Akua
Chapter Summary
In the chapter titled "Akua," we follow the story of Akua who is the daughter of Abena and Ohene Nyarko, and was born in 1879 after her mother fled to the missionaries in Kumasi. She now lives with her husband, Asamoah, and her mother-in-law, Nana Serwah, in Edweso. This is a village in Asante region of Ghana. Akua and Asamoah have two daughters, Abee and Ama Serwah. Akua spends her day performing chores with the other women of the village and taking care of her daughters.At the start of the chapter, Akua is suffering from recurring nightmares about a fire. These nightmares were recently triggered by the burning of a white man in the village. The cause for this was the village’s idea towards white men - they believe that white people are “wicked,” so even though the man had been innocent, the color of his skin determined his fate.
This chapter alternates between flashbacks about Akua’s childhood and the present. After her mother’s death, Akua was found by a fetish man, but she was raised by a Missionary in Kumasi. In these flashbacks, we learn that the Missionary takes special interest in Akua and educates her by teaching her that she is a “sinner” and a “heathen” (183). He asserts that it is his mission to save her and that “the British are here to show them (“all the people on the black continent”) how to live a good and moral life” (184). Throughout Akua’s education, if the Missionary is unsatisfied with her answers, he disciplined her with a switch. Apart from missionary school, Akua’s other influence is the fetish man, who teaches her about the meaning behind the work Abroni and suggests that perhaps the Christian God is a question.
Later, on one of Asamoah’s business trips, he stops at the missionary schools where he meets Akua. They talk for two weeks before he proposes to her and asks her to move with him to Edweso. When Akua informs the Missionary about this, he outright refuses and demands that she “ask God to forgive her sins” (185). After his refusal, the Missionary stops Akua’s classes, until one day when he offers to tell her about her mother. He confesses that he forced Akua’s mother into a river to baptize her, but she died. He confesses that he burned all of her mother’s things in the forest, and he starts shaking while repenting. The Missionary dies and Akua leaves.
Five years later, Akua is living with her husband, Asamoah, their two daughters, and her mother-in-law. During the timeline of this chapter, the British exile King Prempeh I. The British Governor also demands the Asantes to surrender their Golden Stool. This demand is significant because the Asante believe that the Golden Stool holds the spirit of the Asante warrior. In response, during a meeting with the Asante leaders, the Queen Mother urges that the Asante men fight the British to protect the Asante region and the Asante traditions. The Queen Mother also stipulates that if the Asante men do not fight, then the women of the region would.
Once the men of the village, including Asamoah, leave for battle, Akua’s nightmares increase in intensity; she sees a firewoman holding two children while standing in a fire. During this time, Akua also realizes that she is pregnant. Akua’s constant nightmares and fitful sleep cause her to be dazed throughout the day. Upon noticing this, her mother-in-law locks Akua in the family’s hut, isolating her from her two daughters and preventing any exist with a guard. Throughout her period of isolation, Akua drifts in and out of a nightmare-induced stupor, and is unable to distinguish between her reality and her dreams. At the week’s end, Asamoah returns from the war and releases Akua from the hut. We learn at this point that Asamoah has lost his leg during the war effort.
The war ends with an Asante loss but life continues for Akua and Asamoah. While many in the village are ashamed for allowing Akua’s mother-in-law to imprison her, others believe that Akua is insane and begin to call her Crazy Woman. In order to maintain any peace in her life, Akua attempts to keep herself awake, hoping to prevent the nightmares that are haunting her.
Soon after, Akua’s son, Yaw, is born. Akua believes in this moment that both she and her son will be okay. Akua begins to talk again, recovering from her period of isolation. She goes on walks with her children. After one day, Akua and her children return from a walk and the family eats dinner in the hut. Later that night, Akua starts to dream that she is on a beach with a beautiful blue expanse of sea in front of her. Her dream is soon disturbed by the firewoman, once again holding the two children. When Akua reaches for them, they are also set aflame. Soon, she is holding them, and even though they are on fire, Akua feels at peace in her dream. The firewoman, too, is calm and joyful. There are tears of joy streaming down Akua’s face that are extinguishing the fire in her hands. Like the fire, the two children also disappear.
