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Ewe
Country Boundaries
The
boundaries of the new African nations are those of
the old British, Belgian, French, German, and
Portuguese colonies. They are essentially
artificial in the sense that some of them do not
correspond with any well-marked ethnic divisions.
Because of this the Ewes, like some other ethnic
groups, have remained fragmented under the three
different flags, just as they were divided among the
three colonial powers after the Berlin Conference of
1844 that partitioned Africa. A portion of the Ewes
went to Britain, another to Germany, and a small
section in Benin (Dahomey) went to France. After
World War I, the League of Nations gave the
Germansoccupied areas to Britain and France as
mandated territories. Those who were under the
British are now the Ghanaian Ewes, those under the
French are Togo, and Benin (Dahomey) Ewes,
respectively. The Alo Ewes are part of the
Ghanaian Ewes group and they form about thirteen
percent (13%) of the Ghanaian population (1,615,700
in Ghana (1991)).
The Ewe
speaking people of West Africa inhabit the areas
between the River Volta in modern Ghana and the
River Mono on the western borders of the Ancient
Kingdom of Benin (Dahomey) (see Map 1. To be
supplied) and extends from the Atlantic coast inland
up to about latitude 7 6‟N in the east and latitude
7 20‟ N in the west. Across the southeastern
boundary line a related people – the Fon of present
day Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey).
Ewe
Language
According to UNESCO grouping of languages (1985),
Ewe is a community language of Africa and its
homeland stretches between three West African
countries, namely, the Republics of Ghana, Togo,
Benin (Dahomey) and to Badagry in the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. According to linguists (and
also Westermann and Bryan, 1952), the Ewe language (Ewegbe)
belongs to a member of the Kwa family of sudanic
languages. As stated by Greenberg (1970), Kwa
languages constitute a sub-family of the Niger-Congo
family of the Congo-Kordofanian language family of
Africa. There are several dialects (variants) of
the Ewe language as spoken in Eweland. The
dialectical difference, as in the case of all
languages with dialects, are found in one or more of
the following, namely speech sounds used, choice
between synonyms and forms of words, pitch/tonal
variations and mode of expressions. Some of these
dialects are mutually intelligible, but only with
difficulty. The population of all Ewe speaking
people has always been
a
subject of debate. Awoonor (1974) writes,
"According to various uncoordinated census accounts
and estimates, the Ewes may number anywhere between
two and five million".
Ancient Origins
There
are many different schools of thought about the
origin(s) of the Ewe tribe, with a school of thought
tracing the origin as far back as an earlier
settlement in Adzatome, a suburb founded by Ham, the
second son of Noa in the Bible; Noa being the
progenitor of various tribes. It is here that we
learnt about the Biblical Story of the building of
the tower of Babel to enable the people get close to
God, see Him and pray to Him, followed by God‟s
displeasure and the resultant fall of the tower and
dispersion of the people into clusters of people
speaking various languages instead of the single one
that first united them. This story is credited as
being the source of a group speaking one language
today known as the Ewe language. Where this
occurred is placed in Babylon in present Iraq, and
various groups left to find new settlements of their
own.
Settlement in Egypt
Oral
tradition claims the Ewe people were led by an
ancestor called „Gu‟ under whose leadership they
settled at the delta of the river Nile, in present
day Egypt. Other ethnic groups also settled in
Egypt then, including the Jews forced by draught in
their land of Canaan. There were cultural exchanges
among the various people, with groups adopting
practices of others with whom they lived in close
proximity. The acts of circumcision of male
children, pouring of libation learnt via the worship
of the SUN-GOD, out-dooring of new born babies,
widowhood rites, kingship and burial of kings and
chiefs with their personal effects some customary
practices adopted by the Ewes from the Egyptians and
the Jews. They also learnt the composition of long
songs from the Jews.
Settlement in Sudan
When it
became difficult living in Egypt, just as the Jews
left under the leadership of Moses, the Ewes also
left under a leader Mi and migrated in a
south-westerly direction that brought them into the
Sudan where they made settlement for a while close
to present day Khartoum. The stay there was short
due to drought, famine and slave raids by Arab slave
traders who preferred black slaves to their own
kind, due to their physique and courage. At the
time, there were numerous schools in and around
Khartoum and some Ewes took advantage of these
schools to become great scholars, merchants and
farmers.
Settlement in Ethiopia
The Ewe
people decided to leave Sudan, and going
southeastwards went into „‟Abyssinia‟‟, the present
day Ethiopia. However, the slave raids continued
here and some members were captured and sold and
were sent to as far away as India to serve in the
courts of their kings and queens.
