Its guides were two Fante Christians from Cape Coast Castle, who much scandalised us by alternately calling upon Allah and Christ. We here met with another caravan coming from Salaga. It is inhabited by fifty or sixty Asante, who are hunters, and were busy smoking the meat of the buffaloes which they had killed the day before. On the 17th, much to our surprise, we reached the pleasant village of Nkaneku after a march of only an hour and a half. Here are two fascinating bits on some of the unforeseen effects of the diligent missionary efforts of the Basel Mission: These travel reports are probably of greater value to anthropologists than to geographers. The document is clearly based on some dead serious German reports from around the same time, but it is written in a dry tone with barely submerged irony as only the British can do it. In pursuit of early written sources about Kawu I came across a useful summary of explorations in the Volta Basin in the 1870s and 1880s. Posted in Anthropology, Fieldwork, Mission | 4 Replies Scandalised missionaries and quite a new class of priests: some unforeseen effects of early missionary efforts in the Gold Coast The town, which has endured numerous sieges and which was the site of an ancient iron industry, is tranquil because this is the time for most people to engage in collaborative rice farming. It’s a sunny day in Akpafu-Todzi, the old mountain citadel of the Mawu people in the central Volta Region of Ghana.
My final submission was the photo of Akpafu-Todzi which is also featured on this blog. I’ll have to write more about that some time. I also have an audio recording of her speech, which turned out to be a very interesting mix of prophesy and admonition. I was able to take the picture from this perspective because I was dragged right in front of the possessed woman by Foster, one of my assistants, who had been my guide on the expedition. This event took place right after a long and tiring march into the jungle and back, to pacify the spirit of a hunter killed in a tragic accident. Red is the colour of danger, black that of death. The hunters, who have just brought the spirit home from the place of the accident deep in the jungle, keep their distance. On the village cemetery, relatives of a man who died in a hunting accident listen anxiously to a woman who is possessed by the spirit of the deceased. Bad DeathĪ submission which I thought was perhaps the most interesting even though it didn’t make it to the semifinals was “ Bad Death ritual“:Ī ‘bad death’ ritual in Ghana’s Volta Region. The earthen wall behind the men is Joe’s house, built of sun-hardened puddled mud like most houses in the village. This picture was taken on the compound of Joseph (the man to the right), very close to my own home in Akpafu-Mempeasem.
#Arda flickr gallery color skin#
A newly prepared antelope skin is fastened to the hard wood frame of the drum using a nylon cord and wooden pegs. Two artisans repair an atumpani drum in preparation for the funeral of a chief in Akpafu-Mempeasem, Volta Region, Ghana. The photo that made the semifinals is called “ The drum makers“: Together with the other 19 finalists it will be featured in the upcoming issue of Anthropology News the finalists will also be hung as prints in the AAA office. This picture was taken by my wife, Gijske de Boo, while I was busy videotaping the same events that Kyeei Yao is attending to. Kããã is a Siwu ideophone for ‘looking attentively’. The expensive draped cloth, the Ashanti-inspired wreath, the strings of beads which are handed down through the generations, and the digital wristwatch work together to remind us that culture is a moving target, always renewing and reshaping itself. Kyeei Yao, an age group leader, oversees a festival in Akpafu-Mempeasem, Volta Region, Ghana.
My finalist was the following photo, titled “ Kããã“: All 294 submissions will appear in the AAA Flickr gallery in due course mine follow below. Congratulations to the winner, Peter Biella! Of my four submissions, one made it to the finals (best 20) and one to the semifinals (best 54). The results of the AAA photo contest have just been announced.
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