Belief & Identity

The Golden Stool: The Soul of the Ashanti Nation

⏱ 45 minutes 🎓 Primary & Secondary 📚 history, ethics, art, citizenship, language

Core question How does an object that almost no outsider has ever seen, and which has no political power in modern law, remain the heart of a people's identity for over 320 years — and what does its story teach us about the relationship between objects, peoples, and history?

A statue of Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu, outside the Yaa Asantewaa Museum in Ghana. She led the War of the Golden Stool in 1900 to defend the Sika Dwa Kofi from the British. The Stool itself is rarely photographed. Photo: Celestinesucess / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Introduction

The Golden Stool is the most sacred object of the Ashanti people of Ghana. Its proper name is Sika Dwa Kofi — the Golden Stool of Friday. According to Ashanti tradition, the Stool descended from the sky in the late 17th century onto the lap of Osei Tutu, who became the first Asantehene (king of the Ashanti). The priest Okomfo Anokye called it down. The Stool, the tradition says, contains the soul of the Ashanti nation. The Stool is not a throne. No Asantehene sits on it. It has its own chair, beside the Asantehene's. It is brought out only for the most important ceremonies. Outsiders rarely see it. Many of its details are guarded knowledge. The Golden Stool has been at the centre of Ashanti history for over 320 years. The Ashanti Empire rose to be one of the most powerful states in West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, controlling the gold-rich forest belt of what is now Ghana. The British fought four wars with the Ashanti during the 19th century. In 1896, the British exiled the Asantehene Prempeh I to the Seychelles. In 1900, the British colonial governor Sir Frederick Hodgson came to Kumasi and made a demand that no British official should ever have made — he asked for the Golden Stool to be brought out so that he, as the representative of Queen Victoria, could sit on it. The Ashanti went to war. The Queen Mother of Ejisu, Yaa Asantewaa, gave the speech that has come to be remembered: 'If you, the men of Ashanti, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will fight.' The British called this the Ashanti Rebellion. The Ashanti called it the War of the Golden Stool. The Ashanti were defeated militarily. Yaa Asantewaa was captured and exiled to the Seychelles, where she died in 1921. The Asantehene Prempeh I lived in exile for 28 years before being allowed to return to Kumasi in 1924. But the Golden Stool itself — the object Hodgson demanded — was never captured. Ashanti elders hid it in the forest. It was rediscovered in 1920, partially desecrated by gold-seekers, and restored to the Asantehene. Today it is in Kumasi, in the custody of the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. Modern Ghana is a republic. The Asantehene is no longer a head of state. But the Golden Stool remains the soul of the Ashanti nation. This lesson asks how an object that has almost never been photographed, that no outsider has ever sat on, that has no power in modern Ghanaian law, can remain the heart of a people's identity for over 320 years.

The object

Origin: According to Ashanti tradition, the Golden Stool descended from the sky in the late 17th century onto the lap of Osei Tutu I, the first Asantehene (king of the Ashanti). The priest Okomfo Anokye called it down. The historical date is usually given as 1701, when the Ashanti Empire was founded by the unification of several Akan states under Osei Tutu I.
Period: Continuously revered for over 320 years, from around 1701 to the present. The Stool has survived the four Anglo-Ashanti wars of the 19th century, the British exile of Asantehene Prempeh I in 1896, the War of the Golden Stool in 1900, hiding in the forest for two decades, partial desecration by gold-seekers in 1920, restoration to the Asantehene, and the formation of modern Ghana in 1957. It is held today by the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Made of: A wooden seat in the traditional Akan stool form, partly or wholly covered in gold. The detailed appearance of the Stool is not publicly photographed and many specifics are guarded by Ashanti custom. The general form is the same as the traditional Akan stool — a curved horizontal seat supported by carved vertical legs and a central column, in the shape that is found throughout Akan culture. Gold has deep cultural and spiritual significance in Akan culture, and the Ashanti Empire grew wealthy from gold in the forest belt of what is now Ghana.
Size: Approximately the size of a traditional Akan stool — about 60 centimetres long, 30 centimetres wide, 45 centimetres tall. Small enough to be carried by an attendant. The Golden Stool is never placed directly on the ground (it would be a sacrilege); it has its own special chair on which it rests during ceremonies.
Number of objects: There is one Golden Stool. It is unique. The Asantehene has many other stools — including the silver stool and various ceremonial stools — but only one Sika Dwa Kofi.
Where it is now: In Kumasi, the historical capital of the Ashanti Empire and a major city in modern Ghana. The Stool is held in the custody of the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who was enthroned in 1999. The Manhyia Palace in Kumasi is the seat of the Asantehene. The Stool is rarely seen in public; when it appears in ceremonies it has its own chair and is treated with the highest reverence.

Before you teach this — reflect

Questions for you

The Golden Stool is a sacred object whose details are deliberately not widely shared. How will you teach about it respectfully — telling the public story without claiming to reveal the private one?
Yaa Asantewaa is one of the great figures of African resistance to colonialism. How will you teach her with the seriousness she deserves, without reducing her to a single dramatic speech?
The story of the Golden Stool involves a real act of cultural violence by a British colonial governor in 1900. How will you tell this honestly without making it the only thing students remember?

