In both the novel and the show, Anansi - going by his New World name Mr. That element of the character would be brought to life again in the Starz television series by actor Orlando Jones. And, along the way, he made stops in South America, and in various Dutch-controlled Caribbean countries, including Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.Īnansi’s travels thanks to the transatlantic slave trade were, in fact, referenced by a modern-day depiction of him in Neil Gaiman’s novel, American Gods. So, Kwaku Anansi originated in Africa, got transported through the Caribbean thanks to slave boats, then made his way back to Africa thanks to Jamaican revolutionaries. So popular were the Anansi stories in Jamaica, in particular, that when the Jamaican Maroons were shipped back to Sierra Leone in 1800, they took the Anansi stories with them. But thanks to oral history and word-of-mouth - done in an attempt to keep their pre-slavery traditions alive - the story of Kwaku Anansi spread through the West Indies. When the transatlantic slave trade ripped Africans from their homeland, many of their traditions and cultures died with their freedoms. Wikimedia Commons Images The legends of Anansi came to America via the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Anansi The Spider-God And The Transatlantic Slave Trade Kwaku Anansi came to the American shores thanks to the transatlantic slave trade, and in so doing, he entered into American folklore - and was later immortalized in pop culture. Some of these Anansesem were later told to American children who watched Sesame Street and heard the character Maria narrate Anansi stories, as the legendary Ossie Davis voiced the African trickster god. His cunning, in fact, is so legendary that it inspired a whole separate Akan word - Anansesem - that indicates a story too incredible to believe. That wit and cunning would carry through the centuries in stories inspired by the spider god. For example, in one notable story, Anansi traps a particularly fierce leopard by digging a hole for the cunning cat, then binding his paws with his spiderwebs. Stories of Kwaku Anansi from Africa often paint him as a trickster, using his wit and cunning to outsmart even the most formidable opponents. His mother is Asase Yaa, who is worshipped as an Earth goddess by the Akan people of Ghana. The name Anansi, in fact, comes from the Akan word meaning “spider.” The spelling of his name can vary: while “Anansi” is an acceptable spelling, other spellings include Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, Kweku Ananse, and Anancy.ĭepictions of Kwaku Anansi often vary even within Africa - though the most common in Ghana depict him as a man with eight legs.Īnansi has a family that looks like him, as well. The tales of Kwaku Anansi originate in Ghana, in the western part of the African continent. Wikimedia Commons A children’s storybook depiction of Anansi as a trickster spider.
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