What is the Akan tribe known for?
History. From the 15th century to the 19th century, the Akan people dominated gold mining and trading in the region; throughout this period they were among the most powerful groups in Africa.
What did the Akan people eat?
Yams are the staple food crop in the Akan economy, but plantains and taro also are important; cocoa and palm oil are major commercial resources.
What are the Akans made of?
The Akan believe that each human being is composed of three main elements: blood (mogya ), deriving from the matrilineal clan and giving formal social status; character, or personality, from the patriline; and soul (kra ), which comes from God and is one’s formal destiny (nkrabea ).
What is the Akan tribe in Ghana?
The Akan people of Ghana Akan is the largest ethnic group in Ghana, making up 47.3% of the population of Ghana (Ghana Statistical Service 2013:61). They comprise the Bono, Asante, Adanse, Twifo, Asen, Fante, Akuapem, Akyem, Akwamu, Kwahu, Sehwi, Awowin, Nzima and Ahanta (Buah 1998:8).
What does the name Akan mean?
Definition of Akan 1 : a member of any of the Akan-speaking peoples (such as the Ashanti) 2 : a Kwa language of southern Ghana and the southeast Ivory Coast.
What language do the Akans speak?
Akan refers to the language of the Akan ethnic group of Ghana. It is also spoken in the central and eastern part of Cote d’Ivoire. Akan comprises three main mutually intelligible dialects: Fante, Asante Twi and Akwapim Twi. Asante Twi is the widely used.
How do Akan people dress?
Women wore skirts, or lappas, wrapped around their waist, leaving the top bare. Christian missionaries encouraged the use of a blouse. A second lappa covers the upper body of married women, leaving the right shoulder bare. Akan women may wear pants beneath their lapa or Western-style attire as well.
What festival do Akans celebrate?
Adae
Adae, (Akan: “resting place”) Adae also spelled Adai, an important festival of the Akan people of western Africa that involves the invocation, propitiation, and veneration of ancestral spirits.
What do the Akan believe?
In addition to their belief in a Supreme Being (Nyame), Mother Earth (Asase Yaa), and a host of intermediaries/deities (abo-som), the Akan believe in the omnipresence of the Nsamanfo, made evident by daily acts such as the pouring of libation, throwing on the ground the first morsel of food, as well as periodic …
How do akans get their names?
The Akan people of Ghana frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. These “day names” have further meanings concerning the soul and character of the person.
What are the Akan languages?
Akan comprises three main mutually intelligible dialects: Fante, Asante Twi and Akwapim Twi. Asante Twi is the widely used. Akan is the most widely spoken and used indigenous language in Ghana.
How do Akans call God?
The most used name of the Supreme Being among Akans in general is Onyame. Anthropologists such as Rattray and Field have made us believe that Onyame is the sky God.
How do you say hello in Akan?
- – Morning greeting: Me ma wo akye. o Shortened greeting: Maakye.
- – Afternoon greeting: Me ma wo aha. o Shortened greeting: Maaha.
- – Evening greeting: Me ma wo adwo. o Shortened greeting: Maadwo.
What festival do the Akans celebrate?
What did the Ashanti eat?
What do the Ashanti tribe eat?
- Fufu: The Ashanti make Fufu from any of the starchy provisions that include plantains, yams, or cassava.
- Mpoto Mpoto: It is a cuisine made from yams. However, other ingredients that make up the food include onions, tomatoes, pepper, fish, and salt.
Why do the Akans call the festival Akwasidae?
Origin. The Akan traditional calendar is divided into nine parts, with six weeks in each. The celebration of this period is what is referred to as the Akwasidae festival and comprises Akwasidae and Awukudae. The Asante people mark this celebration by remembering the dead and purifying the community and tradition.
How is marriage done in Akan?
This notion is confirmed by Agyekum (2012) who sees marriage among the Akans as a union between the two families involved. According to him, marriage in the Akan tradition goes beyond a union between a man and a woman. It also includes a permanent union between the families of these people.
How do Akan call God?
They have three distinct names for God and these names show their understanding of who God is. These names are Onyame, Onyankɔrpɔn and Ɔdomankoma.