Common student difficulties — tick any you have noticed

My students may not know that the Golden Stool of the Ashanti is over 320 years old, descending from the late 17th century when the Ashanti Empire was founded.
My students may not know that the Golden Stool is not a throne — no Asantehene has ever sat on it; it has its own chair and is treated as containing the soul of the nation.
My students may not know that the war between the Ashanti and the British in 1900 was caused by the British governor demanding to sit on the Golden Stool — an act of cultural violence so serious that it caused a war.
My students may not know that Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu, led the resistance — she is one of the most important figures in West African history.
My students may not know that the Golden Stool itself was never captured by the British; it was hidden in the forest by Ashanti elders and is in Kumasi today.
My students may not know that the Ashanti monarchy continues today as a respected cultural institution within the Republic of Ghana — the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, was enthroned in 1999.

Discovery sequence

Imagine Kumasi, in the forest country of what is now Ghana, at the end of the 17th century. Several small Akan kingdoms have been jostling for power. The largest, Denkyira, demands tribute from the others. Among those forced to pay tribute is a young chief named Osei Tutu, ruler of the small kingdom of Kumasi. Osei Tutu has a close friend and adviser, a priest named Okomfo Anokye. Anokye is a religious figure of immense authority — a healer, a seer, a maker of laws. According to the tradition the Ashanti tell to this day, Anokye gathered the chiefs of all the Akan states together at Kumasi. He performed a great ceremony. He sang sacred songs. He invoked the ancestors. And from the sky there descended a stool — a wooden stool covered in gold, glowing with light. It landed gently on the lap of Osei Tutu. This was the Sika Dwa Kofi — the Golden Stool of Friday (Kofi being the Akan name given to a boy born on Friday, and Friday being the day of the founding ceremony). It was not a throne. Anokye told the chiefs that the Stool contained the sunsum — the soul — of the entire Ashanti nation. The strength of every Ashanti, present and yet to be born, was held in the Stool. No one could sit on it. To touch it improperly was a sacrilege. Around the new Stool, Osei Tutu united the Akan states into the Ashanti Empire. He became its first Asantehene — its king. The year was around 1701. Within a generation, the new Ashanti Empire had defeated Denkyira and made itself the most powerful state in the forest country. What is unusual about the Golden Stool as a symbol of nationhood?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

Several things. First, it is not a throne. Most royal sacred objects in world history — the crown, the sceptre, the throne, the sword of state — are objects the monarch uses. The Golden Stool is an object that even the king cannot sit on. It is held to be too sacred for any person, however high-ranking. The Asantehene's own chair sits beside the Golden Stool's chair, not on it. Second, it contains the soul of the nation. The Stool is not just a symbol of the Ashanti people; according to the tradition, it actually holds the spiritual essence of every Ashanti, living, dead, and yet to be born. Damage to the Stool would damage the nation. Third, it was given by the gods. The tradition holds that the Stool was not made by human hands. It came from the sky. This makes it categorically different from a crown, which is made by human craftsmen for a specific king. Strong answers will see that the Golden Stool occupies a different conceptual space from European royal regalia. It is not a symbol of personal rule; it is a vessel of national soul. End by noting that this is the deep reason why what happened in 1900 was such a catastrophic act. The British governor did not understand what the Stool was. He thought it was a throne. He asked to sit on it as he might sit on Queen Victoria's throne in a state visit. To the Ashanti, this was an act of sacrilege against the nation itself.

For most of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ashanti Empire was one of the most powerful states in West Africa. It controlled the gold mines of the forest country. It traded gold, ivory, kola nuts, and (in this period) enslaved people, with both inland peoples and the European traders on the coast. Kumasi became a major city. The Asantehene's court was magnificent. Visitors compared Ashanti goldsmithing to the finest European work. The Ashanti's main competitor on the coast was the British. Britain had taken over various forts and trading posts on the Gold Coast (today the coast of Ghana). The British wanted to control the gold trade, to end the trade in enslaved people (which Britain had banned in 1807), and eventually to extend formal colonial rule inland. Four wars resulted. The First Anglo-Ashanti War (1823-1831) ended in stalemate. The Second (1863-1864) was a humiliating British defeat. The Third (1873-1874) saw a British force under General Sir Garnet Wolseley reach Kumasi for the first time and burn parts of the city. The Fourth (1895-1896) ended with the Asantehene Prempeh I forced to submit to British rule. The British exiled Prempeh I to the Seychelles. They occupied Kumasi. They began to govern Ashanti as a protectorate. But the Ashanti had not been broken. The chiefs still gathered. The Stool was still safe. The Queen Mother of Ejisu, Yaa Asantewaa, was the regent in the absence of her exiled grandson, the Ejisuhene. The traditional structure of authority was still functioning, just below the surface of British administration. Then in March 1900 came the catastrophe. Sir Frederick Hodgson, the new British governor of the Gold Coast, travelled to Kumasi with his wife. He summoned the assembled chiefs. He made several demands — the payment of war reparations, the surrender of all firearms. Then he made the demand that crossed every line. He demanded that the Golden Stool be brought out. He said that he, as the representative of Queen Victoria, would sit on it. What had Hodgson done?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

He had committed the gravest possible sacrilege against the Ashanti nation. He had demanded the Stool that no king of the Ashanti had ever sat on. He had announced his intention to sit on the soul of the nation. He may not have understood what he was asking — many British officials of the period had a limited and dismissive understanding of African religious life. But understanding or not, the demand was made, in public, before the assembled chiefs. Strong answers will see that this was not a small mistake. It was a profound failure to understand what the Stool was. It was a colonial act that assumed the British representative had the right to do anything he wished. It treated a sacred living object as a piece of conquered property. End by noting that this is one of the clearest examples in colonial history of cultural violence — not the destruction of an object (the Stool was hidden and survived), but the contempt for what the object meant to the people who held it sacred. The Ashanti did not respond with diplomacy. They went to war.

