Anlo-Ewe People Group

The Anlo-Ewe are primarily located in the southwestern corner of Ghana. They are an amazing people who in the 1400's fled their homes in Togo and took over the beaches surrounding Ghana. Here they lived for many years until the slave trade came and started shipping off whole communities of people.  They migrated northward until they settled into some island and lagoon regions. An area known as the Keta lagoon became the primary location because the surrounding water was shallow enough to prevent slave trading vessels to be able to land. From there, they used canoes to travel to various places inland where they developed settlements, and carried news and articles for trade.  They developed a lifestyle and living pattern focused around the water. Development of small scale marine commercial activities for sustenance began immediately. These activities included the construction of canoes for fishermen who navigated the lagoon for usable fishing sites and canoe landings. Hunters used the canoes to explore other islands and the inlands north of the lagoon for games, drinking water, farm lands and new settlement sites. Farmers shuttled by the canoes between the islands and the fertile inlands to cultivate crops. The canoe shuttle became an important tradition and a major means by which commodities and information flowed freely between the settlement .