Tano

The foremost of the abosom

The abosom are powers associated with rivers, lakes, and other features of the land, who act through their priests and shrines. Rattray, writing in 1923, called Tano (Ta Kora) 'the greatest of the Ashanti gods upon earth' and described his shrines, where the power of the god was lodged in a brass pan holding material taken from the river. The river rises near Techiman in the Bono region, and the Tano shrines at Tanoboase in that area are among the oldest sacred sites of the Bono and Asante; many other abosom are described as his children.

Tano and Bia

A well-known story makes Tano and Bia sons of Nyame, who planned to divide the land between them. In the Asante version summarised by modern reference works, Nyame meant the fertile land for Bia, but the goat who served him favoured Tano, who went to his father in Bia's place and received it; Bia was left the poorer country to the west, where the Bia River flows into Côte d'Ivoire. An Agni (Anyi) version from Côte d'Ivoire reverses the roles. The story explains the geography of the two rivers and the rivalry of the people who live along them, and the variation between tellings is part of that history.

Tano and Death

In a tale Rattray printed in Akan-Ashanti Folk-Tales (1930), a poor hunter chases a duiker that takes refuge with 'Grandfather Tano', and Tano persuades the hunter to carry him home instead. On the road they meet Death (Owuo), who calls Tano his spokesman and strikes a bargain: when Death comes for a sick person he means to spare, Tano will receive offerings in compensation, Death taking only the blood and Tano the flesh. The tale explains why people bring offerings to Tano in sickness. Modern reference works summarise other tellings in which Tano and Death contend over a hunter and neither wins.