C HRISTIANITY, I MPERIALISM AND C ULTURE The Expansion of the Two Krobo States in Ghana, c. 1830 to 1930 Paramount Chief Emanuel Mate Kole sitting in state, Odumase c. 1896 (details see Fig. 5.2, p. 205). Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde eines Doktors der Philosophie (doctoral dissertation) vorgelegt der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel von Veit Arlt von Muttenz/Baselland Basel 2005 Druck: CopyQuic k Genehmigt von der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel, auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. Patrick Harries, Paul Jenkins MA Cantab und Prof. Gareth Austin (London School of Economics, externer Gutachter). Basel, am 24. Mai 2005 Der Dekan Prof. Dr. Emil Angehrn S UMMARY This study is concerned with cultural change in south-eastern Ghana during the colonial period. It examines how the two Krobo states negotiated their dramatic economic and territorial expansion in terms of culture from c. 1830-1930; how they remember their erstwhile settlement on Krobo Mountain and the abandonment of these homesteads; how they coped with the abolition of their national centre and recreated it in their prin- cipal farm settlements; how they dealt with and circumvented the prohibition of their principal cults and reinvented new festivals; and how today they mobilise their cultural and historical heritage in the context of ‘development’. While the abolition of the na- tional centre and the principal rites of the Krobo is remembered as an act of colonial violence motivated amongst others by a ‘civilising mission’, the thesis argues that the Krobo themselves initiated this intervention in order to achieve the dramatic expansion and negotiate the necessary political transformation. The Krobo did not merely react or respond to external factors such as colonialism and mission. Rather, they actively drew on them (but also on the culture of the neighbouring Akan states) as resources in order to achieve internal transformations and expand their economy and territory. This ex- plains why today mission and church can be considered part of Krobo tradition. The the- sis traces these transformations by looking at ritual, ceremony and dress and by making extensive use of missionary sources combined with documents from the colonial admini- stration and oral history. P REFACE Nine kake nui ngmo – One finger does not catch a louse (Dangme proverb). On 19 February 1996 a trotro (mini bus taxi) coming from Accra stopped on the road- side at Agomanya near Odumase. Those alighting from the vehicle immediately dis- persed, the only person left behind was a young blâfono (somebody of white colour like corn) with a heavy leather bag. Before he could realise what happened, a mad man bare of any clothing and with filthy dreadlocks, walked straight up to him and started talking to him in a language utterly foreign to the visitor. Before I could fully appreciate the queer situation a young man came to my help and sent the mad person away. Felix Oseini, shoemaker by profession, was the first out of the many people I got to know during the time I spent in Krobo. His assistance, open- ness, and friendliness was typical for the way I was received. A visitor to Ghana is con- stantly supervised and taken good care of. While I have to admit that at times I did feel embarrassed or even harassed by this tutelage, I am grateful to everybody who acted as my “minder”. I found a home at Manyakpongunor with the late Maa Margaret Maku Asime, who became my “sweet mother”.1 Assisted by her grandchildren she cooked for me, sent me to hospital, washed my clothes, and gave me a proper Krobo education (at least as much of it as I could absorb). Her compound house became my home and through her I found my place in the Asime clan of Manyakpongunor Konorpiem. Papa Narh Asime has been my head of family, Maa Koryo Asime my aunty, Blu Manyâ Korkor made sure that when representing the family I was wearing the proper beads and Asa- foatsâ Nene Pettey Asime V has been my chief and good friend, advising me on many occasions. Roaming around the hometowns, up-country2 farms, shrines, chiefs’ palaces, and Dias- pora communities of both Yilo and Manya Krobo I enjoyed the help and friendship of so may people that I cannot possibly enumerate them. I will limit myself to the most inti- mate friends, hoping that the others will understand these my limitations. My teacher Paul Odzawo of Odumase tried his best to teach me the Krobo language and to advise me on the most varied aspects of life. He and his wife Lilly have been very dear old friends. The late Nene Tetteh Kwadjo Gaga of Somanya Plau (“the short man with the 1 “Sweet Mother” performed in 1976 by the Nigerian Prince Nico Mbarga is probably the great- est West African hit ever. It fused the Congolese guitar style with West African Highlife into an extremely catchy tune with touching lyrics. The song sold more than thirteen million cop- ies and is still very popular especially during funerals. 