When Akua wakes up, she is being carried out by a group of men who are chanting. They call her crazy, wicked, and evil. They claim that she should die like the white men she was raised by. Akua is tied up with burns on her body, and she is begging for someone to tell her what has happened. She learns that she set fire to the family’s hut and that her husband only had enough strength to save Akua and her son, but was unable to save their daughters. The villagers remain adamant to take Akua away and burn her, but Asamoah pleads for her life. He pleads that their son needs a mother and that Asamoah, himself, has lost too much in his life. The villagers allow Akua to live.
Character Analysis
Akua
Daughter of Abena and Ohene Nyarko, Akua is an orphan who grew up in a missionary school in Kumasi before moving to Edweso after marrying her husband Asamoah. She is fearful of fire and regularly suffers from nightmares of it, taking on the form of a firewoman. These visions appear to embody her inner turmoil. The chapter details a number of struggles Akua endures within herself. Over time, she comes to fear the nightmares and eventually sleep itself as she avoids falling asleep for fear of encountering the firewoman of her dreams, illustrated when Gyasi writes “she was no longer afraid of [sleep]” (196), in the days after Asamoah returns from the war and Akua recovers from her hut exile.Akua at times feels unwelcome in Edweso, overhearing the people of Edweso talking about her and calling her “not correct” (Gyasi 179), mirroring her mother-in-law, Nana Serwah’s, lack of acceptance and warmth. Regardless of the behavior she receives, Akua is a devoted family woman. Evident in her commitment to the household tasks of cooking and cleaning, she is a loving wife and mother to her two daughters. Throughout the chapter, she is shown to find most peace when with her immediate family. As Gyasi writes of Asamoah’s return from the war, both husband and wife find solace with each other and their children, when “each hoping the others’ presences would fill the wound their personal war had left behind.” (191).
Together with her time at the missionary school and her reception in Edweso, Akua exudes a general sense of displacement which was exacerbated with the death of her mother. As we learn about her years growing up, she turns to others to find answers, from her mother to the Missionary and the fetish man, until she is married to Asamoah. With his arrival, she feels stable, considering him an answer and the one surety amongst all her questions.
Although Akua suffers mentally, she is displayed as resilient and content with her decisions when they are accompanied with clarity. With Asamoah’s proposal, she is determined to leave the missionary school, willing to oppose the Missionary’s wishes as she challenges him “Will you beat me until I stay?”, (Gyasi 189), even while he blocks her path to exit. We see more evidence of her self-assurance when she encounters the white man being burnt and recounts the fetish priest’s words about white men. Comfortable with the explanation given to her, she allows him to be burnt and was “not the only person in the crowd who did nothing to help.” (Gyasi 181). Akua is also shown to find comfort in nature and when she is on her own, going for walks and taking in the sounds around her with welcome, even unpleasant ones. Gyasi writes about how “Akua liked walking to the market. She could finally think…” (179) and “she wanted to take long walks with her children” (193).
Firewoman
The subject of Akua’s nightmares, seen on two instances to be cradling two children. She is shown to be troubled when without them, as Gyasi writes “This time, the firewoman was not angry.” (197), during Akua’s last nightmare mentioned in the chapter, when the children make a reappearance after her first dream in 1895.
Abena
Akua’s mother who arrives at the missionary church in 1879 while pregnant with her. She is depicted as headstrong and unyielding, as we learn of her refusal to repent for being what the Missionary calls “a sinner and a heathen” (Gyasi 183). Furthermore, she holds on to her culture and refuses to abandon it, as we learn “she wouldn’t repent” (Gyasi 189) for her sin, namely Akua, as described by the Missionary. Even while she experiences rejection from Ohene Nyarko and turns to the British introduced church, Abena “spit at the British” (189), plainly expressing her distaste for them. Abena is portrayed as an affectionate mother to Akua, shown to “shush her, hold her, kiss her face” (Gyasi 180), whenever Akua started crying at her mother’s disappearance.
