The
Ga-Adangme, Gă-Adaŋbɛ, Ga-Dangme, or
GaDangme are an ethnic group in Ghana
and Togo. The Ga and Adangbe people are
grouped respectively as part of the Ga–Dangme
ethnolinguistic group. The
Ga-Dangmes are one ethnic group that
lives primarily in the Greater Accra,
Eastern Region and the Volta Region of
Ghana. Others areas are Aného in Togo
and Benin. Under their great leader King
Ayi Kushi(Cush) (1510-1535)they were led
from the east in several states before
reaching their destination in Accra
.This leader is the Moses of the
Ga-Dangme tribe, with his seven (7)
puritan laws he gave them and that has
formed the basis and philosophy of the
state, making the state a friendly state
recognised by all in respect to making
Greater Accra Region the capital of the
then Gold Coast in 1877. The Ga
peoples were organized into six
independent towns (Accra (Ga Mashie),
Osu, La, Teshie, Nungua, and Tema). Each
town had a stool, which served as the
central object of Ga ritual and war
magic. Accra became the most prominent
Ga-Dangme towns and is now the heartbeat
and capital of Ghana.[4] The Ga people
were originally farmers, but today
fishing and trading in imported goods
are the principal occupations. Trading
is generally in the hands of women, and
a husband has no control over his wife’s
money. Succession to most offices held
by women and inheritance of women’s
property are by matrilineal descent.
Inheritance of other property and
succession to male-held public offices
are by patrilineal descent. Men of the
lineage live together in a men’s
compound, while women, even after
marriage, live with their mothers and
children in a women’s compound. Each Ga
town has a number of different cults and
many gods, and there are a number of
annual town festivals.[
The
Dangme people occupy the coastal area of
Ghana from Kpone to Ada, on the Volta
River and South Atlantic Ocean along the
Gulf of Guinea and inland along the
Volta River. The Dangme People include
the Ada, Kpone, Krobo, Ningo, Osudoku,
Prampram, and Shai, all speaking Dangbe
of the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo
family of languages.[5] The Dangme
People have the largest Population among
the two related Ga-Dangme People. About
70% of the Greater Accra Regional Land
is owned by the Dangmes located in
Dangme East and Dangme West Districts of
Ghana. Also, in the Eastern Region and
Volta Region of Ghana, about 15% of
lands belong to the Dangme People. These
are mainly in the Manya Krobo and Yilo
Krobo Districts of the Eastern Region.
In the Agotime Area of Volta Region and
the Dangme Area in the Southern part of
Togo. Dangme occupations are
fishing, trading and farming which is
based on the huza system. In this system
a tract of land is acquired by a group
of people, usually members of an
extended family; the land is subdivided
among them according to the amount each
has paid, and each individual thereafter
has complete control of his own section.
Negotiations with the seller are carried
out by an elected huzatse (“father of
the huza”), who later acts as the huza
leader and representative. Millet was
formerly the staple food, but more
common crops now include cassava, yams,
corn (maize), plantain, cocoa, and palm
oil. Lineage members generally return to
the traditional lineage home from the
huza farms several times a year to
participate in the festivals of their
lineage gods. There are also many annual
festivals. The Ga-Dangme are
organized into clans based on
patrilineal descent; the clans are
subdivided into localized patrilineages,
the basic units of the Ga-Dangme
historical, political, cultural Tribal
group.
Linguistically, the
Ga-Adangbe speak the Kwa languages Ga
and Adangme and are a patrilineal
people. Adangme is exclusively closer to
the original Ga–Dangme languages than
the Ga language. Arts and culture
The Ga people celebrate the Homowo
festival, which literally means "hooting
at hunger." This festival originated
several centuries ago. It is celebrated
in remembrance of a great famine that
hit the Ga people in the sixteenth
century. It is mainly a food festival
which celebrates the passing of that
terrible period in Ga history. It takes
place in August every year and is
celebrated by all the Ga clans. The
Adangbe people from Ada celebrate the
Asafotu festival, which is also called 'Asafotufiam',
an annual warrior's festival celebrated
by Ada people from the last Thursday of
July to the first weekend of August. It
commemorates the victories of the
warriors in battle and is a memorial for
those who fell on the battlefield. To
re-enact these historic events, the
warriors dress in traditional battle
dress and stage a mock battle. This is
also a time for male rites of passage,
when young men are introduced to
warfare. The festival also coincides
with the harvest cycle, when these
special customs and ceremonies are
performed. These include purification
ceremonies. The celebration reaches its
climax with a durbar of chiefs, a
colourful procession of the Chiefs in
palanquins with their retinue. They are
accompanied by traditional military
groups called 'Asafo Companies' amidst
drumming, singing and dancing through
the streets and on the durbar grounds.
At the durbar, greetings are exchanged
between the chiefs, libations are poured
and declarations of allegiance are made.
The Adangbe people from Odumase -
Krobo also Celebrate the [Ngmayem]
festival, An Annual Harvest festival to
Celebrate the bounty harvest of their
farmers is celebrated by the Krobo
people throughout the last week (Seven
days) of October with a visit to their
famous Ancestral home, the Krobo
Mountains [Kloyom] on the last Friday of
October with a climax on the Saturday
with a grand Durbar of Chiefs and People
of the Krobo Traditional Area. the [Konor]
who is the Paramount Chief sits in state
as the overlord together with his
sub-chiefs, Government officials, other
traditional Authorities and Invited
guests. The Ga-Adangbe music
includes drumming and dancing. One of
their traditional music and dance styles
(albeit a fairly modern one) is kpanlogo,
a modernized traditional dance and music
form developed around 1960. Yacub Addy,
Obo Addy, and Mustapha Tettey Addy are
Ga drummers who have achieved
international fame. Music of the
Ga-Adangbe people also include [Klama],
[Kpatsa] and the Dipo dance all of the
Krobo people. For the Shai and Krobo
people, the Dipo is the formal rite of
passage. Originally designed as a formal
marriage training for mature women in
their twenties, Dipo has evolved into a
pre-marital sexual purification[8] rite
that involves teenage girls conducting
traditional religious rituals and
putting on dance performances for the
public. Initiates are partially nude
throughout much of the ritual. In
addition, they are each adorned with
custom-made glass beads, colorful loin
cloths, and various forms of woven
headgear. According researcher and
author Priscilla Akua Boakye, "[Dipo]
was a form of vocational training for
young women in which they were taught
generally how to assume their roles as
responsible women." Despite the ritual
being designated for older teenaged
girls, it is not uncommon for young
pre-adolescent and even toddler aged
girls to take part.
Information
Total population Approximately 2.0 million Regions with significant populations
Ghana - Greater Accra Region & Eastern Region-, Togo Languages
Ga and Adangme