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RESE RCH REVIEWNS VOL.7 NO S 1 2, 1991
EXTER N L INFLUENCES ON G SOCIETY ND C U L T U R E
Irene OdoteiIntroductionThe territory of the Ga stretch from L anma in the W est to Tem a in the east and fromthe foot of the Akwapim hills in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. They share acommon bou ndary with the Akwapim and Akyem (A kan), in the north, the Awutu (Guan)and F ante (Akan) in the west and in the east with the Adangbe to whom they are m ore closelyrelated than any other ethnic group. The G a are divided into six major traditional stateswhich together presently constitute the modern city of Accra, the capital of Ghan a. F romwest to east these states which are sometimes described as towns are G a M ashie, (Cen tralAccra),Osu (Ch ristiansborg), L a (Labadi), Teshie, Nungua and Tema. Each o f these stateshas several villages under it. As an ethnic group the G a are of mixed origin. These d iverseorigins notwithstanding, they have a comm on identity a s evidenced not only by the u se ofa common language, that is, the Ga language, but also common social institutions such astheir naming system and the annu al Homow o festival etc.From the 16th century, the Ga coast began to experience an influx of immigrants fromthe various non-Ga-speaking peoples and kingdoms who are neighbours, particularly theAkan, the Awutu and other Guan and the Ew e. Europeans of varied nationalities were alsoattracted to the Ga littoral. These people have contributed in no small way in shaping presentday Ga society, history and culture. The aim of this paper is to examine some of theirinfluences as a contribution to the understanding of the com plex nature o f G a society andculture.HistoryOral traditions collected by the author indicate that m ost of the Ga trac e their originsto the east of the Accra plain s.' A section of Osu trace their origin to Osudoku in the Adanmearea. Sections of Ga Mashie, La and Teshie trace their origins as far east as the southernpart o f modern Nigeria, though so far no confirmatory evidence has been established forthis.According to oral traditions, the migrations of the various groups o f Ga-speakers intothe A ccra plains took place at different times. Before the G a speakers m oved into the A ccraplains, there were people living there in scattered farmsteads. These peop le were absorbedby the Ga-speaking people. The Kpeshi ofTema and other Guan g roups are said to be amongthe earliest groups who lived in the Accra plains.1 So far no definite date has beenestablished for the first migration into the Ac cra plains. However, as early as 1557, GaMashie had already developed a well-organised trading system.2Of the Ga group, Ga M ashie emerged as a powerful state. Its capital Ayaw aso, orGreat Accra,3where the king resided, was situated eleven miles inland, whilst the co astalsettlement of little Accra was a mere fishing village.Ga M ashie 's emergence as a powerful state was closely linked with trade with theEuropeans, w ho started trading with the Ga from the middle of the sixteenth century. In 5 57the English trader, T owerson, obtained50 lbs .of gold from A ccra and W inneba between 13
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May and 2 June.5A few years later, the Portuguese built a lodge which was later attackedand razed to the ground by the G a.6Other groups of Europeans with whom the Ga traded were the Dutch, English,Swed es, Danes, French and a host ofinterlopersofallnationalities. By the closing decadesof the seventeenth century, there were three forts: Crevecoeur the present Ussher Fort),James Fort and Christiansborg belonging to the Dutch, English and Danes7respectively. Inaddition to lump sums and presents to the king of Accra, when the agreements were signedfor the building o f the forts, each European company paid a rent of oz o f gold a month foreach fort. They also paid customs duties on goods landed in Accra.The European presence added new dimensions to the economic life o ftheGa. Trade,especially in gold and slaves, boomed. From the beginning of the European contact theygave inlandstates freedom to trade with the Europeans on the Coast. This policy o f free tradewas changed to a protectionist system in the seventeenth century. The inland traders had tosell their goods in exchange for European manufactured goods at a market called Abonse ABC) a few miles north of Great Accra or Ayawaso. There was strict control andsupervision in this market.8The change in economic policy from free trade to the protectionist policy brought theGa into conflict w ith their