Asamoah
Akua’s husband hailing from Edweso, he sees and approaches Akua for marriage when she is sixteen, at the missionary school. He is portrayed as a loving husband and father, eldest son to Nana Serwah. He is wary of Akua’s time with the white missionaries, concerned with how she identifies as an Asante due to their influence. Nonetheless, he is protective and dedicated to her, comforting her when she struggles with sleep and nightmares. Asamoah is a strong, muscular man, described by Gyasi as having arms “as thick as yams” (186), with his whole life being about “the intelligence of his body” (185). Although he is not obviously handsome, nor does is he very sharp in an intellectual sense, he brings Akua peace and happiness, allowing her to move on from her life at the missionary school. While fighting the war against the British, he loses one leg and has a tough time readjusting to life upon his return, sometimes sharing in sleepless nights with Akua. When Akua sets fire to the house, killing her two daughters, Asamoah is only able to save their son, baby Yaw. He pleads with the townspeople to spare Akua when they condemn her to be burnt and killed for her actions, using the logic of Yaw needing his mother to appeal to them and appearing not to hold any resentment against Akua.
White man “Obroni”
A traveler who stops to rest in Edweso under the shade of a tree. Pointed out by Kofi Poku, he is condemned to death as he is burned by the townspeople.
King Prempeh I
Ruler of the Kingdom of Asante. He refuses to allow the British to colonize them and is arrested and exiled.
Nana Serwah
Asamoah’s mother and Akua’s mother-in-law, Nana Serwah is a boisterous woman set in her beliefs about womanhood. She often shows hostile tendencies towards Akua, telling her off for getting lost in her thoughts and disapproving of her mistakes. She shows little affection to Akua, with fleeting moments such as when “Nana Serwah reached out and touched her hand.” (Gyasi 182). Eventually exiling Akua to her hut and watching over the children, Nana Serwah ultimately does what she believes is best for her family. Rather than holding any grudges against Akua for her struggles, in her own way she tries to help her rest and heal so as not to cause any harm to the children or to face judgement front the townspeople. With Akua’s emergence from the hut after her exile and upon seeing her condition, Nana Serwah is shown to be regretful and from then on is protective of Akua. She challenges any townspeople who dare to speak ill of Akua and even chides them if she catches any whisperings.
Abee
Akua and Asamoah’s four year old daughter. She is eager to partake in the tasks with the other women and by the end of the chapter, is shown to have matured and grown as she expresses the unlikeliness for getting a song like Yaa Asentewaa due to who her parents are. Abee is depicted as being close to her parents, particularly her father as she rushes to his side numerous times; be it upon his return from the war or meetings, or her return from walks with her mother and siblings. Abee dies in the fire set by her mother Akua in her sleep.
Ama Serwah
Akua and Asamoah’s two year old daughter. She is shown to be outgoing and fearless, singing louder than the other women and aspiring to be like Yaa Asentewaa in the future. Like Abee, she is close to her parents. Ama Serwah dies in the fire set by her mother Akua in her sleep.
The Missionary
The man who raised Akua in the missionary school. The Missionary is a strict and determined man who is dedicated to the ways of Christianity and shows little to no tolerance for defiance. Set in his ideas, he believes the Asante need help and guidance, as Gyasi writes “All people on the black continent …must turn to God. Be thankful that the British are here to show you how to live a good and moral life.” (184). He is shown to be distraught when he comes across actions which put him down, as is evident when he is called “obroni” by a child as he “turned as red as a burning sun and walked away.” (Gyasi 180). Throughout Akua’s childhood, he instills fear in her and disciplines her in the ways of the missionary school and the church. He carries a long, thin switch which the Missionary uses to whip Akua at times, of his own volition and for reasons he deems suitable, such as when he tells her “You are a sinner and a heathen” (Gyasi 183). He is against Akua’s marriage to Asamoah due to the latter not being “a man of God.” (Gyasi 186). The Missionary is responsible for Abena’s death as he drowned her while trying to baptize her against her wishes in a river.
Kofi Poku
A three year old outspoken child in Edweso who points out the white man and ultimately leads to his burning by gaining the attention of the other townspeople. Later in the chapter, he is the only one to openly call Akua “Crazy Woman” when the others stay silent after her hut exile.
