One People, Distinct in Heritage
Brief Historical Background
The Sɛ (Shai) people are one of the historic Dangme traditional groups of southeastern Ghana. Oral traditions trace their ancestral migration from regions associated with ancient Israel, across the Nile basin bordering the Mediterranean Sea, through Egypt and Southern Sudan. From there, they are believed to have settled for periods in Simeh (present-day Nigeria) and Ile-Ife, before migrating through Dahomey (modern Benin) and Togo, and ultimately establishing their homeland in what is now southeastern Ghana.
Historically, the Sɛ (Shai) people inhabited the Shai Hills, which served as natural fortifications, spiritual centers, and places of refuge. In 1892, during British colonial rule, the Sɛ (Shai), together with the Krobo and Osudoku peoples, were forcibly removed from the hills following accusations related to ritual practices. This displacement led to the resettlement of the Sɛ (Shai) people on the surrounding plains and the establishment of present-day communities such as Dodowa, Agomeda, Kordiabe, Ayikuma, and Jorpanya.
In 1962, the Shai Hills Resource Reserve was formally established. Today, it stands as a testament to the resilience of the Sɛ (Shai) people and their enduring connection to the land. Despite displacement, the Sɛ (Shai) people remain the indigenous custodians of the Shai Hills and its environs, having protected and revered the land for generations.
The Drums Tell Our Story
Our story speaks to who we are, where we come from,and where we stand. The weight of our history rises like an elephant, ancient and immense, a bearer of memory and might. It leans its vast presence upon us,and we answer not as stone, but as a slender tree, unassuming, steady,bending yet unbroken.
Sɛ (Shai) stands as that tree: seemingly fragile, narrow in form, yet rooted deep in the hills,its strength unseen but enduring. Beneath the burden of the elephant, it holds.
teaching the world that leadership is not merely spoken, but revealed through resilient action, and that true endurance does not always roar.
The elephant represents the trials of time, History, power, heavy demands and pressure. but the tree remains, standing is no accident; It is the wisdom of survival, the courage of patience, and the strength of guiding the people under the leadership of the Throne; a leadership that understands that flexibility is not weakness.
Thus, the emblem of the Sɛ (Shai) without words: it may bend beneath great weight, yet it neither falls nor breaks. They endure. They remain.
And in remaining, they prevail under the leadership of the Sɛ Matse.