2 Up-country (yonô – on the mountain) refers to the Krobo farmlands on and west of the Akuapem-Togo Mountain Range, while dorm (in the valley) refers to the hometowns at the eastern foot of the same mountains. I long name”) was like an elder brother to me. Whether witnessing ritual performances, climbing Krobo mountain, hiking to remote up-country farms, travelling by motorbike to Krobo Diaspora farms dispersed all across southern Ghana, or working on his farm – we experienced countless adventures together and shared the ups and downs of life. He informed most of my knowledge on Krobo culture and on the drinks of Ghana. In the shrine of Nene Wanumo Aseni, the high-priest of the war god kotoklo, I experienced some of the most peaceful and serene moments in my life. The Sikapa family of Asite, Maa Comfort and her son Evans together with his wife Victoria, welcomed me cordially and supported my research enormously by sharing the memoirs of Maa Comfort’s father Gabriel Sikapa. Mr. Jonathan Padi of Nungua also was very helpful and gave me inspir- ing comments. Revd Peter Kodjo has been waiting for a long time for this thesis – he has been a source of inspiration and of critique and I remember fondly our meetings, when we discussed my experiences ‘in the field’. Doing research in Ghana and constantly spending money without ever working manually for it, I enjoyed helping out in the workshop of my friend and bicycle mechanic Kwesi Katey at Somanya Plau. To stop by at his or our friend Peter Shardey’s tailoring work- shop, I could switch into a more relaxed mode of participant observation. The workshop of motorbike mechanic Suley at Odumase was another such site. Suley was of great help when during one of my stays he lent me a motorbike for a duration of several weeks. I met with Krobo historians of all sorts, from non-academics like Nene Tete Ashie of Somanya Sawer Soom to young university graduates such as Peter Obeng- Asamoa, Narh Johnson or Ampomah William Darko. Sharing information from the Basel Mission archives and discussing Krobo history with them was a real pleasure. Among the many linguists who shared their knowledge with me were Otsiami Nuertey and Otsiami Kofi, Otsiami Boaten, Otsiami Ngwah Huarpoyu II and Yilo Krobo State Linguist Otsiami Amakwata. To all these people and those I could not mention here I want to extend a very cordial “Nye-tsumi kaa” (Thank you very much). Before leaving for Ghana for the first time I received a piece of advice from Peter Haenger, my erstwhile colleague at the Basel Mission Archives. “Anytime you feel really thrilled by your research and your project seems to be more important than anything else, take a step back and drink a cool beer.” This measure has proved very helpful on several occasions. Marijke Steegstra from the University of Nijmegen set out on her PhD research on Krobo initiation rites around the same time as myself. The possibility of sharing the light and the dark moments of our projects has added pleasure and relief. Other fellow travellers on this long road were Malika Kraamer, Sonia Abun-Nasr, Ulrike Sill, Erika Eichholzer, and many others. I do not know how many hundreds of kilos of documents have been moved for this project at various archives in the South and in the North – under the most diverse circumstances ranging from tropical heat to bitter air- conditioned cold. These are the Basel Mission Archives of Mission 21 at Basel, the Ghana National Archives at Accra and Koforidua, the Manya Krobo Traditional State Archives, the Presbyterian Church Archives at Accra and Odumase, the Literaturarchiv Marbach, the Public Record Office at Kew Gardens, the Bremen State Archives, the Basler Afrika Bibliographien, and the Musikethnologisches Archiv in Züric h. I am grateful to the staff of these institutions for bearing with us intruders. II The origins of this thesis date back to the time I had just finished my Lizentiatsarbeit (MA) at the University of Basel. It was in January 1996 that I travelled to Ghana for the first time. Support from the Nikolaus und Bertha Burckhardt-Bürgin-Stiftung enabled me to present my findings at the University of Ghana, Legon and to do further research both at the National Archives of Ghana and in Krobo. A joint grant from the Schweiz- erischer Nationalfonds and the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft Basel allowed me to establish the foundation for my project with two extended stays of ten and five months duration in Ghana and London respectively.