neighbours One of these neighbours were the Akwamu, vassalsof the Ga The Akwamu strengthened their position on the northern boundary o f Accra byincorpora ing other states. In 1677 war final ly broke out between the Ga and Akwamu andthe Ga were defeated in 16 80 9 Some o f the Ga with their king fled from Accra and foundedanother state with its capital Glidzi across the Volta in the modern republic o f Togo. Amongother towns founded by the Ga was Aneho. From 1680 onwards, it became the practice ofthe Ga to seek refuge with their kinsmen in this new state whenever they faced difficultiesin Accra. Some of the Ga who left for Glidzi also returned to seek help from the Ga in Accrain the eighteenth century but ended up staying in Accra permanently.10The Akwamu ruled the Ga till 1730 when they in turn were defeated by a combined
force o ftheG a, Adangbe and Akwapim with the help o f the Akyem.11 By this defeat, Akyemclaimed suzerainty over the Ga till 1742 when Asante defeated the Akyem.12 Asante alsotook overfromthe Akyem till 1826 when she was defeated by a coalition o f the coastal statesand British forces.Development among the European nations trading on the Coast a lso had considerableinfluence on Ga history. After the defeat of Asante in 1826 , the British began to consolidatetheir power on the Gold Coast in general. In 1850 they bought the Danish forts andpossessions and in 1872 the Dutch possessions on the Gold Coast. This left the British insole charge of the Ga littoral. In 1874 the Gold Coast was declared a British Colony andin 1877 the capital of the Colony was moved from Cape Coast to Accra thereby usheringthe Ga into a new phase o f development. The abolition o ftheslave trade by the Europeansin the nineteenth century a lso opened new opportunities in Accra. One o f the results o f theabolition was the settlement o f Brazilian freed slaves in Accra. T hese are the Tarbon o f GaMashie.13The above historical outline o f the Ga shows that the Accra plains have w itnessedintensive commercial activities and political upheavals. These attracted migrants to the G alittoral. They came for various reasons. For example, the Otublohum of Ga Mashie,originally settled in Accra as representatives of the Akwamu government.14A section of theAlatas o f Ga Mashie came as slaves and servants o f the English company to help in thebuilding and maintenance o f James Fort. The Abese-Fante o f La came fro m M oure on a
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fishing expedition to La and stayed permanently. The Anehos of Gstt and L a came to seekthe alliance of the Ga in a civil war in their tow n, Anefao. They decided to stay w hen theyrealised that the G a were reluctant to help them.15C o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e T o w n sTh e influx of immigrants belonging to different ethnic group s affected th e compositionof the Ga tow ns. In Ga traditional society the basic unit w as, and still is, the we. A we is anancestral house to w hich all those who trace descent through the male line of a commonancestor belong. Every we has its own set of personal name s. It was in thewethat a childwas welcomed into the world through the custom ofKpojiemo (outdooring), marriagetransactions are m ade in theweand it was in thewethat a member was laid in state and thelast rites performed for him when he dies. Every office among the Ga w as, and still is, vestedin thewe,and it is members o f thew ewho decided who should hold office, subject to theapproval of the elders o f the town.As the people of theweincreased, one member usu ally built an annex calledPlamaclose to the originalwe.ThePlamausually developed into anotherwe .Eventually a clusterof relatedwe i(plural of we) developed in one area and becam e known a s anakutso(quarter)akutsei(plural).Akutso is derived fromwe(House)ku(group);weku- family;tso(tree) i.e.' 'family group (House group) tre e.' 'Akutso is seen as a tree with branches ofwei.Each Gastate is therefore d ivided intoakutsei(sing,akutso)consisting ofwe;.The numberof akutseidiffers from state to state. For example, Ga Mashie has sevenAkutsei, Osu four; L a seven;Teshie five; Nungua two, and Tema four.'6Imm igrants were incorporated into the organisation of the W eian dAkutsei. Immi-grants either formed separateakutsei,as in the cases of Otublohum and Alata of Ga M ashieand Aneho of O su, or a section of an already existingakutso, as in the case of the Abese-Fante section of the Abeseakutsoof La. Individual imm igrants who could not build theirown we stayed with hosts and their children becam e mem bers of the we of their hosts.
