Tongnaab (literally "Chief of the Earth") is a deity associated with the
Tallensi people of northern
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 ...
. Tongnaab is particularly believed to have powers in fertility, stability and security.
The Tongnaab cult developed from a small regional belief in the
Tong Hills region before the colonial period, and gained substantial popularity as a
witch-hunt
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...
ing deity during the colonial era. It gained followers across the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
.
See also
*
Meyer Fortes
Meyer Fortes FBA FRAI (25 April 1906 – 27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana.
Originally trained in psychology, Fortes employed the notion of the "person ...
- a South African anthropologist who made an extensive study of Tallensi religion
References
Bibliography
*
Religion in Ghana
Fertility gods
African gods
Modern witch hunts
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