The Ewe people (; ee, Eʋeawó, lit. "Ewe people"; or ''Mono Kple Volta Tɔ́sisiwo Dome'', lit. "Ewe nation","Eʋenyigba" Eweland;) are a
Gbe-speaking ethnic group. The largest population of Ewe people is in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
(6.0 million),
and the second largest population is in
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
(3.1 million).
They speak the
Ewe language
Ewe (''Eʋe'' or ''Eʋegbe'' ) is a language spoken by approximately 20 million people in West Africa, mainly in Ghana, Togo and Benin, and also in some other countries like Liberia and southwestern Nigeria. Ewe is part of a cluster of related ...
( ee, Eʋegbe) which belongs to the Gbe family of languages. They are related to other speakers of
Gbe languages
The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widel ...
such as the Fon people, Fon,
Gen language, Gen,
Phla Phera,
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...
,
Maxi, and the
Aja people
Aja or AJA may refer to:
Acronyms
*AJ Auxerre, a French football club
*Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport's IATA airport code
*Al Jazeera America, an American news channel
*American Jewish Archives
*''American Journal of Archaeology''
*, a Germa ...
of
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
,
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
and southwestern
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
.
Demographics
![Gbe languages-es](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Gbe_languages-es.png)
Ewe people are located primarily in the coastal regions of West Africa: in the region south and east of the
Volta River
The Volta River is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. In ...
to around the
Mono River
The Mono River is the major river of eastern Togo.
Approximately long, and draining a basin of about , it rises between the town of Sokodé and the border with Benin, and flows south. Along the southern portion of the river towards its mouth, i ...
at the border of Togo and Benin; and in the southwestern part of Nigeria (close to the Atlantic Ocean, stretching from the Nigeria and Benin border to Epe).
They are primarily found in the
Volta Region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
in southeastern
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, southern
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
, in the southwestern part of
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
, and a small population in the southwestern region of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
(most of whom are settled in
Badagry
Badagry (traditionally Gbagli) also spelled Badagri, is a coastal town and Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that con ...
).
The Ewe region is sometimes referred to as the Ewe nation or ''Eʋedukɔ́'' region (
Togoland
Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kno ...
in colonial literature).
They consist of several groups based on their dialect and geographic concentration: the Anlo Ewe, Ʋedome (Danyi), Tongu or Tɔŋu. The literary language has been the Anlo sub-branch.
History
The Ewe people were formerly known as the Dogbo.
The ancient history of the Ewe people is not recorded.
they might have migrated from a place called Ketu or
Amedzofe in Benin, east of the Niger River,
or that they are from the region that is now the border between
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
and
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and then, because of invasions and wars in the 17th century, migrated into their current location.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Ewe people likely had some presence in their current homelands at least as early as the 13th century. This evidence dates their dynamism to a much earlier period than previously believed.
However, other evidence also suggests a period of turmoil, particularly when Yoruba warriors of the
Oyo Empire
The Oyo Empire was a powerful Yoruba empire of West Africa made up of parts of present-day eastern Benin and western Nigeria (including Southwest zone and the western half of Northcentral zone). It grew to become the largest Yoruba language, ...
ruled the region. Their own oral tradition describes the brutal king Agɔ Akɔli or (
Agor Akorli) of Notsie (a formerly walled town in Togo) ruled in the 17th century. The highhandedness of King Agor Akorli culminated in the escape and dispersal of the Ewe to their present locations.
They share a history with people who speak
Gbe languages
The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widel ...
. These speakers occupied the area between Akan land and
Yorubaland
Yorubaland () is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 or about 60% of the land area of Ghana. Of this ...
. Previously, some historians have tried to tie them to both Akan and Yoruba ethnic groups, but more recent studies suggest these are distinct ethnic groups that are neither
Akan Akan may refer to:
People and languages
*Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire
*Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people
*Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan
*Central Tano languages, a language group w ...
nor
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
, although they appear to have both influenced and taken influence from the two ethnic groups.
The Ewe people had cordial relations with pre-slave trade and pre-colonial era Europeans. However, in 1784, they warred with Danish colonial interests as Denmark attempted to establish coastal forts in the Ewe and Yoruba regions for its officials and merchants.
