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Ewe

Regions with significant populations
Ghana, Togo, Benin
Languages
Ewe
Religion
Vodun, Christianity, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Fon, Ga, Ada, Krobo, Adangbe, Yoruba, Akan

The Ewe (Eʋeawó "Ewe people", Eʋedukɔ́ "Ewe nation"^[1]) are a people located in the southeast corner of Ghana, east of the Volta River, in an area now described as the Volta Region, in southern Togo and southwest Benin. They speak the Ewe language (Eʋegbe) and are related to other speakers of Gbe languages, such as, the Fon, Gen, Phla Phera, and the Aja people of Togo and Benin. There are very notable Ewes such as Elikem Tetteh Tamakloe and contemporary artist El Anatsui.

Location where Ewe is spoken in Yellow

Origins[link]

According to Ghanaian Professor D.E.K. Amenumey, author of "Ewe Unification Movement: A Political Movement" and "The Ewe in Pre-Colonial Times" the Ewe people originally came from Ketu, a Yoruba area in Benin, but were eventually forced to migrate eastward as a result of Yoruba expansion. However, another source claims that the original Ewe homeland is Oyo in western Nigeria where the Ewe fled after the collapse of the empire. A third source suggests that the Ewe originally migrated from Kotu or Amedzowe east of the Niger. It is believed that the Ewe migrated into Ghana in the fifteenth century.

Description and culture[link]

The Ewe are essentially a patrilineal people; the founder of a community was the established chief, and was then usually succeeded by his paternal relatives. The Ewe are divided geographically between Ghana (Volta Region), its eastern neighbor, Togo (southern) and the western part of Benin (formerly Dahomey). This area was colonized by the Germans and was originally called Togoland. After the German defeat in World War I, the Ewe homeland was split between France and England. Most Ewe can trace male ancestors to their original villages and make their territorial divisions along those lines. Extended families are the most important units of Ewe social life. Ewe have never supported a hierarchical concentration of power within a large state.

Ewe kente cloth

In modern times, chiefs are generally elected by consensus and get advice from elders. There are a number of guidelines regarding the behavior of chiefs. They are expected to keep their heads covered in public, and are not to be seen drinking. The people see the chief as the communicator between the every day world and the world of the ancestors. The chief must always keep a clear mind. Traditionally, chiefs are also not to see the face of a corpse. They may take part in the funeral, however, once the corpse is buried or inside the coffin. They are not to have any contact with the corpse.

Traditionally, chiefs sit on a black stool. A white stool is reserved for 'honorary' chiefs. These are auspicious individuals who have been made a 'chief' as recognition for their contribution to a village. Certain rituals cannot be performed by an honorary chief, and must be attended by the true chief.

The pouring of libations is an important ritual within Ewe society. Generally, only chiefs can pour libations, but sometimes, at a durbar, a linguist performs the role. Libations are poured three times, in honor of ancestors, life, and the libation's offerer himself.

The Ewe have a long history of weaving 'Kente' cloth, especially in the Kpetoe region. In the Asante wars against the Kpetoe area, weavers were captured; it may thus have been prisoners of war from the Asante/Ewe wars that taught the Asante how to weave. The Asante legend holds that they learned weaving from a spider. Kente might be a contaminated word for the Asante. Ke means 'to open' in Ewe and te means 'to press'; the Ewe hold that the word Kete thus describes the weaving motion of the feet.

Geography[link]

Ewe people are located primarily in the Volta Region of Ghana (Ewe Dome), Southern Togo, as well as parts of Benin and Nigeria.

Ewe Language (Eʋegbe)[link]

Ewe, also written Evhe, or Eʋe, is a major dialect cluster of Gbe or Tadoid (Capo 1991, Duthie 1996) spoken in the south-eastern part of the Volta Region of Ghana across to parts of southern Togo as far as and just across the Togo-Benin border by about three million people. Ewe, and for that matter Gbe, belongs to the Kwa family of Niger-Congo. Gbe languages are spoken in an area that extends from Lower Volta (in southern Ghana) across into Togo, Benin and as far as Western Nigeria to Lower Weme; that is, from the Greenwich Meridian to 3oE and from the Atlantic coast to about 8oN.