C o n f l i c t a n d C o mp ro miseThe immigrants with their different customs sometimes created problems for the Gaand the problem of inter-marriage between Ga women and Akan men was a source ofconflict. The Ga are patrilineal whilst the Akan are m atrilineal. This wa s confirmed byEuropean tra ders in their records. Dap per wrote in the seventeenth century:In the inheritance of the crown the brother succeeds, for wan t of brothers, the eldestofthefamily, without any con sideration ofthechildren, so also private estate goe sto the brothers or for wan t of brothers, to thesisters c hildren, only at Accra thechildren inherit aswell thefather s as themother's goods.nBosnian also observed in the eighteenth century that:Thechildren they have by their wives are indeed legitimate, bu t all along the coastnever inherit their parents' effects except at Accra only.1*According to Barbot:Theright of inheritance all over the G old Coast, except at Accra isvery strangelysettled for the children born legitima te never inherit their parents effect. Accra istheonly place where the children are the sole lawful heirs to the father's or mothe r'seffects.19Naarnogenkabuseerelleren andenfri Neger doerpaaAkra, daa arver den aeldsteSonfaderen s Arve - slaver og alt hvad hand efterlader sig med Saadan vilkaar, a t
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handfarsoger sine Soskende, indtil de nogenledes bind hjelpe sig self Men iAquambufolger de en langt andenmaade ideresA rve-Ret,at den een Broder arverden anden..20And Rask observed:When a Cab oceer or a free Negro dies in Accra, the eldest son inherits his father'sslaves and all that he left with the responsibility of taking care of his brothers andsisters till they can end for themselves, but the kwamushave comp letely a differentrule of succession whereby one brother succeeds the other.The existence of matrilineal and patrilineal succession among the Akan and Ga,respectively, meant that children of Gawomenand Akan m en technically did not belong tothe family o f either parent. Fortunately for such children, the G a had a system of adop tionwhereby children of disputed or unacceptable paternity w ere adopted into the we of theirmo thers. Such children were given a name of the we and could succeed to offices held bythew e.This system of adoptioa was extended to children of G a women and m en of alienorigin. Astheimm igrants increased, cases of matrilineal successionbecamemore frequent.This gave rise to conflicts over the law of succession among the G a. S arbah, for example,wrote as follows:It will be doubtlessly noted that the so-called customary law of succession bychildren, said to be the rule at Accra and among the Ga tribe is of doubtfulauthenticity.21Quartey-Papafio, on the other hand, asserted that:among the Ga tribe proper, sons succeed in preference to nephews, or in o therwords, that succession am ong the Ga tribes proper is through the male line.22The law courts addedtothe general confusion. Some courtsgavejudgements in favourof matrilineal succession though there were always witnesses to the contrary. They,however, concededto the applicationof patrilineal succession in the Ga towns, such as Laand Nungua, because, asOllennustated,in cases which came beforethejudges, there wasa m ass of evidence uncontradicted that they were patrilineal and the judges were
compelledtoaccept the custom, in some cases with great reluctance.23
Some Judgementsof the courts gave rise to Ollennu's contention that the custom of succession in AccraCentral (Ga Mashie) is the same as that of the Akan tribes, and different from that obtainingin all other Ga-Adangme towns and states.24Those who made pronouncements in favour of matrilineal succession did not realisethat it was the exception rather than the rule. In cases of matrilineal succession among theGa, either the families concerned were of Akan origin and had, unlike other imm igrants,maintained their own system, or the family, even though Ga, had compromised in the pastby allowing sons o f female members of theweto succeed in special circumstances. Fieldmade a profound, though exaggerated, statement on succession among the Ga when shestated that:there are no rigid laws. Th ere are o nly certain very usual practices wh ich theelders are a t liberty to m odify in any way they deem fit. They do not adm inister law,they administer wh at seems tothemjustice and wisdom.25In the general arguments and confusion the writers forgot the key word - compromise.The Ga are indeed patrilineal but have shown a willingness to compromise and makeconcessions.Through such concession in the law o f succession, sons of female members of thewecould succeed even when such a high office as chieftaincy (mantse)was involved. Forexample, in Nungua one Ajin, the son of a sisterofmantseKw ei, succeeded to his un cle's64
