Abstract. – The article analyses specific innovations called lakoriby the Bulsa. Such alterations of a given norm may intrude into a ritual system accidentally and involuntarily, or they may express the wish to introduce innovations of a changing society. Although every alteration may be regarded as an offence against ancestors or other supernatural powers, the change must be maintained in future ritual performances (i.e., it has “entered the ritual”).To a certain extent, however, compensation for an unjustified alteration of traditional rites is possible and an omitted ritual element may be made up for. Creating a balance between the old, fixed ritual traditions and the radical change caused by spontaneous and arbitrary innovations is perhaps the most significant function of lakori. [Northern Ghana, Bulsa, funeral, ritual, tradition, innovation]