AKAN RELIGION

SUBMITTED TO:PROF. SHARIF MEMON

SUBMITTED BY:KEYUR KHAMBHATI (NR10042)DHRUMIL MAKHECHA (NR10048)

ORIGIN AND ETHNOGENESIS

• The Akan people are ethnic group of West Africa, the largest ethnic group in both Ghana and the Ivory Coast and the one of the biggest in the region.

• The greater Akan people (ethnic group) speak Kwa language.

• The people who became known as the Akan migrated from the Sahel to the forest region of coastal west Africa between the 11th to 13th Century.

CONT…….

• The kingdom of Bonoman was established as early as the 11th century as a trading state between the Akan and their neighbors, specially those from Djenne, Timbuktu, Bornu among others.

• A gold boom in the Akan area between the 12th to 13th centuries allowed the Akan to become very influential and rich.

• Different phases of the Bonoman empire groups of Akan migrated out of the area to create numerous states based predominantly on gold mining and trading of farm products.

HISTORY

Traditional Akan Stool, c. 1625

• Indigenous Akan religion is based upon the worship of a High God, various spirits or deities, and ancestors.

• The Akan have largely been Christian since the nineteenth century, except for most kings, who have had to retain their indigenous religious status and practices.

CONT…..

• They fought against European colonists to maintain autonomy. By the early 1900s all Akan lands were colonies or protectorates of the French and English.

• On the 6th of March 1957 Akan lands in the Gold Coast rejected British rule and, led by Kwame Nkrumah, were joined to British Togoland to form the independent nation of Ghana. The Ivory Coast became independent on 7 August 1960.

AKAN SUBGROUPS Sub-group of akan are as under:

o Ashanti o Akwamuo Akyemo Denkyirao Baouleo Chokosio Fanteo Kwahuo Sefwio other peoples of both modern day Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire or of origin in

these countries.

CULTURE• Akan culture is one of the

purest ancient African cultures that still exist today.

• Akan art is wide-ranging and renowned, especially for the tradition of crafting bronze gold weights.

Kente cloth

ELEMENTS OF AKAN CULTURE

• Adamorobe Sign Language Adamorobe Sign Language is an indigenous sign language used in

Adamorobe, an Akan village in eastern Ghana.

• Adinkra symbols Adinkra are visual symbols, originally created by the Akan of Ghana and

the Gyaman of Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, that represent concepts or aphorisms.

CONT….

• Akan art Akan art is an art form that originated among the Akan people of west

Africa. Akan art is known for Akan gold weights, as well as cultural jewelry.

Akan cultural jewelry has a variety of forms. The Akan people make neck-wear, wrist bands, elbow-wear, knee-wear, and ankle-wear. Gender-specific jewelry includes hat pins and headbands for men and earrings and hairpins for the women.

• Akan calendar The Akan calendar is based on what the Akan call 'forty days'; Adaduanan

(da=day, aduanan=forty). Close examination of the cycle reveals 42 different days, with the 43rd being the same as the first.

CONT….

English Day Translation

Monday Dwo Quiet (peace) day; calm.

Tuesday Bena Birthday of ocean; heat, boiling, cooking.

Wednesday WukuoBirthday of Spider (reverse or mortal version of God)

Thursday Ya Birthday of Earth (a woman); power.

Friday Afi Fertility (in some Fante States, birthday of Earth).

Saturday MeneBirthday of Supreme or Sky God (a man); respected, ancient

Sunday KwasiUnder Day (awiase= under the sun); universe, everything.

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• Adaduanan When the six-day week is counted side-by-side with the seven-day week it

takes a total of 42 days to reach all combinations.

• The 42-day cycle shown here, as recorded in Kwahu, is the same recorded for the Brong (i.e., Bono Techiman) a state northwest of the Asante.

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Day 1 Fo-Dwo Nwuna-Dwo Nkyi-Dwo Kuru-Dwo Kwa-Dwo Mono-Dwo

Day 2 Nwuna-Bena Nkyi-Bena Kuru-Bena Kwa-Bena Mono-Bena Fo-Bena

Day 3 Nkyi-Wukuo Kuru-Wukuo Kwa-Wukuo Mono-Wukuo Fo-Wukuo Nwuna-Wukuo

Day 4 Kuru-Ya Kwa-Ya Mono-Ya Fo-Ya Nwuna-Ya Nkyi-Ya

Day 5 Kwa-Afi Mono-Afi Fo-Fi Nwuna-Afi Nkyi-Afi Kuru-Afi

Day 6 Mono-Mene Fo-Mene Nwuna-Mene Nkyi-Mene Kuru-Mene Kwa-Mene

Day 7 Fo-Kwasi Nwuna-Kwasi Nkyi-Kwasi Kuru-Kwasi Kwa-Kwasi Mono-Kwasi

Akan Philosophy and Inheritance

• Abusua (Modja) – What an Akan inherits from his mother.

• Ntoro – What an Akan gets from their father but, one does not belong to their Ntoro instead, they belong to their Abusua.

• Sunsum – What an Akan develops from their interaction with the world.

• Kra – What an Akan gets from Onyame (God)

POPULATION

• over 20 million Ethnic Akan in all over the world.

• There are also certain regions that follows Akan religion such as United States, Togo, France etc.

Côte d'Ivoire ~8 Million

Togo Over 200,000

Benin Over 20,000

Burkina Faso unknown

Nigeria Over 10,000

Niger Unknown

Liberia over 70,000

United States unknown

United Kingdom Over 25,000

Canada Over 8000

Ghana ~12 Million

Jamaica unknown

Suriname Ndyuka unknown

Netherlands Over 18,000

Regions with significant populations

INFLUENCE OF AKAN TO OUTSIDE WORLD

• The Akans rejected the Islamization process that took place in West Africa and maintained a purely and authentic ancient West African/Akan culture.

• Trade with Islamic practicing Africans occurred both pre and post Islamization but, the fundamentals of Akan culture have stayed the same due to the rejection of Islamization.

• The coming of Christianity later on saw some Akans joining the Christian faith but, the fundamentals of the Akan culture did not change.

CONT..

• Elements of Akan culture can generally be seen in most Geographic areas of the world. Specific elements of Akan culture are especially seen in neighboring West African people and some Central African populations.

AKAN’s in America

• In 1971, the late Nana Dinizulu requested, received and established the Akonedi Shrine in the U.S.A. Nana Dinizulu was given the titles of Omanhene and Okomfohene of Akans in America

• Nana Dinizulu was the first to introduce Africans born in America (African Americans) to the Deities of Ghana, West Africa. He invited Okomfohemmaa Nana Akua Oparebea to visit the USA.

• In 1971, Okomfohemma Nana Akua Oparebea accepted the invitation and traveled to America. Once here she established Nana Asuo Gyebi, Esi Ketewaa and Tegare shrines in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, California and Toronto, Canada.

• .When returning to Ghana, she took young men and women to train at the Akonedi Shrine at Larteh . She taught Nana Dinizulu how to train Okomfo

• Akan, Wisconsin Akan is a town in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. The

population was 444 at the 2000 Census. there were 444 people, 158 households, and 125 families residing in the town. The population density was 12.3 per square mile (4.7/km). There were 211 housing units at an average density of 5.8 per square mile (2.3/km).