QUEEN OF THE GOLDEN STOOL - Yaa Asantewa

 




Yaa Asantewa was a courageous queen mother of the Ashanti empire which is in present day Ghana. The story of Yaa Asantewa is intricately tied to the golden stool. The Golden stool was an emblem of the cultural system and power of the Ashanti Kingdom, it is believed to harbor all the souls of the Ashanti people. As the queen mother, her major role was safeguarding the stool.

    In the late 1800s, the Ashanti people began to rebel against the British expansion (Gold Coast Colony) into their territory. This led to frequent clashes between the British soldiers and Ashanti warriors, it continued until 1863, when the Ashanti warriors invaded some of the coastal villages that were supporting the British.

    In response, the governor Frederick Mitchell Hudgson, in 1896, captured and exiled the King of the Kingdom (Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh 1), his mother, his father, his brother, some chiefs and Kofi Tene, who happened to be Yaa Asantewa 's Grandson to Sierra Leone and later Seychelles. 

    Hudgson did this to acquire the golden stool which ultimately gives him control of the Asante. While the remaining chiefs were contemplating on the next course of action, Asantewa raised a troop of over 5000 students, her action was however triggered when Hudgson sat on the Golden stool. She famously said "Is it true that the bravery of Ashanti is no more? I cannot believe it. It  cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this; If you the men of Ashanti, will not go forward, then we will, the women will. 

    Having invigorated the men and challenged traditional gender roles, she raised an army of about 5,000 including men and women. She became the image of strength and commander-in-chief that led the rebellion. The Anglo-Asante war that ensued was named "Yaa Asantewa War" or "War of the Golden stool".

    Unfortunately, Asantewa, alongside other fighters, were captured during the war and exiled to Seychelles, where she died in 1921.

AFTERMATH

    Years after the war, the British were unable to get the golden stool, it was hidden in a remote forest, until 1920, when a group of construction workers found it in a forest. 

    Seeing the doggedness of the Asante warriors, the British in 1924, released those it took captive including the King Agyeman Prempeh 1. In August 2000, a museum was opened in her honor in the Ejisu-Juaben district in Ghana. 

    There is also an award title Nana Yaa Asantews (NYA), which honors women who uphold the values of Asantewa. 

SOURCES:

Blackpast

Wikipedia

The Guardian

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