Nestled between powerful slave-trading kingdoms like the Asante, Dahomey and Oyo, the Ewes were both victims of slave raiding and trade, as well as sold their war captives to the Europeans.
After slavery was abolished and slave trade brought to a halt, the Ewes flourished in their major economic activities of Cotton and rice farming, palm oil and
copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...
production and exports. Their region was divided between the colonial powers, initially between the German and British colonies, and after World War I, their territories were divided between the British and a British-French joint protectorate.
After World War I, the British Togoland and French Togoland were respectively renamed Volta Region and Togo. The French Togoland was renamed
Republic of Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ca ...
and gained independence from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
on April 27, 1960.
There have been
efforts to consolidate the Ewe peoples into one unified country since the colonial period, with many post-colonial leaders occasionally supporting their cause, but none have ultimately been successful.
Religion
Traditional religion
The sophisticated theology of the Ewe people is similar to those of nearby ethnic groups, such as the
Fon religion. This traditional Ewe religion is called
Vodun
Vodun (meaning ''spirit'' in the Fon, Gun and Ewe languages, with a nasal high-tone ''u''; also spelled Vodon, Vodoun, Vodou, Vudu, Voudou, Voodoo, etc.) is a religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and ...
. The word is borrowed from the
Fon language
Fon (, ) is spoken in Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana and Gabon by approximately 1.7 million speakers, and is the language of the Fon people. Like the other Gbe languages, Fon is an isolating language with an SVO basic word order.
Cultural and le ...
, and means "spirit".
The Ewe religion holds Mawu as the creator God, who created numerous lesser deities (''trɔwo'') that serve as the spiritual vehicles and the powers that influence a person's destiny. This mirrors the Mawu and Lisa (Goddess and God) theology of the Fon religion, and like them, these are remote from daily affairs of the Ewe people. The lesser deities are believed to have means to grant favors or inflict harm.
The Ewe have the concept of ''Si'', which implies a "spiritual marriage" between the deity and the faithful. It is typically referred to as a suffix to a deity. Thus a ''Fofie-si'' refers to a faithful who has pledged to deity Fofie, just like a spouse would during a marriage. Ancestral spirits are important part of the Ewe traditional religion, and shared by a clan.
Christianity
Christianity arrived among the Ewe people with the colonial merchants and missionaries. Major missions were established after 1840, by European colonies. German Lutheran missionaries arrived in 1847.
Their ideas were accepted in the coastal areas, and Germans named their region Togoland, or Togo meaning 'beyond the sea' in Ewe language. Germans lost their influence in World War I, their Christian missions were forced to leave the Togoland, and thereafter the French and British missionaries became more prominent among the Ewe people.
About 89% of the Ewe population, particularly belonging to the coastal urban area, has converted to Christianity. However, they continue to practice the traditional rites and rituals of their ancestral religion.
Society and culture
![Ewe kente stripes, Ghana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Ewe_kente_stripes%2C_Ghana.jpg)
The Ewe people are a
patrilineal
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
people who live in towns, cities and villages that contain lineages. Each lineage is headed by the male elder. The male ancestors have Ewe are revered, and traditionally, families can trace male ancestors. The land owned by an Ewe family is considered an ancestral gift, and they do not sell this gift anyhow.
Ewe people are notable for their fierce independence, and they have supported a decentralization of power within a village or through a large state. Decisions have been made by a collection of elders, and they have refused to politically support wicked kings or leaders, after their experience with the 17th century powerful despot named Agokoli. Despite all their internal conflicts, they come together in times of war and external conflicts. In regional matters, the chief traditional priest has been the primary power.
In contemporary times, the Ewes have attempted to connect and build a common culture and language-driven identity across the three countries where they are commonly found.
While patrilineal, the Ewe women are traditionally the major merchants and traders, both at wholesale and retail level. "They deal in a wide variety of items, many of which are produced by men."
Another notable aspect of Ewe culture, state ethnologists such as Rosenthal and Venkatachalam, is their refusal to blame others, their "deep distress and voluntary acceptance of guilt" for their ancestor's role in the slave trade. They have gone to extraordinary lengths to commemorate former slaves midst them, and making the ancestors of the slaves to be revered deities as well.