Ewe dialects vary enormously. Groups of villages that are two or three kilometres apart use distinct varieties. Nevertheless, across the Ewe-speaking area, the dialects may be broadly grouped geographically into coastal or southern dialects, e.g., Aŋlɔ, Tɔŋú Avenor, Dzodze, Watsyi and inland dialects characterised indigenously as Ewedomegbe, e.g., Ho, Kpedze, Hohoe, Peki, Kpando, Fódome, Danyi, Kpele etc. (Agbodeka 1997, Gavua 2000, Ansre 2000). Speakers from different localities understand each other and can identify the peculiarities of the different areas. Additionally, there is a written standard that was developed in the nineteenth century based on the regional variants of the various sub-dialects with a high degree of coastal content. With it, a standard colloquial variety has also emerged (spoken usually with a local accent), and is used very widely in cross-dialectal contact sites such as schools, markets, and churches.

The storytellers use a dialect of Aŋlɔ spoken in Seva. Their language is the spoken form and hence does not necessarily conform to the expectations of someone familiar with the standard dialect. For instance, they use the form yi to introduce relative clauses instead of the standard written si, and yia ‘this’ instead of the standard written sia. They sometimes also use subject markers on the verb agreeing with the lexical NP subject while this is not written in the standard. A distinctive feature of the Aŋlɔ dialect is that the sounds made in the area of the teeth ridge are palatalised when followed by a high vowel. For instance, the verb tsi ‘become old’ is pronounced [tsyi] by the storyteller Kwakuga Goka.

Ewe is bordered to the west by Ga-Dangme and Akan, and to the north by the Ghana-Togo-Mountain languages, for example, Siwu, Siya, Likpe etc., all Kwa languages and some Gur languages such as Kabiye. To the east are the Gbe dialects —Gen, Aja and Xwla— all of which have degrees of intelligibility with Ewe (Kluge 2000). Ewe is used as a second language in the Ghana-Togo Mountain communities (Ring 1981). It is studied as a subject at all levels of education in Ghana up to and including the tertiary level and increasingly so in Togo. Ewe together with Ga and Akan are the three most important indigenous languages in southern Ghana. In Togo, where French has been the official language, Ewe and Kabiye have been declared the two indigenous languages being promoted for official use in education, mass media, etc. Ewe is thus used for radio and TV broadcasting and in some community newspapers in both Togo and Ghana. It is also used in adult literacy programmes leading to an increasing number of publications in the language on topics of health, agriculture, and child rearing, among others (Duthie and Vlaardingerbroek 1981). English and French are present in the Ewe speaking communities in Ghana and Togo respectively. Some speakers are bilingual or multilingual in Ewe and English or French and/or other languages such as Akan, Ga, Hausa, Kabiye, Akposo, Yoruba etc. Due to contact with some of these languages, some words are borrowed into Ewe. In the story told by Madam Hodolo Atɔsu, she uses words like kɔnset ‘concert’ and flawas(i) ‘flowers’ both borrowed from English.

Names (Ŋkɔwo)[link]

The Ewe (Eʋeawo) have names (Ŋkɔwo) with significant meanings which either portray the spirituality of the parents or the circumstances in which the child was born. Generally, most of the names are unisex.

For example:

Agbenyega = Life is great (If you have life you have everything)

Akpenε = Thank thee

Bɔtsɔme = Think of tomorrow

Dzigbɔɖi = Patience

Dziɖuɖu = Victory

Eɖem = He saved me

Elinam = He is with me

Etɔnam = He has answered my call/prayers

Eyram = He has blessed me

Fafa = Peace

Gameli = There is time for everything

Lebene = Take care of it/him/her

Makafui (Kafui) = I will Praise him

Mawuli = God exists

Mawuena = God giving

Mawuko = Except God (Only God)

Mawusi = In God's hands

Seɖina = Destiny provides

Seɖinam = Destiny provides for me

Selɔm = Destiny loves me

Senanu = It is the destiny that gives

Naming System[link]

Additionally the Ewe use a system of giving the first name of a child as the day of the week that the child was born. This arises from a belief that the real name of a child can only be determined after the child has shown its character. However, as a child is a person, not an object, the child must be referred to by some name in the interim, so a name is provided based on the day of birth. A final name is given at a naming ceremony, seven days after the date of birth.

This shows close similarity with the naming system used by the Akan people. The Ewe version is as follows:

Often, people are called by their birth date name most of the time, the given name being used only on formal documents. In such cases, children with the same birth name are delineated by suffixes: -gã meaning big, -vi meaning little. So for example, after the birth of another Kofi, the first child called Kofi becomes Kofigã, and the new child Kofi. A subsequent Kofi, would be Kofivi, or (Kofitse mostly among Wedome and Tɔngu Ewes. Sometimes this renaming happens twice, as the second Kofi may have originally been called Kofivi, while the eldest retained Kofi, thereby necessitating that they both be renamed on the birth of the third Kofi.