The assembled chiefs at Kumasi heard Hodgson's demand. Some were ready to fight. Some were ready to give in, knowing that the British had won every previous war. There was disagreement. It was at this moment, the tradition says, that the Queen Mother of Ejisu — Nana Yaa Asantewaa — rose to speak. The Akan are a matrilineal people. The Queen Mother of any given Ashanti state was a real political figure, not just a ceremonial one. She had the authority to nominate kings, advise on war, and speak with great weight in the council of chiefs. Yaa Asantewaa was about sixty years old. She had seen four Anglo-Ashanti wars. Her grandson, the Ejisuhene, had been exiled with Prempeh I. She was acting as regent of Ejisu. What she said in the council of chiefs is remembered to this day. The words vary in different tellings, but the core is this: 'How can a proud and brave people like the Ashanti sit back and watch while white men take away their king and chiefs and humiliate them with a demand for the Golden Stool? If you, the men of Ashanti, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.' The war began in March 1900. Yaa Asantewaa led an army of several thousand. The Ashanti besieged the British fort at Kumasi, where Governor Hodgson, his wife, and a small garrison were trapped. The siege lasted three months. The Ashanti cut the telegraph wires. They blocked the roads. They starved the fort. In June a British relief column reached Kumasi and broke the siege. Hodgson and his party escaped. But the war continued in the countryside until autumn. In total, the British brought over 1,400 soldiers to crush the rebellion. They lost about 1,000 of them, including many to dysentery and other forest diseases. The Ashanti lost many more. Yaa Asantewaa was captured in 1901. She and fifteen of her closest advisers were exiled to the Seychelles, the same islands to which Prempeh I had been exiled five years earlier. She died there in October 1921, having never seen Ashanti again. Why is Yaa Asantewaa remembered so powerfully today?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

Several reasons. First, she did what very few people in any culture have ever done — she led her nation in armed resistance to a colonial empire at its peak. The British Empire in 1900 was the largest in human history. To stand against it required extraordinary moral conviction. Second, she did it as a woman, in a council mostly of men, at a moment when the men were hesitating. Her famous words to the chiefs are a model of leadership at a moment of crisis. Third, she did it for the right reasons — to defend a sacred object that was the heart of her people's identity. Not for personal gain, not for new territory, but for the soul of the nation. Fourth, although she lost the war, she succeeded in her main aim — the British never got the Golden Stool. The object she went to war for was never theirs. Strong answers will see that Yaa Asantewaa is remembered because she combined courage, moral clarity, and effective leadership in the service of something larger than herself. She is celebrated across Africa today as one of the great resisters of colonial conquest. End by noting that her example matters now too. There is a Yaa Asantewaa Girls' Secondary School in Kumasi. There is a Yaa Asantewaa Museum at Ejisu. Schools, songs, and stories keep her name alive. The Republic of Ghana, which became the first sub-Saharan African country to win independence from Britain (in 1957), holds her as one of its founding ancestors. She lost the battle. She helped win the longer war.

The British conquered Ashanti militarily in 1901. The empire became a British protectorate, governed from the Gold Coast. The Ashanti chiefs no longer ran their own affairs. The Asantehene was in exile. But the Golden Stool, the object the war had been fought over, was nowhere to be found. The British searched for it. Governor Hodgson had personally led search parties through the forest before his ignominious escape from Kumasi. After the war, more searches were made. Ashanti villages were threatened. Some captured Ashanti said they did not know where the Stool was. Others said they would die rather than tell. The British, gradually, gave up. The Stool had been hidden, by a small group of Ashanti elders, in the forest. Its exact location was a secret known to very few. For twenty years it lay in hiding, while the Ashanti waited for circumstances to change. In 1920, a group of African road-builders working for a British contractor stumbled on the hiding place. They were not Ashanti. They did not know what they had found. They saw gold. They cut pieces from the Stool, took them away, and tried to sell them in the markets. The theft was discovered. The thieves were caught. They were tried by the Ashanti, not by the British, and sentenced to death — though the British colonial authorities intervened to commute the sentence to exile. The damaged Stool was returned to the safe custody of the Ashanti chiefs. In 1924, the Asantehene Prempeh I was allowed to return from exile, after 28 years away. He returned to Kumasi as a private person, not as a king. But the Stool was waiting for him. In 1935, the British formally restored the Ashanti monarchy as a recognised traditional authority. Prempeh II became Asantehene. The Stool was at the centre of the restoration ceremonies. Ghana won its independence from Britain on 6 March 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to do so. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, was not from the Ashanti — he was from the Nzema people of the coast. The new Republic of Ghana is a unitary state, not a federation of traditional kingdoms. But the Ashanti monarchy continues within Ghana, as a respected cultural institution. The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, was enthroned in 1999. The Golden Stool is in his custody. It is brought out for major ceremonies. It is rarely photographed. Outsiders rarely see it. The full details of its appearance and ritual use remain knowledge held within the Ashanti tradition. Why does the Stool still matter, if the Ashanti monarchy no longer has political power?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

Because it was never a symbol of political power in the first place. It is a vessel of national soul. Political authority comes and goes — empires rise and fall, governments change, presidents are elected — but the soul of a people, the Ashanti tradition holds, continues as long as the people continue. The Stool today is exactly what it was in 1701. It still contains the sunsum of the Ashanti nation. The men and women who hid it in the forest in 1900 understood this. They were not protecting a political object; they were protecting a spiritual one. Strong answers will see that this is one reason why traditional sacred objects can survive enormous political change. The Crown Jewels of England are political — they belong to whichever monarch holds the throne. The Golden Stool is religious — it belongs to the Ashanti people, whatever their political circumstances. The Republic of Ghana is the political home of the Ashanti. The Stool is their spiritual home. End by noting that this distinction matters for many sacred objects worldwide. The Torah scrolls in a Jewish community, the relics in a Catholic church, the Black Stone at the Kaaba in Mecca, the temple precincts of Ise in Japan, the Tabot in an Ethiopian Orthodox church — each is a sacred object whose meaning is religious, not political. Such objects can survive political change in ways that political symbols cannot.

