Irene Mensah, a member of the Banda Heritage Initiative Local Committee, uses a camcorder to shoot video footage in Boase during a visit by the Local Committee to document the songs and dances of Nafana puberty (Manaa Ndiom) and marriage (Bijam) ceremonies. She volunteered to join the Local Committee after hearing her grandfather tell stories of the area's past during an interview. To the right, a group of young people are gathered near a small kiosk which is surrounded by a bicycle, a motorcycle and a motorized three-wheeled cart. Metal-roofed houses line the main street. Boase, 11 November, 2018.
A roadside billboard in Ashanti Region advertising the 24 August, 2007 inauguration event for the Bui Dam project. President J. A. Kufuor is pictured alongside a designer's image of the dam and an imagined Bui City. Blocked by the smaller "Abuakwa State College" billboard in the foreground is text that reads "Bui AgroTourism Business" alongside the designer's sketch of irrigated fields at the bottom of the larger billboard. Ashanti Region, June, 2008.
View towards the mountains which formed the Bui Dam site gorge, standing on Bui Kataa (old Bui), south side of the Black Volta River. This area was flooded by the rising waters of Bui Lake as it formed behind Bui Dam after 2012. Bui Kataa, 11 June, 2008.
The road leading from Ahenkro to Bongase parallels the Banda hills. Visible on the right side of the road are electrical lines and a pole. Electrification was recent at the time of these two photos. North of Ahenkro, 16 June, 2009.
View towards the mountains which formed the Bui Dam site gorge, standing on Bui Kataa, south side of the Black Volta River. In the foreground, Nelson Anane stands in an archaeological test pit. Bui Kataa (old Bui) was a riverside site occupied during the 19th century and possibly before. This area was flooded by the rising waters of Bui Lake as if formed behind Bui Dam after 2012. Bui Kataa, 11 June, 2008.
Two Nafana men from Fawoman--center and right--beat out foundational rhythms on hippopotamus jaw bones using a hippo canine tooth to accompany a performance of hunters' dances (Bɔfɔɔrɔ in Nafaanra). Oral history recounts that the dances are those of animals observed and copied by ancestral hunters, generations ago. The percussion instruments are said to be those collected by ancestral hunters after they watched the animals dancing, then scared them off and collected their equipment. Left, a man plays an "apentemma" (Twi) drum with his hands. A June 2019 performance of the dances at a Banda Heritage Event can be viewed through a link below. Fawoman, 21 May, 2019.
Sinohydro, a state-owned Chinese hydropower engineering and construction company, began construction on the Bui Hydroelectric Dam in 2008. Here a road is being constructed along the south bank of the Black Volta River at the dam site. Bui Dam site, 28 June, 2008.
A mother hippo and her baby cool themselves in the Black Volta River while monitoring tourists in nearby canoes. Dense riparian forest covers the south bank of the river. The park was established as a Wildlife Refuge Area from 1971 and was home to one of West Africa's eight hippo populations. More than 300 hippos were counted in the park prior to the construction of the Bui Hydroelectric Dam which began in 2008. Two photos. Bui National Park, 12 June, 2009.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Banda
Subjects:
Savanna woodland; Vegetation; Bui National Park
Subjects Facet:
Wildlife refuges; Riparian forests; Tourism; Black Volta River; Hippopotamus
View towards the mountains which formed the Bui Dam site gorge, standing on Bui Kataa, south side of the Black Volta River. In the foreground, Nelson Anane stands in an archaeological test pit. Bui Kataa was a riverside site occupied during the 19th century and possibly before. This area was flooded by the rising waters of Bui Lake as if formed behind Bui Dam after 2012. Bui Kataa, 11 June, 2008.
Work in progress at the Bui Dam site by Sinohydro, a state-owned Chinese hydropower and engineering company. Here the river channel has been diverted and the base of the dam is under construction. View from the south bank, looking northwest. Two photos. Bui Dam site, 7 July, 2009.
