Day 10 - The Ashanti Region: The Cultural Hub of Ghana

We are in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region - the cultural hub of Ghana.  The Ashanti is the largest ethnic group in Ghana.  They sit on the the second largest gold mine in Africa - the Ashanti goldfields in Obuasi which is where I conducted my master's thesis data collection back in 2004.  Gold is very important in the Ashanti culture.

Dressing up in Kente cloth

It was pouring this morning.  We have not spent much time in southern Ghana, yet, so we have not experienced the rainy season so far.  It rained hard for a good hour and I told my students to carry their umbrellas every single day here on out.  Our first stop this morning was a Kente cloth making center in the village of Bonwire, an hour from Kumasi.  Kente cloth is widely used in West Africa and it is an important part of Ghanaian culture.  People generally dress up in their best Kente outfits for special occasions.  Our guide showed us how they made the cloth from scratch.  We found it amazing that none of the people at the center used modern machinery so no electricity was required.  All equipment was made of simple material such as wood, rubber, and stone.

Next, we headed to another nearby village called Ntonso where Adirinka symbol printing was done.  Adirinka symbols represent various meanings and are mainly used on clothing.  Western clothing generally have no cultural meaning whereas Ghanaian clothing and the symbols on them represent different cultural elements.  Our guide walked us thru all the steps from preparing the dyes to imprinting on the clothing.  Several of my students purchased some clothing and imprinted them with symbols they choose.  This was a fun activity for the students.

Adirinka Printing

We then headed to the Kumasi Mall and had lunch.  It is the only mall in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana.  In fact, there are fewer than five malls in the entire country.  After lunch, we went to the Ashanti Palace which is where the Ashantehene (Ashanti king) lives.  It is a museum now and our guide gave us a thorough tour and history of the Ashanti people.  This was a great cultural lesson for all of us.  After the palace tour, we headed back to our hotel for the evening to relax and pack up for our drive to Cape Coast tomorrow morning.