Dancing Golden Stools
Indigenous Religion as a strategy for identity construction in Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v5i1.32Keywords:
Africa, Akan, Festivals, Identity, Indigenous ReligionsAbstract
In this article the author concentrates on the use of Indigenous Religion among the Akuapem in Ghana for the construction of their group identity. She discusses the way in which the Akuapem make use of the celebration of an annual indigenous religious festival (Odwira) to strengthen their group identity by self-identification, differentiation and the perception of other cultural groups. Her specific focus is on the common Asante-Akuapem history, the foundation of the Akan Golden Stools, akom dancing and the Odwira festival procession and Durbars. She concludes that Indigenous Religion should not be left out in the study of the construction of group identities in the social sciences.
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References
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Sildkrout, E. 1970. “Stranger and Local Government in Kumasi,” The Journal of Modern African Studies, 8.2, 251–69. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00019650
Wilks, I. 1989. Asante in the Nineteenth Century: The Structure and Evolution of a Political Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
—1999. “Unity and Progress: Asante Politics Revisted,” Akan Worlds: Identity and Power in West Africa. Paris: L’Harmattan, 43–69.
Appiah, P., and K. A. Appiah, et al. 2000. Bu me bE “Akan Proverbs.” Accra: Centre for Intellectual Renewal.
Bame, Kwabena N. 1991. Profiles in African Traditional Popular Culture: Consensus and Conflict. New York: Clear Type Press.
Bowdich, T. E. 1819. Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, with a Descriptive Account of That Kingdom. John Murray.
Busia, K. A. 1954. “The Ashanti and the Gold Coast,” in D. Forde. African Worlds. London: Oxford University Press, 190–209.
Christaller, J. G. 1933. Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tshi (Twi). Basel: Printed for the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society.
Cortesão, A., and A. Teixeira da Mota. 1960–1962. Portugaliae Monumenta Cartographica. (Comemorações do V centenário da morte do Infante D. Henrique.) [With plates, including portraits, maps and illustrations.]. 6 vols.; Lisbon.
Cox, H. 1996. Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century. London: Cassell.
Co , J. L. 2007. From Primitive to Indigenous: The Academic Study of Indigenous Religions. Edinburgh: Ashgate.
Fisher, R. B. 1998. West African Religious Traditions. New York: Orbis Books.
Gilbert, M. 1994. “Aesthetic Strategies: The Politics of a Royal Ritual,” Africa, 64.1, 99–125. doi:10.2307/1161096
Hanna, J. L. 1979. To Dance is Human: A Theory of Non-verbal Communication. Texas: Austin Texas University Press.
Hobsbawm, E. J., and T. O. Ranger. 1992. The Invention of Tradition. Cambrige: Cambridge University Press.
Kwadwo, O. 2000. An Outline of Asante History, Part 1. Wiamoase, Ashanti: O. Kwadwo Enterprise.
Kwamena-Poh, M. A. 1973. Government and Politics in the Akuapem State 1730–1850. Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
Kyerematen, A. 1969. “The Royal Stools of Ashanti,” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 39.1, 1–10. doi:10.2307/1157946
Lemon, M. C. 2003. Philosophy of History. London and New York: Routledge. McCaskie, T. C. 1995. State and Society in Pre-colonial Asante. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ogot, B. A. 1999. Africa from the 16th to the 18th Century. Oxford: James Curry.
Rattray ch x , R. S. 1923. Ashanti. London: Oxford University Press.
Sildkrout, E. 1970. “Stranger and Local Government in Kumasi,” The Journal of Modern African Studies, 8.2, 251–69. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00019650
Wilks, I. 1989. Asante in the Nineteenth Century: The Structure and Evolution of a Political Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
—1999. “Unity and Progress: Asante Politics Revisted,” Akan Worlds: Identity and Power in West Africa. Paris: L’Harmattan, 43–69.
Published
2010-11-05
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Müller, L. (2010). Dancing Golden Stools: Indigenous Religion as a strategy for identity construction in Ghana. Fieldwork in Religion, 5(1), 32-57. https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v5i1.32
