Ancestor Veneration in the Akan Culture of Ghana

Dying alone does not earn one the prestigious honor

Being honored and venerated as an ancestor is the pinnacle of human existence. (Photo of the author)

In the Akan culture, ancestral veneration relates to the belief that the dead continue to exist and can influence the fortune of the living. Death, according to the Akans of Ghana, is not the end of one’s life, but the transition from one state to another. Traditionally, it is an occasion when a…