Adinkra are symbols from Ghana that represent concepts or aphorisms. Adinkra are used extensively in fabrics, logos and pottery. They are incorporated into walls and other architectural features. Adinkra symbols appear on some traditional Akan goldweights. The symbols are also carved on stools for domestic and ritual use. Tourism has led to new departures in the use of symbols in items such as T-shirts and jewellery.
The symbols have a decorative function but also represent objects that encapsulate evocative messages conveying traditional wisdom, aspects of life, or the environment. There are many symbols with distinct meanings, often linked with proverbs. In the words of Kwame Anthony Appiah, they were one of the means for "supporting the transmission of a complex and nuanced body of practice and belief".[1]
History
1817 Adinkra mourning cloth
Adinkra symbols were originally created by the Bono people of Gyaman.[2] The Gyaman king, Nana Kwadwo Agyemang Adinkra, originally created or designed these symbols, naming it after himself. The Adinkra symbols were largely used on pottery, stools etc. by the people of Gyaman people. Adinkra cloth was worn by the king of Gyaman, and its usage spread from Gyaman to Asante and other Akan kingdoms following its defeat. It is said that the guild designers who designed this cloth for the Kings were forced to teach the Asantes the craft. Gyaman king Nana Kwadwo Agyemang Adinkra's first son, Apau, who was said to be well versed in the Adinkra craft, was forced to teach more about Adinkra cloths. Oral accounts have attested to the fact that Adinkra Apau taught the process to a man named Kwaku Dwaku in a town near Kumasi.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Over time, all Akan people including the Fante, Akuapem and Akyem all made Adinkra symbols a major part of their culture.
The oldest surviving adinkra cloth was made in 1817. The cloth features 15 stamped symbols, including nsroma (stars), dono ntoasuo (double Dono drums), and diamonds. The patterns were printed using carved calabash stamps and a vegetable-based dye. It has resided in the British Museum since 1818, when it was donated by Thomas E. Bowdich.[9][10][11]
In November 2020, a school board in York, Pennsylvania, banned "a children's coloring book that featured African Adrinkra [sic] symbols found in fabrics, logos and pottery."[13] The decision was subsequently overturned.[14]
Adinkra cloth
In Akan (Twi), the term adinkra refers to not symbols, but a particular type of cloth.[15][16]Adinkra cloths were traditionally only worn by royalty and spiritual leaders for funerals and other very special occasions. In the past they were hand-printed on undyed, red, dark brown or black hand-woven natural cotton fabric depending on the occasion and the wearer's role; nowadays they are frequently mass-produced on brighter coloured fabrics.[17]
Anthony Boakye uses a comb to mark parallel lines on an adinkra cloth in Ntonso, Ghana.Anthony Boakye prints an adinkra cloth with a calabash stamp in Ntonso, Ghana.
The present centre of traditional production of adinkra cloth is from Ghana, Ntɔnso, 20km northwest of Kumasi and in Ivory Coast.[18] Dark Adinkra aduro pigment for the stamping is made there, by soaking, pulverizing, and boiling the inner bark and roots of the badie tree (Bridelia ferruginea)[19] in water over a wood fire. Once the dark colour is released, the mixture is strained, and then boiled for several more hours until it thickens. The stamps are carved out of the bottom of a calabash piece. They measure between five and eight centimetres square. They have a handle on the back, and the stamp itself is slightly curved so that the dye can be put on with a rocking motion.
Adinkra Alphabet
Adinkra Alphabet is a phonetic writing system derived from Adinkra symbols. The Adinkra Alphabet, invented by Charles Korankye in 2015, and expanded and refined over the next several years to accommodate various languages spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast such as Akan, Dagbani, Ewe and Ga- a process that culminated with the creation of a standardized font in 2020.