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stool as a reward for going on a special mission for his uncle. A similar incident happenedin La. In these instances, theweofthenephew was added to the oldweiwhich supplied themantse.26By this process, sons o f immigrants could easily be incorporated into the rulingorgan o f the town.Separation of Religious from Secular PowerThe events oftheseventeenth and eighteenth centuries affected the nature of politicalauthority among the Ga. The Ga towns were divided into lineage groups under the leadershipof wulomei(sing,wuhmo priest ) who were in charge of the lineage god(Jemawong).There was a principal god for the whole town and the wulomo of this god was the head o fthe administration. For example, La was under the leadership o f the LakpawulomoandNungua was under Gbobu wulomo. As the responsibility of the wulomo increased, itbecame necessary to separate his religious from his secular functions. This is whathappened in La. La oral traditions indicate that the Lakpa grove used to be in the centre ofthe town in the Courtyard of the mantsewho was also the Lakpa wulomo. In the time o fwulom o Odoi Kpoti in the eighteenth century, the Lakpa god began to kill people becausethe wulomowas becoming increasingly involved in secular matters and therefore certainthings to which the god objected were happening in the grove. Besides, the people felt thegrove's position in the centre o f the town was not safe for human beings. The grove w astherefore removed to the outskirts o f the town and one Odoi from themantse shouseholdwas put in charge of the god. Thus the functions of the Lakpawulomoandmantse wereseparated.27
Separation between the religious and secular functions ofthe heads ofth administra-tion occurred in the various G a towns atdifferent times and indifferent ways. In some ofthe towns, the original holder ofthe officekepthis priestlyroleand designated somebodyelse to act for him in other matters.Thispersonbecameknownas themantse (chief) andwas later treated as such by the British colonial government, when it took over theadministration o ftheGold Coast in 1874. In this instance, the wulom o,whowasoriginallythe head ofhistown, losthis positionto the manhe hadchosen to actfor him.28The originalcombination of religiousand secular power in one person, thewulomoamong the Ga issummed up in the kple song.
Atseo mi woyoo kronnmedi sofamedi hene.I am called a pure priestessI rule as priestI rule as King.W ith the separation of the religious from the secular authority, the Ga began to adoptcertain characteristics of Akan chieftaincy. The stool, which is the symbol of the m ants e'soffice, is said to have been copied from the Akan. State drum s and horns w ere also copiedfrom the Akan. This explains why, as Nketia stated, the speech mode of drummingassociated with the Ga courts is invariably Akan (Twi Fante). There does not appea r to b ean established tradition of drum language based on G a.29The horn language ofth Ga chiefis also, with a few exceptions, mostly Akan. For exam ple, the horn ofth Akanmajemantsesounds:
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Onipa nni ayeOnipa nni ayeOnipa to nsu mu a ma onkoAboa to nsu mu ayino kodiMan isungratefulMan isungratefulIf a man falls into a river, let him drownIf an anima l falls into a river take it out to eat.Other aspects o f the Akan adm inistration were also adopted by the Ga. T he weifromwhich themantseis chosen is known asihejaase and the head is calledJasetse.This wasbased on the Akan,Gyaasewhose function is to protect the King or Om anhene and performmenial tasks for him . A war captain am ong the Ga is known asasafoiatsederived from theAkanasafo (war company), and theasafosongs are mainly in Akan. The Akan militaryorganisation w as copied haphazardly by the Ga. Th is was probably a result of superimpos-ing the Akan pattern on what the Ga already had . Crow ther's com mentary in his report ofa Com mission of