MARITIME CULTURE AND EVERYDAY LIFE IN NINETEENTH- AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY COASTAL GHANA : a social... history of cape coast

The communities along the coastline of Ghana boast a long and vibrant maritime culture. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the region experienced creeping British imperialism and incorporation into the British Gold Coast colony. Drawing on a wealth of Ghanian archival sources, historian Kwaku Nti shows how many aspects of traditional maritime daily life--customary ritual performances, fishing, and concepts of ownership, and land--served as a means of resistance and allowed residents to contest and influence the socio-political transformations of the era. Nti explored how the Ebusua (female) and Asafo (male) local social groups, especially in Cape Coast, became bastions of indigenous identity and traditions during British colonial rule, while at the same time functioning as focal points for demanding a share of emerging economic opportunities. A convincing demonstration of the power of the indigenous everyday life to complicate the reach of empire, Maritime Culture and Everyday Life in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Coastal Ghana reveals a fuller history of West African coastal communities. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 A Note on Orthography 14 Maps 18 Introduction 22 1. Settlement and Nascent Society: From Earliest Times to the Nineteenth Century 52 2. Ebusua and Asafo Systems: Gender, Complementarity, and Conflict among the Fanti 83 3. Coastal Communities, Intergroup Wrangling, and Aspects of the Colonial Experience: Historical Undercurrents 107 4. Art, Symbol, and the Written Word: The Audacity, Dignity, and Sovereignty of Private Property Ownership 138 5. “Hen-ara Hen A-saa-se Nyi”: Land in Everyday Life, Colonial Policy, and Indigenous Resistance 155 6. The Politics of Modernization and Clash of Official and Indigenous Interests: Judiciary, Military, and Urbanization 179 7. “We Won’t Cooperate”: Legislative Council Elections, 1932 Conflict, and Frustration of Colonial Authority 218 Conclusion 259 Notes 266 Bibliography 314 Index 340 About the Author 356