EARTH METROPOLIS AFRICAN ART |
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Kwaku Dua? |Prempeh I | Agyemang Prempeh II | Opoku Ware II | Osei Tutu II | Stool Bearer | Royal Stool House | Yaa Asantewaa1 | From Hiding | List | |
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An Attendant Caring Sikadwa Kofi in a Procession |
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top | Kwaku Dua? | Yaa Asantewaa1 | Nana Kwaadu | Agyemang Prempeh II | Ama Serwaa | Opoku Ware II |Nana Afia | Osei Tutu II | Nana Difie | List | |
Click on the picture above to see a movie about the history of the Ashanti people. You will have a chance to experience their art, music and learn about the Asantahene. In the picture above an assigned stool bearer carries Sikadwa on his shoulders. In the picture above an assigned stool bearer carries Sikadwa on his shoulders. Sikadwa Kofi is turned on its side because Sikadwa contains the Sunsum of the Ashanti Kingdom and its people. Sunsum is similar to the word soul in English. Some writers state that when an Asantahene is in-stool he sits on Sikadwa several times. That is not correct. Sikadwa is turned up right so that the spirits from the Ashanti Sunsum can make their way up into the Kings body. He lowers his posterior over the stool several times, then Sikadwa is placed on its side until the next king reigns. When a stool is not in use it is placed on its side to keep other spirits from getting inside there. A stool is only comfortably to sit in when it is turned up right. Stools are personalized so you can not go into someone’s house and sit anywhere you want to sit. You have wait until you are told where to sit. Blackened Royal Ancestor Stool Display in Stool House & Stool Kitchen - One of the first things you should understand about ancestor stools is they are not carved. Ancestor stools are designated. A stool is selected from an assortment of personal stools used by the deceased. It might be a stool that was a favorite during meal times, or one used during shower or bath. The only way to get an ancestor stool carved is have the whole house burn down with al the occupants personal stools left inside, then an ancestor stool probably would be carved. Many customs concerning ancestor reverence are practiced by many indigenous cultures all over the world. A stool is similar to a photograph of the deceased person. In other cultures that come under western influence, members of the deceased family member place a photograph on an altar display set up for the departed family member in their homes. Some families have several altars in different parts of the family compound. Each morning when family members get up they pay homage to that family member before eating breakfast and going to work. One member leaves some small piece of fruit; water for the departed soul to eat. In China they burn incense along with the food. During the first week of April each year peasants all over China practice “sweeping of the graves”. One of the older family members is in charge of directing activities at the gravesite. Fake money and fake cloths are burned at the grave plots for family members to wear and use. The departed also receives tiny dishes of food and water. Foods for the family banquet are prepared for the ancestors to bless. Each dish one by one is viewed and blessed by the family spirits. The affair is like a form of catechism for middle class Chines peasants and a serous affair for the poor. This event is also a family reunion and a national holiday. People don’t have to go to work. You would not know at first site that the setting was at a seminary because many people are laughing and joking about the emperor fake money and fake paper closed they bought from the stores. After families leave each row of graves cemetery officials set of a massive amount of fire crackers creating a tremendous amount of smoke and noise to chase stray spirits that don’t belong there out so that they don’t steal the food. The above text in sienna tone was written by the following © Claude Lockhart Clark November 6, 2014 Any additional information for this section were obtain from the following sources – (1.) The Sacred Stools of the Akan by Peter Sarpong / Publish by Ghana Publishing Corporation in 1971 in Tema Ghana – (2.) The Rise and Decline of Asante (An introduction to the History and Culture of Ashante) by G.K. Osei / Published by African Publication Society in London England 1979 – (3.) Panoply of Ghana by A.A.Y. Kyerematen / Published by Frederick A. Praeger in New York 1964
ASANTE KINGS OF THE TWENTIETH [&] [TWENTY] [FIRST] CENTURY After the difficult and turbulent reign of Prempeh I, Kwame Kyiretwie was enstooled after the death of Prempeh I initially as Kumasihene and later as the first "official" Asantehene in the Twentieth Century, with the stool name Nana Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II. Kwame Kyiretwie was born in 1892 to Nana Abakoma, daughter of Nana Yaa Akyaa, Queen of Asante, and Okyeame Kwaku Owusu of Ejisu. Legend has it that on the day he was born a lion appeared in Kumasi and was caught, hence the name Kyiretwie. He was employed at the Kumasi Officer's Mess in 1905 for two years, where he obtained funds to attend Kumasi Methodist School from 1907 to 1915 and then the government school in Kumasi. As a young man he played an active part in the social life of his people. He took particular interest in football and singing and became a chorister at the Methodist church. He was also a founding member of the Asante Kotoko Society which played a leading role in the repatriation of Prempeh I from the Seychelles . In 1931 he was installed as Kumasihene. In that same year he immediately began to work vigorously for the restoration of Asante Confederacy which was eventually accomplished in 1935. Accordingly his status was raised from that ofKumasihene to Asantehene. This was one of his greatest achievements. Material is taken from the Manhyia Archives – in Kumasi Manhyia Archives
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