Duration:
2 Weeks - 3 days per week / 45-minute sessions
Focus:
Integrated curriculum to include Social Studies, Language Arts, and Art.
Suggested Readings:
Social Structure and Traditional Organization of The Akan of Ghana
Enchantment of the World Series: Ghana
Objectives:
Students will
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*understand that thriving African cultures engaged in international trade and exploration before the emergence of European civilization
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*learn about ancient Ghana, its geographic locale, the diversity therein to include its people, their lifestyles, languages, and customs.
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*experience folklore, non-fiction, and fictional tales through storytelling, guided reading, and interactive role play
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*demonstrate their understanding of subject matter through story writing, journal writing, and art creations.
Vocabulary
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Twi
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Akan
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Ewe
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Asante
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Ga
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sankofa
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funtunfunefu
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cedi
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baobob
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mango
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badie
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cedar
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ebony
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mahogany
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shea butter
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bankye
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kenke
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fufu
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kelewele
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ampesi
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palm nuts
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omo tuo
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kose
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compound
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extended family
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matrilineal
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patrilineal
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Kente
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Adinkra
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Asantehene
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Queen Mother
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Yana
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donnu
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torowa
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mbiri seprewas
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Background Information:
Upon visiting Ghana today, visitors would experience a blend of modernization and traces of the past. Thriving cities such as Accra and Kumasi contain office buildings, buzzing enterprises, and "computer bars" where Internet access is readily available at nominal fees. Suburban-type communities and rural areas dot the landscape. To see "wild animals" is to visit a city zoo. To see life in old traditional form is to attend a funeral and/or special ceremonies held during specific times throughout the year. Ghana's history and stance today differs significantly from yesteryear.
Long ago, however, Ghana was once one of the largest empires in West Africa. Geographically the country included what is today referred to as western Mali and southeastern Mauritania. During the fifth century A.D., Ghana began to emerge as a thriving nation, becoming an established center of the iron industry. Skilled ironworkers (all male, a tradition still embraced today) produced weapons and utilitarian artifacts sold and bartered in Ghanaian markets. Metalwork was not limited to iron, for the country was rich in gold, found along mountain ranges in its coastal region (thus the Portuguese nomenclature for the country, The Gold Coast). Ghana became renowned for this precious metal, its handcrafts, the forging of iron for tools and weapons, along with magnificent utilitarian pieces crafted from gold, silver, and copper. From approximately 300 A.D. through the mid-1000s, Ghana served as a great trading center. Arab caravans traveled on camels from North Africa across the Sahara to exchange salt, dried fruits, and copper for Ghanaian gold, ivory, leather goods, and jewelry. Artisans, again males, crafted gold and wood products. Although rich in these resources, Ghana was predominantly an agrarian nation. Its people harvested cocoa, plantains, cassava, yams, millet, corn, and groundnuts (peanuts). Fishing and forestry were also an integral part of the culture. These products too found their way in the Ghanaian marketplace.
Ghana's population was diverse, divided into such groupings as the Akan, the Asante, the Fante, the Ga, the Krobo, Ewe, and the Dagomba. Over 800 different languages were (and to this day continue to be) spoken throughout the country, ranging from Twi and Fanti to Arabic.
Its people embraced social institutions that ensured a meaningful life: For the Ghanaian, family was (and continues to be) extended, and strong familial bonds provided a sense of community, cultural values, religious structure, and pride that were greatly adhered to. Mother, father, sister, brother, aunts, uncles, distant relatives and friends worked collaboratively for the socio-economic well being of all. Depending upon the indigenous group to which one belonged, the extended family was matrilineal or patrilineal.
Ghana embraced a traditional system of political authority that consisted of chieftaincy, kings, and ethnic groups. The chief (Asantehene or Yana, depending upon the region) came from a particular matrilineal line and each was in charge of designated territories. Religious, socio-economic and political structures laid a major foundation for the strength of the empire. Rules and regulations ensured that responsibilities were carried out in a systematic way. Each individual had a role, and that person carried out his or her role within that institution. In Ghanaian society, people often occupied several positions of status and/or presences; assumed roles depended upon the institution in which the individual found him/herself.
Slavery existed in Ghana on a minimal basis prior to the arrival of European slave traders. Slavery, however, tended to be used as a means of retaining social order, i.e., a way of implementing justice for wrongdoing. (If, for example, I stole cattle from my neighbor, I would have to pay for the crime perpetrated against that individual or that individual's family; I would have to work off that debt in some form.). Captured individuals were used for labor purposes, often serving as domestics and warriors. By no means was slavery like the dehumanizing institution inflicted by Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Spanish slave traders, one that stripped a countless number of indigenous inhabitants of their heritage and culture.
During this period, many Ghanaians embraced traditional religion. Islam had begun to emerge as a result of interaction with Arab traders and indigenous inhabitants from the North African region. Ghanaians believed that God could be reached through lesser forces: these autonomous spirit beings can take on several forms, i.e., ancestors or spirits. The pouring of libations, special offerings, and/or sacrifices were often made to keep favor with these spirits, for it was believed that catastrophic events could befall one who violates or offends the these deities.
For the Ghanaian, music and dance were inseparable. Both served as a means of communicating ideas and emotions. The use of music differed from community to community. Generally speaking, it was organized on the basis of age and sex. Cradle songs (lullabies), for example, were sung from birth. During puberty, children learned didactic songs that instruct how to take care of home and family. Music taught during puberty rites were taught to both genders solely by women. Women also performed dirge songs conducted during funerals. Hunters, warriors, and various male sects performed their own music. Mixed group music also occurred, where the opposite sex sang and/or danced together.
Music was used for political, religious, ceremonial, societal reasons--and at times for pure entertainment. Traditional instruments such as the torowa (beaded gourd rattle), mbiri (finger piano), seprewas (7 stringed fiddle), and dunno (talking drums) were used to communicate information through rhythmically enticing sounds.
Dance was used as a means to communicate feelings among family and friends. Facial expressions and hand gestures become just as important as the steps, and it is motivated by the rhythmic music. Movements and gestures were often symbolic: for example, hands syncopatedly raised over ones head is indicative of grief, hands placed behind the back or embracing gestures represent sorrow, v-shaped finger gestures raised over the dancer's head is symbolic of approval-a job well done.Traditional dance served as an integral part of society. Through dance, God, heroes, and the ancestors were honored. Valuable lessons were told, and societal values were revisited and shared. Traditional dance was used as a tool to communicate the history of Ghanaian people. According to Professor O'ni, Master Choreographer in charge of the National Dance Theater of Ghana, "for the Ghanaian, dance was and continues to be humanity. It depicts the society, the spirit of the people."
What we today deem as Art was an integral part of Ghanaian life. Hand-woven cloths, rich in color and meaning, were abundantly created in Ghana. Adinkra, which contained a wide variety of symbols, conveyed messages that ranged from the ethnic group to which one belonged to behavioral characteristics of the wearer. Usually worn during funerary occasions, it was worn by men draped in a toga-like fashion. Kente, a painstakingly woven cloth bursting with color was worn solely Ghanaian royalty. Like Adinkra, its colors and patterns held specific meaning. Adinkra symbols were often woven into Kente or carved in statues, masks, sculptures, and utilitarian objects.
The ruling class possessed an abundant amount of gold and cedis (cowry shells). These items symbolized wealth and royalty. They could often be found in hand-crafted items.