Settlement between Niger Bend and the Middle Reaches
of River Senegal
As the
people were unable to repel the superior weapons of
the Arabs and Indians, they finally decided to move
out of Ethiopia too. This time, they moved
southwestwards into the region between the bend of
river Niger and the middle reaches of the river
Senegal. All these movements occurred between AD
500 and 1200. Oral tradition has it that they made
significant contributions to the rise of the old
Ghana Empire, whose capital then was Walata, near
Timbuktu. The old Ghana Empire declined and was
replaced by the Mali Empire, led by a powerful king:
Mari Djata whose state insignia was the Lion which
the Ewes call „Dzata‟ and by deduction, the name of
the Emperor is said to mean in Ewe ”Amea ɖi Dzata”.
The Mali Empire lasted until AD 1513, disintegrating
after the death of its powerful ruler Mari Djata,
and due to internal and external forces, many
sub-ethnic and cultural groups departed from the
area, rather than stay to serve under the new
overlords, the Songhai, who conquered the old Mali
Empire. Whilst residing at the Niger Bend they
contributed to the emergence of all three Empires of
Ghana, Songhai and Mali.
Settlements in Nigeria, Dahomey and Togo
After
the break-up of the last of these empires and by
following the Niger River south-eastwards, the
ancestors of the Ewes moved into the present day
Nigeria, at the height of the Oyo Empire, settled
briefly at Ile Ife in Yoruba-land (Osun State of
Nigeria), but moved on at the fall of the Oyo
Empire, and going westward, they entered Dahomey
(present-day Republic of Benin). It was in Ile-Ife
that they revived and perfected the art of
divination (afa kaka), which their ancestors
abandoned in Mesopotamia. They also settled in Ketu,
a Yoruba town in modern day Benin. Ketu is also
called Amedzorpe or Mawupe in the accounts. The
Yoruba people founded Ketu by the fourteenth century
at the latest.
Settlements in the Kingdom of Tado
At
Dahomey they split into three groups. The first
group settled at the bank of the Mono River and
named that place Tado (Tando or A‟Tando), which
became a powerful kingdom and the historical
capital.
Settlements in the City State of Notsie
The
second group moved on to settle between the Mono and
the Haho Rivers. This settlement became Notsie, in
present day Republic of Togo. The third group
settled at what then was Adele country where they
established the nucleus of what later became the
Kingdom of Dahomey, but then called Dogbo-Nyigbo.
Some members from this group moved out later to join
those already settled at Notsie and in this new
settlement, the earlier settlers referred to them as
„Dogboawo‟ due to their earlier association with the
settlement at Dogbo-Nyigbo. Note that Dogbo is a
town between Agbome and Tado. The migrants who left
Tado followed a path of a hunter by the name Afotse
or Ndetsi, or the ancestor Noin or Da, depending on
the version told. All migrants were given a portion
of Notsie by their hosts to settle on, to be by
themselves. Thus there were various settlements of
the Ewe people at Notsie, and they were all
semi-autonomous with their own leaders. According
to some accounts, at its greatest height, the city
of Notsie consisted of thirty-six neighborhoods.
The Dogbo quarter therefore had its own leader, same
as other Ewe groups. The several and separate
quarters were all however ruled by one great King of
Notsie. Some of these leaders and Kings were: Adela
Blebua, Tsamla, Adela Dzawoe, Ekpe, Adelatorble,
Agor and Agorkorli. Some of the original seven
quarters are: Tegbe, Tako, Ekli, Agbaladome, Anakpe,
and Adime; and the deserted spaces are called
Wotsegbeme, Soujafeme, Gbedekordzi, the market place
and Azakordzi.
We have
learnt so far that, according to oral tradition, the
present-day Eweland is not the original home of the
entire Ewe speaking people. There are several
accounts of their migration to the present land from
various places such as the Sudan, Nigeria,
Republique du Benin (Dahomey), and Republique du
Togo (Togoland). As we have read earlier, some
students of Ewe history have tried to push this
supposed point of departure further back to Belebele,
which is in turn identified with the “Babel” of the
Bible. Others have suggested Mesopotamia, Egypt,
etc., as the point of origin of the Ewes. Since
oral tradition loses historical facts with time,
there is no scientific basis for all these claims
(not at this time), even though several researchers
are looking into these claims.
When it
comes to written history, there is however some
agreement as research was able to trace our origin
up to a point. Manoukian (1952) writes, "All
traditions agree that the Ewe speaking people came
from somewhere in the north, and although each
sub-tribe gives a slightly different version of the
story, it seems to be generally accepted that they
migrated from a place called Ketu or Amedzoƒe (not
the present one in the Republic of Ghana), somewhere
east of the Niger following a conquest, and
thereafter settled down in a place called Notsie,
usually considered to Juatja, in which is now French
Togoland." Fage (1959) says, "the line of migration
of the Ewe is remembered as Ketu-Tado-Nuatsi (Notsie)".
Akinjogbi (1967), Betho (1949), and some oral
historians put the line of migration as Oyo-Ketu-Notsie,
or Oyo-Ketu-Tado-Notsie. Whether Oyo or Tado is
left out from the line of migration by some groups
through forgetfulness or because their stay was very
brief and therefore insignificant is not known.
