Tabom people

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The Tabom People refers to the Afro-Brazilian community in Accra. The Tabom People is an Afro-Brazilian community of former slaves. When they arrived in Accra they could speak only Portuguese, so they greeted each other with “Como esta?” (How are you?) to which the reply was “Ta bom”, so the Ga people of Accra started to call them the Tabom People.

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[edit] Origins of Afro-Brazilian Communities

There are various communities of Afro-Brazilian descendants in West Africa, most of them spread through Ghana. Benin, Nigeria and Togo. Some studies estimate that in the 19th Century approximately 10,000 former slaves decided to return to Africa[citation needed].

Up to now it is not very clear, if the Tabom really bought their freedom and decided to immediately come back or if they were at that time free workers in Brazil, but were deported after the Male Revolt of 1835 in Bahia. A lot of Afro-Brazilians were deported back to Africa, especially Moslems who organised the Male Revolt.

Throughout these countries we can find estates, schools and museums with the name “Brazil”. In Lagos there is an estate called “Brazilian Quarter” and a club with the name “Brazilian Social Club”; in Benin we can find a school called “Ecole Bresil”. In those countries it is very common to find family names like Souza, Silva, Olympio or Cardoso. Some of them were very well known in their countries. For example, Sylvanus Olympio was elected the first President of Togo in 1960, before being assassinated three years later.

The first Chacha of Benin (chief and controller of trade and relations with foreigners) was the Afro-Brazilian Francisco Felix de Souza, who became very rich due to his involvement in the slave traffic. He had 53 wives, 80 children and about 12,000 slaves. When he died, he left an empire of an estimated 120 Millions Dollars to his successors[citation needed]. The royal line of the Chachas still exists nowadays in Togo.

The first Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, Raymundo de Souza Dantas, arrived in 1961. In his book Africa dificil, he recalled that that he had received a letter from a Togolese called Benedito de Souza, said to be his cousin.

[edit] Afro-Brazilians in Ghana

In Ghana, the only representative group of people that decided to come back from Brazil is the Tabom People. They came back on a ship called S. S. Salisbury, offered by the British government. About seventy Afro-Brazilians of seven different families arrived in Accra, in the region of the old port in James Town in 1836, coming from Nigeria as visitors. The reception by the Mantse Nii Ankrah of the Otoblohum area was so warm that they decided to settle down in Accra. The leader of the Tabom group at the time of their arrival was a certain Nii Azumah Nelson. The eldest son of Azumah Nelson, Nii Alasha, was his successor and a very close friend to the Ga King Nii Tackie Tawiah. Together they helped in the development of the whole community in commerce and environmental sanitation.

At the present moment the Tabom Mantse is Nii Azumah V, descendant of the Nelson’s. The Taboms are also known as the founders of the First Scissors House in 1854, the first tailoring shop in the country, which had amongst other activities, the task to provide the Ghanaian Army with uniforms. Proof of these skills is without any doubt Dan Morton, another Tabom and one of the most famous tailors nowadays in Accra.

The de Souza family can be found around Keta in the Volta Region which use to be part of the Trans Volta Togoland. Also at Osu, Kokomele and other parts of the Gt. Accra Region. Cape Coast is also another base. Almost all of them remained along the costal regions. However, it is very common to see a de Souza, a Nelson, an Azumah, an Olympio and other Afro-Brazilian's in Ghana speaking perfect Ewe, Ga, Dangme or Fante. This is because most of the Afro-Brazilian people got married to Ewe's, Ga-Adangbe's and Fanti's. Most of the de Souza's live in Germany, France, Spain, Belgium and England.

Because they were welcomed by the Ga people and received by their king as personal guests, the Tabons received lands in privileged locations, in places that are nowadays very well known estates, like Asylum Down, the area near to the central train station and around the Accra Breweries. In those areas, the mango trees planted by them bear silent witnesses to their presence. In the estate of North Ridge there is a street called “Tabon Street”, which is a reminder of the huge plantations that they formerly had there. Some of the Tabons live nowadays in James Town, where the first house built and used by them as they arrived in Ghana is located. It is called the “Brazil House” and can be found in a short street with the name “Brazil Lane”. Because of their agricultural skills, they started plantations of mango, cassava, beans and other vegetables. They brought also skills such as irrigation techniques, architecture, carpentry, blacksmithing, gold smithing, tailoring, amongst others, which certainly improved the quality of life of the whole community.

Apart from all these contributions, they also influenced the religious life of the community, helping in the definitive establishment of Islam and in the preservation of some syncretic religions, such as shango. Nowadays the Tabons are completely integrated in the Ghanaian society and are a part of the Otublohum Section of the Ga People.

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