What this object teaches

The Sika Dwa Kofi — the Golden Stool of Friday, also called the Golden Stool of the Ashanti — is the most sacred object of the Ashanti people of Ghana. According to Ashanti tradition, it descended from the sky in the late 17th century onto the lap of Osei Tutu, the first Asantehene, called down by the priest Okomfo Anokye. The Stool is held to contain the soul (sunsum) of the entire Ashanti nation. It is not a throne — no Asantehene sits on it. It has its own chair, beside the Asantehene's. The Ashanti Empire rose to be one of the most powerful states in West Africa, controlling the gold-rich forest country of what is now Ghana. The Ashanti fought four wars with the British during the 19th century, losing the fourth in 1896 when the Asantehene Prempeh I was exiled to the Seychelles. In 1900, the British colonial governor Sir Frederick Hodgson demanded that the Golden Stool be brought out so that he, as the representative of Queen Victoria, could sit on it. This act of sacrilege caused a war — the War of the Golden Stool, also called the Yaa Asantewaa War. Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu, led the Ashanti resistance with the famous speech: 'If you, the men of Ashanti, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will fight.' The Ashanti were defeated militarily. Yaa Asantewaa was captured and exiled to the Seychelles, where she died in 1921. But the Golden Stool itself was never captured. It was hidden in the forest by Ashanti elders, rediscovered in 1920, partially desecrated by gold-seekers (who were tried and exiled), and restored to the Asantehene. The Ashanti monarchy was formally restored by the British in 1935 with Prempeh II as Asantehene. Ghana won independence from Britain on 6 March 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to do so. The Ashanti monarchy continues today as a respected cultural institution within the Republic of Ghana. The current Asantehene is Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, enthroned in 1999. The Golden Stool is in Kumasi, in his custody. It is brought out only for major ceremonies. It is rarely photographed. Many of its details are knowledge held within the Ashanti tradition. The Golden Stool teaches that some objects can carry the identity of a whole people for centuries, surviving wars, exile, theft, partial destruction, and the rise and fall of political systems. The Stool is older than the Republic of Ghana, older than the British Empire that fought to take it, older than the United Kingdom itself. It is one of the most important objects in West African history and a continuing centre of Ashanti identity today.

Date	Event	What changed
around 1701	Osei Tutu becomes first Asantehene; Okomfo Anokye calls down the Golden Stool	The Ashanti Empire is founded; the Stool becomes its soul
18th-19th centuries	Ashanti Empire grows powerful, controls the gold trade	Kumasi becomes a major West African capital
1823-1874	First three Anglo-Ashanti Wars	British force reaches and partly burns Kumasi in 1874
1895-1896	Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War; Asantehene Prempeh I exiled to Seychelles	Ashanti becomes a British protectorate, but the Stool remains hidden
March-July 1900	Sir Frederick Hodgson demands the Golden Stool; Yaa Asantewaa leads the resistance	The War of the Golden Stool
1901	Yaa Asantewaa captured and exiled to Seychelles	The military war ends; the Stool is still hidden
1920	Stool found by gold-seekers, partially desecrated, then recovered	The Stool returns to Ashanti custody
1935	Ashanti monarchy formally restored; Prempeh II becomes Asantehene	The traditional institution is re-established
1957 onwards	Ghana gains independence; Ashanti monarchy continues as cultural institution	The Stool is in Kumasi today under Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II

Key words

Sika Dwa Kofi

The Akan name of the Golden Stool. 'Sika' means gold. 'Dwa' means stool. 'Kofi' is the Akan name given to a boy born on Friday. The Stool descended on a Friday, according to the tradition. The full name therefore means 'the Golden Stool of Friday'. To Ashanti, the Stool contains the sunsum (soul) of the entire nation.

Example: The Stool is referred to in everyday Ashanti speech simply as Sika Dwa or Sika Dwa Kofi. It is treated with the same reverence that other peoples might give to a national flag, an ancient temple, or a sacred scripture — but with the additional belief that the Stool itself is alive with the soul of the nation, not merely a representation of it.

Asantehene

The king of the Ashanti. The title means 'King of the Ashanti'. The first Asantehene was Osei Tutu I, who founded the Ashanti Empire around 1701. The current Asantehene is Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who was enthroned in 1999. The Asantehene is no longer a head of state (Ghana is a republic) but is a respected cultural authority and a major figure in Ghanaian public life.

Example: The Asantehene is enthroned at Manhyia Palace in Kumasi. The enthronement ceremony involves the Golden Stool, the silver stool, and many other ceremonial objects. The Asantehene does not sit on the Golden Stool — he sits next to it on his own chair. He is the custodian of the Stool, not its user.

Okomfo Anokye

The priest who, according to Ashanti tradition, called down the Golden Stool from the sky onto the lap of Osei Tutu I around 1701. Okomfo means 'priest' or 'high spiritual authority'. Anokye was the maker of the Ashanti constitution, the codifier of laws, and one of the founding figures of the Ashanti Empire alongside Osei Tutu.

