YAA ASENTEWA by Jeanne Christie

Quite by chance I happened to watch a documentary about the Ashanti or Asenti

people who lived in what is now Ghana. The history is, it seems, that a warrior raised his
hand towards Heaven and a very heavy beautifully carved golden stool was given to him.
Previously all the different tribes had been fighting amongst themselves, but when that
happened Yaah Asentewaa said that God had sent it to unite all the tribes.

Yahh Asentewaa's brother was Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpese who was the ruler of Ejisu and
she was appointed Queen Mother of Ejisu, so when her brother died in 1894 and other
members of the Government were exiled to the Seychelles she herself became Regent, at
which time the White Governor- General of the Gold Coast demanded the stool.

Yaa Asentewa knew how valuable it was, not just from the monetary aspect, but in the fact
that it had been such a uniting symbol of the Ashanti people, in fact it was referred to as the
Soul of the Ashanti. The warriors of the tribe were not in a fighting mood, so Yaa Asentewa
said hide it and we women will take up arms to protect it!
It was in 1900 that she lead the Ashanti rebellion known as the WAR OF THE GOLDEN
STOOL, against British Colonialism.

So the stool was hidden, and the battle ensued, in Kumasi which the Ashanti didn't really
win, young boys etc were tortured to disclose the hiding place of the stool, but thankfully ,
the whites were not able to find it.
Makes you ashamed when you hear of what a lot of ignorance there was amongst our
forefathers!
This is sad story as Yaah Asentewa herself was captured and exiled to the Seychelles where
she lived until she died, being unable to return home until after her death in 1927 when her
remains were taken home and given a proper buriel.

The stool is still kept hidden and about once every 10 yrs with great ceremony, it is brought
out and paraded for people to see that it really DOES exist!
She is still very much revered by the people of Ghana.

I was so impressed by her bravery, and her wisdom and kept thinking about what an
inspirational woman she was. Then I suddenly started singing the chorus of the song.
it is quite a happy sounding tune, in spite of the fact that her personal story did not have a
very happy ending, but I am pleased because it focuses on the Positivity of her life, I mean—
she was a woman with Original Girl Power!
The positive outcome being that her dream for an Asente free of British Rule was realized in
1957 when the Asente Protectorate gained Independence as part of Ghana- the 1st African
Nation to achieve this feat!

So I'm glad that the song tells her story, as she deserves to be recognized for her tremendous
bravery and sacrifice.
The gentleman who does all my videos for me, on you tube goes by the name of
Starvexer—has nearly finished doing the video for the song, so it should be on you tube
sometime this week, and there are pictures of Yaah Asentewaa in her battledress and the stool
and African Artwork and tribes in the video.
So it sounds as though Starvexer has excelled himself with this one.
He is in fact the very talented author of the book The Earth Code -At Hand, by Thomas V.
Crowley.