Other
accounts also indicate that the Ewe people had lived
in Ketu, a Yoruba town in the Republic of Benin. At
Ketu there lived other people besides the
forefathers of the Ewes. These were Yorubas, the
ancestors of the present Aja and Fon and the
Ga-Dangme. According to Kodzo-Vordoagu (1994) and
Agbodeka (1997), “it is not certain when they began
to live there and how long they lived there. It was
the gradual westward expansion of the Yoruba that
pushed the Ewe and their kin, Aja, from Ketu. Their
movement must have started sometime before the end
of the sixteenth century. On leaving Ketu the
people split into two big divisions. One of these
went due south and in turn divided into two. One of
these sub-divisions went to found a settlement on
the eastern side of River Mono and called it Tado.
Later, they crossed the river and penetrated the
forests on its banks. They then settled in the town
called Notsie (a settlement between the rivers Haho
and Mono) which had been founded by the advance
second sub-division group of migrants from Ketu
around 1500”.
The
second big group went to the Adele region in
present-day Togo. To this group belonged the people
who came to be known as the Alo, Be and Fon. They
later joined their relatives at Notsie. There, they
were known collectively as Dogboawo. Their leaders
were Amega Wenya and his nephew Sroe (Sri, son of
Amega Wenya‟s sister Asongoe) who was the son of the
King of Tado. Sri had fled from Tado with his
father‟s stool following a succession dispute with
his half-brothers after their father‟s death. At
this juncture, it will be useful to note that the
Dogboawo, as well as the entire Ewe people of West
Africa, once lived together at Ketu.
The
arrival of the Ewe speaking people in Notsie is
placed around (ca. 1500). There is no evidence of
how long they were in Notsie. However, depending on
what tradition one wants to follow, they either came
from Ketu to Notsie or Tado to Notsie. Manoukian
(1952) writes,
"According to these traditions, in the three main
groups, a northern, a middle and southern group,
each of which migrated to and settled in different
parts of Togoland, their present home".
At any
rate, in all accounts, Notsie was their last stop
and center of dispersion. Notsie was also a crucial
and significant point in the history of the Ewe
people, especially the Alos. Notsie is to the Ewe
speaking people as Egypt is to the Jews. In those
days there was general hostility everywhere. It is
in this context that two walls were built around
Notsie. The first, smaller, known as Agbogbovi, was
constructed during the reign of Da, perhaps in the
15th century. According to some accounts it was
built to cut off the royal enclosure from all but
members of the royal clan. Like Ketu, the city of
Notsie also had a second 17‟ X 30‟ wall to protect
its inhabitants from external attack on all settled
lands and their farmland. The entire community of
Notsie lived within these encircling second walls
called Agbogbo. On the advice of Agokorli III, the
wall imitated two semi-circles, and facing eastward
toward Tado. Notsie was divided into separate
quarters inhabited by members of the different
migrating groups. Each group lived in a separate
area under its own head or chief. Although each of
these heads was the judge in matters concerning his
own people, a supreme king ruled over all of them.
The early kings of Notsie ruled well and the kingdom
flourished. The prosperity of the city was recorded
by the French traveler Elbee in 1669, when he wrote,
“the king of this land is powerful and runs it well;
his grand politics are devoted to conflict
resolution and fairness; his neighbors hesitate to
attack because of his power. It is believed that he
can deploy easily five thousand warriors and that
the town is as populated and as large as Paris.”
Development of Centralized Power
From
the time of the arrival of immigrants from Tado, the
village of Tegbe was governed by a theocratic power
known as Mawouno, the grand priest of the divinity,
Mawu. An alliance between these two communities
produced Notsie. The future Ewe descendants refer
in their traditions to an arrangement that allowed
them exclusive right to enthrone the kings of Notsie
at Tako. From Tako, the royal lineage established
its centre at Dakpodzi, the hill of Da (Gayibor and
Aguigah, 2005).
The
king of Notsie carried several titles including
Anyigbafia, Mawoufia and Homefia. Here, as in Tado,
the king held only nominal power: he reigned but did
not govern. The manner in which he operated, in
which he was confined and the prohibitions that
governed his actions were very similar to that of
Tado. The investiture of the king followed two
stages. After the selection of the king, a
procession to the sanctuary of Nayo Friko, the chief
goes into seclusion for a number of days during
which the town nobles and priests conduct various
religious ceremonies.
The
Reign of King Agokoli of Notsie
When
the Dogbos arrived in Notsie, their host King Adelă
Atogble received them well and treated them nicely.
Adelatorble, the King later married Mama Asongoe, a
former wife of Adza Ashimadi, King of Tado, and
mother of Kponoe who later became Sri 1, leader and
later the first Awoamefia of the Dogbo group.
