Akan matriarch Print

Inspired by the Akan people of Ghana & Ivory Coast The ancient Akan were a matriarchal culture ruled by a Queenmother. The Queenmother’s daughters, the Abosom were seen as women possessing the divine within them. An identifying characteristic of the Akan is descent through the female line. Land and wealth are handed down through the female line. An Akan realm could not be established without a queen mother and for that no king was needed. In fact every Akan realm has historically been founded by a queen mother, who only later chooses one of her sons to be placed on the throne as king and co-regent. The rich lineage of the Akan culture can be traced all the way to the paleolithic period in Eva Meyerowitz’s research. Meyerowitz compiles a history of the Akan that is matriarchal in origin, and slowly gets overtaken with the encroaching worldviews of dominance and male power. Due to her time spent with the Akan people, Meyerowitz was able to document their matriarchal heritage before it was almost completely swallowed up by kingship and the European worldview.