Enquiry held into the constitution ofth Ga in 1907 sums up the situation:These (Ga) stools are arranged for military purposes in groups or wings and fromthe fact that T wi word s are used to describe such divisions, there is strongpresumptive e vidence that this orm ation has been imitated if somew hat imperfectlyfrom that comm on to the Akan race. Evidence of its application w as conflicting andsome what m eagre, but this may be attributable tothefact that it does n ot affect thejudicial system. Th e stools ofAsere, Gbe se and Otub lohum form round the stool ofthe Ga man tse, the centre. Those ofAlata, Semp e andAkuma ji the left wing, thoseofOsu, La, Teshie, Nungua and Tem a, the right wing?0
Incorporation into the political structureThe G a adopted a policy of incorporating imm igrants into the governmental m achin-ery. They m ade it a deliberate policy to give posts to im migrants. For examp le, the Anehosof La were given the post of mankrado and the Abese-Fante that of Woleiatse (chieffisherman).31 Immigrants could also attain certain positions through achievement. TheAlatas p rovide a good exam ple. As servants of the English company, they acquired wealthand certain skills which made them influential mem ber of the society. In the mid-eighteenthcentury, on Cudjoe was referred to variously as English company slave and Englishcompany linguist. In his capacity as linguist of the English, his influence becametremendous, especially in the section of A ccra under the English, i.e. James T own . La ter onhe was referred to as Caboceer Cudjoe. This is backed by oral tradition. Traditional
accoun ts indicate that the first Alatamantsew as called W etse Kojo, who had a mantse'sstool carved for him by one Otublafo of Otublohum and adopted the Akan custom ofodwira.32Kojo eventually superseded themantseof Sempe, the original rulers of JamesTow n and ow ners of the land on which James Fort was built. He became themantseof Jamestown and claimed ownership of James town land acquired by the government. In a case D .P.Hammond Vrs.Mantse Ababio and others, the AlataMantse, Kojo Ababio IV, declared:My predecessors in title have been recongnised as Mantse and in going to war he alwayswentinfront ofthem.33 Kojo Ababio became so power-drunk that he refused t o accept thatSempe had a right to elect amantsefor her ownakutso.H e claimed that the Sempe had never66
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had a niantse. The head of Sempe was themankraloof the Alata or James Townm emtse.This so infuriated the representative of the Sempe that at a Com mission of Enquiry in 1907he asked Ababio,lam a G a, didyou come from Lagos and make me mankralo here? Canyou who say you are a stranger m ake me mankralo? 34 Kojo A babio withdrew his claims,but after that the Sempes refused to accept the Alata man tse as the mantsefor the wholeof James Town, although the government continued to recognise him as such.The policy of incorporation adopted by the Ga w as aimed at giving the immigrants asense o f belonging to the state. With the defeat o f the Ga by Akwamu in 1680, the powerof the Ga rulers was shattered. Immigrants who displayed certain qualities and had theability to help in protecting and defending the Ga were elevated. Since the immigrants, likeeverybody else in the state, had the responsibility of arming themselves, it was necessary,especially if they were wealthy and had a lot of followers, that they should be part of thepower structure. By giving them a position in the government, they identified themselveswith the stability of the government and the survival of the state. This was sound policy,especially in a period of incessant warfare.Re l ig ious Organisa t ion
The process of incorporation and adaptation was extended to Ga traditional religion.The immigrants were allowed to bring and worship their own gods. This has led to theexistence of more than one cult among the Ga. Field has classified Ga gods into fourcategories. There areKpleandKpagods which are Ga and Obutu (Awutu)M e gods whichare of Adangme origin; Otu gods which are Fante and Efrutu and Akong gods w hich areAkuapem.35When the mediums of these gods are possessed, they speak the language oftheoriginal home of their god. Thus Kplemediums speak Ga,Memediums speak Fante andAkong mediums speak Akuapem Twi.In spite of the existence of these cults, there is cohesion in Ga religious