S3E29: Yaa Asantewaa

Outside of Ghana, Yaa Asantewaa is the most famous Ashanti historical figure by a wide margin. The queen-mother of Ejisu is widely cited as the pre-eminent symbol of Afro-feminism, a black African woman who advocated for the position of women and led Ashanti society in its last major resistance against British colonialism.

These depictions, while not necessarily incorrect, miss out on much of the context behind the rise of Yaa Asantewaa. They also often misunderstand the purpose of the rebellion she led, her role within that rebellion, and the context behind its beginning. So, who was Yaa Asantewaa? Why did she become such a dominant figure in Ashanti history? And how did the war of the Gold Stool begin?

Ashanti Goldfields Corporation mining facility in Obuasi - Taken 1910. From the Mary Evans picture library

After the British invasion of Asanteman in 1896, the Ashanti region was in a state of political paralysis. The British, while ostensibly now in control of the country, were initially largely absent. Though Prempeh was gone, the regional omanhenes continued to govern their territories as if nothing had changed at all. That all changed in 1897, when the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation moved in. Suddenly, with the influx of mining activity in Obuasi and the potential promise of expansion north, the British began to invest more heavily in their presence in Asanteman. Ghana saw its first inland railroad built, travelling from Cape Coast to Kumasi. The British increased the standards for road clearness to allow the movement of gold south, while abolishing the old systems of debt peonage and slavery. To replace these labor systems, though, they introduced a new system of conscript labor which resembled slavery in all but name to work on these new infrastructure projects. The British also began sending more soldiers to enforce this new occupation, including a garrison at the new fort build on the rubble of the Aban Dan, Fort Kumasi.

Today, Fort Kumasi is a military museum

Ashanti resistance to the British occupation was slow to develop. In the early years of the occupation, most of the Ashanti nobility were under the impression that the British presence was a short term thing. Surely the British would return the exiled Asantehene back to Asanteman and leave, albeit leaving the Ashanti as a de facto British puppet state. But, this is not what happened. The British governor, Frederick Mitchell Hodgeson, instead made a speech to the assembled asantemanhyiamu that he intended to rule Asanteman directly as a representative of queen Victoria, and that thusly he should be allowed to sit on the Golden Stool. While the demand for the stool would become the more infamous, perhaps more enraging was the governor's promise that Prempeh would never return. This confirmed to the Ashanti nobles present at the Asantemanhyiamu that the British occupation was not a temporary affair, but the first step of permanent conquest.

Ejisuhemaa and later Ejisuhene Yaa Asantewaa* 

Not everyone in the Asantemanhyiamu was sure what to do next. Doves, like Opoku Mensa, held out hope that negotiation with the British could lead to them withdrawing their forces and regranting Ashanti autonomy. The pro-war faction, on the other hand, supported organizing armed resistance against the British. One of the most prominent pro-war voices was Yaa Asantewaa, an important noblewoman from the town of Ejisu.

Yaa Asantewaa first rose to prominence due to her brother's loyal support of Prempeh during the later years of the Ashanti Civil War, adding their family into the inner circle of Prempeh's government. However, this strong relationship to Prempeh also led to her brother getting exiled alongside Prempeh after the British occupation of Kumasi. With her grandson too young to take up the mantle of Ejisuhene, no male relatives capable of taking the position, and a headstrong personality backing her up, Yaa Asantewaa instead became the omanhene of Ejisu, the only documented example of a female omanhene. Her title as omanhene allowed her to attend the asantemanhyiamu of 1900 as a key member, an opportunity she made the most of. During the meeting she persuasively scolded the other omanhenes present, questioning the masculinity of those who refused to support her policy of violent resistance to British occupation. Her rhetoric proved effective, and soon many of the moderate doves (including Opoku Mensa) decided to switch allegiance. Soon, they would organize militias in a war of resistance against the British. We will cover this war, its contentious outcome, and its legacy, in our next episode.

*This image is of dubious status. The image is very widely and popularly shared as Yaa Asantewaa, but is also often disputed as depicting an American art student. The veracity of either claim is very difficult to parse, as, after extensive searching, I was unable to discover the original source of this image.