Music
The Ewes have developed a complex culture of music, closely integrated with their traditional religion. This includes
drumming
Drumming may refer to:
* the act of playing the drums or other percussion instruments
* Drummer, a musician who plays a drum, drum kit, or drums
* ''Drumming'' (Reich), a musical composition written by Steve Reich in 1971 for percussion ensemble
...
. Ewes believe that if someone is a good drummer, it is because they inherited a spirit of an ancestor who was a good drummer.
Ewe music has many genres. One is
Agbekor Agbekor (agbekɔ) is a type of music and a style of dance by the West African peoples of Ewe and Fon. It is an ancient dance once known as Atamga, Ga meaning 'great', Atam meaning 'oath'. It is now performed by the people of Dzogadze, a farming c ...
, which relates to songs and music around war. These cover the range of human emotions associated with the consequence of war, from courage and solidarity inspired by their ancestors, to the invincible success that awaits Ewe warriors, to death and grief of loss.
Cross-rhythm drumming is a part of Ewe musical culture. In general, Ewe drums are constructed like barrels with wooden staves and metal rings, or carved from a single log. They are played with sticks and hands, and often fulfill roles that are traditional to the family. The 'child' or 'baby brother' drum, kagan, usually plays on the off beats in a repeated pattern that links directly with the bell and shaker ostinatos. The 'mother' drum, kidi, usually has a more active role in the accompaniment. It responds to the larger sogo or 'father' drum. The entire ensemble is led by the atsimevu or 'grandfather' drum, largest of the group.
Lyrical songs are more prevalent in the southern region. In the north, flutes and drums generally take the place of the singer's voice.
Dance
The Ewe have an intricate collection of dances, which vary between geographical regions and other factors. One such dance is the Adevu (Ade - hunting, Vu - dance). This is a professional dance that celebrates the hunter. They are meant both to make animals easier to hunt and to give animals a ritual "funeral" in order to prevent the animal's spirit from returning and harming the hunter.
Another dance, the
Agbadza
Agbadza is an Ewe music and dance that evolved from the times of war into a very popular recreational dance. It came from a very old war dance called Atrikpui and usually performed by the Ewe people of the Volta Region of Ghana, particularly du ...
, is traditionally a war dance but is now used in social and recreational situations to celebrate peace. War dances are sometimes used as military training exercises, with signals from the lead drum ordering the warriors to move ahead, to the right, go down, etc. These dances also helped in preparing the warriors for battle and upon their return from fighting they would act out their deeds in battle through their movements in the dance.
The Atsiagbekor is a contemporary version of the Ewe war dance Atamga (Great (ga) Oath (atama) in reference to the oaths taken by people before proceeding into battle. The movements of this present-day version are mostly in platoon formation and are not only used to display battle tactics, but also to energize and invigorate the soldiers. Today, Atsiagbekor is performed for entertainment at social gatherings and at cultural presentations.
The Atsia dance, which is performed mostly by women, is a series of stylistic movements dictated to dancers by the lead drummer. Each dance movement has its own prescribed rhythmic pattern, which is synchronized with the lead drum. "Atsia" in the Ewe language means style or display.
![Bobobo Dance (21529728870)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Bobobo_Dance_%2821529728870%29.jpg)
The Bobobo (originally "Akpese") is said to have been developed by Francis Kojo Nuatro. He is thought to have been an ex-police officer who organized a group in the middle to late 1940s. The dance has its roots from Wusuta and in the
Highlife music
Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions of African metre and wester ...
popular across West African countries. Bobobo gained national recognition in the 1950s and 1960s because of its use at political rallies and the novelty of its dance formations and movements. It is generally performed at funerals and other social occasions. This is a social dance with a great deal of room for free expression. In general, the men sing and dance in the center while the women dance in a ring around them. There are "slow" and "fast" versions of Bobobo. The slow one is called Akpese and the fast one is termed to be Bobobo.
''Agahu'' is both the name of a dance and of one of the many secular music associations (clubs) of the Ewe people of Togo, Dahomey, and in the south-eastern part of the Volta Region. Each club (Gadzok, Takada, and Atsiagbeko are other such clubs) has its own distinctive drumming and dancing, as well as its own repertoire of songs. A popular social dance of West Africa, Agahu was created by the Egun speaking people from the town of Ketonu in what is now
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
. From there it spread to the
Badagry
Badagry (traditionally Gbagli) also spelled Badagri, is a coastal town and Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that con ...
area of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, where Ewe Settlement mostly
fisherman
A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...
heard, adapted. In dancing the Agahu, two circles are formed; the men stay stationary with their arms out and then bend with a knee forward for the women to sit on. They progress around the circle until they arrive at their original partner.
