CULTURE
The Republic
of Ghana evokes both the ancient Empire of Ghana and the riches
of the "Gold Coast," as the area was called by the British. The
historical abundance of Ghana's gold, timber, and kola nuts drew
Europeans to its shores first to trade these goods and then to
buy slaves. Ghanaians remain proud of the armed might with which
the Ashanti people resisted the British until 1900. In 1957, Ghana
became the first sub-Saharan nation to achieve independence, and
its first president, Kwame Nkrumah, funneled state resources into
the expansion of traditional arts and culture. Nkrumah also introduced
strong support for pan-African ideas, and Ghana has been a leader
in researching and celebrating African culture in its largest
sense as well as in its most local traditions.
As in most West African countries, local tradition varies among
the nation's distinctive ethnic groups. The Akan (which include
the Ashanti) constitute the largest group in Ghana. Other major
societies are the Dagomba, who reside primarily in the north;
the Ewe, who live mostly in the east; the Ga and Adangbe, who
populate the south; and the Guan, who are northeastern dwellers.
Each of these groups speaks one or more languages. The Akan, for
example, comprise both Twi and Fanti speakers. English is the
nation's official language. Nearly 40% of Ghanaians practice animist
forms of worship, and even among Christians and Muslims people
retain respect for the traditional beliefs of their ancestors.
Accra, Ghana is home to a unique faith called Zetaheal, which
claims a growing number of several thousand adherents. Established
in the mid-1970s, Zetaheal combines the teachings of the Koran
and the Bible into a single service led by both a pastor and an
Imam.
In every Ghanaian village there is a wealth of traditional music
and dance that marks the rites and celebrations of the community.
Ghanaians were also pioneers, however, in developing a popular
music that could represent the entire nation. "Highlife" music,
begun during the 1920s as local musicians enhanced traditional
music with European instruments and Latin rhythms, first became
popular in the dance clubs of Accra and other coastal cities.
For those who could not afford imported instruments or the champagne
of the dance clubs, "palm-wine" musicians developed their own
version of the highlife style. By the 1950s highlife music had
entered its golden era and became the musical trademark Ghana.
Ghanaian culture has been further conveyed by national authors
whose work explores the encounter of local traditions with the
West. In her drama and fiction, Ama Ata Aidoo is very critical
of the West, while the poet and novelist Kofi Awoonor writes of
the difficulties met by the Western-educated Ghanaian upon returning
home. The early novels of Ayi Kwei Armah stressed the materialism
of the West, but his later work is more focused on Africa.
Ghana's rich heritage has produced many landmarks. Near the city
of Kumasi are traditional buildings of the Ashanti people, as
well as many villages where artisans continue to practice the
industrial life of the past. Of the items produced by these artisans,
the most famous is the kente cloth, which has become a symbol
of Ghana. In the Kumasi and other regions are the Posuban Shrines,
traditional Fante military fortresses that were also decorated
with fanciful folk art emblems. Along the coast are the 32 forts
and castles left by every European nation that had a navy. The
oldest of these is the Castle at Elmina, completed by the Portuguese
in 1482 and commandeered by the Dutch in 1637. Enslaved men and
women were kept here waiting for ships, and the castle's dungeons
bespeak their horror. Nearby is the impressive Fort St. Jago,
which guarded the castle. Another emotive landmark to the slave
trade is Cape Coast Castle, fortified by the Swedes in 1637 and
taken over by the British in 1664. The enslaved also passed through
the tunnels of this castle with its massive ramparts and phalanx
of seaward cannons. In addition to the museums and cultural centers
in the capital city of Accra, there is also the dramatic Mausoleum
of Kwame Nkrumah, an important monument in a culture with such
reverence for ancestors. Nearby is a center established by W.E.B.
Du Bois, the great representative of pan-Africanism from the United
States who became a Ghanaian citizen in 1961.