Example: Okomfo Anokye is remembered today across Ghana. There is an Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, named after him. The 'Okomfo Anokye sword' — a sword he is said to have stuck into the ground at Kumasi, which according to tradition cannot be removed — is still shown to visitors at the hospital site.

Yaa Asantewaa

The Queen Mother of Ejisu (a state within the Ashanti Empire). Born about 1840, exiled by the British in 1901, died in the Seychelles in 1921. Led the War of the Golden Stool in 1900 after the British governor Sir Frederick Hodgson demanded to sit on the Stool. Now celebrated as one of the great resisters of colonial conquest in African history.

Example: Yaa Asantewaa is remembered across Ghana and the wider African diaspora. There is a Yaa Asantewaa Girls' Secondary School in Kumasi. The Yaa Asantewaa Museum at Ejisu, established in 2000, preserves her memory. A larger Yaa Asantewaa Heritage Museum is under construction at her home in Besease.

War of the Golden Stool

The 1900 war between the Ashanti and the British, caused by Sir Frederick Hodgson's demand to sit on the Golden Stool. Also called the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Ashanti Uprising of 1900, and (by the British) the Ashanti Rebellion. The Ashanti besieged the British fort at Kumasi for three months. The British eventually broke the siege and defeated the Ashanti militarily. But the Stool was never captured.

Example: The War of the Golden Stool was the last in a series of four Anglo-Ashanti wars across the 19th century. The British brought over 1,400 troops to crush the rebellion; many died of forest diseases as well as battle. The Asantehene Prempeh I, already in exile, was kept in exile for another 24 years. Yaa Asantewaa was exiled and died in Seychelles.

Sunsum

An Akan word meaning 'soul' or 'spirit' or 'animating essence'. Each person has a sunsum. So does a family. So, in the Ashanti tradition, does the entire Ashanti nation — and that nation's sunsum is held in the Golden Stool. Damage to the Stool would damage the nation. Reverence for the Stool sustains the nation.

Example: The concept of sunsum is widespread in Akan culture. It is roughly comparable to the Western concept of 'soul' but with more emphasis on continuity and lineage. The Golden Stool's role as the vessel of the national sunsum makes it a religious object of a very specific kind — not a symbol of the nation, but the nation's living spirit itself.

Use this in other subjects

History: Build a timeline of the Ashanti Empire and its conflicts with Britain. 1701 (founding), 1823-1831 (First Anglo-Ashanti War), 1863-1864 (Second), 1873-1874 (Third), 1895-1896 (Fourth), 1900 (War of the Golden Stool), 1957 (Ghanaian independence). The Ashanti are one of the longest-resisting peoples of the colonial era.
Citizenship: Discuss the concept of a 'sacred national object'. What modern equivalents exist? National flags, war memorials, religious sites, founding documents. Different communities treat different objects as sacred. The Golden Stool is one model; there are others.
Geography: On a map of West Africa, mark Kumasi, the historical capital of Ashanti. Mark the Ashanti Region of modern Ghana. Mark the coast where the British forts and trading posts were. Discuss: the Ashanti were a forest empire; the British were a coastal power. The geography shaped the four wars.
Art: Show students images of traditional Akan stools (not the Golden Stool itself, which is rarely photographed; ordinary Akan stools are widely depicted in museum collections). Discuss the design. Each Akan stool has a horizontal seat and carved supports. Different designs were used for different ranks and occasions. The Golden Stool is in this tradition, in its shape, while being categorically different in its meaning.
Ethics: Sir Frederick Hodgson demanded to sit on the Golden Stool in 1900. He may not have known what he was demanding. Discuss: is intent enough? If a person does something that causes a sacrilege, but did not understand they were doing so, is the act still wrong? This is a question about cross-cultural respect with no easy answer.
Language: Trace Akan words: Sika (gold), Dwa (stool), Kofi (Friday male name), Asantehene (king of the Ashanti), Okomfo (priest), Sunsum (soul), Nana (an honorific used for elders and royalty, often translated 'grandparent' or 'lord'). Akan is spoken by tens of millions of people across Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and the wider region. It is one of the major languages of West Africa.

Common misconceptions

Wrong

The Golden Stool is the throne of the Asantehene.

Right

The Golden Stool is not a throne. No Asantehene has ever sat on it. The Stool has its own chair, beside the Asantehene's. The Stool is held to contain the soul of the Ashanti nation, and to sit on the soul of a nation would be a sacrilege. The Asantehene sits on a different stool of office.

Why

European observers often confused the Stool with a throne because in European royal tradition the throne is the king's seat. The Ashanti tradition does not work this way. Sir Frederick Hodgson's 1900 demand to sit on the Stool came partly from this misunderstanding.

Wrong

The Ashanti lost the War of the Golden Stool.

Right

The Ashanti lost the military war — they were defeated, Yaa Asantewaa was captured, the empire became a British protectorate. But they achieved the main aim of the war, which was to keep the Stool out of British hands. The Stool was never captured. It was hidden, recovered, and is in Kumasi today. The Ashanti lost the battle and won the deeper struggle.

Why

It is too simple to call the war a defeat. The Ashanti's goal was specifically to defend the Stool. They succeeded. The British's goal was to humiliate the Ashanti and seize the Stool as a symbol of conquest. They failed.

Wrong

The Ashanti monarchy ended when Ghana became independent in 1957.

Right

The Ashanti monarchy continues today as a respected cultural and traditional institution within the Republic of Ghana. The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, was enthroned in 1999 and is one of the most influential figures in modern Ghanaian society. The Asantehene is no longer a head of state but exercises real authority within Ashanti society and is consulted by national governments.