Gbedzimido is a war dance mostly performed by the people o
Mafi-Gborkofeand Amegakope in the
Central Tongu district of Ghana's
Volta Region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
. Gbedzimido has been transformed into a contemporary dance and is usually seen only on very important occasions like the
Asafotu festival, celebrated annually by the Tongu people around December. The dance is also performed at the funerals of highly placed people in society, mostly men. Mafi-Gborkofe is a small farming village near
Mafi-Kumase.
![Gbedzimido](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Gbedzimido.jpg)
''Gota'' uses the mystical calabash drum of
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
, West Africa. The calabash was originally called the "drum of the dead" and was played only at funerals. It is now performed for social entertainment. The most exciting parts of Gota are the synchronized stops of the drummers and dancers.
''Tro-u'' is ancestral drum music that is played to invite ancestors to special sacred occasions at a shrine. For religious purposes, a priest or priestess would be present. There are fast and slow rhythms that can be called by the religious leader in order to facilitate communication with the spirit world. The bell rhythm is played on a boat-shaped bell in the north, but the southern region uses a double bell. The three drums must have distinct pitch levels in order to lock in.
''Sowu'' is one of the seven different styles of drumming that belong to the cult of Yewe, adapted for stage. Yewe is the God of Thunder and lightning among the Ewe speaking people of Togo, Benin, and in south-eastern parts of the Volta Region. Yewe is a very exclusive cult and its music is one of the most developed forms of sacred music in Eweland.
Education
A key aspect of the Ewe culture is a philosophy about how to interpret and educate oneself through life's events. The Ewe traditionally pass on generational wisdom through proverbs, many of which aim to contextualize the cultural reverence of life-long education. The traditional Ewe proverb which states "knowledge is like the Baobab Tree and no one can wrap the hands fully around it" exemplifies a profound appreciation of continual self-betterment, even if such a process will never realistically conclude within a natural lifetime.
In the post-colonial era, the Ewe people have become renown among Africans for their pursuit of academia and higher education. Many Ewe people travel across the world to pursue their education at leading institutions following the aforementioned cultural motivations of enhance one's own knowledge base, but also their own status among other Ewe's through doing so. Of those who pursue higher education many Ewe people attain graduate degrees in technical fields such as finance, engineering and law.
Language
![Flag of the Ewe people](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Flag_of_the_Ewe_people.svg)
Ewe, also written Evhe, or Eʋe, is a major dialect cluster of Gbe or Tadoid (Capo 1991, Duthie 1996) spoken in the southern parts of the
Volta Region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
, in Ghana and across southern Togo,
to the Togo-Benin border by about three million people. Ewe belongs to the Gbe family of Niger-Congo. Gbe languages are spoken in an area that extends predominantly from Togo, Benin and as far as Western Nigeria to Lower Weme.
Ewe dialects vary. Groups of villages that are two or three kilometres apart use distinct varieties. Nevertheless, across the Ewe-speaking area, the dialects may be broadly grouped geographically into coastal or southern dialects, e.g., Aŋlɔ, Tɔŋú Avenor, Watsyi and inland dialects characterised indigenously as Ewedomegbe, e.g., Lomé, Danyi, and Kpele etc. (Agbodeka 1997, Gavua 2000,
Ansre 2000). Speakers from different localities understand each other and can identify the peculiarities of the different areas. Additionally, there is a written standard that was developed in the nineteenth century based on the regional variants of the various sub-dialects with a high degree of coastal content. With it, a standard colloquial variety has also emerged (spoken usually with a local accent), and is used very widely in cross-dialectal contact sites such as schools, markets, and churches.