Asongoe gave birth to a number of girls for
Adelatorble, the eldest being Mama Kokui Wala, the
mother of Tsatsu Adeladza, second Awoamefia of the
Dogbo in their new settlement at Anloga.
After
the death of Ago, his successor Ago Akoli became
king just before the middle of the seventeenth
century. According to all accounts he was an
energetic and dynamic leader, and he ended some of
the proscriptions that inhibited the exercising of
his function as leader. Unfortunately, things were
not exactly the same during the new regime. It is
undeniable that during his reign conflicts arose.
Conflict within the city stemmed from Agokoli‟s
desire to leave his traditional enclosure against
the wishes of his councilors. Conflict also arose
because of the construction of the monumental walls,
which involved the mobilization of large manpower
and extremely unpleasant conditions. He sought to
impose his will on the people and generally
tyrannized them by setting them a number of
impossible tasks to perform. He punished those who
did not obey him and flaunted all traditions.
Because of this the name Agokoli is synonymous with
singular violence and tyrannical cruelty. This
tradition was first transcribed by German pastors
and popularized in French by the version of Pastor
Kwakume in 1948. Since then, it has become the
irrefutable tradition associated with all Ewe
people. Regardless of the veracity of the tale, the
reign of Agokoli profoundly marked the period and
the deep legacy left in the collective memory of the
Ewe as the primary cause of the different migrations
from Notsie and the occupation of present-day
Eweland.
As a
tradition, the Ewe speaking people were adorned
mainly because of their skills in the arts of
drumming, singing and dancing. They were regularly
requested to entertain the King, his visitors and
other favorites. As a consequence, the Ewes were
allowed to play their drums, sing and dance all
through the night without any interference from the
authorities. Despite all these attributes of the
Ewes, the new king was still very hostile to them
and ruled all the immigrants with an iron hand.
For
example, he ordered that all elderly people should
be killed, but the Dogboawo managed to keep one old
man in hiding; his name was Tegli. It was Tegli who
advised them to ask the women in all Ewe settlement
groups to throw bath and other waste water against
the thick wall around Notsie to soften it, making it
possible for them later, to break it down by the
trust of Togbui Tegli‟s sword or dagger (Adekpui),
in the hands of Togbui Asor, leader of one of the
Ewe groups, to whom he entrusted it after libation
and the invocation of prayers to all known gods and
ancestors. The reason for killing all elderly
people was to deprive the immigrants of personnel
with wisdom, experience and expert legal advice in
times of need (see Proverb #24). The old man „Tegli‟
was consulted in times of need. There is an old
adage that “wisdom and experience develops with old
age”. At a point in time, King Ago Akoli also
ordered the Ewes to make a rope out of clay. Upon
consultation with elder Tegli, the Ewes sent a
delegation to King Ago Akoli requesting to see an
old rope that was made from clay so that they could
imitate it. One of the Anlo‟s Hogbetsotso songs
incorporates these words of wisdom, “Xoxoawo nue
wogbea yeyeawo do”. This humble and wise request by
the Dogboawo infuriated King Ago Akoli. He wondered
where they could have gotten this idea. As happened
to the Israelis in Egypt prior to the exodus, the
King, Ago Akoli saw the wisdom exemplified in that
reply and he became more tyrannical to the Dogboawo.
He made the Ewe speaking people execute very
dangerous and laborious tasks for his wicked
pleasure. At several times, he ordered the Ewes to
mix a mud concrete (mortar used to make house) with
their bare feet and hands. The mud concrete was
previously mixed with broken pieces of bottles,
glass, nails, torn, and other hazardous materials.
Let us note that glass would have been available to
Agorkorli and Company, as the Kingdom of Nupe (Bida)
existed in the region and earned fame for its native
glass industry (S. F. Nadel; A Black Byzantium: The
Kingdom of Nupe in Nigeria, London,
1969,
pp. 274-277). During the mixing process, the
Dogboawo would bleed profusely from their feet and
hands.
“Amemakumaku pe hlorbialawo'', and Founding of
Agavedzi, Klikor and Bomigo
A sad
and cunningly vengeful event finally broke the
camel‟s back. It is popularly referred to as: “Amea
le agbe gake bie hlor”. The story goes like this.