worship. Thisis especially noticeable during the annual Homowo festival. Homowo, which marks thebeginning of the Ga New Y ear, is celebrated by all the Ga-speaking p eople, but it is doneon different days between July and September and in different ways . Th e commonfeaturesare that the celebration is preceded by a period of silence, when the dead a renot mournedand drums are not beaten. All the Ga living inthevillages come to theirhometown toparticipate in the celebration, during whichaspecially cooked meal of steamed cornmeal(kpokpoi) and palmnut soup is eaten. The ancestors are remembered by the pouring oflibation and the sprinkling of kpokpoi on the ground for them. The celebrations arehighlighted by the performance of certain rituals for the principal gods of the town.Al the gods and the wo rshippers, including those of alien origin, participate in theworship of the principal gods of the town. In La , for example, all the priests and priestessesgo to the courtyard ofLakpaon the W ednesday of theHomowoknownasKpa Sho (KpaW ednesday) to dance and worship Lakpa . On these occasions one can hardly observe anydifference in the enthusiasm of the possessed medium. The only difference is the languagethey speak when they are possessed by their gods . On occasions when the A kong, Otu orMe mediums perform rituals for their own god, they are also aided in their celebrations byall the mediums of the town and sometimes by m ediums from the other Ga to wn s. Evidencethat the G a always leave room for reverance and incorporation of other gods is seen in hetext o f the libation of thewulomei.After offering drink and asking for blessing from theirown gods they add:
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GaM ilee n maa kulibii AyiboNi m ale nye yiboKejeLemmakeyashi Ada ShwilaoKeje wuoyi keyashi nam liBibii ke ewujifee abanu ekoNiinyekejoomo juro ajoo wo .EnglishI do n ot know the number of grains ofmilletTherefore I do not kn ow your num ber.From Lanma to Ada V olta.From the north to the south.Com e to drink both great and small.And show er us with good blessings.Foreign influence on G a traditional religion can also be seen even in the text of thereligious anthem of the Ga. A kan words have been incorporated into it:G aAwo AwooAagba eeBleku tsooEsuesuEnam enamManye o m anye aAdebani kpotoo
EnglishHail HailIt is being p rophesiedAbundant rainW ater, waterFish, fishPeaceAbundant food.The Akan words are Esu (water), Enam (fish) Adebani (food)Foreign influence is noticeable even in Kple, which is a G a cu lt. According to F ield,thekplesongs are in the forgotten Obutu dialect and are often m ere gibberish to bo th singersand hearers.36 Field's statement is an exaggeration. The author's collectionofkple songsshows thatkpleis sung in G a mixed with Ob utu and Akan. Occasionally, one comes acrossakple song completely sung in corrupted A kan. For exampleObi nni Nyampong aseObi nni tente W oakongObi nni dada me wo ayeObi nni Nyampong ase da
No one knows Go d's originN o one knows the origin ofKple our ancient sacred danceN o one knows the ancientorigin of what w e do.N o one knows Go d's origin ever
The explanation for this variety in kple text is provided by Nketia and Field. Bycom paring kple music with Adanme K lama mu sic, Nk etia found tha t they have sufficientsimilarity in style to suggest that kple is not as foreign t o G a tradition as the evidence of themultilingual basis of its texts suggests at first sight. He sees the possibility ofkple being aGa cult, which at some period absorbed G uan elements both in respect of gods and the useof language and later Akan as a stylistic element.37Field also states that kp le gods cou ldpossibly be sub-divided again, for they doubtless represent intermingled cu lts, but there is68
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littleto begainedbyattempting this almost impossible task.37 ' anguageForeign influenceon Galinguistic cultureis notlimitedtoformal text associated withritual butcanbe obsen^ed in the ordinary informal language spokenbythe Ga.M E .Kropp-Dakubu whohasdone extensive researchonth eGa languagestates that" the Gahavehada longandintimate association withtheAkan language, thathasleftanindelible markontheir languageandlinguistic culture.38 ExamplesofAkan derivedwordsare:Nyam Praise , glory, enhancementNyankunton RainbowMkpai/mpae LibationOboade Creationofthe world, origin, tradition.
