March 06, 2005

The Golden Stool of the Ashanti seems an appropriate post for Ghana's Independence Day. The story of the Golden Stool, and its defence against the British by the valiant Queen Mother, Yaa Asantewaa. A better picture of the stool, which must never rest on the ground, or be sat on, but instead lies sideways in a secret hiding place on a chair of its own.

Stools are powerful family and political symbols in Ashanti society. Traditional society is based on exogamous matriclans, and powerful stools are often named after the founding ancestress of the matriclan. The Ashanti also have an exceptionally rich heritage of proverbs and symbols, often expressed in the complex iconography of stools, umbrellas and other artefacts of power. Ashanti symbols, in fact, made their way across the Atlantic at an early stage. The Sankofa symbol is a curly heart shape, or sometimes a bird looking over its shoulder, and expresses the proverbial need to remember and learn from the past. It was found on a coffin in the New York African burial ground, presumably that of a slave from Ghana. The pre-colonial Ghanaians themselves, alas, both used and traded slaves on a large scale, buying from European traders as well as selling.

posted by Plegmund 19 years ago
  • )))!!! Appreciate the information about a people and culture I've known little about. Thanks, Plagnund.
  • I went to a Bad Place when I read this post's title.
  • Heh! ) for kmellis! Almost fell off my ... um ... chair. Recalls with fondness PJ's asploding pink footie pajamas, another fine example of Nursery Utterance By Adult.
  • oh... *that* kind of stool.
  • It is Mr. Old-Man-Monkey who marries Mrs. Old-Woman-Monkey. When the fool is told a proverb, its meaning has to be explained to him. Good job, Pleggy! Pull up a chair stool. Have a choco-covered banana on a stick.
  • When the cock is drunk, he forgets about the hawk. Dude. The Ashanti invented cockpunch. I did not know this.
  • I can't find it online, but Susan Orlean did a piece for the New Yorker that was included in one of her books (The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, link goes to an interview with her about it that mentions the piece in passing) that was about the Ghanaian king in the US (and yes, his stool - when the king is elected in the US they say he is "enstooled" - it isn't a golden stool, however). It's very much worth reading. Great post, Plegmund, since what little I knew about the people and culture I knew from that article. Fascinating to learn more.
  • kmellis: MoFi quote of the month
  • looks comfy! seriously, great post, very interesting story.... don't really know about nowadays, but when i was in school there was almost no african history or culture being taught...beyond that 'cradle of man' stuff and ancient egyptian history...and its always seemed kinda pandemic in western (and well eastern as well i guess) school systems...i mean, just talking to people on my travels thru life and such i don't think i've ever heard anyone ever say, hey this reminds me of...well anything african...stories, history, whatever...outside of discussions on art, anyway...(but, hey, i studied art in college...and even that had a very eastern/western bias) anyone else feel this way? younger monkeys, have the schools changed? thanks, plegmund, for pointing out a big hole in my knowledge base. and more, please, more.