One day, a quarrel broke out between a handful of
Dogbo-Nyigboawo and factions of King Ago Akorli (aka
King Agorkorli) people. During the scuffle, a Dogbo-man
named Aga was wounded by a Notsie man called Dzedua,
a close relation of King Agorkorli. Oral history
had it that during the fight, King Agorkoli‟s
relative, Dzedua severely beat Aga to
unconsciousness - almost to death. Around that
time, a Dogbo-Nyigbo man had died of natural
causes. After the fight was over, some of the
Dogboawo hatched out a plan and informed King
Agokorli that the severely beaten Aga had died as a
result of his injuries and broken bones. A funeral
was then arranged for the “dead” person, Aga. King
Agorkoli was so infuriated with the fact that his
own relative was responsible for this heinous crime
and ordered that Dzedua be put to death as a
deterrent to others who may take the law into their
own hands. This decree was subsequently carried
out. After Agorkorli had his relation executed for
the 'crime', the Dogbos organized the “final funeral
rites of Aga” and too much drinking made some of the
''drunkards' boast: ''Miawoe nye Adza pe viwo tso
Adzatome, Amemakumaku pe hlorbialawo''. A few days
or weeks after Dzedua was executed, some of the
Dogbo-Nyigbos were also heard bragging that they
have taken vengeance on King Agorkoli. They were
heard making the statement “Amea le agbe gake bie
hlor”. Unfortunately, this information got to King
Agorkoli. He was so infuriated that he made life
completely unbearable to the Dogboawo. The
legendary Togbi Atsu Tsala (see below) and several
Dogbo elders were worried about the state of events
and wanted the Dogbo elders to go and apologize to
King Agorkoli, since they believed that the Dogboawo
were on the wrong side of the issue. This advice
was however not taken. It is one of the reasons why
Togbi Atsu Tsala and several others left Notsie
prior to the general exodus.
Meanwhile when Aga was in hiding, Agorkorli's people
were threatening to 'smoke him out' but he was a
close friend to one Notsie man called Kli (son of
Torgbi Ekpe) who advised him to escape and
accompanied him till they reached present day
Aborlove and Afife, meeting the earlier settlers,
the Aborlors there. They subsequently left Aborlove
and Aga went to settle at Agavedzi, while Kli
settled at and founded Klikor. When Agar heard of
Agorkorli's plan to send warriors after him, he
moved on to Bomigo and later founded a number of
settlements at present day Agave territory.
The
direct result of this incidence was Agorkorli's
decision to wall his State / Kingdom, and as
punishment, using the Dogbos to prepare the mortar
(with broken pots and thorns mischievously mixed
into it) for the building of the wall.
The
Exodus of Dogboawo and Others from Notsie (Not a
Migration!)
As King
Agokoli‟s rule became unbearable, various groups of
the population decided to migrate. Because of the
king's repressive acts, the Ewes initiated a secret
plan to escape. Tatar (1973) writes, "Along with
the need for more land and food, malcontents,
inspired by the tyrannical rule
of
Agokoli (King of Notsie in the late 1600's), they
instigated another general movement west and south.
The groups that migrated are those that make up the
Ewe tribe of today".
The 17‟
X 30‟ wall that offered protection to the entire
population eventually became a barrier to the
Dogboawo in planning their escape. However, they
finally carried out their plan through. After
several consultations with the oldman Tegli at his
hiding place, the Dogboawo came up with a plan.
They instructed their women to throw water against
one spot of the wall while washing their clothes and
dishes. The women executed this plan without
knowing the reason. One day when the elders found
out that the wall was wet and soft enough, they
decided to implement the final stage of their plan.
The elders gathered all their people together near
the wet wall and started drumming, singing and
dancing. There was a lot of jubilation in the Dogbo
section of the city from late afternoon throughout
into the night. About midnight, while the rest of
the people of Notsie went to bed and the Misego (Husago,
meaning tighten your waist) drumming was at its
performance peak, the Dogbo elders went and brought
Tegli the brain behind the plot from his hiding
place. He called a few of the trusted people closer
to the wet wall and told them the essence of their
gathering. He drew out the "Sword of Liberation"
from its sheath, pointed it up, invoked the spirit
of the gods and the ancestors and said a short
prayer. Then he said, "O Mawugă Kitikata, u o
na mi ne miadogo, azo adzo." (Oh great God "Kitikata",
open the door for us so that we can walk through it
and leave). With these words, Tegli thrust the
"Sword of Liberation" into the wet and softened wall
and bored a big hole (door pattern) into it. The
men pushed and the soft wall fell before them.
After Scouts had gone ahead to find suitable lands
for settlement, the various groups moved out of
Notsie.
The
women, the sick, and children were led out first,
followed by the elderly, while the energetic youth
and middle-aged men stayed behind to continue
drumming, singing and dancing. After all the others
were gone, the drummers and the few remaining
singers and dancers followed them. The last part of
the group walked backwards on the exact footsteps of
the earlier parties for about two miles so that
their footprints might not betray their
whereabouts. After King Agokoli discovered that the
Dogboawo had escaped, he ordered a search for them
and demanded their return back to Notsie. The
search party however got confused: tracing the
footsteps of the Dogboawo always led them back to
the dwelling place of the Dogboawo in Notsie. It
was a brilliant and well-executed plan. The sword (Adekpui)
used by Tegli to bore the hole is said to be
preserved to this day as part of the stool regalia
of Togbui Asor, leader of Dogbo groups at Ho, a town
in Northern Eweland. It must be pointed out here
that the history of the Asorgli of Ho mentions also
a leader by name Torgbui Kaklu who led their group
out of Notsie.
