Sometimes I'm embarrassed I know so much European & American history but little Gh history It hard to take Gh history serious, too much myth
— Efo Dela (@Amegaxi) July 24, 2013
It is really hard to find any
post-European history about Ghana and Ghanaian tribes. Most of what we know is
oral history and it’s hard to separate myth from fact. Stories that are
obviously myth have become accepted as fact making it difficult for some of us
to believe anything. In primary school we learned about the migration of the Ewes and other tribes but that wasn’t enough for me. I pestered my Dad and any adult I
could find to tell me more about our history.
Over the years I’ve tried to
gather as much oral history about my tribe, the Ewes, as possible. I’m going to
share a few of the less know ones in this post.
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME ‘AYIGBE’:
In Ghana, the Ewes are sometimes referred
to as ‘Ayigbe-fuɔ’, by the Akans and ’Ayigbe-tsɛmɛin’
by the Ga people. Some people find this name offensive others don’t.
It is believed
that the Ewes and the Gas migrated to their present locations around the same
decade. The Ewes first settled at Nortsie in present day Togo and began farming.
The Gas later joined them but after a few years, their population increased
considerable and they decided to move to a new land they didn’t have to share.
Some of Ewes moved to modern day Ghana in the Volta Region and some of the Gas
moved to Accra. The gas who decided to stay (in present day Togo) were led by
the Crown Prince called ‘Ayi’ and those who left were led by the King. The
migrating Gas left behind some of their royal paraphernalia, gods and priests
in the care of Ayi.
A few years later
the King died and a delegation was sent to Ayi to come back home with the gods
and priests and take his right full place as King. By that time the Gas and
Ewes had intermarried and Ayi had been made a King.
Ayi decided he
didn’t want to leave his new home and sent the delegates back to the elders
with the messages, “yaa kɛɛ amɛ akɛ, ‘Ayi Gbɛ’”.
“yaa kɛɛ amɛ akɛ”, means, “Go tell them…”
in Ga
And “Ayi Gbɛ”,
means, “Ayi refuses or says no” in Ewe.
The delegates
took the message back but pronounced “Ayi Gbɛ” as “Ayigbe”. The elders were no
sure of what to make of the message as they didn’t understand Ewe. A new Ga
King was later installed but to this day, when the Gas celebrate their annual festival,
Homowo, parts of the traditional rites have to be done in Togo.
OKOMFO ANOKYE
I was in
class four when I heard the story of Okomfo Anokye and Otumfour Osei Tutu and
all I could think was, “Wow, this sound just like Merlin and King Arthur”. Both
feature a mysterious and powerful wizard, Okomfo Anokye and Merlin. Both
stories talk about a King from humble beginnings, Arthur and Osei Tutu, both
feature glorified furniture, the Golden Stool and the Round Table and both have
an unremovable sword.
The origin of
Okomfo Anokye is a bit sketchy. Some say he just walked out of the forest one
day and some say he was born to Ano and Yaa Anubea, both from
Awukugua-Akuapim.
Some Ewes
believe that Okomfo Anokye was the twin brother of Togbe Tsali a power wizard
who lived among the Ewes while they were in Nortsie. Anokye and Tsali decided
the two powerful wizards could not occupy the same land and since Anokye was
the younger twin he had to leave and find his own path. Anokye traveled west till
he reached the land of the Ashantis where he was known as “Ɔkɔmfoa ɔfri Nɔtsie” (The priest/wizard from Nortsie). Somewhere along the
line, “Ɔkɔmfoa ɔfri Nɔtsie”
became Okomfo Anokye.
Okomfo Anokye's Sword
It is believed that Okomfo Anokye's sword can never be removed and so long as it remain planted in the ground, the Ashanti Kingdom will never end.
Apparently the reason why Okomfo Anokye's sword can't be removed is bcos it's made from the same material Thor's hammer is made from
— Efo Dela (@Amegaxi) September 8, 2012
it makes perfect sense that Okomfo Anokye is the illegitimate son of Odin. His Sword can't be removed and Thor's hammer can't be lifted
— Efo Dela (@Amegaxi) September 8, 2012
(me fooling around with Ghanaian Mythology and European Mythology)
THE HISTORY
OF KENTE:
Kente is a
very colourful cloth worn by many tribes in Ghana. Kente is loom woven mainly
in Bonwire in the Ashanti Region and Agotime Kpetoe in the Volta Region
The Akans
believe that Kente was invented by a farmer (or Hunter) in Bonwire who observed
a Spider weaving its web and later went home and tried his hand at it. The Ewes
from Agotime Kpetoe believe the Akans learnt the art of weaving Kente from
them. This post is mainly about Ewes so I will tell their side of the story.
Someone else can tell the Akan version.
The people of Kpetoe believe that
Kente has been with them for so long that the origin is unknown. It is believed
that Ashanti’s learned to weave Kente by visiting some Ewe weavers. The Ewes
explained the weaving process to the Ashantis by say, “Kɛ”
with means open and “tɛ” which means press. The “Kɛ-Tɛ” is the method of
weaving Kente. The Ashantis who learned from the Ewe took this knowledge back
home and introduced it to others. They named the cloth “Kente” and attempt to
explain “Kɛ-Tɛ” to other weavers.
THE EWE AKAN FEUD:
The Akans and Ewe have a long history of mistrust. No one is really sure of the root of this but there are many stories that seek to explain it. This is the one I know.
The Ashantis
were warriors who liked nothing better than conquering other tribes and
expanding their kingdom. When the Ewes settled in the Volta Region, it is
believed that some of them ventured inland as far as into the Ashanti Kingdom
to trade. The Ashantis decided to gather information from these traders in an
attempt to go east and conquer the Ewes. The only thing stopping them from
reaching Eweland was the Volta River and the Ashantis didn’t know how to cross
the river. They hired a few Ewe traders to help them cross when they got there.
The plan was to cross the Volta in canoes in small batches till everyone was at
the other side. However anytime the boat got into the middle of the river, the
Ewe boat men would turn over the canoe and drown the Ashanti warriors who were
unable to swim then go back for another batch of warriors. This went on for a
while before the Ashantis found out something was not right. When they found
out, they killed as many of the boat men they could find and vowed never to
trust an Ewe ever again.
Note that none of these stories can not be in anyway confirmed as truth. Every tribe has different versions of these stories. Feel free to share any story about any Ghanaian tribe in the comment section.
ɛ ➡ the 'E' sound found in 'bed' ie bɛd
ɔ ➡ the 'O' sound found in 'box' ie bɔx
The Story of the Ancient Ewe Language
(in Ewe with Subtitles in English and other languages)
