Cultural Migration

A Short History of Nkrankwanta and Anyii Dwabene

Around the end of the seventeenth century, the Anyii Dwabenean Akan tribe originally located in the Amansie area of present-day Ghanaleave their homeland to found a new kingdom at Dadieso, also in Ghana. But the Anyii Dwabene become liberators when they intervene in a war to save the kingdom of Abron Bondoukou. Eventually, they establish a new home and a new kingdom with capital at AnyiniBileKro, in what is now Cote dIvoire. Later, a section of Anyii Dwabene resists French colonialism and leaves to found a settlement across the border in the then Gold Coast, calling it Nkrankwanta. The story of Nkrankwanta is a story of freedom and liberty. In Cultural MigrationA Short History of Nkrankwanta and Anyii Dwabene, author Zac Adama is privileged to share the oral history of Nkrankwanta in the print form for the first time. Exploring the lives of the first immigrants of Nkrankwantamen and women who chose danger and uncertainty over servitude and complacencyit is the story of a people who explored the unknown for new possibilities and opportunities, and who wanted their story to be told to generations after them. Not only a book of history, Cultural MigrationA Short History of Nkrankwanta and Anyii Dwabene explores a comparative linguistic study between Akan Twi-Fante, spoken mainly in Ghana, and Akan Anyii-Baule, whose majority speakers live in neighbouring Cte dIvoire. The story of Nkrankwanta is essentially a story of migration. It is partly the story of a people who liberated others and, in turn, required assistance when they were faced with imminent danger. The story of Nkrankwanta speaks to the human heartit portrays the changing fortunes in the lives of a people who have, with each step along the way, been purposeful and determined.