A group of men and women stand in the doorways of the Banda Traditional Council building as the Traditional Council holds a meeting inside. The colonial-period building's interior is lit by natural light through large windows, with several panes of window glass intact on the rear side of the building. Several young people sit on the steps of the building. Visible to the left is the metal-roofed colonial-period village clinic and residence of the village nurse who was in this period the primary medical care personnel for the Banda area. Ahenkro, 12 August, 1986.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Colonial period buildings; Banda Traditional Council
The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community gatherings and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. The Centre's motto/logo is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." Commissioned in 1995, the main building was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. The free-standing annex (right in photo) was added in 2000. It houses additional guest rooms and storage and was also built through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor. The building is administered and maintained by the community. Ahenkro, July 2001.
Kafͻnͻ Katoo, Ahenkro, has long provided swordbearers (Bͻͻnfiԑn Yiifun) to the Banda paramount stool. Yaw Fori, pictured here, held the position in 1986.
Family history interview with Elders of Kofi Krԑma [Krema] Katoo. Seated center Donkor Amma, female head; seated right Kwadwo Abedi, male head. Banda-Ahenkro, 13 August, 1986.
Large, shallow blackened clay bowls with interior striations are used in cooking and for eating. Cooks use them together with a small double-sided wooden pestle to grind pepper and cooked vegetables like "garden eggs" (small eggplants) for soups. They are also used as men's eating bowls (pԑԑ in Nafaanra). Bowls with striated interiors are occasionally found on archaeological sites in the Banda area, but this particular blackened form was not common until the 20th century when it was introduced from areas to the south. Potters in the region began to produce the bowls for sale both locally and at regional markets. During the 1980s and 1990s, this became one of the most popular pots made for market sale. Ahenkro, 1986.
Controlled fire has long been used as a way to improve forage for animals, aid hunting, and amend soil nutrients. Here a controlled burn within Bui National Park is visible on the mountainside west of Ahenkro. The town's thatch-roofed market stands are visible (right) as are branches of the majestic kapok tree that once shaded the market on the south edge of town. Thatched roofs could easily catch fire and Ahenkro suffered major fires several times during the 20th century. Ahenkro, December, 1982.
The clay pottery jars (sro chͻ in Nafaanra) used to prepare food vary in size. Round-based jars like these are used to boil yams and other starchy foods. They are supported by hearth stones as they sit on the fire. Their lower surface is often textured or surface-treated with maize cob roulette (visible on the largest pot on the right) which may make them easier to handle when full of liquid and food. Ahenkro, 1986.
Controlled fires burn in the hills behind Banda-Ahenkro, part of the Bui National Park. The remains of a small grass fire are visible in the foreground. The thatched stalls of the weekly marketplace are visible beneath the majestic kapok tree that once stood at the south edge of town. To the left, near the smaller tree, is the reddish iron roof of the first town clinic, home to a nurse stationed by the goverment in town. Ahenkro experienced several major fires in the 20th century, prompting people to opt for metal roofs when they could afford them. Ahenkro, December, 1982
The weekly market at Banda-Ahenkro was formerly held at this marketplace, its thatch-roofed stalls located on the south edge of town beneath a majestic kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra). The tree was downed in a storm in the late 1990s, after which the market was relocated to an adjacent village. Ahenkro, June, 1982.