The Golden Stool of the Asante

The Sika Dwa Kofi, the Golden Stool, is said to have been brought down from the sky by the priest Okomfo Anokye around 1700 to hold the soul of the Asante nation. It is never sat upon and never allowed to touch the ground. In 1900 a British governor demanded to sit on it, and the insult started a war, the last Asante uprising, led by Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa. The stool was never surrendered and is still held by the Asante. Ghana’s gold country is all around it.