The fetish priest
A frequenter of Akua’s during her time at the missionary school, the fetish priest is who she turned to for questions she could not find the answers to with the Missionary. She first meets him when she is upset and crying over her mother’s absence after Abena’s death. He is supposed to have been present when the Europeans first arrived at the Gold Coast and continues Asante religious and cultural practices. The fetish man was called such due to his refusal to accept the Christian ways introduced in Kumasi by the British.
Fredrick Hodgson
The British governor who visits Kumasi and refuses to allow King Prempeh I’s return from exile. He further angers the Asante by demanding the Golden Stool which is believed to hold the essence of the Asanate.
Yaa Asantewaa
The Queen Mother of Edweso who encourages the men to fight against the British. She is shown to have warrior traits and displays patriotism as she threatens to fight with the women if the men refuse to do so. After the war, she is exiled to Seychelles and not heard from again.
Akos
One of the women of Edweso who partake in singing when the men are out fighting in the war.
Mambee
One of the women of Edweso who partake in singing when the men are out fighting in the war.
Akwasi
A handsome man who Akua saw weekly at the the missionary church in Kumasi, he was often the subject of mothers trying to get their daughters married to him.
The Fat Man
Appointed by Nana Serwah to guard the door of Akua’s hut while she is in exile and prevent her from leaving.
Yaw
The newborn son of Akua and Asamoah. He is the only child to survive the fire set by his mother in her sleep.
Antwi Agyei
One of Edweso’s elders who pushes for Akua’s burning after she sets her hut on fire, effectively killing Abee and Ama Serwah.
Doctor
He tends to Yaw after the fire set by Akua.
Major Themes and Images
Being at the beginning an orphan and after marriage not well accepted by her mother in law Akua was at loss. Through the chapter, she started an interpersonal query for own roots and more than that for own peace. She was brought up as an orphan by the Missionary. She parted on an existential quest asking the Missionary who led her to further confusion. She resorted to God to communicate her queries and her fears, yet he” returned them in nightmares”. Though, selected him neither for his attire nor for his intelligence but just for a refuge, her husband showed no understanding for her fear. The only anchor that she found to listen to her questions peacefully was the Fetish man. He represented kindness and love.Thus, after she lost him she lost her inner peace, she was even scared to sleep. Her discovery of her mother being burned fueled her nightmares, and drove her to madness, having in the background the Missionary’s hint that she might be the cause of her mother’s death as sin child. It intensified her feeling of guilt towards her mother.
The theme of fire was always present, threatening and culminating in burning humans. Akua regretted the burning of the white man and this led her to face inner remorse of being “not the only one who understood English and did nothing to help the white man’s rescue calls which was projected in her nightmares. It was depicted in terms of outrageous, rage and anger, to infer that these set of minds have the same outrageous destructive effect as fire. As a symbol of death and destruction it is displayed as threats to life, first when she felt her kids were threatened, and second, in the end endangered her own existence interfering in the character of the fiery lady. Even when it instilled in her body leading to sleep, and entering the dream, it drove her to insanity in the end, not even being able to grasp what was happening around her.
Key Quotations
“When she entered the dreamland she was on the same beach. She had been there only once, with the missionaries from the school. They had wanted to start a new school in a nearby village but found the townspeople unwelcoming. Akua had been mesmerized by the color of the water. It was a color she had never had a word for because nothing like it appeared in her world. No tree green, no sky blue, no stone or yam or clay could capture it. In dreamland, Akua walked to the edge of the rolling ocean. She dipped her toe into water so cool she felt she could taste it, like a breeze hitting the back of the throat. Then the breeze turned hot as the ocean caught fire. The breeze from the back of Akua’s throat began to swirl, round and round, gathering speed until it could no longer be contained within Akua’s mouth, and so she shot it out. And the spit-out breeze began to move the fiery ocean, dipping down into the depths to collect itself until spiraling wind and fiery ocean became the woman that Akua now felt she knew so well.
