The Executive Director of Dagbani Wikimedians User Group Sadik Shahadu is optimistic that digitizing northern tourist sites on Wikimedia projects will help boost tourism in the various northern regions.
The Wikipedia community through its Wiki Loves Monument contest led 16 community members “for a photo walk but in all, about 31 volunteers contributed images from different parts of Ghana.”
Mr Shahadu explained that: “We hope to document all monuments and cultural heritage sites from northern Ghana on Wikimedia. We want to promote these important places on the internet using Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. We hope to increase the visibility of these sites to help boost tourism in the northern regions of Ghana.”
This conforms with the goal of Wiki Loves Monuments an annual international competition held in September, organized worldwide by Wikimedia community members with the help of local Wikipedia affiliates across the globe.
Recounting a photo walk through the Northern Region with 16 members, he said: “We visited the Mion palace, one of the oldest traditional homes for past Dagbon kings. We also visited the Gbewaa palace in Yendi where we took photos of tombs of past Yaa Nas, paramount chiefs of the Dagbon kingdom. Other sites include the German cemetery, the Gundo Naa’s palace, the female version of the paramount chief of Dagbon, The Naa Binbegu Tua, the graveyard of the commander in chief of the Dagombas during the battle of Adiboo.”
Wiki Loves Monuments in Ghana
On September 25th, the Dagbani Wikimedia User Group embarked on a photo walk to Yendi, a community in Northern Ghana, to visit some historical tourist sites. The team had their first stop at the Mion Palace, where they were given a brief history of the community.
The community has two baobab trees that have existed for decades. The trees are very close together, so one would assume it’s a single tree.
The elders in the community have studied the trees and have come to know when they will have a good yield or not. The name Mion was carved from the name of an animal called “Meenga” – a Giant Tortoise.
The next stop was at the Gbewaa palace. In the palace, the team was shown to different areas, including the security checkpoint. Moving on, was at the Naa Dataa Tua. This is a place where men who were accused of having an affair with Yaa Naa’s wife were executed. for trying to have an affair with Yaa Naa’s wife.
The victims’ execution was done on a big stone, and the victims’ heads were cut off, thrown in a hole in the baobab tree (Tua), and the bodies buried. The Gundo Naa’s palace was the next place to visit. Gundo Naa is a title given to female chiefs in Dagbon.
The current Gundo Naa was enskinned on June 14th, 2012. She has elders just like a male chief, but she also has female subordinates who serve her when the need arises. Other places visited are the German cemetery and Adibo battle yard.
About Wiki Loves Monuments
The Wiki Loves Monuments seeks to document and disseminate interesting places that depict the culture of a group of people, historic sites, or happenings. Individuals can take pictures of these things and places and upload them to Wikimedia Commons.
