The African e-Journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals.   This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/

Available through a partnership with

Scroll down to read the article.

48

AKAN VISUAL ART AND THE CULTOF THE ANCESTORS

by

A.K, Quarcoo;*--

The Phenomenon of Death and the Ancestors

Death, the final crisis of life, continues to be apuzzle to man but it seems to have been fully acceptedin many of the philosophies and religions of the worldas a way to a world beyond this physical one. As a re-sult of the mystery surrounding it, we have a number oftheories and beliefs about mortuary rites and their sig-nificance. In this paper we shall confine ourselves torecent insights we have had from the study of a few ofthe mortuary figures we have collected for our visualart room at Legon.

According to the material we have, death, it wouldappear, is basically understood in the societies of our•finds* as a translation into another phase of life. Thatlife to which death thrusts man's spirit is similar to lifeon this physical world, except that the 'being' is notspace-bound and is nearer the greatest ancestor-God.Natural death is believed to be the true way to a blissfulworld beyond. Premature death, and death caused throughsorcery, or violence of any description except throughvalour in war or in defence of a good cause, is bad.Consequent upon the belief that natural deaths, though pain-ful to the living, are inevitable openings to another typeof more elegant life, they are expressedly accepted in thatspirit by the living. In the life and thought therefore,of the Akan from whose area most of the mortuary figurescome, this philosophy is expressed in the funeral observan-ces . When a person dies, the corpse must be properly des-patched into the other world. The details of specificfunerals may be discussed in the subsequent comparativepaper. For the present, the rites, as we may note from our

* Senior Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies.

49

illustrative material in this paper, suggest thatthe status of the deceased tended to be reflectedin his funeral observances. Indeed, no seriousview is taken of people who, in the opinion of theliving relatives, would not qualify as good orbenevolent ancestors. For the purpose of thispaper, we only draw attention to the general at-mosphere of life during funerals. The corpse isspoken to and asked to convey messages to particu-lar ancestors '.who 'have preceded them into the un-seen but. live--. world, • Normal life goes on evenas deep mourning proceeds. There is singing, drum-ming and dancing, drinking and eating. Eating whenand if done is always, of course, away from thecorpse. Singing or drumming groups from the vici-nity of the deceased, -may be invited to lighten theheaviness of the atmospehere that tends to surroundthe event of death. The dead must go joyously intothe new situation and give news from the living whoare their kith and kin. The conduct of the wholeevents of the funeral rites is geared to underscorethe belief that the dead live. They may even returnto this physical world again. Death is thereforesimultaneously new life. Death is never an abysmalend of life but the dawn of another life. Hence theancestor cult we examine here is about the concernthat is shown for the dead in visual artistic activity.

Essentially the cult of the ancestors is a functionof the belief in the spirits of the dead and thei?: re-lationship with the living. Some of the so-calledmajor religions in the literature talk of their departedsaints. J It seems evident from the literature that th<?

In the simple, concise and readable article on theancestors in his book, Ghana in Retrospect: Someaspects of Ghanaian culturey the Rt. Rev. AkwasiSarpong, Catholic Bishop of Kumasi, suggested fromanalysis that the ancestors are not necessarilyworshipped. He therefore called what has been desi-gnated ancestor worship, ancestor veneration. Thisaccords with my own findings and view expressed in inumber of places. I have called the act of cult,the cult of ancestral or ancestor reverence. Essen-tially this is the same idea that is explicitly putby Bishop Sarpong See p.33.

50

belief in ancestor's and the awe they get from theliving is not particularly restricted"to any periodof liistai?}!. or any society. Christians do not wor-ship their saints and it is known that Mohamed isalso not worshipped in the religion of Islam.

Our material gives further weight to propositionswe have made elsewhere that most ancestors in Akan-land are not worshipped but certainly given a lotof reverence or veneration as Sarpong chooses to calli t.