hio Poverty, need.Onukpa/onipa Anaduk person- atitlefor aman, mister.Other languages, suchas Ewe andHausa, have also contributeda fewwords, suchas Aboogardenin Ewe andAbotsi friendinHausa.Foreign influenceisreadily recognisablein the use ofpersonal names amongthe Ga.Althoughthe Gahave their own unique setsofnames,certain names bornebythemcan betracedtoAkan, Ewe,39YorubaorEuropean origin.The Europeans with whom theG acame into contact also left traces of their interactioninthe Galanguage. Whiletheinfluenceo fthe Englishcaneasilybeidentified becauseofits long, uninterruptedandwidespread use bothas acommercialandcolonial language,th eother languages needto bestudied beforeanyidentificationofthe borrowed w ordsin Gacanbemade. Examplesofsuch wordsare:Sakisi saks (Danish)scissorsKlakun kalkun (Danish) Kalkoen (Dutch)TurkeyDuku Doek (Dutch)ScarfFlonoo Forno (Portuguese)OvenAtrakpoi Trappe (Danish)StairsE n t e r t a i n m e n tTraditional entertainment has not escaped foreign influence. Nketia describedG arecreational musicas acommon groundofAkanand Gaforms.40Some song types suchasasoayere andadowa areentirely in Akan, whilst others like tuumatu, kaadiohefeosee,siolele, adaawe andkpanlogo whichare Ga, often include wordsorlines inAkanandoccasionally other languages, suchasEweandEnglish. Whilst thesearewidespread amongtheGaother musicalanddance forms suchasgomeare aspecialtosomeweiorgroupsandthe wordsareunintelligibleto theaudience.ConclusionThe external factorisindeedacrucial elementin thedevelopmentofGa societyandculture. Thereis nodoubt that this worked handinhand with other factors which havenotbeen discussedinthis paper.Thecommercial attractionoftheG aliterala tleast fromth esixteenth century broughtin itswake wavesofmigrations. These migrants were pulledinby several motives which were eonomic, politicalandsocial. Political subjection, redefini-tionofrelationshipsandeconomic development characterised the historyoftheG afromthefifteenth to the nineteenth century. Migrants naturally brought with them their culture .ThereactionoftheGawent beyond mere tolerance.The Gafreely borrowedorwere compelled
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by circumstances to ado pt aspects o f the culture of the immigrants. The Gabecame soaccustomed to the presence of immigrants that they expressed the desire for m ore to jointhem. This is summed up in their libation prayer:Ablekuma aba kuma wo"M ay strangers come to settle among u s "When amplified the prayer means:
May strangers come to join us; may they come with their wealth, their might, theirfamilies, their experience , their ideas and above all, their gods.And may we be enriched spiritually, physically and materially by their presence.The G a took what they needed from other pe ople's culture and made it their own.Considering the external pressures and influences on the Ga-speaking people, it isremarkab le that they have managed to maintain their identity as a group . It would a ppe arthat w ithin their society are in-built shock absorbers w hich made this po ssible
Footnotes1) Th e Oral Traditions were collected from the individual G a States 1969 - 8 1 .These a re referred to as Field Notes .2) Field Notes - E.A. Amm ah, 1969.3) Astley: A New Collection of Voya ges and Trav els Vol.11, London, 1745,p.173.4) P. Ozanne,The Early Historic Archaeology of Accra, in Transactions of theHistorical Society of Gh ana V ol. VI 1962. G ha na N otesandQu eries Vol.9.M ap of the Gold Coast done at M oure on 25 December 1629.5) Richard Hakluyt:The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffique andDis-coveries of the English NationVol. XI (Edinburgh 1889, pp. 118 - 118.6) J.W. Blake:European b eginnings in West Africa 1454 -1 57 8, London, 1937,pp. 101 - 2, 177, Astley, op. cit., p. 174 .7) Furley Collections N 3 1639 - 4 5, Agreement made in the nam e and on beha lf ofthe Hon. Com pany by order of General Jacob R uychayer with the king of GreatAccra, 30 August 1642.Ibid N 7 1656 - 1657, English Principal Lancelot Staveley to D irector-Gene ralValckerburgh, 30 November 1657.George Norregard,De Danske Establissementer Paa Guinea Kysten .Trans-lated by Sigurd Hammen. Boston 1966, p. 42 - 4 3.8) 0 . Dapper, Adaptation in English in J. Ogilby, Africa Being an AccurateDescription of the Reg ions, Aegypt, Barbary, Lybiaetc., London, 1670, p.435 .9) E. Tilleman,En Liden Enfolding Beretning om det Landskab Guinea og detsBeskaffenhed, Copenhagen 1697, p. 103.J. Ba rbot, A description of the Coast of NorthandSouth Africa in ChurchillCollections of Voyages and Travels V., London 1732 , p.10) Field No tes.11) Furley Collections N4 3 1727 - 30, De la Planque, Acc ra to Elmina, EntryAkwamu, 24 June 1729.Vest-Indisk Guineisk Kompanie 122 Breve og dokumenter fra Guinea 1722 -31 ,W aeroe, Christiansborg to Copenhagen, 24 D ecember 1730.
