Culture has many
discussions pertaining to how it developed. Some earliest account have been
traced to Herodotus, a Greek Historian. He wrote about the cultural and racial
diversity of the Middle East and surrounding parts of Asia and Africa while he
traveled through the Persian Empire. His findings was linked to the difference
in people's geographical location. For almost 2000 years following the time of
Herodetus, many people attributed culture and its diversity to racial
inheritance, others to the biblical account of the Tower of Babel where God
caused people to speak in different tongues. The word 'culture' came into use in the middle ages, derived from
the latin word for cultivation .Originally it referred to people's role in
controlling nature but today it can be discussed in a broader sense.
Culture generally
refers to lifestyle of a particular people or society. It differs from people
to people. Culture is not inherited but man-made; it evolves as humans respond to the local and biological
environment for the purpose of living. However, its expressed in both material
and non-material form; a case in point is with the different types of food
consumed by a group of people, clothing worn, body decoration, visual arts and
symbols also language, philosophical thought, morals beliefs and rituals
respectively. It should be noted that culture is not static but dynamic.
Culture was
created by the various ethnic groups as they settled and saw the need to have a
source of identity. In Ghana, over 100 linguistics and ethnic groups have been
identified. These groups have been categorised into two major linguistics
families; the Kwa and Gur. The Kwa speakers by tradition are associated with
areas South of the Volta and its major subset or group is the Akan people ie, the
Akuapem, Akyem, Bono, Fanti among others. The Nzima's, Ga's, Gonja's, Adangbe
and Ewe are all part of the Kwa family. The Gur linguistics family are mostly
found in the North areas with its principal Gur language as Dagbane and its
major groups as Dagombas and Mamprusi people
.
Indeed it is
evident that culture is a strong tool to
be used to foster national development. In view of this, the 1992 constitution
of Ghana in chapter 6, article 39 subsection 1,2,3,4 talk about the essence of
culture. It is the duty ot the state to preserve and protect places of
historical and cultural interest. Due to the importance of culture in Ghana, on
the list of of stakeholders, prominence is given to the National House of
Chiefs because of their role to preserve and transform culture.
Culture and the
very best of traditions must be preserved and passed unto various generations
to come. As Ghanaians we must take pride
in our culture and be good agents for championing culture, for it is our
culture and our heritage.
