Ewe

Ewe, peoples living in southeastern Ghana, southern Benin, and the southern half of Togo who speak various dialects of Ewe, a language of the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family. Ewe unity is based on language and common traditions of origin: their original homeland is traced to Oyo, in western Nigeria, which was a major Yoruba kingdom.

Most Ewe are farmers, corn (maize) and yams being their staple foods. Sea fishing is a full-time occupation in some coastal areas. Spinning, weaving, pottery making, and blacksmithing, as well as trading, are all important.

Villages include several patrilineages, in which land ownership and certain political offices are vested; lineage members also share certain spirits and gods. The lineage head, usually its oldest member, administers lineage property, settles disputes, represents the lineage in village affairs, and serves as a priest linking the living members to the ancestors. Among most Ewe the patrilineage is the largest important kinship unit; among the Anlo in coastal Ghana, however, the lineages are segments of larger, dispersed clans. Clan membership is characterized by mutual help and friendliness, shared names, food taboos, and clan rituals. The introduction of a money economy, schools, Christianity, and government courts has weakened the corporate structure of the lineage. The Ewe never formed a single centralized state, remaining a collection of independent communities that made temporary alliances in time of war.

Ewe religion is organized around a creator god, Mawu (called Nana Buluku by the Fon of Benin), and numerous lesser gods. The worship of the latter pervades daily life, for their assistance is sought in subsistence activities, commerce, and war. Belief in the supernatural powers of ancestral spirits to aid or harm their descendants enforces patterns of social behaviour and feelings of solidarity among lineage members. In modern times many Ewe have become Christians.