The Sociohistorical Construction of Slave Ancestry in Salaga, Ghana

Salaga, located in present-day Ghana, was a prominent trade hub in 19th-century West Africa, including the trade of enslaved persons. Although local authorities legally abolished slavery under British pressure in 1897, covert trade persisted. Following Ghana’s independence in 1957, Salaga became the capital of the East Gonja District. Despite fading references to its collective history of slavery, the “Salaga Slave Market” remains a significant tourist attraction for those interested in the history of slavery in Africa.

Drawing on historical documents, participant observation, and interviews conducted in Salaga as part of the project Individual and Collective Memories of Slavery and the Slave Trade in Ghana and Brazil (DFG; PO 2422/3-1; RO 827/23-1), this paper explores the relationship between various forms of enslavement and servitude in Salaga and the contemporary social positions of those constructed as ‘slave descendants’ relative to members of more or less established groupings within the Salaga figuration. This is achieved by reconstructing the contrasting ways in which members of the so-called Grunshi — socially constructed as slave descendants — discuss their ancestry and collective history, as well as the slave trade in Salaga. By combining the sociology of knowledge with a social-constructivist figurational and biographical approach, I demonstrate how different forms of slavery and servitude shape distinct perspectives on the collective past, influence the knowledge surrounding types of slavery, and affect the pride associated with ancestral heritage. The findings highlight the necessity of reconstructing the past of enslavement to understand power inequalities in contemporary societies.