Maize plants (bleju in Nafaanra) growing in an intercropped field. Zea mays L. was introduced to Africa from the western hemisphere. It is today a staple crop valued for its relatively high yields and its short maturation time that can allow farmers to grow two crops in one year. Ahenkro, 12 July, 2022.
A partially complete basketry fish trap made with bamboo sticks and vine cordage. View looking to the interior after four bracing hoops have been inserted. The hoops are placed at intervals to expand and brace the bamboo sticks that make up the trap's outer body. Akanyakrom, 26 July, 2022.
Ewe fisherman Dzobo Rubben holds the woven triangular bamboo-and-rope cover to the basketry fish trap as Dzobo Sebastian secures it in place. This cover can be removed to access fish in the trap. Akanyakrom, 26 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom
Subjects:
Men's work
Subjects Facet:
Bamboo; Cordage; Fish traps; Handicrafts; Baskets; Ewe (African people)
Ewe fishermen Dzobo Rubben (left), Maxwell Gbadago (center) and Dzobo Sebastian (right) stand alongside a bamboo fish trap that they made from locally harvested resources. The trap is oriented in the way it would be placed in the water, braced by two long sticks that would be driven into the river bottom. The trap would also be secured by a rope anchoring the trap to a nearby tree or other secure object. Akanyakrom, 26 July, 2022.
Ewe fisherman Dzobo Rubben uses a cutlass to smooth a stick that will be used to make the interior hoops that open and brace the inside of basketry fish trap. Akanyakrom, 26 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (resettled)
Subjects:
Men's work; Cutlasses
Subjects Facet:
Fish traps; Handicrafts; Baskets; Ewe (African people)
Ewe fisherman Dzobo Sebastian forms a hoop from a flexible stick. He uses his feet to secure the stick as he makes a hoop of the right size to stretch and brace the bamboo sticks of the outer body of a basketry fish trap. Akanyakrom, 26 July, 2022.
Cordage used to secure a hoop formed from a flexible stick. The hoop will be used to stretch and brace the bamboo sticks of the outer body of a basketry fish trap. Akanyakrom, 26 July, 2022.
The completed interior trap (tongue, exa woade in Ewe) made of bamboo that will be inserted into the outer body of the basketry fish trap. Once inserted and secured, the tongue allows fish to enter but blocks their exit from the trap. A twisted vine lies on the ground in front of the inner trap. This is the first step in processing the vine into rope like that used to weave the trap. A bale of industrially made blue fishing net sits in the background. Akanyakrom, 26 July, 2022.
Dzobo Rubben, an Ewe fisherman, holds a vine that has been twisted in preparation for rope making. The vine will be set aside to dry for several days before being processed by pounding with a wooden mallet. The rope will be used in fish trap making. Bamboo sticks that will be used for the body of the basketry fish trap can be seen lying on the ground in the background. Akanyakrom, 18 July, 2022.
Ewe fisherman Dzobo Sebastian uses rope made from a vine to secure bamboo sticks as he weaves a basketry fish trap. He has woven a first row, now secured by pegs, and is moving in the opposite direction as he weaves a second row. He uses his feet to secure the bamboo sticks as he twists the cord between sticks. Behind him is a wooden mallet used to process the cordage. A large blue industrially made fish net is stretched out behind him. Akanyakrom, 21 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (resettled)
Subjects:
Men's work
Subjects Facet:
Bamboo; Cordage; Fish traps; Handicrafts; Baskets; Ewe (African people)
Ewe fisherman Dzobo Rubben weaves the top section of a basketry fish trap made of bamboo and vine cordage, securing the trap with his feet as he works. He uses cordage to bundle bamboo sticks and narrow the trap toward its top. In lower rows, individual bamboo sticks are separated by two twists of rope. As the weaver nears the top, he reduces the twist between sticks to one, narrowing their spacing. In the next row he bundles two sticks separated by one twist. He then bundles four, then eight, creating a cone-shaped trap. Akanyakrom, 23 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (resettled);8.246709, -2.244840
Subjects:
Men's work
Subjects Facet:
Bamboo; Cordage; Fish traps; Handicrafts; Baskets; Ewe (African people)
Mawell Gbadago (left), Dzobo Sebastian (center) & Dzobo Rubben (right) pictured with a basketry fish trap (exa in Ewe) that they made as part of a British Museum Endangered Material Knowledge Programme project to document Indigenous technologies in the Banda area. In his right hand, Sebastian carries a length of coiled stick (afɔtasi in Ewe) like that used to force open the trap body; a bundle of twisted vine used to make the rope with which the fishermen weave the bamboo trap; and a wooden mallet (ɛka fokpo in Ewe) used to pound the vine (adzɔ in Ewe) as they process it into rope. Akanyakrom, 29 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (resettled)
Subjects:
Men's work
Subjects Facet:
Bamboo; Cordage; Fish traps; Handicrafts; Baskets; Ewe (African people)
A fleet of motor-powered fishing boats along the shore of Bui Lake, formed by flooding behind Bui Dam as waters rose from 2012. Winds and waves on the lake require use of these larger motor-powered boats compared to the smaller canoes from which people fished on the Black Volta River prior to dam construction. Large fishing nets lay bundled near the boats. Fishing with industrially made nets has largely replaced alternatives like fishing with basket traps that were an effective and sustainable practice used by local Ewe fishermen. Bui Lake, near Bongase, 16 July, 2022.
View of the old Bongase to Ahenkro road, roughly three km south of Bongase, now inundated by the waters of Bui Lake as it rose behind Bui Dam after 2012. A canoe is visible on the shallow lake waters and the Banda hills rise steeply from the surrounding low rolling landscape. Concrete plinths line a cemented walkway, constructed as part of a foot bridge intended to replace the unpaved road, visible on the other side of the lake. Waters continued to rise, ultimately flooding the walkway. View to the south. Banda-Bongase, 16 July, 2022.
Junior High School students pose for a picture with their teacher and members of the Banda Heritage Initiative after participating in a consultation on a draft heritage learning resource ("Learning From Our Past. Banda District, Ghana"). Allison Balabuch (left), a University of Victoria PhD student in Curriculum and Instruction, drafted the resource. The girls hold weaving projects that they worked on during the consultation. The girls' teacher and Banda Heritage Initiative members Patrick Mensah (black cap) and Enoch Mensah (far right) stand with the girls. Model School, Ahenkro, 25 July, 2022.