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Ashanti Cultural Resource Elements and Their Relevance to the Perception and Utilization of Resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Robert Dodoo Jr.
Robert Dodoo Jr.*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Anthropology, Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi
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Extract

This paper constitutes a section of my dissertation on “Resource Perception and Its Developmental Determinants in Ashanti, Ghana: A Study in Cultural-Resource Geography.” The purpose of the primary study is to determine the factors of economic progress--in this case, that aspect dealing with the perception of and development of the natural resources as evidenced within the Ashanti region of Ghana. In the pursuit of the basic purpose of the study, the underlying problems of economic or cultural underdevelopment of the Ashanti were to be identified.

I recognize the role of such a variety of factors as ecology, history, culture, science, and technology in understanding the development of natural resources and the problems connected with their development. In this section, I wish to emphasize that a vital element in evaluating the relationship of man to nature is the human element or human culture involved and then to bring out aspects of the cultural resources of the people relevant to the primary study.

By cultural resources of the Ashanti, I am referring to the institutions, cultural traits, and tools of the Ashanti that were evolved or designed to ensure the survival and development of the individual members of the group, the group as a whole, and the resources of the land. In a sense, the cultural elements discussed below bring out those attitudes, beliefs, objectives, and technical knowledge possessed by the Ashanti that help make possible a judgment as to how the group perceived and utilized the raw materials of nature within their region.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , April 1971 , pp. 55 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1971

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References

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