Ashanti, or Asante, are a major ethnic group of Ashanti Region in Ghana. The Ashanti speak Twi, an Akan language similar to Fante. For the Ashanti (Asante) Confederacy see Asanteman.
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Ashanti, or Asante, are a major ethnic group of Ashanti Region in Ghana. The Ashanti speak Twi, an Akan language similar to Fante. For the Ashanti (Asante) Confederacy see Asanteman.
Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire in West Africa. The Ashanti later developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy or Asanteman and became the dominant presence in the region.
Geography
Today Ashanti number close to 7 million people (roughly 30% of the Ghanaian population, speaking Asante, also referred to as Twi, a member of the Niger-Congo language group.) Their political power has fluctuated since Ghana's independence, but they remain largely influential. The former president of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor is Ashanti. The majority of the Ashanti reside in the Ashanti Region, one of the administrative regions of the country. Kumasi, the capital of the current Ashanti region, has also been the historic capital of the Ashanti Kingdom. Currently, the Ashanti region of Ghana has a population of 112, making it Ghana's most populous administrative district.
Family
The Ashanti are one of Africa's matrilineal societies where line of descent is traced through the female. Historically, this mother progeny relationship determined land rights, inheritance of property, offices and titles. It also true that the Ashanti inherit from the paternal side of the family. Property is defined as something inherited from the father, hence the name "agyapade", meaning inheritance from a good father. Normally, a poor father has nothing to give their children, and often marry into a family which has wealth from ancestors.
Among the Ashanti, a brother can substitute for his dead brother, hence the dead's children call him father, and may take care or share his property if his brother died intestate. The Ashanti father takes care of his children, serves as a role model, since he trains the boys, and shares his property among his children and sister. The wives take care of their children property. The children care for their mother. The sister's children are called "wofa-ase". This means under the "wofa," the sister of the man, the one who can be offered a belonging of the man. Usually, the woman and her children inherit property from her mother's brother.
The Ashanti man's property may be extended to members of the extended family for so many reasons.
The father role was to catalyze the conception and provides the nkra or the soul of the child, that is, the child received its life force, character, and personality traits from the father. Though not considered as important as the mother, the male interaction continues in the place of birth after marriage.
Typically, individual Ashanti did not own land, but rather occupied that which came down from a previous ancestor. Both men and women can possess property made or acquired by individual efforts. Heirlooms and carved stools -- all possessions of family and lineage property -- may be disposed of by individuals if they choose to do so.