This time, the firewoman was not angry. She beckoned Akua out onto the ocean, and, though afraid, Akua took her first step. Her feet burned. When she lifted one up she could smell her own flesh wafting from the bottom. Still, she moved, following the firewoman until she led her to a place that looked like Akua’s own hut. Now in the firewoman’s arms were the two fire children that she had held the first time Akua dreamed of her. They were locked into either arm, head resting on either breast. Their cries were soundless, but Akua could see the sound, floating out of their mouths like puffs of smoke from the fetish man’s favored pipe. Akua had the urge to hold them, and she reached out her hands to them. Her hands caught fire, but she touched them still. Soon she cradled them with her own burning hands, playing with the braided ropes of fire that made up their hair, their coal-black lips. She felt calm, happy even, that the firewoman had found her children again at last. And as she held them, the firewoman did not protest. She did not try to snatch them away. Instead, she watched, crying from joy. And her tears were the color of the ocean water in Fanteland, that not-green, not-blue color that Akua remembered from her youth. The color began to gather. Blue and more blue. Green and more green. Until the torrent of tears began to put out the fire in Akua’s hands. Until the children began to disappear” (p180)
This quotation is told by the narrative in a third-person point of view. The qoutation highlights how Akua is still connected to her ancestors. The firewoman that lost her two babies could be Maame, their greatest ancestor, and her two babies are Effia and Esi. The dreams Akua have shows that even if a person didn’t know his/her ancestors, they are still connected to them and could share the same fate as them. As mentioned earlier, Maame lost both her daughters in the fire, the fire she started in the Fante village and got separated from Effia, and the fire in the Asante village that separated her from Esi. Similarly, Akua lost both her daughters in the fire that she started in her hut, thus, sharing the same fate as her great-great-great grandmother Maame. The smell of flesh Akua smelled in dreamland was the smell of her skin burning and possibly the smell of her daughters' flesh burning as well. The fire babies Akua was holding in dreamland were possibly Effia and Esi, but in the real world they were possibly her burning daughters, the fire ropes were the hair of her daughters caught on fire, and so were the black lips.
In the passage, there are intensive descriptions. First, the description of the ocean and watercolor. The reason Akua has described the color of the water as something she has never seen before is that she, contrary to her ancestors from Effia’s lineage, has never seen the ocean before. Another description of the water provided was the temperature of the water, as it was cool in temperature but then, when Effia tipped her toe in it, it became burning hot. This could be a reference to Abena’s death, Akua’s mother. Water was also described in the firewoman’s tears, the tears that soothed her and put down the fire of her wrath for being separated from her daughters. After she found her daughters, she calmed down and became at peace.
The quotation could also serve in delivering a massage that even during a person’s course of life s/he got separated from their family, they would still get reunited in the spirit world. Although it was not explicitly mentioned in the text, the dreams Akua had could be interpreted as Maame’s spirit trying to search for her daughters. After some time passes, both of her daughters died, and thus she was able to reunite with them in the spirit world. Even if the individual were scattered in the real world and died far from home, their spirits would still try to go back home and reunite with their families. Homegoing is an aim for both the living in the real world and the spirits of those who died far from home, far from their families.
“Asamoah clicked his tongue. He had lived in Edweso his whole life. On his cheek he bore the mark of the Asante, and the nation was his pride ” (p163)
The Asante had a tradition of creating patterns of scars, marks, on their face that is exclusive to them. These scars were linked to their identity as Asante and belonging to their Asante empire. In other words, the marks gave a sense of patriotism. Thus, this passage discusses the theme of home and having a place to belong it. It also highlights the importance of visual markers. The marks the Asantes had on their faces were a visual marker for their identity and belonging to a place familiar to all the mark holders. On a side note, although Akua is not aware of it, her great-grandmother, Nana Yaa, had Asante scars on her face as well.
“They called him a fetish man because he was because he had not given up praying to the ancestors or dancing or collecting plants and rocks and bones and blood with which to make his fetish offerings” (p165)
The importance of this passage is highlighted by the name, Fetish man, who called him this name, and why was he called this name. The name “fetish man” was given by the Christian missionaries to the religious priest of the village. The religious priest of the village has refused to abandon his ancestors' religion and replace it with the British religion, Christianity. By the Christian missionaries calling the village’s priest a fetish man, they are labeling the religion that does not align with theirs a label with negative connotations, a fetish. Calling the priest a fetish man because he followed a religion that involved ideology and practices different from those in the British religion highlighted the biased, prejudiced, and racist notion the missionaries had against beliefs different than theirs.
