How Adas got their name

They are a hybrid group of people made up of 3 different ethnic groups – Dangmes, Ewes and Akans.

Their history is a truly intriguing one, particularly about how they merged to become one ethnic group today.

The Adas merged after the Dangmes, the first group which settled on the Ada lands, were joined by some Akan warriors who had broken from the Ashanti and Denkyira kingdoms and were looking for new land to settle on.

They were later joined by Ewes who also stayed after they were accepted by the two groups.

In the narration of events as they happened, Paramount Stool father of the Kabiawe Yumu clan, Numo Israel Kartei Abram Akuako explained that the Adas got their name from their war-like characteristics.

According to him, they were warriors who had fought many battles to take territory of the lands that belonged to them.

Some of these wars included the Akatamanso War in the 18th Century, the Donobe War also known as Torjernya War, and the Glover War among others.

As a result of this, they were given the name ‘brave and courageous warriors’ by the Ewes, a name that was reflective of their very nature.

“Ada is a short form of Adawolawo. It means brave and courageous warriors. It is an Ewe name. The people of Ada fought many battles to be able to create the state called Ada. The Ewes were some of the people they fought with. They fought with the Akans as well but the Ewes gave them the name Adawolawo and the short form is Ada.

“The Ewes called them the Adawolawo because they fought many wars, “the Paramount Stool father said.

Numo Israel Kartei also noted how the Ada group came to be.

According to him, Ada comprises of the Akan, Ewe, and Ga Dangme groups.

“Ada is made up of 3 major different tribes, they are not one tribe that migrated to this place, rather, the first tribe to have migrated to this place were the Dangme tribe and they were with other Ga Dangme people in a place called Lorlovo, in the Eastern Regional part of Ghana, near the Volta River.

According to Numo Israel Kartei, the Akans later joined the and Dangmes and after some time, decided to move out of the forest for a better land to stay on.
They then settled around the plains near Songhor, where salt is mined in Ada today.

Subsequently, some Ewe groups including the Kogbor and Owhoewem people who were also sojourning, looking for a settlement ground, found these persons and decided to join them.

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