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L.F. Romer, TiSforladelig Efterretning om Kysten Guinea Copenhagen,1760,p. 158.12) Furley Collections N45, 1740 - 46. Entry Akim, Kujl , Accra to Elmina, 22March, 1742.13) Field Notes.14) I. Wilks,Akwamu and Otublohum: An Eighteenth Century Akwamu arrange-ment.AfricaVol. No . XXIX, 1959.15) Field Notes.16) Ibid.17) Dapper,op. cit.,pp. 457 - 8.18) W.Bosnian,A New and Accurate Description of the Coast ofGuinea 2ndedition London, 1721, pp . 202 - 3.19) Borbot,op. cit.,p. 234820) J. Rask,En Sandferdig. Reise Beskrivelse till og fra Guinea. Trondhjem.1754,p. 207.21) J.M. Sarbah,Maclean and the Gold Coast Judicial Assessors,Journa l of theAfrican Society 1909 - 10, p. 355.22) A.B. Quartey-Papafio,Law of Succession Among the Akras of the Ga tribesproper oftheGold CoastJournal of the African Society 1910-1911,p.6.23) N.A. Ollennu, The Law of Testate and Intestate Succession in Ghana.London,1966, p. 190-191.24) Ibid,p. 189.25) M.J. Field, Social Organisation of the Ga people,London, 1940, p. 4 3.26) Field Notes. 1969 Nii Anyetei Kwakwaranya II. Ex-Mantse of La (Labadi).27) Ibid.28) M.J. Field, ReligionandMedicine oftheGa People. London, 1937, p. 3.29) J.K. Nketia,Traditional Music of the Ga People.U niversitas Vol. Ill, No. 3,June 1958.30) National Archives of Ghana. ADM.5/11/1673. Crowther 's Commission ofEnqui ry held in October 1907.31) Field Notes.32) National Archives of Ghana SCT 2/4/50, D.P. Hammond Vrs. Ababio IV andothers.33) Ibid. ADM 5/11/1673. Crowther 's Commission of Enquiry held in October1907.Cross examination of Kojo Ababio by Moi of Sempe.34) M.J. Field, Religion and Medicine of the Ga People, op.cit.,pp. 5 -6 .35) Ibid36) J.H.K. Nketia Historical Evidence in Ga Religious Music Historian in
Tropical Africa edited by J. Vansina.37) M.J. Field. Religion and Medicine,op. cit.,p. 5.38) M.E. Kropp-Dakubu, One Voice - The Linguistic Cu lture of an AccraLineage. Leiden African Studies Centre, The Netherlands. 1981, p 64 .39) I. Odotei,W hat is in a name Historical and Social Significance ofGa names.Research Review NS Vol. 5, No. 2, 1989.40) J.H.K. Nketia,Traditional Music oftheGa People.U niversitas, Vol. Ill, No.3,June 1958.
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