This term, which is also defined in the glossary (213), refers to a specific group of people who shared a common language and occupied the region of Africa now known as Ghana. Akan is a way of thinking about the structures of people who lived in the Gold Coast.

Asante is often referred to throughout Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History to differentiate the people of the Gold Coast from the colonizers of Great Britain. Asante is the state of the Akan people and is defined in the glossary (213).

Colonialism is essential to understanding Abina’s life and trial through specific historical and political lenses. It is the idea of an outside power colonizing (populating) an area and taking control by force. In the novel, the term most often references Great Britain’s colonization or forcible takeover of the Gold Coast in Africa. The British’s hunger for economic goods fed the need for the labor of enslaved people, while impositions of their will like their moralistic stance to outlaw slavery created the conditions necessary for Abina’s story: a world where slavery is illegal but also prevalent and ignored.