In the past, only adults, married people who hadchildren, could qualify as ancestors. Recently, manymore categories of the dead in Akan Culture have beenaccepted into the compass of the ancestors. Young manwho become leaders or chiefs may after their deathsqualify as ancestors if they do not have sufficientlylong lives to have children. People who died ±gnoBii:n±o.iisor tragic deaths were disqualified from being smxsfestorsworthy of veneration. There is still belief in thepower and significance of names and now as in the past,such unfortunate people did and do not usually havepeople called after them. Not only 'bad deaths' butpeople who die,from bad diseases like leprosy, epile-psy, or madness may not be remembered as ancestorsworthy of mention. The spirits of chiefs and peoplewho end their own lives should not be venerated.

Others who should not be given reverentialthe indolent, the coward, the wicked, sorcerers, theacutely disobedient and trouble makers, men who bringonly strife and discord wherever they happen to be.They cannot, it is believed, be among the good deadpeople. They therefore do not deserve mention norhonour and such treatment may subject them to one ofthe most dreaded occurrences after physical death inAkan belief which is the Owuprenu - the second death.

51

Art in Ancestor Reverence

In Akan culture, objects of art may be groupinsignia or objects having politico-social relation-ships or art for dramatizing values, media for ef-fecting socialization or social control generally,are used in the pult of the ancestors. We recordthat funerary art are among the most striking formsof Akan art. Such objects of funerary art includestools, terra-cottas, obusuakuvuwa (family pots),busts in wood or clay of ancestors and other familyrelics. Associated with such visual art objectsare normally specific contextual verbal art, music,dance or drama.

Funerary art forms part of the complex of be-haviour directed towards the activ&tion of the pre-sence of the ancestors and which may be describedas the cult of the ancestors. In our context here,cult means care for, activation of, or the presenceof, and adoration of the ancestors. It is a systemof belief and ritual. This belief and ritual, ofcourse, may be concerned with deification of some-thing. It must be mentioned that the word cult ishowever defined by other writers as a form of reli-gion and a system of religious observance. This de-finition tends to be confusing except the fact ofreligion and religious observance is also defined tomake the statement meaningful. Another meaning ofcult, is, of course, the concept of extravagant devo-tion to a person or thing. The extent of the extra-vagance necessary to convey an exact meaning poses aproblem. In the cult of the ancestors the wholefuneral rites - the specific observances, the cere-monies after the obsequieses, the later feeding andpouring of libation to the dead - may be consideredto be more of reverential behaviour, invocation andacknowledgement of the presence, link with, andinfluence of, the departed on the living, than thecare of and regard of them as gods worthy of theworship due to God or even leaser deities. In Akanpractice, for example, there appears to be a dis-tinction between the cult of the ancestors and the

52

worship of deities, although this is not clearcut in the literature. We suggest that in thebelief system, the ancestors appear to be in a -separate category and not in a place in direct con*nection or line with God and other deities. Theyare related to God in so. far as God is regardedas the greatest ancestor and father of all.

By reverence'of the ancestors we suggest asituation and a feeling which has in it awe andaffection or veneration. Great respect, affectionand veneration in themselves do not necessarilyconstitute worship per ee of God or Gods. Venera-tion of the ancestors is belief in spiritual beingsbut belief in these beings may not be regarded, asa matter of course, to be worship of these ancestorsas deities. This belief in the continual existenceand vigilance of the ancestors is, as we see, verywide spread in West Africa. Being spirits, theancestors are higher than the physical men who arelimited to the earth. These ancestor spirits arebelieved to be able to intercede for the livingrelatives for they know the living who are theirkith and kin. They continue to fotfppart of thefamily since the family continues to be composedof the living and the dead. They have a kind ofrespect which has been usually known as ancestorworship because they are believed to be guardiansof the unwritten laws and customs of the communitiesand so taken very seriously. Busia writes:

"In every Ashanti village stories are alwayscirculating about the ancestors. The ancestorsare believed to be the custodians of the lawsand customs of the tribe. They punish withsickness or misfortune those who infringe them.Constantly before the Ashanti, and serving toregulate his conduct is the thoughtthat hisancestors are watching, and that one day, whenhe rejoins them in the world of,spirits theywill ask him to give an account of his conduct,especially of his conduct towards his kinsmen."(Busia 1958 p. 24-25).

