The chain of lagoons behind the sand bars from Grand-Lahou to Assinie and the forest behind them.
The lagoon peoples speak Kwa languages and are known for their generation-set (age-class) systems, which in later times passed power and public duties from one generation to the next. Several of them, the Ebrié among them, remember coming from the east, at dates that are not fixed, so their present map may be later than 1200; shell middens along the lagoons show fishing and shellfish-gathering peoples here long before (not checked in this session). On 1 January 1200 the lagoons are held by fishing and farming communities whose names are not known.
Who holds it
- Title
- The ruling generation-set and the village elders
- Since
- Not known
- Confidence
- low
Customs
Generation sets as known later: among the Ebrié four named generations (Blessoué, Gnando, Dougbo, Tchagba) each take over the running of the village for fifteen years in a sixty-year cycle, marked by the Fatchué festival; descent through the mother's line; fishing, salt and shellfish; farming behind the lagoons.
Assemblies
Elders and the generation sets (later).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Later ethnography and traditions; the shell middens are archaeology not checked here.
On the map: Drawn from the later lagoon peoples' lands.
Sources and studies
- Ébriés (French Wikipedia, citing G. Niangoran-Bouah 1969, J.-N. Loucou, K. J. Abo 2014)
- Researcher's general knowledge of the ethnography and linguistic geography of Ghana and Togo (present-day distributions), used only to place peoples whose 1200 seats are not recorded
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.