Why

Many readers assume that traditional African monarchies stopped functioning after independence. In fact, several continue today — the Asantehene in Ghana, the Oba of Benin in Nigeria, the Buganda kingdom in Uganda, the Zulu monarchy in South Africa. Each occupies a specific cultural and constitutional role within modern republics or democracies.

Wrong

Yaa Asantewaa was the only woman who led African resistance to colonialism.

Right

Yaa Asantewaa was one of several. Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (in modern Angola) resisted Portuguese conquest in the 17th century. Queen Aminatu of Zazzau (in modern Nigeria) led her people in war in the 16th century. Empress Taytu of Ethiopia helped lead Ethiopian forces against the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. Many other women across Africa led resistance to colonial conquest. Yaa Asantewaa stands in a long tradition.

Why

Western histories of Africa have sometimes treated women rulers as exceptions. They are not exceptions in Akan history (where matrilineal authority is structural) or in many other African contexts.

Teaching this with care

Treat the Golden Stool with the highest level of respect. This is a living sacred object of a specific people. The Ashanti tradition holds many details of the Stool as private — not to be widely shared, not to be photographed without permission, not to be reduced to a museum exhibit. The lesson tells the public story; it does not claim to reveal what is properly private. Pronounce 'Asante' as 'a-SAN-tay' (the modern Ghanaian spelling); 'Ashanti' as 'a-SHAN-tee' (the older English spelling). Both are widely used. Pronounce 'Sika Dwa Kofi' approximately as 'SEE-ka JWA KOH-fee'. Pronounce 'Asantehene' as 'a-san-tay-HEH-nay'. Pronounce 'Okomfo Anokye' as 'oh-KOM-foh ah-NOH-chay'. Pronounce 'Yaa Asantewaa' as 'YAA a-san-TAY-waa'. Pronounce 'Kumasi' as 'koo-MAH-see'. Pronounce 'Sunsum' as 'SUN-sum'. These are approximations; for precise pronunciation, listen to a recording by a Ghanaian Twi speaker. Treat Yaa Asantewaa as a serious historical figure, not a curiosity. She was an elderly Queen Mother who led her people in armed resistance to the British Empire at its peak. She paid for this with exile and death far from home. She is one of the great moral examples of West African history. Note that there is a famous photograph commonly attributed to Yaa Asantewaa — a woman in a war dress holding a rifle — which several Ghanaian sources have argued is actually a later studio photograph of someone else, possibly an African-American theatre student. The most reliable historical photographs of Yaa Asantewaa are the Seychelles group photographs of the exiled Ashanti chiefs. Be cautious about which images are used. The Yaa Asantewaa Museum statue is the safest visual reference. Be honest about the British colonial violence. The four Anglo-Ashanti wars killed many thousands of Ashanti and many British soldiers. Kumasi was burned. The Asantehene was exiled. Sir Frederick Hodgson's demand for the Golden Stool was a real act of cultural aggression. The 1900 war is not 'just history' — it is recent enough that great-grandchildren of the participants are alive today. Be careful about the framing 'sacred object'. The Stool is not just an object considered sacred by some people; in the Ashanti tradition, it actually contains the soul of the nation. This is a religious claim. Teachers should present it as the tradition holds it (the Stool contains the sunsum of the Ashanti nation) without either endorsing or dismissing the religious claim. Same as any other sacred object — the Torah, the Eucharist, the Black Stone of the Kaaba. Treat with respect, without forcing students to share the belief. If you have Ghanaian students in your class, especially Ashanti students, they may know more about this subject than you do. Welcome this. Give them space to share without putting them on the spot. They may also have family memories of the events of 1900 or the exile that academic sources do not capture. Be careful about the framing of 'restoration'. The British formally restored the Ashanti monarchy in 1935. But Ashanti chiefs and the Asantehene's authority continued throughout the protectorate period; the British recognition was the formal acknowledgement of something that had not actually ended. Avoid suggesting the Ashanti monarchy disappeared and was reinvented. End the lesson on the present. The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, is a living person enthroned in 1999. The Stool is in Kumasi today. Major Ashanti ceremonies happen throughout the year. The story is not closed.

Check what students have understood

Answer each question in one or two sentences. Use what you have learned about the Golden Stool.

What is the Golden Stool, and what does it mean to the Ashanti?

The Golden Stool (Sika Dwa Kofi) is the most sacred object of the Ashanti people of Ghana. According to Ashanti tradition, it descended from the sky in around 1701 onto the lap of Osei Tutu, the first Asantehene. It is held to contain the sunsum — the soul — of the entire Ashanti nation. It is not a throne; no Asantehene sits on it.

Marking note: Award full marks for any answer that mentions both the Stool's name or origin and its significance (soul of the nation, not a throne).
Why is the Golden Stool not a throne?

In the Ashanti tradition, the Stool contains the soul of the entire nation, including ancestors, the living, and those yet to be born. To sit on it would be a sacrilege against the nation itself. The Stool has its own chair, beside the Asantehene's. The Asantehene sits on his own stool of office, never on the Golden Stool.

Marking note: Strong answers will mention both the soul-of-the-nation idea and the fact that no Asantehene sits on the Stool. Either alone earns most marks.
What was the War of the Golden Stool, and what caused it?

The War of the Golden Stool (also called the Yaa Asantewaa War) was the 1900 war between the Ashanti and the British. It was caused by the British colonial governor Sir Frederick Hodgson's demand that the Stool be brought out so that he could sit on it. The Ashanti regarded this as an unforgivable sacrilege and went to war.

Marking note: Award full marks for any answer that mentions both the war and its cause (Hodgson's demand).
Who was Yaa Asantewaa, and what did she do?