“Akua was not the only person in the crowd who understood English. She was not the only person in the crowd who did nothing to help” (p166)
This passage discusses the theme of Complicitness. Complicitness is a major theme in the novel, as several tribes were complicit in slavery along with the British. In this passage, all the individuals that understood what was the man saying were complicit. Whether they were watching the man burn, tying him up the tree, or starting the fire. They all were complicit to the white man’s burning as they all understood what he was saying and knew he was innocent but did nothing, they just stood aside and watched him burn. Therefore, they all took part in the crime.
“She had just learned to write her English name, Deborah, that very morning. It was the longest name of any of the children in the class, and Akua had worked very hard to write it” (p167)
This passage display how in the missionary school, Akua was trying too hard to acclimate to her surrounding. The passage also highlights how the missionaries were trying to erase her identity and Britishify her instead. This passage highlights the effort Akua was putting into acclimating as she was trying hard to learn how to write her English name, not her actual name, in the English language, a language that should not be native to her.
“She looked at the Missionary, but she didn’t know how to describe the look he returned to her. After he told her to stand up and bend over, after he lashed her five times and commanded her to repent her sins and repeat “God bless the queen,” after she was permitted to leave, after she finally threw the fear up, the only word that popped into her head was “hungry.” The Missionary looked hungry, like if he could, he would devour her” (p168)
This passage highlights how the missionaries in Africa were trying to consume people there into Christianity. The missionaries have looked down on locals and saw them as beasts, or were ignorant about their religious practices and called their priest(s) fetish men. Thus, they tried to consume the locals into Christianity, into the beliefs the British man abided by. In a sense, the missionaries were consuming the locals' identity and replacing it with what they believe is the righteous path.
“Up until then, she had thought she would have to stay with the Missionary forever, playing his strange game of student/teacher, heathen/savior, but with Asamoah, she saw that maybe her life could be something different from what she had always imagined it would be” (p169)
This passage highlights a moment of tension as there was a conflict between two identities. The identity that was instilled in her and the opportunity to pursue the identity that she was born in. The first identity was forced on her by the missionary and she knew her entire lifetime and learned everything about it. Meanwhile, the second identity was from the culture and heritage she was born in but did not has a chance to learn about more, but it felt more right to her. Thus, Akua finds herself in a contentious situation between her two identities.
“Big questions like if God was so big, so powerful, why did he need the white man to bring him to them? Why could he not tell them himself, make his presence known as he had in the days written about in the Book, with bushfires and dead men walking? Why had her mother run to these missionaries, these white people, out of all people? Why did she have no family? No friends” (p170)
This passage highlights an important moment in Akua’s development. Here, Akua is truly questioning everything she was brought up to believe in the missionary school. Because Akua was born and raised in a missionary school, the missionaries were trying to shape her thoughts, mind, and identity from a very young age. However, that did not stop her from questioning and wondering about what she was taught throughout the entire course of her life up to that point. Therefore, Akua was trying to think outside the box the missionaries were trying to put her in.
“After you were born, I took her to the water to be baptized. She didn’t want to go, but I—I forced her. She thrashed as I carried her through the forest, to the river. She thrashed as I lowered her down into the water. She thrashed and thrashed and thrashed, and then she was still.’ The Missionary lifted his head and looked at her finally. ‘I only wanted her to repent. I—I only wanted her to repent…” (p173)
The passage address yet another form of assimilation, a violent form of assimilation. The missionary was forcing assimilation on Akua’s mother, Abena, by forcing her to be baptized and to repent her sin which was having a child outside of wedlock. The forcing of an identity on Abena that was not her own, the assimilation, has resulted in Abena’s death. The passage also mentions the theme of water. It is noteworthy to point out that Akua and Abena come from Effia’s lineage, which is associated with fire. Hence, by the missionary drowning Abena that came from the fire line in the water, he is extinguishing her identity with his missionary beliefs as if he was putting the fire out by water.
