The Nafana are a

Senufo people The Senufo people, also known as Siena, Senefo, Sene, Senoufo, and Syénambélé, are a West African ethnolinguistic group. They consist of diverse subgroups living in a region spanning the northern Ivory Coast, the southeastern Mali and the west ...

living in the central north-west of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and the north-east of

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

, in the area east of

Bondoukou Bondoukou (var. Bonduku, Bontuku) is a city in northeastern Ivory Coast, 420 km northeast of Abidjan. It is the seat of both Zanzan District and Gontougo Region. It is also a commune and the seat of and a sub-prefecture of Bondoukou Departme ...

. They number about 45, 000 (SIL/GILLBT 1992) and speak

Nafaanra Nafaanra (sometimes written Nafaara, pronounced ), also known as Nafanan or Nafana, is a Senufo language spoken in northwest Ghana, along the border with Ivory Coast, east of Bondoukou. It is spoken by approximately people. Its speakers call th ...

, a Senufo language. They are surrounded by Gur speakers to the north, the isolated Mande-speaking Ligbi people to the east, and the Akan-speaking Abron to the south. The Nafana people relate that they come from Côte d'Ivoire, a village called Kakala. According to Jordan (1978), their oral history says that some of their people are still there, and they would not be allowed to leave again. They arrived in the Banda area after the Ligbi people, who according to Stahl (2004) came from Bigu (Begho, Bighu) to the area in the early 17th century. Some major towns of the Nafana people are

Sampa The Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (SAMPA) is a computer-readable phonetic script using 7-bit printable ASCII characters, based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It was originally developed in the late 1980s for six Europ ...

, Kokoa, Duadaso No 1, Duadaso No 2, Jamera, Debibi, and Kabile in the

Jaman North District Jaman North District is one of the twelve districts in Bono Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Jaman District on 10 March 1989, which was created from the former Berekum-Jaman District Council, until part of the d ...

. Brodi and Debibi are in the

Tain District Tain District is one of the twelve districts in Bono Region, Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with ...

Banda Ahenkro Banda Ahenkro is a town located in the west-northern of Bono region, Ghana, near the border of Ivory Coast. Its geography provided a home for numerous groups seeking shelter from across West Africa during the slave trade era. The original name ...

in the Banda District. The people are mainly farmers. Their major festival is the Songhei Festival mainly originally in Jamala or Jamera celebrated annually. The Nafana people are the real who can trace their origins to the Songhai empire. Their main cultural heritage town is Jamera where all their history and traditions are based.

Bibliography

*Pitt, Walter (1926) 'The Mfantera or Frantomafo meaning those who wear clothes', ''Gold Coast Review'' 2/1: 71–77. * Stahl, Ann (2004). "Making history in Banda: Reflections on the construction of Africa's past", in ''Historical Archaeology'', 38, 1, 50–56. Ethnic groups in Ghana Ethnic groups in Ivory Coast {{Africa-ethno-group-stub