This is a small drum, from Akim, Accra, Ghana. It measures 140 mm wide x 340 mm deep. Drums were an important part of African rituals, ceremonies and musical traditions, and continued to be used in the Caribbean and the Americas. However, drums were banned in some plantation societies for fear that they could be used to send messages to start an insurrection.
© National Museums Liverpool
Accession reference: National Museums Liverpool, Ethnology Collection 19.4.98.8
Themes
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Africa before Transatlantic Enslavement
The history of Africa and African people does not begin nor end with transatlantic slavery. Understand what Africa was like and what the continent lost as a result of the trade.
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Plantation Conditions
Understand the harshness of daily life on the plantations, the oppression used to exert control, and the profits…
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Resistance and Rebellion
Understand how the enslaved actively resisted and rebelled at every stage of oppression including uprisings on board ship, forming their own communities and maintaining cultural heritage.
Background Reading
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The Lost Libraries Of Timbuktu
Until recently, many commentators on Africa claimed that African societies had no tradition of writing. With the rediscovery of ancient manuscript collections, some dating back to the 8th century AD, this perception is changing.
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Introduction To Various African Kingdoms