• A statue depicting Nana Yaa Asantewaa has emerged

• Different images of Nana Yaa Asantewaa are in circulation

• October 17, 2021 marked 100 years of Nana Yaa Asantewaa‘s demise

Legends they say will never die and Nana Yaa Asantewaa is not an exception to the rule.

While there is still some contention over the real depiction of images shared of the once-influential Ashanti Empire queen, her date of birth has also been contested.

Nana Yaa Asantewaa is generally believed to be born between the 1840s to 1860s in the Ashanti Confederacy in present-day Ghana. Prior to becoming a queen mother in the 1880s in the Ashanti Empire, Nana Yaa Asantewa was said to be a skilled farmer, according to blackpast.org.

“It is believed that she was chosen for this title due to the matrilineal aspect of the Ashanti culture and that her elder brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpase, who was a powerful ruler at the time, appointed her to the role,” the portal wrote.

But a tweet shared by @Ashanti_Kingdom on Sunday, October 17, 2021, to mark exactly 100 years of Nana Yaa Asantewaa‘s demise in the Seychelles Island, depicts a rather beaming statue of the Ashanti queen mother and warrior which is almost different from what have been accustomed to believe.

“Today marks exactly 100 years Nana Yaa Asantewaa died in Seychelles Island. A great warrior who stood in the face of death and fought for the salvation of her people. Damirifa due Ohemaa kokuodurufuo. Piawwwwwww!!!” the tweet read.

She is also seen clad in traditional attire with a gun placed on her lap to somewhat depict her warrior prowess.

While it is still unclear what the true account of the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa may be, a photo recently emerged online which sought to challenge the widely circulated depiction of the female warrior many have been accustomed to believe is.

An earlier tweet shared in March this year by @Ashanti_Kingdom had the caption, “An American Girl Theatre Arts Student poses as Yaa Asantewaa in a bulletproof war jacket and combat holding a gun and this image has gone all over the world with some people thinking that the picture is real Yaa Asantewaa.”

But under the caption of the new image challenging the widely circulated one reads, “Ohemaa Yaa Asantewaa… Mother of Ejuso who led the Ashanti warriors against the…in 1900.”

Already there have been many textbooks, images and various accounts shared of the Ashanti Queen Mother Nana Yaa Asantewaa, leaving a lot of contradictions in her history but will this be the last of the growing list of depictions and accounts we will be seeing?

See the image below:

See the earlier image purporting to be Nana Yaa Asantewaa

See the image challenging the depiction of Nana Yaa Asantewaa: