular rules were formulated to define who was a Gá-Dangme. A Gá-Dangme person was generally recognised as one who being born of Gá-Dangme parents, belonged to a particular weku or extended family. Ordinarily, it was easy from Gá-Dangme nomenclature to establish the address, antecedents and lineage of the individual. The Gá-Dangme name was coded in such a way that people familiar with the society could tell immediately the quarter and lineage from which an individual hailed as well as his rank in the immediate family.

By Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh

In ancient times marriage was formalised with the approval and participation of the head of family. It normally linked the extended family to other extended families both within and without the quarter; it was therefore vital both for social cohesion and for bringing new members to the extended family through the process of kpodziemó or outdooring. Among the Gá-Dangme marriage is a union of a man and a woman to live as husband and wife within the rules of traditional law, including the potentially polygamous character of the marriage transaction.