THE ORIGINS AND BRIEF
HISTORY OF THE EWE PEOPLE
Narrated By Dr. A. Kobla
Dotse©
Published in 2011
©XXXX
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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 Adelã
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 Mawugã
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 Alogã, 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 “gã” 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 Alɔgã. 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 Alɔgã. 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.
