Times of the Islands Summer 2022

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum
Kwaw. When they made payment, he provided them with
water and hospitality. Empirical data not only shows that
no slave ships left the fort while under his occupation,
but also shows that the Ahanta people in general dedicated
much of the resources and resolve to maintaining
African autonomy in the region. From the late 1680s to
1725, there are consistent complaints and reports about
Ahanta warriors invading European-held slave trading
posts as far east as Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle.
Many sources have relegated the Ahanta General to
a Prussian ally and the lynchpin of Prussian business in
what was then the western Gold Coast. He is often erroneously
referred to as a so-called “Prussian Prince.” Many
sources also claim him to be a slave trader, typically without
tangible evidence like trading records or the names of
the vessels he supplied with captive Africans.
What is interesting however, is the failure of
Brandenburg Prussia to establish themselves in the Gold
Coast as seen by some of their European counterparts.
With so much military might and influence in the region,
why did the Prussian’s slave trading operations fail? What
the oral history of the Ahanta as well as their historical
records shows is that they had a consistent run of
anti-slavery leaders, with Jan Kwaw representing a quintessential
example of an African hero, still ambiguously
commemorated throughout the African Diaspora in the
Western Hemisphere. If Jan Kwaw was indeed a Prussian
ally, his efforts and unprecedented influence in the area
would have established Prussia as a major slave trading
force in the area. It is no coincidence that approximately
60 Prussian slave trading voyages took place on the
opposite side on the eastern Gold Coast at the behest
of their allies the Danish. The Ahanta Traditional Council
identifies Jan Kwaw not only as a great and wealthy warrior,
but the Minister of Defence for all Ahanta people and
even later the early Ashanti Empire, settling at Kwadaso in
the late 1720s after the Dutch were able to reclaim Fort
Gross Fredericksburg.
Part 2 will continue with how commemorations of
Jan Kwaw came to the New World. To learn more about
the research on Junkanoo and Jan Kwaw, follow Sankofa
Flamingo on Facebook. a
Christopher Davis is a historian and researcher at
the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation
(Bahamas) and founder of the Sankofa Flamingo
This “modern day” celebration of Junkanoo in Grand Turk bears elements
of the new and old.
Foundation; Alex Kwofie is an Oral Historian and Tour
Guide from Pokesu (Princess Town), Ghana; Angelique
McKay, also known as the Junkanoo Goddess, is the
founder of the Junkanoo Commandos, a group who is
dedicated to bringing the celebration of Junkanoo to the
world by way of presentations, workshops, and performances;
and Dr. Michael Pateman is former Director
of the Turks & Caicos National Museum and currently
Curator/Lab Director of the AEX Maritime Museum on
Grand Bahama.
TURKS & CAICOS NATIONAL MUSEUM COLLECTION
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