Jr\

The belief provides great social sanctionson morality. Aaase wo Nananom - the land belongsto the ancestors. They passed the land on to theliving. It is this idea that is often expressedin Akan oral tradition, as the land belongs to astool. Lands are for lineages or lineage stoolsand oman.lands - national lands are lands vestedin the stool of the Sman, As a result of thegreat belief In tVie world hereafter, the worldof the dead, in the mind, of the living, is a realbut invisible other world for the spirits of thedeparted. When people put or drop some food onthe ground before they eat, they are acknowledgingthe ever presence of the dead.2 The living hascontinuous relation snd interaction with them.This belief is. akin to the Christian firm beliefin the presence of the saints and hence the com-munion of saints which include the living and thedead.

Among most ethnic groups in Ghana only a goodancestor, as we have observed, is remembered or atleast given reverence and regarded as being a goodambassador to the living in the unseen world ofspirits. In addition to the general conditionsthat qualify the dead for ancestor reverence arenatural deaths or deaths met in defending one's owncommunity or state, or death resulting from defenceof principles cherished by the society to which onebelongs. Some informants suggest that one cannot beancestor unless one died an adult. If male, he musthave married in his life time and have had children.This proviso was thought to be a serious one when itwas regarded absolutely necessary for men to havechildren to extend the lineage. Having qualified asa good ancestor he is constantly an inspiration to

2. Quarcoo,'A,K. i,A.S, Research Review vol.3 No.2,p. 29 1967.

5 4

the living 'Isi-neage ancestors ' among the Akan are,as a rule, honoured by the lineage members throughthe lineage head. However, the supreme Akan rever-ence for the ancestors is often seen in the stateAdae• Sociologically, the royal ancestors whobecome the embodiment of the collectivity of theother ancestors are honoured by all the people.The philosophy which under-pins this is that theroyal ancestors are heads of single units and theyrepresent or embody the other ancestors. For achief who is destooled is not often remembered bythe act of consecration of a stool to his memoryafter his death. This serves as formidable andserious social sanction on chiefs, for indeed, itmay well be expected that all normal chiefs dp de-sire* to be remembered as worthy ancestors aftertheir deaths. The word normal may even be regardedas unnecessary, for a chief has to be normal in theestimation of the people to be made a chief at all,and if a chief should by accident become not normal,he must be deposed.

In Akan society, therefore, there are lineageancestor cults but the national ancestor cults arethe most spectacular and important. Specific objectsof art or symbols are utilized in the ceremonies ofthe cult. Principal among the objects as mentioned,is the stool - the symbol of office. In studying thesocial and political history of Akan communitiesthrough their material culture, the importance of achief living under the law and not above it becomesapparent. We have observed that they are very muchremembered and revered who lived well. The chief whowas an excess biber «vf alcholic drinks, or took otherpeople's wives from them by virtue of his position,or delighted in disgracing people, even his own ser-vants in public, a cowardly person, a person who didnot respect his predecessors was forgotten for heforfeited his right and opportunity to be rememberedsocially and politically. To concretise this dis-approval he got no blaok stool and no terra-cottaswere made to commemorate him.

55

Funeral Art

The fact of ancestor cult begins with funeralswhich must be such as to make for suitable despatchof a deceased into the world of the ancestors. Theceremony of eommital is solemn or frantic dependingon the society of the dead or his social standing.The burial of a man who lived well or a man of greatsubstance is grand and really functional to the lifehe lived. A week after the burial of a deceasedadult, he is remembered and arrangements are effectedfor a forty-day ceremonial and funeral. Those closeto him often put on mourning cloths in black or red,or wine or other dark colours, for a whole yearbefore they remove this visual evidence of theirreverence to his memory. The colours therefore aresymbolic of specific emotional situations of people.So twtii&uloualy is this custom followed that it becomesa serious point of the cult of the ancestors.

Normally, the dead are given the grand funeralceremonies to which we have alluded to despatch themproperly into the land of the dead. It was believedthat appropriate ceremonies are required if theyshould be welcome in the world beyond. Later, as inother circumstances like the death of chiefly or pri-estly ancestors or very influencial men, terracottasmay be commissioned for their commemoration and thesemay be displayed during their funeral often celebratedafter one year.