The storytellers use a dialect of Aŋlɔ spoken in Seva. Their language is the spoken form and hence does not necessarily conform to the expectations of someone familiar with the standard dialect. For instance, they use the form yi to introduce relative clauses instead of the standard written si, and yia 'this' instead of the standard written sia. They sometimes also use subject markers on the verb agreeing with the lexical NP subject while this is not written in the standard. A distinctive feature of the Aŋlɔ dialect is that the sounds made in the area of the teeth ridge are palatalised when followed by a high vowel. For instance, the verb tsi 'become old' is pronounced "" by the storyteller Kwakuga Goka.
Related ethnic groups
Gbe (Tadoid) languages-
Adja,
Fon,
Mahi,
Phera
'' Phera'' (English language:''The Return'') is a 1988 Bengali drama film directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta based on a story of Bengali novelist Narendranath Mitra. It was entered into the 38th Berlin International Film Festival, competition se ...
,
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...
,
Gen language, Gen,
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
,
Ga-Dangme
Notable Ewe
*
Sylvanus Olympio
Sylvanus Épiphanio Olympio (; 6 September 1902 – 13 January 1963) was a Togolese politician who served as prime minister, and then president, of Togo from 1958 until his assassination in 1963. He came from the important Olympio family, wh ...
- First President of Republic of Togo
*
Jerry John Rawlings
Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...
- Former President of Ghana
*
Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka
Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka Born (26 September 1926 – 17 April 1967) was a Ghanaian military officer who was a member of the ruling National Liberation Council which came to power in Ghana in a military coup d'état on 24 February ...
- Member of NLC after whom Ghana's Accra International Airport was named
*
- Former Prime Minister of Togo
*
Edem Kodjo
Édouard Kodjovi "Edem" Kodjo (May 23, 1938 – April 11, 2020), was a Togolese politician and diplomat. He was Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity from 1978 to 1983; later, in Togo, he was a prominent opposition leader after t ...
- Former Secretary General - Organisation of African Unity now Africa Union.
*
Nicephore Soglo - Former President of Benin
*
Komla Agbeli Gbedemah
Komla Agbeli Gbedemah (17 June 1913 – 11 July 1998) was a Ghanaian politician and Minister for Finance in Ghana's Nkrumah government between 1954 and 1961. Known popularly as "Afro Gbede", he was an indigene of Anyako in the Volta Region of Gh ...
- Former Finance Minister of Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah
*
John Willie Kofi Harlley
John Willie Kofi Harlley (9 May 1919 – c. 1980s) was a Ghanaian police officer who was Vice Chairman of the National Liberation Council government and the first Inspector General of Police in Ghana from 1966 to 1969. He was a member of the thre ...
- Former IGP under Kwame Nkrumah, Deputy chairman of NLC
*
Anthony Deku - Former IGP, Member of NLC
*
Bella Bellow
Georgette Adjoavi Bellow (Tsévié, Togo, 1 January 1945 – 10 December 1973) better known as Bella Bellow was a Togolese singer, who created an international career and recorded several albums. She died at the age of 28 in a car accident in To ...
- Togolese world acclaimed Musician. Composer of Blewu song performed by
Angelique Kidjo
Angelique or Angélique may refer to:
* Angélique (given name), a French feminine name
Arts and entertainment Music
* Angélique (instrument), a string instrument of the lute family
* ''Angélique'', a 1927 opéra bouffe by Jacques Ibert
* ...
when Donald Trump visited France in 2018.
*
Willie Klutse
Willie Klutse is a former Ghanaian international football player. He was in the Ghana squad that won the 1978 African Cup of Nations held in Ghana, and scored in the match against Nigeria. He was also selected for the Ghana squad that faced Guinea ...
- Ex- Ghanaian international footballer. Member of 1978 Blackstars Afcon winning team
*
Esther Ocloo
Esther Afua Ocloo (born Esther Afua Nkulenu; 18 April 1919 – 8 February 2002) was a Ghanaian businesswoman and pioneer of microlending, a programme of making small loans in order to stimulate businesses.
She was one of the founders of Women's W ...
- First Ghanaian female industrialist
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Philip Gbeho
Philip Comi Gbeho (14 January 1904 – 24 September 1976) was a Ghanaian musician, composer and teacher. He is best known for his composition of the Ghana National Anthem. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Arts Council of Ghana a ...
- Musician and Composer of Ghana's national anthem
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Ephraim Amu
Ephraim Kɔku Amu (13 September 1899 – 2 January 1995) was a Ghanaian composer, musicologist and teacher.