Yaa Asantewaa was the Queen Mother of Ejisu, a state within the Ashanti Empire. About sixty years old in 1900, she led the Ashanti resistance to the British, giving the famous speech: 'If you, the men of Ashanti, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will fight.' She was captured in 1901 and exiled to the Seychelles, where she died in 1921.

Marking note: Strong answers will mention both her role (Queen Mother of Ejisu, leader of resistance) and at least one specific action (the speech, leading the war, or being exiled).
What happened to the Golden Stool itself?

It was never captured by the British. Ashanti elders hid it in the forest, where it lay for twenty years. In 1920 it was found by gold-seekers (not Ashanti) who tried to sell parts of it; they were caught and sentenced. The damaged Stool was returned to the Ashanti. It is in Kumasi today, in the custody of the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Marking note: Award full marks for any answer that mentions both the hiding and the current status (in Kumasi, with the Asantehene, never captured).

Discuss together

These questions have no single right answer. Talk in pairs or small groups, then share your ideas with the class.

The Ashanti went to war over a single object. Was it worth it?

This is a question about what is worth defending. Strong answers will see that this is not a simple question. From a narrow military view, the war was a losing battle — the British were militarily stronger, and the Ashanti could not have won outright. Many Ashanti died in the fighting. Yaa Asantewaa and many leaders were exiled. Kumasi was further damaged. From this view, the war was costly. But from the Ashanti view, the war was not 'over an object' — it was over the soul of the nation. The Stool is the Ashanti nation, in their religious tradition. To let the British sit on it would have been to let them sit on the nation. Strong answers will see that this is a deep question about what makes a people a people. If you cannot defend the things that define you, are you still you? End by saying that the Ashanti believed (and still believe) that protecting the Stool was protecting themselves. The British, who saw it as a piece of furniture, did not understand. Different cultures value different things, and what looks like 'fighting over an object' to outsiders can be 'defending our identity' to insiders. This question matters today too. Many modern political conflicts are about objects, symbols, or places that carry identity for one side and look trivial to the other. Honest understanding requires seeing both views.
Sir Frederick Hodgson may not have understood what he was demanding. If a person commits sacrilege without meaning to, is the act still wrong?

This is a question about cross-cultural respect. Strong answers will see that ignorance is not innocence when the person is acting in a position of power. Hodgson was the colonial governor of the Gold Coast. He had access to advisors. He could have asked Ashanti chiefs what the Stool meant before making his demand. He chose to make the demand without finding out. The decision to act without learning what one is doing — when one has the power to harm — is itself a moral failure. Strong answers will see that this applies to many other cases. A traveller who does not bother to learn local customs and offends them, an aid worker who does not ask before distributing food contrary to local norms, a colonial official who imposes one culture's assumptions on another — each may not 'mean' the harm they cause, but the failure to learn is itself part of the harm. End by saying that this is one reason why genuine cross-cultural respect requires curiosity, humility, and asking before acting. Hodgson did not ask. The Ashanti paid the price. This is a story to remember whenever we find ourselves in someone else's tradition without knowing how it works.
The Golden Stool has survived for over 320 years through wars, exile, theft, and political change. Why have some objects lasted so long when so much else has been lost?

This is a question about cultural durability. Strong answers will see that objects survive when communities commit to protecting them. The Golden Stool survived because Ashanti elders hid it at great personal risk. They could have been killed for hiding it. They were not killed because they would not say where it was. The Stool was found in 1920 only because gold-seekers stumbled on it by accident — the people who knew where it was had not betrayed it. The thieves were caught and tried. The damaged Stool was repaired and restored. At every step, a community decided to protect the object. Strong answers will see that this is also true of other long-surviving sacred objects. The Torah scrolls in Jewish communities, the temple precincts of Ise in Japan (rebuilt every twenty years for over a thousand years), the relics of various religious traditions — each survives because a community keeps them safe across generations. End by saying that this is one of the most beautiful things about human cultures. Objects can outlive empires, governments, and even the languages that originally named them, because human communities choose to carry them forward. The Stool has been in the care of the Ashanti people for over 320 years. It will likely be in their care for many more centuries.

Teaching sequence

THE HOOK (5 min)

Ask: 'What object means the most to your family?' Take a few answers (a photograph, a religious item, a piece of jewellery, a letter). Then say: 'Today we are going to learn about an object that means the most to an entire people — the Ashanti of Ghana. It is called the Golden Stool. According to Ashanti tradition, it contains the soul of the entire nation. It is over 320 years old. People have died defending it.'
THE FOUNDING STORY (10 min)

Tell the story of the founding of the Ashanti Empire around 1701. Osei Tutu, the priest Okomfo Anokye, the Stool descending from the sky. Explain that the Stool is not a throne — no Asantehene has ever sat on it. It is held to contain the sunsum (soul) of the entire Ashanti nation. This is unlike any European royal regalia.
THE WAR OF THE GOLDEN STOOL (15 min)

Tell the story of the four Anglo-Ashanti wars (1823-1896), the exile of Prempeh I in 1896, and Sir Frederick Hodgson's demand to sit on the Stool in March 1900. Tell the story of Yaa Asantewaa standing in the council of chiefs and giving her famous speech. The Ashanti besieged the British fort at Kumasi for three months. Yaa Asantewaa was eventually captured and exiled to the Seychelles. But the Stool was never taken.
WHAT THE STOOL TEACHES (10 min)

Discuss why the Stool still matters. The Ashanti monarchy continues today as a cultural institution within the Republic of Ghana. The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, was enthroned in 1999. The Stool is in Kumasi. Some objects can carry the identity of a whole people across centuries of political change.
CLOSING (5 min)

Ask: 'What does it mean for an object to contain the soul of a people?' Take a few answers. End by saying: 'The Sika Dwa Kofi has been at the centre of Ashanti life for over 320 years. It has survived wars, exile, theft, and the end of empires. It is in Kumasi today. The Asantehene is in Kumasi today. The Ashanti people are in Kumasi today. The Republic of Ghana is a young country (1957). The Ashanti nation, with its Stool, is much older. Some things in the world are kept alive by the people who love them. The Golden Stool is one of these.'