In fact, not much funeral art is displayed duringthe initial celebrations except the colour symbolismsand a few sceptres and drums which may be present inappropriate circumstances. We notice that some funeraryart we may expect at final funerals of chiefs and poten-tates are terracotta heads, funerary pots, wooden effi-gies and stools and some items of the stool complex.

Funerary Terracottas and Pots

For purposes of visualising the dead whose funeralare being celebrated, terracotta heads may be made.This was a popular practice in such Akan lands as Kwahu,

56

Nzima and Sefwi Wiaso, Assin, Denkyira and Akwamu.There is evidence of this also in many other placesin Ghana. For example, there is the tradition ofterracotta heads in Eweland, Dangme and parts ofthe Northern and Upper regions of the country. Mostterracottas we have seen in Akanlahd are in bakedclay but they could also be absolutely unbaked. Theyrange from purely stylised figures to highly naturali-stic ones. The Institute of African Studies VisualArt room at Legon has a representative number of suchterracottas. Whilst in Assin and Kwahu terracottaheads are usually made for people of chiefly status,in Agona, terracottas may be made for ordinary people -abovethe age of fifteen. These naturalistic, as well asstylised types of terracottas have been found in andon graves and shrines."

The practice of making terracotta heads some-times together with funerary pots with anthropomorphicfigures continues to be an honoured tradition in rela-tion to royal ancestors. These heads are made, as arule, by specialists. The pieces are usually costlyin terms of money. Recently, a chief in the Ass in areaattempted to persuade his people to use a life-sizephotograph of his mother's brother for the final funeralrites of this man - whom he succeeded as Omanhene. Thedisapproval was unequivocal and he had to yield to thetradition of providing an Nkua (terracotta head) froman old specialist in Kwahu area. The piece that wasmade cost not less than £200.00.

There is still an emotional attachment to theseterracotta figures which are displayed and or carriedaround during the end of final funerals. These areregarded as honoured practices. After funerals, theheads may find their way into stool rooms, or privaterooms of the ancestors who have been so honoured.

The process of initial reverence and the con-sequent libation or remembrance of the dead with theterracotta heads as a visual aid, is part of the ph#no-,menon of ancestor reverence. This, of course, we mayremember, includes various rituals, rite's, and songs.

57

The art invokes behaviour patterns which aresolemn, serious and often restricted. In thecase of public figures and chiefs, part of theceremonies are restricted whilst part are publicand grandiose. Grandeur in ancestor cult has asocialising dimension which may not always bemanifest. We present a few examples of funeraryterracottas and figures which were used in honour-ing some specific ancestors.

The figures 1.65.90 a-b represent typical •funerary group types that might be used at the finalfuneral of a chief or queenmother. This group con-sists of representation of the deceased, his attend-ants, a stool carrier and an dbueuakuvuwa (familycommunal pot). On one of the final obsequieses, the'main figure was dressed and adorned with rich orna-ments befitting the status of the deceased. Theobjects were placed in a large brass pan or woodenbowl stuffed with rich kente and silk. The figureswere carried to the yenue of the funeral and placedin view on" a decorated bed, or seat on a raised plat-form.

In Kwahu and Assin, such figures are later con-veyed to the cemetry and placed on the grave of thedead. Alternatively, such figures of art may be keptin the stool room of the community. The figure 1.67,18for example, was retrieved from a royal stool room inKusa Adansi near Fomena. It was used during the funeralof Nana Amoaben who was the sixth on the ancestral stool.Nana Amoaben is believed to have lived around the period1824-1838.

The heads 1.64,228 a-b were collected from theroyal mausoleum in Twenedurase , in Kwahu. The headswere used in 1926 for the funeral of Nana KwabenaKumnipah II (1902-1926). The heads continued to receivehonour but we got them since the lineage head replacedthem with others .

The figure 1.66.38 i,s the most classical naturalisticterracotta head that we have in the Institute of AfricanStudies. This came to us from Assin Nyankumasi near Foso,

1*45*90 a

-w

I- 45

T '

60

I- C7-I8

61

• .», , •. ' iv;

iV *

• • * "

J

6 2

. 9 "

63

64

in the Central Region of Ghana. It was used inthe funeral observance of Nana Kusi Boadum of AssinNyankumasi, 1807-1I866.