Ewe religion[link]

Ewe religion is organized around a creator/creatress deity, Mawu and Lisa. Mawu and Lisa (Goddess and God) to the Ewe is the Supreme Being and is remote from daily affairs. In addition the Ewe believe in many secondry gods (trowo) that are worshipped in uniqiue ways. They also believe in spirit ancestors and divination is practised. Se is a word for law, order and harmony; Se is the maker and keeper of human souls; in an abstract sense, Se is destiny. Ewe people can also be Christians or Muslim.

Ewe music[link]

The Ewe have developed a complex culture around drumming. Ewe believe that if someone is a good drummer, it is because they inherited a spirit of an ancestor who was a good drummer. Music and dance are a force in cementing social feeling among members of an Agbekor society.

In general, Ewe drums are constructed like barrels with wooden staves and metal rings, or carved from a single log. They are played with sticks and hands, and often fulfill roles that are traditional to the family. The 'child' or 'baby brother' drum, kagan, usually plays on the off beats in a repeated pattern that links directly with the bell and shaker ostinatos. The 'mother' drum, kidi, usually has a more active role in the accompaniment. It responds to the larger sogo or 'father' drum. The entire ensemble is led by the atsimevu or 'grandfather' drum, largest of the group.

Lyrical songs are more prevalent in the southern region. In the north, flutes and drums generally take the place of the singer's voice.

Ewe dance[link]

The Ewe have an intricate collection of dances, which vary between geographical regions and other factors. One such dance is the Adevu (Ade - hunting, Vu - dance). This is a professional dance that celebrates the hunter. They are meant both to make animals easier to hunt and to give animals a ritual 'funeral' in order to prevent the animal's spirit from returning and harming the hunter.

Another dance, the Agbadza, is traditionally a war dance but is now used in social and recreational situations to celebrate peace. War dances are sometimes used as military training exercises, with signals from the lead drum ordering the warriors to move ahead, to the right, go down, etc. These dances also helped in preparing the warriors for battle and upon their return from fighting they would act out their deeds in battle through their movements in the dance.

The Atsiagbekor is a contemporary version of the Ewe war dance Atamga (Great (ga) Oath (atama) in reference to the oaths taken by people before proceeding into battle. The movements of this present-day version are mostly in platoon formation and are not only used to display battle tactics, but also to energize and invigorate the soldiers. Today, Atsiagbekor is performed for entertainment at social gatherings and at cultural presentations.

The Atsia dance, which is performed mostly by women, is a series of stylistic movements dictated to dancers by the lead drummer. Each dance movement has its own prescribed rhythmic pattern, which is synchronized with the lead drum. 'Atsia' in the Ewe language means style or display.

The Ewe-speaking people in the central and northern parts of the Volta Region of Ghana cultivate the Bɔbɔbɔ dance. Bɔbɔbɔ (originally 'Akpese') might have originated in the Kpando area, and is said to have been created by the late Mr. Francis Kojo Nuadro. He is thought to have been an ex-police officer who returned to Kpando and organized a group in the middle to late 1940s. The dance has its roots in the 'Highlife' popular music of Ghana and other West African countries. Bɔbɔbɔ gained national recognition in the 1950s and 1960’s because of its use at political rallies and the novelty of its dance formations and movements. It is generally performed at funerals and other social occasions. This is a social dance with a great deal of room for free expression. In general, the men sing and dance in the center while the women dance in a ring around them. There are 'slow' and 'fast' versions of Bɔbɔbɔ; the fast Bɔbɔbɔ is believed to come from the Kpando area and the slow version from Hohoe. The slow one is called Akpese and the fast one is termed to be Bɔbɔbɔ. Lolobi-Kumasi is known for doing a particular fast version of the slow version.

Agahu is both the name of a dance and of one the many secular music associations (clubs) of the Ewe people of Ghana, Togo, and Dahomey. (Gadzok, Takada, and Atsiagbeko are other such clubs). Each club has its own distinctive drumming and dancing, as well as its own repertoire of songs. A popular social dance of West Africa, Agahu was created by the Egun speaking people from the town of Ketonu in what is now Benin. From there it spread to the Badagry area of Nigeria where migrant Ewe fisherman heard, adapted, and eventually took it to Ghana. In dancing the Agahu, two circles are formed; the men stay stationary with their arms out and then bend with a knee forward for the women to sit on. They progress around the circle until they arrive at their original partner.