Upon
quitting the city, all the fugitives followed the
same direction without a precise destination in
mind. The majority of versions cite Game, south of
Notsie, as the first point of rest. The rest of the
story of the exodus of the Dogboawo from Notsie is
told with some variations of details by all Ewes,
with particular reference to settlements they
founded, later continued migration, wars they fought
for territory or just survival among hostile people
they met on their way, or at the places they decided
to settle at. But the general outcome of the exodus
is the dispersion of the Ewes as a people from the
first settlement they made as a group at Tsevie, in
present Togo, from where under different leaders
according to lineage, the group split into three –
south westwards towards the Volta, northwards toward
the mountain range and south-eastwards toward the
sea, to frustrate the pursuit of Agokoli and finally
to settle in their present homes. The old man
Torgbui Tegli was reported to have died at Tsevie
and was buried there.
Thus,
from Notsie the Ewe traveled together eventually to
a town which is now called Tsevie in the Republic of
Togoland. It is about twenty kilometers from Lome.
The name Tsevie means “let it grow for a while
longer”. When the Ewes settled in this area after
leaving Notsie, they decided to sow some cowpeas to
sustain themselves. As if by fate, their new
neighbors started becoming hostile prompting another
decision to move. One day the Ewes woke up only to
find that wild pigs destroyed the farms. The horror
and concern generated by this tragedy led to the
battle cry which is now made into a song: “Ayibo
Pee, Hawo Pee!, Ayibo Pee, Hawo Pee! Egble o, Enyo
o, OOO!!.” A free translation of this is, “See how
pigs have destroyed the cowpea farm!. Whether good
or bad, we don‟t care, and we would not despair.”
It is worthy to note that the town Tsevie got its
name from the plantation episode. The story is that
before the cowpeas could fully mature, the
insecurity of the place led to agitation among
sections of the people for early departure. This
was opposed by others who insisted that they should
wait, despite all odds, for the crops to mature for
harvesting before making the next move. Apparently,
the disagreement led to the departure of the main
group with the others remaining there to give the
name Tsevie to the place.
Here is
another historical fact about an Ewe food crop (Agbodeka,
1997). Cassava, the most widely used root crop is
named in Ewe as agbeli. Literally translated, it
means, “There is life.” The story is told of the
migration of our ancestors who during their long
journey became hungry and had nothing to eat.
Fortunately, they came across a root crop, which
they suspected could be edible. They uprooted the
crop, boiled it and ate, and found it to be tasty
and satisfying. Experiencing no harmful effects,
they acknowledged the crop as life giving. Cassava
has since become a very useful crop in Eweland and
its utilization extended beyond simply boiling.
Cassava is now processed into other products, which
are used in the diet in a great variety of ways.
We have
read above that during the migration from Notsie,
the people split into three broad groups, which were
to populate the northern, central and southern areas
of their new home stretching up to the Volta in the
West. Oral tradition says the Central and Northern
Dogbo groups were led out of Tsevie by leaders who
included Akoto, Kodzo De, Amega Lee, Asor and
Bisiaku and they led the various branches to settle
places like Hohoe, Matse, Peki, Asorgli, Awudome, Ve,
Gbi, Kpando, Logba, Alavanyo, Kpalime, Agu, Kpedze,
Wodze, and other towns. Amega Lee however left the
group and went on his own with some followers/family
southwards till he made a settlement close to „Ge‟
or Accra, which is Legon, still bearing his name.
He left later to go in search of the main Dogbo
group which had settled at Aŋlɔga.
From
the central and northern groups, some Dogboawo went
and founded the settlements of Ho, Akovia, Takla,
Kpenoe, Hodzo, Klevi, Sokode, Abutia, and Adaklu all
in the central part of their new home.
The
third group made up of various sections of the
Dogboawo moved together southward. The group split
at Gafe and further divisions occurred within the
sub-groups as the southward movement, coupled with
the founding of various settlements, progressed.
They include the founders of Be, Togo, Wheta, Alɔ,
Klikor, Ave, Fenyi, Afife, Dzodze, Mafi, Agave,
Tavie, Tokoe, and Tanyigbe.
Establishment of Some Ewe Townships
It was
at Tsevie that the Ewes divided into different
groups, one of which the Alɔ Ewes belong to.
