Queen Warrior
The month of March has barely broken in, and already there have been a handful of momentous occasions to celebrate. This month marks Women’s Month, an entire month acknowledging legends of days and future past. Today, March 8 2017 is International Women’s Day, and March 6 2017 was the 60th Independence celebration of Ghana’s liberation from British colonial rule. And with each of these momentous occasions meaning a great deal to me, I thought what other woman for me to acknowledge than Nana Yaa Asantewaa (b.1840–1921).
Yaa Asantewaa is undoubtedly one of the most courageous and heroic warriors in African history. Born in Gold Coast (later renamed Ghana), Yaa Asantewaa was appointed the Queen Mother of Ejisu, the Asante kingdom, and she was the Grandmother of Nana Afrane II who would later become the King of Ejisu. Her story, like many of the exceptional women we celebrate during this month, was one that earned her a legendary status in her country and beyond.
In 1874 Asantehene (King) Nana Prempeh I requested a treaty of friendship with the British colonisers following ongoing battles between the British and Asante people. Asantehene signed the treaty, relinquishing a number of commodities and rights of way for the British through the Asante roads. However, when faced with becoming a British protectorate, Asantehene refused the offer which led to the arrest of him and his family, and exile to the Seychelles.
Among the royal possessions of the Asante kingdom was the Golden Stool (Sika Dwa Kofi), a sacred religious and national symbol of the Asante people — It represented statehood and power. Although the British could not comprehend the significance of the Golden Stool, seeing the importance of it to the Asante people, they wanted it in their possession. The Asante people foreseeing this, created a counterfeit stool to give to the British. When the British realised that the Asante people refused to sacrifice the genuine Golden Stool in exchange for their King, a meeting was called in Kumasi with the Asante leaders by Sir Frederick Hodgson. He demanded that the Golden Stool be brought to him by order of H.M Queen Victoria for him to sit on! The enormity of this demand was disrespectful to the Asante leaders — the Golden Stool was known to be so sacred that it was never placed on the ground, but always placed on its own stool!
Following the meeting of the Chiefs, Yaa Asantewaa interjected and gathered the Chiefs. She proposed that they demand of the British to return the King from exile, or they would declare war. The Chiefs were uncertain and reluctant to fight. Enraged, Yaa Asantewaa mocked them for their cowardice and unfaithfulness to their King and country. This led to one of the most iconic speeches in Ghanaian history:
Now I have seen that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our King. If it were in the brave days of Osei Tutu…leaders would not sit down to see their King taken away without firing a shot. No white man could have dared to speak to a leader of the Asante in the way the Governor spoke to you. Is it true that the bravery of the Asante is no more? It cannot be! I must say this, if you the men of Asante will not go forward, then we will. We the women will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields!
Yaa Asantewaa led an uprising so great that she became the Commander in Chief of the Asante Army numbering 5,000 fighters. She was also appointed the Gate Keeper of the Golden Stool itself. This was the beginning of The War of the Golden Stool or Nana Asantewaa’s War.
Yaa Asantewaa led an attack on the British fort in Kumasi (March-September 1900), stopping traffic from entering and leaving the fort so that the captives were forced to surrender. As food supplies dwindled in the fort, and the death toll and sicknesses rose, the dying and sick were eventually released. Unknown to Yaa Asantewaa and her army, a letter detailing the war was sent out with the people. This letter travelled through Cape Coast, to Nigeria and finally Sierra Leone (July 1900) where a large British army was mobilised and sent to Kumasi to break the siege.
By 1901 all Chiefs were arrested with the exception of the Commander in Chief herself. The only Granddaughter of Yaa Asantewaa was arrested, which led to her surrender. On arrest, she was stripped near naked, and stripped of her gold waistband and stool — which was a symbol of her authority as Queen. She was later exiled to the Seychelles with her Grandson Nana Afrane II.
Yet in spite her arrest and exile, the victory still belonged to the Asante people as the Golden Stool remained in the possession of the Asante Kingdom. Yaa Asantewaa is remembered for her courage and heroism against the British colonisers, and her patriotism to her country. A true Queen Warrior.
