Assessing the Bui Dam Salvage Archaeology Project and Cultural Heritage of Impact Communities

Abstract

The Bui dam resettlement program is one of the best documented resettlement programs in Ghana in recent times. Historically Bui was known for „hosting“ a famous geographical feature – a gorge which became known as Bui Gorge, created by the saddle Banda Hills in midwestern Ghana. In contemporary terms Bui is associated with the 400MW hydro-electric dam (Bui Dam) built by the government of Ghana. Bui is also known to have veritable attachment to the natural environment such as the immediate ecology, the Black Volta and the nearby saddle mountains; all have been appropriated into the belief systems of the relocated communities who formerly inhabited the area. However, the construction of the Bui Dam and the associated relocation of the settlements have permanently changed the natural and the social landscape of these affected people. This assesses the salvage archaeology carried out at the Bui dam reservoir area between 2009 and 2011. We situate the discussion on the effects of the Bui dam on the current social transformations that have resulted from the construction of the Bui Dam.