During the exodus, Agbana one of Togbi Wenya‟s
children led the advanced party. Before moving out,
it was usual for scouts who were powerful hunters to
go out first and look out for safe routes. Togbi
Tse Tsali Akplormada, a mystic, was one such scout
for the Dogbo group, who reportedly cast a sleeping
spell on the Notsie people to enable the Ewes to
move out undictated amidst drumming and dancing,
moving backwards to show footsteps entering rather
than leaving. His twin brother Atsu Tsala, left the
Notsie settlement earlier, went to Awukugua,
performed miracles and healed with herbs. Osei Tutu
found him there at the court of the Awukuguahene and
invited him to Kumasi to help him claim his throne
as Asantehene, unify the Asante State, and he
conjured out of the sky, a golden Stool that has
till this day embodied the soul of the Asante
nation. He was called „Okomfo from Notsie‟ and
corrupted into „Komfo Anorkye‟. We will have a
detailed inside story of this legendary and mystical
personality, his lineage and travails in
pre-colonial times in later parts of this narrative.
Togbi
Tse Tsali Akpormada with other hunters such as Togbi
Tsatsu Batemenu (aka Adeladza) were members of the
Dogbo scouts from Tsevie who went south eastwards,
under their leaders. The present-day Alos traveled
from Tsevie as one unit, but later divided into two
groups under the leadership of Amega Atsu Madopkui
Wenya and his nephew Togbi Sri I (aka Kponoe Adza
Ashimadi). Torgbui Atsu Wenya led the main group
which went south and moved along the sea shore
westwards, founding settlements along the way.
After many discoveries and settlements, Wenya's
group reached a sandbar and called it “ke dzi” which
means the top of the sand. It is presently called
Kedzi. Subsequently the group crossed the sandbar
and Wenya informed his followers, "mieva do kea ta"
meaning they had reached the „head‟ or the tip of
the sand. Consequently, the settlement there was
named Keta. They later founded other towns
including Tegbi and Woe. As they reached what is
now called present-day Alogă, Wenya was found to be
aging and tiring. When his followers asked him when
they were going to leave again, he answered: "Nye
amea me lo. Afia deke yiyi megale nunye o." (I am
exhaustively „coiled‟, my limbs are shrunken. I
can't go any further). The name of this settlement
was also taken after "Me lo" and was contracted to
"A lo." Being the capital of the whole Alo
nation, the adjective "gă" meaning big was added and
it became Aŋlɔga, and the people Aŋlɔawo.
Later
on, some settlers of Klikor and founders of Wheta
also left off from Amega Atsu Wenya’s group.
The
second group of the Dogbo people was led by Kponoe
Ashimadi (aka Sroe I or Sri 1). Sri and his
followers took the northern route off the Atlantic
Coast and settled at present Klikor where Kli found
the settlement. Kponoe then continued by canoe via
the Keta lagoon to settle at Fiaxor, and founded
various communities on the northern shore of the
great Keta Lagoon, but later moving on to join the
uncle Wenya at Aŋlɔga and take over his leadership
role as King of the Dogbos now Aŋlɔawo. As we saw
earlier, Kponoe’s half-brothers Adzofia and Adzoyi
cofounded Dzodze and Asem founded Mafi-Kumasi. The
following brothers of Torgbui Sri I, also children
of King Ashimadi, settled at various places giving
rise to some differences in clan names. Descendants
of his brother Adu Lo led by his son Adisre and Ege
Amegayibor, brother of Sri I, settled at Dzodze.
Asuma settled at Penyi. Eti settled at Ave. Kofi
Akpo settled at Mafi. Other settlements followed
later from additional splits, such as Some. These
are all people of Dogbo descent and became part of
the southern Ewes.
Meanwhile, other groups also split off from Sri‟s
party and found states of Ave, Fenyi, Dzodze, and
Mafi. The founders of Afife also formed part of
Sri‟s party at one time but tarried and found Afife.
The remainder of Sri‟s party went on to find Kodzi
from where Sri later on rejoined his uncle Wenya at
Alɔgă. The towns or settlements actually founded
by Wenya and Sri, their families and immediate
circle of followers came to constitute one kingdom -
Alɔ with the capital at Alɔgă. Other towns that
belong to Alɔ are Anyako, Seva, Kodzi, Alakple,
Atiavi, Asadame, Fiaxor, Tsiame, Atito, Atiteti,
Atorkor, Whuti, Srogboe, Woe, Tegbi, Keta and Kedzi,
to name only a few. In the neighborhood of Alo,
settlements founded by other members of the Dogbo
sub-group who had been part of Wenya and Sri‟s party
at one time or the other also evolved into states
like Klikor, Ave, Fenyi, Dzodze, Wheta and Afife.
Oral tradition links the founding of Volo, Daffor,
Battor, Agave and Tefle with the third group of
people from Notsie. Thus the people of Alo state
and all these other states described above belonged
originally to the Dogbo group under Wenya and
constituted essentially one people as they entered
their new home in what is now southeastern Ghana.
Another Dogbo sub-group or its divisions founded Be,
Togo, in present-day Republic of Togo.