Other examples are: (a) 1.65.106>; This is anAgona figure usually used for the funerals of elderlywomen who are often stool occupants. Its local nameis ahode, 0n_ a Friday preceding the final Saturdayof a funeral,'the Ahode specially made for the occasionwas dressed and carried about in the town, but depositedin the cemetry the following Saturday. Together withthe Ahode was often food in earthenware pots. Thisparticular funerary figure was used in the cites of NanaYamfo Asuoko III.

Figure 1.65.107 is another mortuary figure of achief. It was commissioned for his last funeral. Weobtained it from Adwoa Nkroma and the potter of thispiece was Adwoa Owuayam of ;;^one Asafo.

Pots, as objects of art are also used in the cultof ancestors. Figure 1.65.87 was obtained from Abusua-panyin Asare of Akumenin royal lineage. It was origi-nally used for the funeral rites of Nana OpoJtu Ware,Kwabenhene. After the funeral, food was served in itand placed on the grave, The mudfish figure on thepot signifies the feeling of the people. They wishtheir chief were with them in flesh because of hisindustry and leadership, but they were helpless in thematter, (enye nea adwene pe ne se oho egya so. Crt isnot a particular wish of the mudfish to hang* on live-coal.)

The Abusuakuruwa, IE.33.69 from Mampong Asante,was used in the time of Owusu Sekyere in the lastcentury.

Our.final example of pots is from Atwidee ofAsante Akim, Figure f.65.92. It is ;a pot which waskept in the family stool room. Wine for libation waspoured into it on festival days when the dead chiefswere remembered. The tortoise and snail signify peace .which is an emblem of the royal lineage.

r • > • * .

-£•

I- G5-I07

67

1-65-87

68

y:<j«

70

Wooden Effigies As Funerary Figures

Two examples may serve the purp.ose of illustra-ting how wooden figures may also be used in the cultof the ancestors. Figure 1.65.65 was collected fromBegoro. It was a piece commissioned by OsommongyawaAbabio for the funeral rites of his predecessor,Kwabena Asied.u who died in 1965. The figure was halfhurried on the eastern side of the grave after thefuneral obsequies. To begin with, the warrior statusof the dead was signified in the warrior figure andposture. The objects of 'war1 which he carried onhim of course, are complementary to the idea thefigure was meant to portray. Usually such a figuremay be kept to the memory of, the ancestor and periodi-cally, libations and other rituals performed to invokehis presence and activate the inspiration t-'tie spiritthe figure represents.

1.164.296"is a figure which comes from the UpperRegion of Ghana. It was owned by Lure Kanton III.This particular one was meant to represent the d<»adhalf pair of twin brothers or sisters. This practiceis common in Eweland and the Western region of Ghana.This continues to be a form of the cult of the deadwhich, is common in other parts of Ghana.

In all the cases, we have illustrated the figureswere never objects of religion or worship. In otherwords, they were normally never intended to be deitiesto be given the regard due to gods. They were objectsto which reverence was given ordinarily, and such werethe practical issues of that reverence that was seenas worship by some observers who have written aboutthem. The exercise involved in the process of produc-ing the object and the behaviour patterns that theyactivate, constitute what we designate as ancestor cult,Our experience is that any time the people were con-fronted with the objects of art, a feeling of deepreverence was aroused in them, and a disposition andattitude of thankfulness and worship to God who gavethem their lives. We record that on many occasions a

* • •

71

72

i.

73

number of those who engage in the cult suggest thatthey are led, in communion with the living by themessage of the objeots to adore God.

