Civilizations of the Yam

The Mythological Africans AFRI Grant is still accepting applications from unpublished African writers aged 55 and over. AFRI fellows will receive up to $300 to review and retell 2-3 folktales from their people. The results will be published in an anthology.

Applications close June 30th!

In this week’s episode, we go digging for yams as we sample more food related folklore in modern African literature. We start with Ghanaian author Yaa Gyasi’s award winning debut novel “Homegoing” then we discover the origin stories of Yam cultivation among the Ashani and Ewe peoples. Finally, we talk a little bit about West Africa’s Yam Civilizations.

Once again: Look at the material!

We also briefly mention the link between West African and indigenous Australian and Melanesian Yam Civilizations. You can read more about those here and here. I highly recommend the first paper (Yam Cycles and Timeless Time in Melanesia). It discusses how the cycle of Yam cultivation and harvest deeply impacted Melanesian people’s perception of time and relationships, and the implications this had for just about every other aspect of their lives, down to the flora and fauna in their environment! It’s a quick and worthwile read!

Fun Fact: According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, Nigeria (67%), Ghana (11%), Ivory Coast (10%), Benin (4%), Togo (1%) and Cameroon (1%) account for the bulk of the 75 million metric tonnes of yams produced in the world in 2020. People of the Yam indeed!

Can’t get enough?

• Igbo New Yam Festival Celebrated in Enugu (2020)

• When Food and Culture Are Celebrated Together: Benin’s Yam Festival

• Yam Festival in Bouaké, Ivory Coast - Harvesting Joy and Unity

• Asogli Te Za: The Yam Festival of the Ewe people

• More West African Yam Festivals

References

• Gyasi, Yaa. Homegoing: A Novel. United States, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2016.

• Courlander, Harold. A Treasury of African Folklore: The Oral Literature, Traditions, Myths, Legends, Epics, Tales, Recollections, Wisdom, Sayings, and Humor of Africa. United States, Crown Publishers, 1975. pp 118 - 120

• Coursey, D. G., and Cecilia K. Coursey. “The New Yam Festivals of West Africa.” Anthropos, vol. 66, no. 3/4, 1971, pp. 444–84. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40457684. Accessed 23 June 2024.

• Coursey, D. G. “The Civilizations of the Yam: Interrelationships of Man and Yams in Africa and the Indo-Pacific Region.” Archaeology & Physical Anthropology in Oceania, vol. 7, no. 3, 1972, pp. 215–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40386180. Accessed 23 June 2024.