From
available evidence, it would appear that the Alo
and their neighbors arrived in their present homes
sometime around the early part of the seventeenth
century. We do not know anything about the original
inhabitants of these areas. However, it is believed
that either they fled as the Alos were coming, or
became assimilated into the Alo population. Some
of the implements and tools used by these earlier
inhabitants have survived in the form of Sofia or
Sokpewo – called stones of god. In what is now Alo
territory there were traces of the former
inhabitants at Woe, Atiavi and also at Avenofeme.
This final migration saw the Alos in their present
homes by the early 1700's. Later around 1792, as a
result of an agreement that miscarried, the
residents of Keta migrated to and found Agbozume,
which became the capital of a new state of Some.
Two of Togbi Wenya‟s descendants, Awanyedor and
Akaga were cofounders of Agbozume (was established
after Keta War of 1790).
The
majority left in bulk. A few who could not go with
them left in small batches afterwards. A few fled
to seek refuge with relatives at Wuga (Zomayi).
When they started coming back after sometime because
of their landed property, the Alo asked help from
Kobu Koto (Nana Akoto Kwafo, Akwamuhene) to eject
the remnants. Blekusu became the dividing line
between Alo and Some along the coast.
During
this and other times, Aloga provided a court of
second instance for Aflao and Wheta who readily
identified themselves with Alo. She was,
therefore, regarded as the big sister and was
referred to in matters of common interest.
Together, these states constitute greater Alo.
In
addition to Alo Ewes, there is a large number of
other Ewe states like Adaklu, Peki, Ho, Tove, Keve,
Kpando and Hohoe, to their north of Ghana and Be,
Gen, Watsi, etc., in the Republic of Togo.
Ewe
Unification – May 1956 Plebiscite
Unlike
the political and social organization of the Akan,
where matrilineal rule prevails, the Ewe are
essentially a patrilineal people. The founder of a
community became the chief and was
usually
succeeded by his paternal relatives. The largest
independent political unit was a chiefdom, the head
of which was essentially a ceremonial figure who was
assisted by a council of elders. Chiefdoms ranged in
population from a few hundred people in one or two
villages to several thousands of people in chiefdom
with a large number of villages and surrounding
countryside. Unlike the Asante among the Akan, no
Ewe chiefdom gained hegemonic power over its
neighbor.
The
rise of Ewe nationalism in both Ghana and Togo was
more of a reaction to the May 1956 plebiscite that
partitioned Eweland between the Gold Coast and Togo
than to any sense of overriding ethnic unity.
Before
the First World War, Togoland occupied the area from
Lome to the present western boundary of Benin on the
east, and north of the current Anlo-Ewe land and
Tornu areas. After the First World War, Togoland
was divided into two parts. The western Togoland was
given to the British to administer with the Gold
Coast, while eastern Togoland was given to the
French. Just before independence of Ghana, a
Plebiscite was held to decide whether western
Togoland would like to unite with eastern Togoland
or remain with the Gold Coast. The result was that
western Togoland decided to remain with the Gold
Coast. After independence the south-eastern bulge of
the Gold Coast which comprised mostly Eweland which
was made up of Anlo-Ewes was added to the Togoland
which was a Mandated Territory under the Security
Council of the United Nations, to form the present
Volta Region of Ghana, with the regional capital
city at Ho. So, the Plebiscite united Anlo-Eweland
with western Togoland which lies north of Anlo-Ewe
land. The partition of Togoland was achieved when
the Security Council divided Togoland into east and
west Togoland.
The
common ‘Ewegbe’ remains a unifying element to
identify the Ewes as one people, but living in
different countries as a result of Colonization, the
scramble for Africa and the division of the spoils
of war by the Colonizing powers after World War One,
at the Berlin Conference; and then the plebiscite
conducted by the United Nations in 1956, just before
the Gold Coast gained Independence on the 6th of
March, 1957 to become Ghana. Thus we now have Ewes,
some with close family ties, in Republics of Ghana,
Togo and Benin. But as a people, the Ewes are one
people, and especially in the Diaspora, far from
home, they are each others’ keepers and look out for
each other. That is one of the reasons why CEANA
(Council of Ewe Associations in North America) was
formed. This is laudable and must be maintained and
nurtured to grow, so that even though politically we
belong to different Nationalities, as a people with
common origin and language, we can form a strong
unified Eweland.
National Flag of Ewe People
An
ethnic flag, just like the Ewe Flag is a flag that
symbolizes a certain ethnic group. Ethnic flags are
often introduced to the ethnic community through the
respective cultural or political ethnic movements.
In many cases, they have ancient origins, or, at
least, they are inspired by symbols rooted in
historical and cultural tradition of a people.
They
are popular among ethnic minorities and some ethnic
majorities, especially in multiethnic countries.
An
ethnic flag can be either recognized or not by the
central government. Some ethnic flags are banned by
the central governments of sovereign states because
they also serve as the flags of separatist groups,
or groups perceived as such by the prevailing
authorities.
Compiler/Narrator/Author: A. Kobla Dotse, Ph.D