Ancestral Stools .•

The evidence we now have reveals* we think, thatamong the Akan, the most revered object in the 'cult'of the ancestors is the ancestral stool. We know thatin the paat, every Akan was traditionally expected topossess a stool. Children, women and men had their ownacescdwa type of stool. They form part of the house-hold furniture. Stools of lineage heads were im-portant* Accounts have been given about how lineagestools become oman Stools by Danquah,3 Rattray,4 W.G.Sekyi,* and a host of tthers who have studied the AkanStool Polity.6 The"important thing to note in thepoints they made about stools include the fact of theelaborate cult that exists around the object of thestool which is the principal symbol of a chief's office.Successive blackened stools of chiefs are normally addedto an original stool or 'gudwa' in a stool room. Stoolsthat qualify to be kept are, of course, those of goodchiefs i and good chiefs in this context, are those whorespected their oath of office. I have suggested

3. Danquah, J.B. Dr. 1928. Akan Lax) 8 and Cue torn a andthe Abuakwa Constitutional Law. p. 144 Routledge sKegan Paul.

4. Rattray, R.s. Cap. 1923. Aehanti. Oxford UniversityPress, 2nd Impression, 1955.

5. Sekyi, W.E«G. ed. argued the handing down ofpolitical, religious and general authority maybe compared with the case of the Oly Some ofHungary. To him it was similar to the ideaof apostolic succession. It is believed orrather supposed that the ancestors eat theirpart of the food in spirit. Living men beingpart of the family could communicate with themby eating the rest.

6. Busia, K.A. 1958. Position of the Chief in ModernPolitical Systems of Aehanti. p. 2 oxford Universitypress.

74

elsewhere that such.stools become charters of his-tory. Periodically, these stools are revisited bythose to whom tradition has assigned that privilegeand duty. These officials pour libation to thestools and symbolically 'feed' them.

The feeding takes the form of sprinkling before,or fin, the stools, so^e, m,a,sh,e.d y m, or plantain orsimply placing .the'food In earthenware pots beforethe stools, After a stipulated period the ffooa couldbe removed and eaten by the living^ The food is there-fore always eaten after the ancestors have had th.eir•fill1'. The essence of placing the food before thestools is to acknowledge the presence of the ancestorsand to remember then* -It is also an act of invocationof their presence which presence has a socialisinginfluence.

This cult is also a serious means of promotingsocial solidarity and cohesion. The period of som ornanahotn sow (service or service of the ancestors)is one of cleansing and renewal of vital social rela-*tionships. It is time for regeneration of the beingin men. There is cleansing which involved puttingright social relationships. The comparatively simplecult of the ancestors in this particular way tends toactivate a number of psychological and social feelings.We have suggested that the cult does not raise reli-gious feelings toward gods or GOD because the ancestorsare spiritual beings. The stools are not deities butthey may inspire the feeling which has been seen asreligious, by some observers.

7. Quarcoo, A.K. 1975. Socio-political Relevance ofchiefship in contemporary Ghana. A paper readat the Sociological Conference held in Kumasi.

Quarcoo, A.K. 1970, Akan Stools and their SocialContext in unpublished thesis, Edinburgh University,

75

We do not apologise to repeat that roost ofthe festivities help the release of spontaneousfraternal feelings and foster social solidarityand a sense of oneness. The sense and the im-portance of upholding the values of the societyare also reactivated. Through the public gather-ings often referred to in the literature as durbars,and group interactions, definite enfoldment of his-tory and culture ,is transmitted from one generationto another.

Stool Complex and the Cult of Ancestors

The stool as an object of art and a symbol ofchiefly office is central to other art objects andeven personnel in relation to the stool offices,Functionally, these objects and insignia,of royaltyhelp not only to legitimize and enhance a chief'sauthority but they help to inculcate in him politi-cal and social values of the ancestors. Within thecomplex of which the stool is central, are all thecourt regalia. Stool carriers and other courtofficials related to the stool ceremonies may beincluded in this complex. Hence, some state swordsor state sceptres, treasure boxes, drums, horns orlinguist staffs, may be objects of ancestor cult.In Kwahu and Old Tafo the ceremonial pots we have,seem to have been part of the complex. When on aceremonial day a chief radiantly clad in his regalia,the ancestors are in a definite way invoked. TheMamponghene on a private ceremonial day had thefollowing on him. He wore a particular adeweneasakente called tikovo nko agyina. Adweneaea is ofcourse a style of the Asante kente which Is compli-cated. In it, the weft and waft occur in complicatedweaves. Adw&neasa literary meaning is, I have ex-hausted myself. So it represents the 'master' ofdesigns. Tikova nko agty-ina reminds both the weaverand his people of a social ya^ue of the ancestors yh.oare being remembered. The <j£fca futuvo Cgol4 dust}background of the cloth was symbolic of the tr«d.i:tiona,laffluence and greatness of Mampong, On his head, he worea fillet studded with gilded motifs - the stars and the