Historical Context & Additional Resources
War of the Golden Stool
According to the BlackPast.org, the golden stool is a symbol of power for the Ashanti Kingdom. It is believed that the golden stool was dropped from the sky and landed at the feet of Osei Tutu I, the first Asatehene King. It is also believed that the golden stool holds the soul of the Ashanti nation. The stool is fully made from gold, it stands 18 inches high, 24 inches long, and 12 inches wide. It is considered to be sacred therefore it is not allowed to sit on and it is also not allowed to touch the ground. A ruler can only be considered legitimate when they have the golden stool. Even the new Ashante kings cannot sit on the stool. They are lowered and raised over the stool.
In the 19th century, serious clashes began between the Asanti and the British Empire over the Golden Stool. They fought 3 Anglo-Ashanti Wars between 1824 and 1874, with the British and its allies (other Africans) gaining more territory. In the 4th war, the British and its allies (other Africans and Indians) defeated the Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh – the 13th King of the Ashanti Empire. He was captured and exiled to the Seychelles Islands. In the 5th and final war (1900), it was a rebellion led by Yaa Asantewaa, the Queen Mother and Gate Keeper of the Golden Stool, this war was due to the demand of the British Governor of Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson, who really wanted to sit on the stool. Yaa called the rebellion the Word of the Golden Stool, which started on March 28, 1900. The war had a higher death rate than the other four wars combined, with over 2,000 Ashanti and 1,000 British and allied deaths, and it ended after 6 months with the defeat of the Ashanti. Due to the defeat, Yaa was captured in 1901 and exiled to Seychelles, where she died in 1921. Even with the British victory they were unable to capture the Golden Stool, which was hidden by the Ashanti.
Sources:
Boahen, A. A. Yaa Asantewaa and the Asante - British War of 1900-1. Sub-Saharan Publ, 2003.
Smith, E. W. The Golden Stool: Some Aspects of the Conflict of Cultures in Africa. Cargate Press, 1930.
Ewusi, P. The Golden Stool (17th c.- ). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/golden-stool-17th-c/, 2018.
Missionaries in the 19th Century
The spread of the missionary movement into Africa was part of the growing ideology of Christian responsibility for the regeneration of African people (96). The sudden inspiration for the missionary movement was mostly because of the anti-slavery issue and the humanitarian conscience Europeans had which made them have an interest in Africa. The Europeans thought that it was the Christian responsibility to regenerate African people (96). While the missionary work initially had little success, especially with the lack of interest from the African people. However, in the coastal territories that were filled with European trading communities was where Christianity able to have some success in spreading.
Europeans first arrived on the West African Coast in the late 15th century for the purpose of slave trade rather than missionary work. However, it wasn’t until the 19th century that there was a systematic effort by the Christian churches of Europe. The missionary work in West Africa not only introduced a new religious faith but also started the foundation of the western style of education (96).
In the late 18th century, a group of missionaries in Ghana sent 3 African youths to England for training as evangelists. On their return back as ordained priests, they helped in spreading the missionary work around Cape Coast and the neighboring area (98).
Sources:
History Textbook – West African Senior School Certificate Examination. https://wasscehistorytextbook.com/.
History of Oburoni
The term Oburoni originates from the Akan language meaning “lagoon person” (buro, lagoon; -ni, suffix for person) (228). It gave the connotation of “foreigner” or “stranger” from beyond the land of Akan world. Later on the word got a different meaning, “European” or “white man”. However, the word also stems from the Akan phrase of “abro nipa” which means “wicked man” (para 1). This is because of the torture and chaos that the europeans have caused to the Akan people. Although in present time, the term Oburoni is also used for non-Ghanaian people born in Ghana but have a lighter complexion (228). The term is also used for other Black people – particularly those from the US.
Sources:
Kubolor, Wanlov The, et al. “Obroni, a History.” Africa Is a Country, 3 Feb. 2015, https://africasacountry.com/2015/03/whitehistorymonth-obroni-a-history.
Konadu, Kwasi. “SLAVE CASTLES AND CLAIMS TO AN AKAN CULTURAL IDENTITY AND PRAXIS.” The Akan Diaspora in the Americas, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2012, p. 228.
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