Adinkra Alphabet A/a derived from Adinkra symbol "Adinkrahene"Adinkra Alphabet E/e derived from Adinkra symbol "Eban"Adinkra Alphabet Q/q or Kw/kw derived from Adinkra symbol "Denkyem"
Sample of symbols listed
Recorded sample of 53 adinkra symbols and their meanings
this design was formerly worn by the King of Gyaman alone
4
Adinkira 'hene
the Adinkira king
'chief' of all these Adinkira designs
8
Agyindawuru
the agyin tree's gong
the juice of a tree of that name is sometimes squeezed into a gong and is said to make the sound pleasing to the spirits
Akam
an edible plant, possibly a yam
9
Akoben
the war-horn
12
Akoko nan tia 'ba, na nkum 'ba
A hen treads upon chickens but does not kill them
13
Akoma
a heart, with a cross in the centre
[None listed]
No. 13
14
AKOMA NTOSO
the joined hearts
18
Aya
the fern
the word also means 'I am not afraid of you', 'I am independent of you' and the wearer may imply this by wearing it
20
BI NKA BI
no one should bite the other
23
DAME-DAME
name of a board game
symbol of intelligence and ingenuity
25
Dono
the dono drum
26
Dono ntoasuo
the double dono drums
27
Duafe
the wooden comb
28
Dwenini aben
the ram's horns
30
Epa
handcuffs
34
Fihankra
the circular house
35
Se die fofoo pe, ne se gyinantwi abo bedie
what the yellow-flowered fofoo plant wants is that the gyinantwi seeds should turn black
A Bono saying. One of the cotton cloth designs bears the same name. The fofoo, the botanical name of which is Bidens pilosa, has a small yellow flower, which, when it drops its petals, turns into a black spiky seed. Said of a jealous person. According to Ayensu (1978), the gyinantwi also refers to Bidens pilosa.[20]
37
Funtunfunefu Denkyemfunefu
Siamese crocodiles
They share one stomach yet they fight over food
38
Gyawu Atiko
the back of Gyawu's head
Gyawu was a sub-chief of Gyaman who at the Adae Kesse ceremony is said to have had his hair shaved in this fashion
39
Gye Nyame
'Except God' or 'Only God'
41
Hye wo nhye
He who would burn you be not burned
44
Kojo Biaden
47
Papani amma yenhu Kramo
The (large number of) people who do good prevents us knowing who really are Mohammedans
as adherents of Islam are enjoined to do good works in the community, and increasing numbers of non-Muslims are also doing so, we can no longer use that criterion to distinguish those Muslims living amongst us
49
Kuntinkantan
bent and spread out
kuntinkantan is used in the sense of 'do not boast, do not be arrogant'
50
[None Listed]
copied from Europeans
Non listed
Kwatakye atiko
at the back of Kwatakye's head
Kwatakye was a war captain of one of the Gyaman kings; at the Adae Kesse ceremony he is said to have cut his hair after this fashion
a cloth with this design stamped upon it lay beside the sleeping couch of the King of Gyaman, and every morning when he rose he placed his left foot upon it three times
58
Mpuannum
five tufts (of hair)
62
Nkonsonkonson
links of a chain
63
Nkotimsefuopua
certain attendants on the Queen Mother who dressed their hair in this fashion. Similar to a swastika.
66
Nkyimkyim
the twisted pattern
68
Nsaa
from a design of this name found on nsa cloths
69
Nsirewa
cowries
70
Nsoroma / Nsoromma
a child of the Sky / Child of the Heavens
referring to the saying: Oba Nyankon soroma te Nyame so na onte ne ho so, 'Like the star, the child of the Supreme Being, I rest with God and do not depend upon myself.' / the pattern was on the King of Gyaman's pillow
71
Ma te; Masie
I have heard (what you have said); I have hidden it
this extols the virtue of being able to keep a confidence
Non listed
Nyame, biribi wo soro, ma no me ka me nsa
O God, everything which is above, permit my hand to touch it
the pattern was stamped on paper and hung above the lintel of a door in the palace. The King of Gyaman used to touch lintel, then his forehead, then his breast, repeating these words three times
74
Nyame dua
an altar to the Sky God
76
Nyame nwu na ma wu
May Nyame die before I die
Non listed
Obi nka obie
I offend no one without a cause
84
Ohene niwa
(in) the king's little eyes
To be in the king's favour
85
Ohen' tuo
the king's gun
86
Kodie mmowerewa
the eagle's talons
92
Owo Foro Adobe
The symbol of heroic deeds and accomplishing the impossible, but being quiet about it
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) clickable image on right links to description
The Adinkra dictionary: A visual primer on the language of Adinkra by W. Bruce Willis. ISBN0-9661532-1-9
Cloth as Metaphor: (re)reading the Adinkra cloth symbols of the Akan of Ghana by Dr George F. Kojo Arthur. Legon, Ghana: Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Systems, 2001. 187 [6], p.29cm. ISBN9988-0-0791-4
African Accents: Fabrics and Crafts to Decorate Your Home by Lisa Shepard. ISBN0-87341-789-5
Adinkra Symbols: To say good bye to a dead relative or friend by Matthew Bulgin
Adinkra: An Epitome of Asante Philosophy and History by Dickson Adome, Erik Appau Asante, Steve Kquofi
Adinkra Alphabet, Fourth Edition: The Adinkra Symbols As Alphabets & Their Hidden Meanings by Charles Korankye. ISBN 978-1-947476-06-0
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