COVENANT
THE WOMAN WHO DRANK THE SASSY WOOD
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This book reveals a ‘TRUTH FINDING’ cultural ritual that portrays primitive repulsiveness and outright humiliation towards women/females throughout the world. COVENANT clearly reminds us about how most cultures throughout the world are faced with primitive repulsiveness; globalism vs nationalism, cultural tradition vs modernism, tribal tradition vs Christian morality and Western law, globalism vs nationalism, ancient religious belief vs atheism/commercialism/socialism, etc. In this remote town, Tenneh was accused by her husband as one who killed her third child. By the growing protests from the town and accusation from Duah, Tenneh’s husband, Tenneh is forced to drink a liquid ( Sassy wood ) or ‘ True Serum’ to gauge her innocence or guilt. The Sassy-wood is a Truth Finding ritual of this town. For any mystery or mystical occurrence the accused person must perform the ritual to prove his or her innocence. So Tenneh is the one who is accused and she has to prove her innocence.
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About the Book
In a culture where marriage covenants are typically arranged by parents, considerations of the romantic feelings and true love of the prospective married couple seldom enter into the negotiations between families. Those emotions are born later, after the marriage is consummated. Prior to that, neither the young man nor the woman pursues the other. In Covenant: The Woman Who Drank The Sassy Wood, Michael G. Siaway reveals how a young woman was treated in arranged marriages in rural Liberia within the (Dan/Gio) ethnic group in the 60’s. A young woman given into an arranged marriage is accused of being a witch and pronounced guilty. To prove her guilt rather than her innocence, the townspeople forced Tenneh to drink a deadly poison called Sassy Wood. The idea of accusing someone who may be innocent of being a witch with the pre-conception that she is guilty is both fascinating and challenging. What would the townspeople do if Tenneh’s guilt is affirmed, or if she is proven innocent?
About the Author
MICHAEL G. SIAWAY was born in Liberia, West Africa. He emigrated to the United States as a refugee on September 11, 2003, through the Catholic Charities Refugee Services of Camden, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University. Michael is a founder of “Raising Lazarus,” a non-profit organization based in Reading, USA. He is a substitute teacher at Berks County Intermediate Unit in Reading, PA. Michael also served as a primary teacher for the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, West Africa in 2016. In 2012, Michael was selected as a competent candidate to intern at the Washington Training Center, Washington D.C.