Biography
Early life and education
He was born on 13 September 1899 at Peki-Avetile (also called Abenase) in the Peki Traditional Area ...
- Musician and composer of traditional African music. Composer of the popular Ghanaian patriotic song ‘Yen yera asase ni’( miade nyigba lorlor la)
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Fred Kwasi Apaloo
Frederick Kwasi Apaloo (9 January 1921 – 2 April 2000) was a Ghanaian barrister and judge who served as Chief Justice of Kenya from 1993 to 1995 and Chief Justice of Ghana from 1977 to 1986. He is the only judge to have served on the Suprem ...
- Former Chief Justice of Ghana. Former Chief Justice of Kenya
*Professor
Kofi Awoonor
Kofi Awoonor (born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor-Williams; 13 March 1935 – 21 September 2013) was a Ghanaian poet and author whose work combined the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict A ...
- Poet,author, academic and diplomat. Former Ghana’s permanent representative to the United Nations
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Annie Ruth Jiagge - Lawyer, judge and women’s right activist. First woman judge of Ghana and the Commonwealth of Nations
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Isaac Dogboe
Isaac Zion Dogboe ( ; born 26 September 1994) is a Ghanaian-British professional boxer who held the WBO junior-featherweight title in 2018.
Background
Dogboe was born in Accra, Ghana, but moved to London, England.
Amateur career
Dogboe won th ...
- Boxer, Former WBO junior featherweight holder
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Joseph Agbeko
Joseph Agbeko (born 22 March 1980) is a Ghanaian professional boxer. He is a two-time former bantamweight world champion, having held the IBF title twice between 2007 and 2011. Additionally he held the Commonwealth bantamweight title from 2004 to ...
- Boxer, Former IBF and IBO bantamweight title holder
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Sefadzi Abena Amesu (S3fa), Ghanaian afrobeats / afro pop musician
*
Alex Casimir Dosseh - Composer of the Togolese national anthem
*
Marie Thérèse Metoyer
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...
, Businesswoman
*
Edward Doe Adjaho - Former Speaker of Ghana Parliament
*
Junior Agogo
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
Former Ghanaian Blackstars player who played in the English premier league
*
Cody Gakpo
Cody Mathès Gakpo (born 7 May 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.
A PSV academy graduate, Gakpo made his first-team debut in February 2018. In the 2021–22 ...
. Dutch national team football player.
*
Alex Agbo
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Fofo Agbo
Wisdom Fofo Agbo ( ''Fofo'', born June 25, 1979) is a former Ghanaian-born Hong Kong professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Club career
Fofo went on a trial to Guizhou Zhicheng on 13 June 2013. However, he did not play in ...
*
Jerome Agbo
Jerome Agbo (born 19 June 1994) is a Ghanaian footballer who last played for Cypriot Third Division side Elpida Xylofagou as a central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to ...
*
Alexander Djiku
*
Kossi Agassa
*
Dosseh Attivi
Dosseh Gagnon Attivi (born 7 February 1989) is a Togolese association football, footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender.
Career
Attivi started his career in the Thai Premier League with Sisaket F.C., Sisaket in 2010. ...
*
Patrick Attipoe - World War II veteran who in a bid to present a petition to the British colonial authority in Accra was killed with two others by Major Immray. This led to the Accra riots and expedited the independence of Ghana
*
Abu Ogogo
Abumere Tafadzwa "Abu" Ogogo (born 3 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League side Southend United.
Career Youth and Arsenal
Ogogo began his career as a striker with his local Sunday le ...
*
Emmanuel Hackman
*
MzVee
''Vera Hamenoo-Kpeda ''(born 23 June 1992), better known by her stage name MzVee, is a Ghanaian singer, afropop, dancehall and R&B artiste. Her debut solo album features several hit singles including Borkor Borkor (meaning - Slowly), 'Na ...
*
M.anifest
Kwame Ametepee Tsikata (born 20 November 1982), known professionally as M.anifest is a Ghanaian musician, rapper and record producer.
He won Best Rapper and Hip-Hop song of the year at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards. He has worked with Damon Albarn ...
*
E.L.
