Topics: Diasporic : Akan

The Akan, Ashanti, Ga, Fante, and related people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast believe the universe was created by a supreme deity variously known as Oboadee (Creator), Nyame (God), or Ananse Kokuroko (The Great Spider). They also recognize a pantheon of lesser deities, the Abosom. Conversion to Roman Catholicism took place on a vast scale under colonial rule, but many Akans practice traditional worship of the Abosom or syncretize it with Christianity. The unique cosmology, symbolism, religious customs,and divination systems that developed in Ghana are currently practiced on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, for many people of Akan ancestry are found in the Caribbean islands of Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad, and the Bahamas, as well as the United States.