GLIMETOTO (EXODUS) OF AŊLO KINGDOM
AHRgroup Archive:
Miles from modern civilization, surrounded by thickets, coconut grooves and serenaded with the thundering sound of the cascading waves of the ocean, the people of Anlo Kingdom journeyed through thick and thin to their present-day home in the Volta Region. The Glimetoto(exodus) rite stretches back centuries- a perfect recount of the exodus of the Anlos equal to, if not transcending timely reminders.
At Notsie, the Ewes came under the tyrannical rule of Togbi Agorkorli I whose wickedness was legendary. He used forced labour to construct a spiritually fortified wall around the city of Notsie; executed anyone who tried to escape, severely punished his people for letting him killed his own son and asked his subjects to make a rope from clay without which there will be mass execution. The wise counsel of Togbi Tegli helped the Ewes to outwit Togbi Agorkorli by demanding a sample of the said rope. This infuriated Togbi Agorkorli and he was more resolved to punish his subjects than ever. To escape the constant wickedness of the King, a plan was hatched where woman were instructed to throw household dirty water at particular portion of the wall. And, the wall got weakened with time.
On the night of the escape, there was a pretentious all-night drumming and dancing to show everything was normal. Togbi Tegli at the dead of the night pieced the weakened part of the wall with the dagger of liberation to break the spiritual power of the wall. The Ewes thereafter escaped walking backwards to deceive the soldiers of the King the next day. Picturing wild, remote endless grassy plains without many souls in sight, the journey of the Anlos to their present abode is retold and depicted in dance forms. With this re-enactment of the historical journey, as well as oral history intoned by elders amid music and dance, one is immersed in the folklore of the Anlos and why it is important to keep this heritage alive in spite of modernity.
Source Atito Historical Research Group and EwedukorTv
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