Yaa Asantewaa I (born 17 October 1840 – 17 October 1921) was the Warrior Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire – now part of modern-day Ghana – appointed by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Opese, the Edwesuhene, or ruler, of Edwesu.
In 1900 she led the Ashanti war known as the War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War of Independence, against the British Empire.
Yaa Asantewaa was born in Besease, the daughter of Kwaku Ampoma and Ata Po.
Her brother, Afrane Panin, became the chief of Edweso, a nearby community. After a childhood without incident, she cultivated crops on the land around Boankra.
She entered a polygamous marriage with a man from Kumasi, with whom she had a daughter.
She died in exile in the Seychelles in 1921.
She was a successful farmer and mother.
She was an intellectual, a politician, human rights activist, Queen and a war leader.
Yaa Asantewaa became famous for commanding the Ashanti Kings in the War of the Golden Stool, against British colonial rule to defend and protect the sovereign independence of the Golden Stool.