Classroom materials

The Akan Stool

Instructions: Show students images of traditional Akan stools (not the Golden Stool itself — ordinary Akan stools are widely depicted in museum collections such as the British Museum and the Smithsonian). Discuss the design: a curved horizontal seat, carved vertical legs, often a central column. Different stools were made for different ranks. The Golden Stool is in this tradition, in its shape, while being categorically different in its meaning.

Example: In Ms Owusu's class, students looked at images of several different Akan stools. The teacher said: 'You are looking at one of the most distinctive design traditions in West African art. Each stool has a meaning. Some were for elders, some for queen mothers, some for chiefs. The Golden Stool is recognisably part of this tradition. But unlike all the others, the Golden Stool is not for sitting. It is for honouring.'

Mapping the Ashanti Story

Instructions: On a map of West Africa, locate Kumasi (in central Ghana, in the forest country). Locate the coast where the British forts were. Locate the Seychelles (in the Indian Ocean, where Yaa Asantewaa was exiled). Trace the journey from Kumasi to exile — over 4,000 miles. Discuss: this was a forced separation across the world's oceans.

Example: In Mr Asare's class, students traced the journey on a globe. The teacher said: 'You have just traced what happened to Yaa Asantewaa and Prempeh I. Removed from their home in the forest of Ashanti, taken across the Atlantic, around the Cape, into the Indian Ocean, to a small group of islands east of Africa. Far from family, far from language, far from the soil of the nation they had led. Yaa Asantewaa died there in 1921. Prempeh I was allowed home in 1924. Twenty-eight years of his life were spent in exile in the Seychelles. The Stool, hidden in the forest, was waiting.'

Yaa Asantewaa's Speech

Instructions: Read aloud (or have a student read) the most famous version of Yaa Asantewaa's speech to the chiefs in 1900. Discuss: what kind of moment was this? An older woman, a queen mother, in a council of male chiefs, calling them to courage. Why has this speech been remembered? Strong answers will see that the speech combines several powers — moral authority, gender challenge, clarity of purpose, and a willingness to lead.

Example: In Mrs Mensah's class, students discussed the speech in pairs. The teacher said: 'You have just listened to one of the most famous moments in West African history. Yaa Asantewaa was about sixty. Her grandson had been exiled. She had seen four wars. She knew the British would probably win. But she stood up anyway, in a council where many of the men were hesitating, and called them to fight. She did not promise victory. She promised that the women would fight if the men did not. This is a particular kind of moral leadership — one that does not depend on certainty about the outcome.'

Where to go next

Try a lesson on the Nansen passport for another story of exile, identity, and statelessness.
Try a lesson on the flag of Nepal for another small object that carries the identity of a whole nation.
Try a lesson on the pith helmet for another object connected with the colonial era, viewed from a different angle.
Connect this lesson to history class with a longer project on the British Empire in West Africa. The four Anglo-Ashanti wars, the exile of Prempeh I, the War of the Golden Stool, and Ghanaian independence in 1957 are one continuous story.
Connect this lesson to ethics class with a longer discussion of cultural respect. What do we owe to the sacred objects of other peoples, even when we do not share the belief?
Connect this lesson to citizenship class with a longer discussion of traditional authority within modern states. Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, and many other African states have traditional kingdoms operating within modern democratic frameworks. The relationship is interesting, complicated, and worth studying.

Key takeaways

The Golden Stool (Sika Dwa Kofi) is the most sacred object of the Ashanti people of Ghana. According to Ashanti tradition, it descended from the sky in around 1701 onto the lap of Osei Tutu, the first Asantehene, called down by the priest Okomfo Anokye.
The Stool is held to contain the sunsum (soul) of the entire Ashanti nation. It is not a throne — no Asantehene has ever sat on it. It has its own chair, beside the Asantehene's, and is brought out only for the most important ceremonies.
Sir Frederick Hodgson, the British colonial governor, demanded to sit on the Stool in March 1900. This act of sacrilege caused the War of the Golden Stool — also called the Yaa Asantewaa War.
Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu, led the Ashanti resistance with the famous speech: 'If you, the men of Ashanti, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will fight.' She was captured in 1901 and exiled to the Seychelles, where she died in 1921.
The Stool itself was never captured. Hidden in the forest by Ashanti elders for twenty years, partially desecrated by gold-seekers in 1920, restored to Ashanti custody, and held by the Asantehene to this day. The Ashanti lost the military war but achieved their main aim — defending the Stool.
The Ashanti monarchy continues today as a respected cultural institution within the Republic of Ghana. The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, was enthroned in 1999. The Stool is in Kumasi. The story is not closed.

Sources

Golden Stool — Wikipedia (2026) [encyclopedia]
Yaa Asantewaa — Wikipedia (2026) [encyclopedia]
African Perspectives on Colonialism — Albert Adu Boahen (1987) [book]
Yaa Asantewaa — Encyclopaedia Africana (2024) [encyclopedia]
The Asante Kingdom — Ivor Wilks (1989) [academic]

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