World Culture Style Contest - The Ashanti Culture

Introduction

Culture is our way of living, it is dependent on where we find ourselves since most often than not even geographical location has its own ways of doing things, just like the saying goes when you go to Rome you do what the romans do. In this regard one may say we are not bounded by culture since we assimilate and adjust wherever we find ourselves. Irrespective we must always have a way of life we can call our very own and look back to. In participation of this contest i would like to talk about the way of life of the Ashanti People.

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History

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The Ashanti Kingdom is probably one of the oldest cultures and long standing ethnic group in Ghana. Way before Ghana became Ghana or got the name Ghana we were referred to as Gold Coast, and the name came about because of our rich source of the gold mineral when the colonial masters came around, rumors have it that the locals used gold to pay for commodities such as salt and stuff like gun etc. But the interesting things is that before all this, the Ashanti Kingdom existed in the current Ghana location on the map and we had the name Gold Coast way before Ghana was called Gold Coast.

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Currently the Ashanti Kingdom otherwise known is our local dialect as Asanteman comprise of the Asantes. The Ashanti Kingdom is well recognize both in sub-saharan africa and among the western culture especially in places where monarchical governance is still practice. The current King for the Ashanti Kingdom is his Excellencey Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II. The kingdom is well known for its richness in gold and cocoa.

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Food

If there is anything peculiar with the Asante people it is their food, today this food is easily found among all ethnic groups in Ghana. I am talking about the popular fufu delicacy. It is made from grinded mixture of cassava and plantain. I may also be made using cocoyam and plantain. This is accompanied by a variety of soups delicacies one of the popular ones been the palmnut soup and groundnut soups, there is also the egg soup, chicken soup etc.

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Clothing

Through our rich cloth culture and beauty of our weaved Kente clothing, the Ashanti Kingdom has brought Ghana and West Africa into the light on several occasions such that today the western world has adopted the Kente culture and it is now becoming a symbol of african heritage.

Yes the Kente clothing is peculiar to the Ashanti kingdom and culture and our way of living, the Kente clothing was previously used by only Kings or was used for very special occasions because of how costly it is one cannot just use it for any other occasions. Today cloth print industries have come up with similar patterns of the Kente that is more affordable and can allow people to make different styles out of it, however the orginal weaved cloth remains something to be used on very special occasions and mostly by the people of the royal family.

Democrats rocking Kente on Capitol Hill, image source

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Dancing

The Adowa dance is another peculiarity of the Ashantie culture, this dance is not performed anywhere else or by any other ethnic group, the dance is perform with a drum accompaniment and almost every move made by the dancers is an expression or language that tell something and speaks to those who understand. For instance when the dancer lifts the hands up and around and bring it to the chest it is signifying that the land is theirs and this expression is mostly done by Kings within the kingdom. The adowa dance is truly a beautiful display of culture and may be witnessed on important occasions such as coronations, funerals, royal weddings etc.

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Conclusion

I could go on and on and on about things peculiar to the ashanti culture however to long posts get boring and eventually one just skips to the end so let me end here and add that you may have notice how i used the world royal alot in the descriptions, this is because Ashanti's as a group of people consider themselves royals of the land hence everything they do exhibit this heritage. It is also the reason why you may find an Asante using the phrase "ote kokooso nana" which literally translates as the grandson or daughter of he who sits on the golden stool. Another meaning is that i am a royal.

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So the next time you visit any african country or want to go on a culture tour, do visit the Ashanti Kingdom and have a feel of our rich culture, you may even get an original Kente cloth as a sourvenir. Thanks for reading and have a nice time