76

moon. They were meant to tell of the peace andthe harmony that existed in Mampong. Over his neckwas a gold pendant attached to a combination ofnecklace of gold, red and green cord - the ayanee,The asadee another gold chain, lay across his breast.Gold bangles and gilded banseve (telisman) ornamentdecorated his arms. Priceless beads were part of •his adornments, in his left hand he held a horsefed.1 • whisk - symbolic of the bravery of his ances~tors. His le,gs were covered with gold ornamentsand his sandals were large. His fingers had bigrings - one signifying tihe radiant sun,' the sourceof the king's vitality and vigour. He was sittingon the silver ceremonial stool of Mampong and behindhim stood the hwedom tea (narrow faaedom\ chair). onthe ceremonial aaeaedwa were the big silver bells ofMampong.

Each time the chief bedecks himself this way oreven when he changes into the battle smocks of thestate, he is in actual fact, engaged in a form ofthe cult of his ancestors with the people under him.He is not only dressed in a particular way but he isactually re-living the presence of his ancestors byreviving the social personality of those he has in-herited.

Since stool complex here refers to all thecourt regalia." and treasures of the court, the stoolhouses| linguist staffs may also be used in the cultof the ancestors. Hence the linguist! staff 1 .66.03from Akim Oda was an item in their ancestor cultuntil we got it. It is called aeempa ye tia (truthis short). It Is supposed to have been made duringthe time of the aboriginal leader, Nana Frimpong atDenkyira-Mmrayen, and consecrated for Okyeame Sakyi.The linguist staff was used in running diplomaticerrands especially in time of wars. Tradition hasit that this staff was used by Okyeame Adu Korkor innegotiating an alliance with Assin Attandansu in theinvasion of the Akwamu who lived on the Nyanawa hill.This staff was replaced by a gilded one by Nana AttafuaI but the aeempa ye tia was left in the stool room aspart of the relics and libation was poured to every-thing there including this staff as part of the cult.

% " ^

• « -

i:

77

libation and other Visual Acts in the Cult ofThe Ancestors _•

A rite present in the useages of any of thefew objects of art we have presented in this paperis libation. Libation in this context is a ritein which a kind of liquid is poured on the groundor object and incantations, prayer or a spell said.The pouring of the liquid does not entail the wor-ship of a creature as God. Writing, maybe, withChristianity at the back of his mind, Sarpong theRoman Catholic Bishop of Kumasi observed that:

"Libation cannot be idolatry in any of itsramifications because in it no creature isworshipped as God. Neither the ancestorsnor the deities are divinized. In the caseof the ancestors the same respect is accordedthem as the Ghanaian gives to his elders.Again libation cannot be divination as it isnot poured with a view to knowing the futureor the occult. However it seems to be taintedwith vain observance as from the prayefs itappears as though favours are often expectedfrom the ancestors and gods, when objectivelysuch have no power of granting them. But thiscannot be a reason why libation should be pro-scribed. Its significance, as explained al-ready is manifold; and if in one respect itis found to be faulty, all that need be doneis to transform it, give it a new dimension,and thus make it acceptable all and sundry.,.."(Sarpong P. Bishop, 1971.)

Admittedly, the definition of what constitutesreligion has been, rather unwieldy. This is to beexpected as the fact of religion has been approachedfrom different angles by different disciplines.Psychologists, philosophers, theologians and socio-logists, see religion through their own glasses andwhat they all say, we suggest, are only parts of thewhole truth. It is in view of the various interpreta-tions of religion that, the particular cult of the dead

79

Which we hay© attempted to discuss has. been calledworship of the ancestors by some scholars who havestudied the phenomenon,

We are in a dilemma and the dilemma derivesfrom our philosophy, psychology or sociology ofreligion or merely from linguistic twists. Theethnographic material that is presented in thispaper, however, is an attempt at a reappraisalof the concept of ancestor worship with particularreference to the societies from which the exhibitsreferred to originate. For the present we suggest,that although the practice may in certain circum-stances be manifestly deification and worship ofthe objects, what is factually Involved in thepractices is more reverential awe to, and venerationof the ancestors who continue to be part of the com-munity of their 'saints'. The dead are asked to bebenevolent. But they are expected to be so notthrough their own power but through their interces-sion for the living. Their effigies and the monu-ments raised to them are in their remembrance andglorification. They inspire the living and act assanctions on their social behaviour.

