Ewe

Historical Narratives

According to Ewe oral tradition, their present-day location was not the original home of the Ewe. It is widely accepted that the Ewe migrated from a place called Kotu or Amedzowe, east of the Niger River, and settled around 1500 in Notsie, a region of what is now Togoland. From Notsie, however, they had to escape in a quite dramatic fashion. Indeed, whereas King Adela Atogble of Notsie extended his hospitality to the Ewe newcomers and treated them with kindness, his successor, King Ago Akoli, was not so generous and welcoming. In fact, he was quite hostile toward them and treated them with much ruthlessness. One of the most terrible things that he is said to have done was to put to death all Ewe elderly men and women. This he allegedly did to deprive the Ewe people of the knowledge of their history.

The Ewe nonetheless managed to save one elderly man, Tegli, by hiding him in a secret place. It is eventually Tegli who conceived a clever plan that would allow his people to escape the tyranny of King Ago Akoli. From Notsie, the Ewe found their way to a town called Tsevi, in Togoland. There, they split into different groups and traveled separate paths. One of the subgroups became the Anlo Ewe of Ghana. Today, the Ewe commemorate and celebrate their heroic escape from Notsie every year during a festival known as Hogbetstoto Za.

Major Deities

The Ewe believe in an androgynous (i.e., both female and male) supreme God, whom they call Mawuga Kitikana, or simply Mawu. God created the world and everything in it. Mawu Kitikana's power is absolute, and its presence permeates all that is. Mawu is venerated through intermediary secondary divinities called Trowo. The Trowo are similar to the Vodun venerated by the Fon, to whom they are culturally related. Mawu is held to be the mother and father of all the Trowo. There are many Trowo, but some are obviously more important and, hence, more popular than others.

Among the main Trowo, one must certainly mention Afa, the divinity of divination. The Ewe Afa is the same as the Yoruba Ifa deity of divination and originated in Ilé-Ifè. Afa devotees must undergo a special initiation. Divination being the preferred epistemological mode among Ewe religious followers, Afa naturally plays a central role in Ewe life. Afa is consulted with the assistance of a diviner, who relies on a special chain with four concaves on each side.

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