At the Nkyinkyim Museum in Nuhalenya, near Ada, African Americans and other members of the diaspora have gathered for a three-day ancestral veneration ceremony honouring those whose names and stories were lost across generations.
For many participants, the journey to Ghana is a search for identity, belonging and a connection to histories disrupted by slavery.
Here at the Nkyinkyim Museum, the past is not simply displayed. It is remembered, honoured and brought to life.
Through libations, offerings, drumming and dance, participants pay tribute to ancestors whose lives were shaped by slavery and colonialism.
“A space to remember”
Led by museum founder Kwame Akoto-Bamfo, the gathering creates space for reflection, shared stories and a collective remembrance of lives and identities disrupted by the transatlantic slave trade.
“For us, this is not a performance,” Akoto-Bamfo said. “When we pour libation and call the names, we are restoring what was taken. The museum is a place where the past is not simply displayed — it is remembered, honoured and brought to life.”
A deeply personal homecoming
For diaspora visitors, the ceremony offers something deeply personal: an opportunity to reconnect with African traditions and explore what it means to belong.
Subrina Starke, co-founder of the Diasporan WelHouse, described the experience as a homecoming that goes beyond tourism.
“So many of us grew up knowing something was missing but not knowing what to call it,” she said. “To stand here, to take part in these traditions, to be welcomed by name — it gives you back something you didn’t even know you had lost.”
Justice beyond declarations
The ceremony comes as Ghana pushes for reparatory justice. But for these visitors, justice is not only a matter of international declarations.
Efua Irene Agyeman Hin, also a co-founder of the Diasporan WelHouse, said the work of repair begins closer to home.
“Reparations are talked about at the level of governments and conferences, and that matters,” she said. “But justice also lives in everyday acts — in teaching our children, in preserving our traditions, in welcoming our brothers and sisters back. That is repair too.”
Healing through tradition
For others, reconnecting with ancestral traditions is itself an important step towards healing and reclaiming identity.
Diasporan visitor Julian Yorke said the ceremony gave him a sense of continuity he had long searched for.
“I came here looking for answers about where I come from,” he said. “What I found was not just a place, but a people who remembered me before I arrived. That changes how you carry yourself in the world.”
Credit: Africa News
