An Adinkra sign of the Akan people of Ghana, read as understanding one another. Adinkra signs began as proverb patterns printed on mourning cloth by Akan makers. In a home, it is a wish about the people in it.
Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.
Adinkra signs were printed as proverb patterns on mourning cloth by Akan makers. An Adinkra cloth of 1817 in the British Museum is the oldest dated piece in our sources, studied in British Art Studies. An early dated Akoma Ntoso is still to be found.
To verify: An early dated example of Akoma Ntoso, and whether it is on the 1817 cloth; The drawing follows commonly printed forms; to check against an Akan maker’s chart
Akoma Ntoso is read as understanding one another. Our sources name it beside Nkonsonkonson, another Adinkra sign, read as unity. Both are signs to read, like proverbs: they say something about how people live together.
To verify: What the name means word by word, from an Akan source
Shops sell Akoma Ntoso as a pendant or a print. We tell it as a sign of a living Akan tradition, credit Akan makers when we show it, and leave the understanding to the people at home.