80

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Busia, K.A. 1951 Position of the Chief in th« ModernPolitical System of Ashanti. oxfordUniversity Press.

1954 The Aahanti in African WorldEd, Daryll Forde. Oxford UniversityPress, London, N.Y., Toronto.

Clark, E.

Colson, E,

Crooke

^930 Sociological Significance of AnoestorWorship. Afrioq 3, 4, 1930. pp. 43W71.

1958 Ancestral Spirits and Social Structureamong the Plateau Tonga, Int. Arch.BtKn. 47, 21-68.

1908 Ancestor Worship and the Cult of theDead. Encyclopaedia of Religion andIthics? edited by James Hastings, NewYork.

Danquah, J.B.1928 Akan Laws and Customs and AbuakwaConstitution. London, Routledge andKegan Ltd.

Field, H.J, 1937 Religion and Medicine of the GaPeople pp. 196-205. Oxford UniversityPress.

Garret, T.S. 1953 Christian Worship. London, OxfordUniversity Press.

Goody J. 1961 Religion and Ritual. The DefinitionProblem. British Journal of Sociology,12, 14-64.

Cults of the Dead among the MayarsJ. Aner Folklore, 71, 446-78.

1962 Death Property and the Ancestors.Tavistock Publications Ltd. 11 FetterLane, London, ECA.

'-ff'Z

81

Hertz, R. 196Q A Contribution to the Study of theCollective Representation of Deathand the Right hand. Translated byRodney Clandia, Glencoe III, FreePress, London,

Idowu* E.B. 1961 God in Yoruba Belief, Longmans.

<•**-

Kyeremateng A.A. 1969 The Royal S t o o l s of A s h a n t i , Africav o l . x x x i x , No'.1. J a n . 1969, p p . 1-10.

Mbiti John S. 1969 African Religions and Philosophy.,Heinemann, London, Bibliography.

Meyerewita, L.R. 1951 Concepts of the Soul among the Akanof the Gold Coast. Afvioa, 21st January1957, 24-51.

1951 The Sacred State of the Akan. London,Paber.

1958 Art and Anthropology among the Akan,Weat Afrioa, 22nd October, 1955.p. 987,

O*dea Thomas, P. 1966 The Sociology of Religion, PrenticeHall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Quarcoo, A.K. 1970 Akan Stools and their Social Context.Unpublished Thesis. Edingburgh.

A Note on the Ancestor Cult.Institute of African Studies ResearchReview, vol. 3 No.1, 1966 pp. 74-78.

Ethnographic Finds, Research Reviewvol.3 No.2, 1967, pp. 7 7-82.

The Lakpa - Principal Deity of Labadi.Research Review vol.3 No.3, 1967 pp.2-43

A debut of Ghanaian Traditional VisualArt into the Liturgical Art of J Christ-ian Church of Ghana. Research Reviewvol. 4 No.3, 1968, pp.66-80.

82

1930 Ancestor Worship (in Encyclopaedia,: of Social Sciences II), pp, 53-55,Mew York,

Radin,

Rattray, R,S. 1927 Religion and Art in Ashanti^ London,Oxford University Press, 1927,

Sarpong, P., Bishop 1971 The Sacred Stools of the Akan.Ghana Publishing Corporation, Tema.

The Theology at the Ancestors.Insight and Opinion. I.A.S.

1974 Some aspects of Ghana Culture, Ghanain Retvoapeot. pp. 20-43. Ghana Publish-ing Corporation, Tema.

Triminghand, J.S, 1959 Islam in West Africa. OxfordUniversity Press, London.

Williamson, S.G. 1965 Akan Religion and the Christianfaith. A comparative study of theimpact of two religions? edited byKwesi A. Dickson, Ghana UniversitiesPress, Accra,