Gota uses the mystical calabash drum of Benin, West Africa. It was originally called "drum of the dead" and was played only at funerals. It is now performed for social entertainment. The most exciting parts of Gota are the synchronized stops of the drummers and dancers.

Tro-u is ancestral drum music that is played to invite ancestors to special sacred occasions at a shrine. For religious purposes, a priest or priestess would be present. There are fast and slow rhythms that can be called by the religious leader in order to facilitate communication with the spirit world. The bell rhythm is played on a boat-shaped bell in the north, but the southern region uses a double bell. The three drums must have distinct pitch levels in order to lock in.

Sowu is one of the seven different styles of drumming that belong to the cult of Yewe, adapted for stage. Yewe is the God of Thunder and lightning among the Ewe speaking people of Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Yewe is a very exclusive cult and its music is one of the most developed forms of sacred music in Eweland.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The pride of Ewe Kente http://www.africanfabric.co.uk/bks_001.php

• Ewe Stories and Storytellers from Ghana http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/verba-africana/ewe/main.htm

• African Proverbs: Guide to Conduct the Moral Value of Ewe Proverbs http://www.bookfinder.com/author/n-k-dzobo/

• Once upon a time in Ghana: traditional Ewe stories retold in English http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uX9xQa3Ri74C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Ewe Organizations in the diaspora (Eʋe habɔbɔwo le ablotsime)[link]

• Ewe Union Frankfurt e.V. - GERMANY http://eweunionfrankfurt.com/

• Miadenyigba e.V. Essen - GERMANY http://www.miadenyigba.org/ ; http://twitter.com/#!/miadenyigba ; http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Miadenyigba-hab%C9%94b%C9%94/147180325367878

• Volta Citizens Union Amsterdam - THE NETHERLANDS http://voltacitizens.com/

• Nɔvisi DENMARK http://www.novisi.dk

• Nɔviha UK http://noviha.org/

• Council of Ewe Associations of North America/CEANA http://www.ceanaonline.org/

• Nɔvinyo Habɔbɔ of Delaware Valley - USA http://www.novinyohabobo.com

• Volta Association, Washington, DC - USA http://www.voltaclub.org

• Ewe Association of Chicago - USA http://ewechicago.org/

• Ewe Association Of Georgia - USA http://ewaga.org

• Ewe Association of Southern California - USA http://ewehabobo.blogspot.com/

• Columbus Ewe haborbor - USA http://www.geocities.ws/ewegroup/

• Ewe Association Houston - USA http://www.facebook.com/people/Ewe-Assoc-Houston/100002550319069 ; http://www.ewehouston.org/

• Ewe Multicultural Association of Alberta - USA http://www.emaaonline.org/

• Ewe-Canadian Cultural Org. of Ontario - CANADA http://www.ewecultural.org/

• Southern Volta Association of Canada - CANADA http://www.southernvoltacanada.org/

Bibliography[link]

• Ewe (Heritage Library of African Peoples) by E. Ofori Akyea http://www.amazon.de/Ewe-Heritage-Library-African-Peoples/dp/0823919803/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books-intl-de&qid=1286020751&sr=8-1-catcorr

http://www.amazon.com/Heritage-Library-African-Peoples-Africa/dp/0823919803/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316499103&sr=1-1

• A handbook of Eweland, Volume I: The Ewes of Southeastern Ghana, edited by Francis Agbodeka

http://woelipublishing.com/bookdetails.asp?itt=231

• A Handbook of Eweland, Volume II: The Northern Ewes in Ghana, edited by Kodzo Gavua

http://woelipublishing.com/bookdetails.asp?itt=236

• The Ewe of Togo and Benin, A handbook of Eweland Volume III

http://woelipublishing.com/bookdetails.asp?itt=232 http://www.amazon.com/Ewe-Togo-Benin-Benjamin-Lawrance/dp/9988626541

• Eʋe Dukɔ ƒe Blemanyawo, Eŋlɔla: Charles Kɔmi Kudzɔdzi (Papavi Hogbedetɔ)

• African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective by Kofi Agawu

• Gahu: Traditional Social Music of the Ewe People of Ghana

• Kpegisu: A War Drum of the Ewe by Godwin Agbeli

• Gahu: Traditional Social Music of the Ewe People of Ghana
• Kinka: traditional songs from Avenorpedo