*
Stonebwoy
Livingstone Etse Satekla (born 5 March 1988), better known by his stage name Stonebwoy, is a Ghanaian Afropop, dancehall and reggae musician.
He is the CEO of Burniton Music Group. He won the Best International Act: Africa category at the 201 ...
*
Feli Nuna
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Gale Agbossoumonde
Gale Agbossoumonde (born November 17, 1991) is a retired soccer player who played as a defender. Born in Togo but was raised in Benin (and later the United States), he represented the United States at international level.
Early life
Agbossoumo ...
*
Pascal Simpson
Pascal "Pagge" Simpson (born 4 May 1971) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented IF Brommapojkarna, AIK, Vålerenga IF, FC Copenhagen, and Halmstads BK during a career that spanned between 1990 and 2 ...
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Ernest Hudson Jr. (ancestral)
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Edward Kpodo
Edward Kpodo (born January 14, 1990) is a Ghanaian football defender who plays for Berekum Chelsea.
Career
In February 2013, Kpodo moved to FC Khimki on loan from Berekum Chelsea F.C., signing permanently for fellow Russian Football League s ...
*
Prince Kpodo
Prince Kpodo (born 29 August 1999) is a Ghana, Ghanaian Association football, footballer who currently plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Ghana Premier League side Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs.
Career
Kpodo joined Ghana Premier ...
*
Steven Nador
Steven Folly Nador (born 23 June 2002) is a footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Italian club Ancona on loan from SPAL. Born in Germany, he represents Togo internationally.
Club career
Following the bankruptcy of his club Chievo, ...
*
Yorgan Agblemagnon
*
Liyabé Kpatoumbi
*
Serge Gakpé
*
Dosseh Attivi
Dosseh Gagnon Attivi (born 7 February 1989) is a Togolese association football, footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender.
Career
Attivi started his career in the Thai Premier League with Sisaket F.C., Sisaket in 2010. ...
*
Emanuel Emegha
See also
*
Ewe music
Ewe music is the music of the Ewe people of Togo, Ghana, and Benin, West Africa. Instrumentation is primarily percussive and rhythmically the music features great metrical complexity. Its highest form is in dance music including a drum orchestra, ...
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Ewe drumming
Ewe drumming refers to the drumming ensembles of the Ewe people of Ghana, Togo, and Benin. The Ewe are known for their experience in drumming throughout West Africa. The sophisticated cross rhythms and polyrhythms in Ewe drumming are similar to th ...
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Anlo Ewe
The Anlo Ewe are a sub-group of the Ewe people of approximately 6 million people, inhabiting southern Togo, southern Benin, southwest Nigeria, and south-eastern parts of the Volta Region of Ghana; meanwhile, a majority of Ewe are located in the ...
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Avenor Ewe
The Avenor Ewe are a sub-tribe of the Ewe people of Ghana. The origin of the name Avenor is not known.
Location
Their traditional area is located in the south eastern part of the Volta Region of Ghana. The Avenor has Avenorpeme as their trad ...
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Agbadza
Agbadza is an Ewe music and dance that evolved from the times of war into a very popular recreational dance. It came from a very old war dance called Atrikpui and usually performed by the Ewe people of the Volta Region of Ghana, particularly du ...
References
Further reading
The Ewe People Jakob Spieth (1906), A German Togo colony record
* Ewe (Heritage Library of African Peoples) by E. Ofori Akyea
* A handbook of Eweland: Volume I, edited by Francis Agbodeka
* A Handbook of Eweland: Volume II, edited by Kodzo Gavua
* The Ewe of Togo and Benin, A handbook of Eweland Volume III
* Eʋe Dukɔ ƒe Blemanyawo, Eŋlɔla: Charles Kɔmi Kudzɔdzi (Papavi Hogbedetɔ)
* African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective by Kofi Agawu
* Gahu: Traditional Social Music of the Ewe People
* Kpegisu: A War Drum of the Ewe by Godwin Agbeli
* Gahu: Traditional Social Music of Ewe People
* Amegbetɔa alo Agbezuge ƒe ŋutinya
External links
*
*
* — Traditional Ewe stories retold, in English
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups in Togo
Ethnic groups in Benin
Ethnic groups in Ghana
West African people