Ghanaian prince visits St. Thomas to reconnect with Caribbean kin after 44 years apart

Nearly 150 people gathered at the University of the Virgin Islands on Tuesday to explore the African heritage of the local Canton family, with the arrival of Prince Nashiru Kanton, a 44-year-old lawyer from Ghana's Upper West Region.

The event marked the culmination of a journey that began in 1982, when former Senate President Myron D. Jackson decided to trace his ancestry following his father Hugo D. Jackson's death. Jackson recalled asking his father's spirit for guidance to the African continent. That same year, while travelling for the Government to Egypt and then Ghana, Jackson encountered Mary Kanton in Kumasi, who recognised his connection to the northern region and directed him to Tumu.

There, Jackson met paramount chief Kuoro Alhaji Yakubu Luriwie Kanton IV, the prince's father, along with other members of the royal family. The prince was only one month old at that time. Jackson has made five subsequent trips to Ghana, including visits in 2020 for a naming ceremony, in 2021 for traditional funeral rites, and again in 2026.

Kanton holds qualifications as a lawyer, solicitor and barrister of Ghana's Supreme Court and has worked in sustainability, agriculture, teaching and community development. At Tuesday's gathering, he traced his family's lineage through his grandfather Kuoro Wogorie Kanton II and great-grandfather Mimaga Wogorie, explaining the origins of the clan's totem symbol.

According to Kanton, the totem came from a 16th-century event when a crow dropped a branch onto the chest of clan head Kputa-baga bein, enabling the family to reach safety. He shared the family's belief that an ancestor known as Kanton I may have been among those forcibly taken into slavery. "Some people were forcefully caught and taken into slavery. The people of Tumu would resist any attempt to raid our people," Kanton said. "It is our strong belief that Kanton I is one of the people who may have been captured."

This ancestor may have fathered three brothers who eventually settled in the Dominican Republic before moving to St. Croix, St. Thomas and Tortola, establishing the Caribbean Canton family line.

Family members from St. Thomas, St. Croix, Chicago, New York and Ghana attended, along with English and geography students. Jackson has since helped construct a well in Tumu, while twin brothers Calvin and Cecil Canton assisted in building classrooms at a school there.

Kanton, who is married to a professional midwife and has four children, is a master drummer and practising Muslim. During his six-day visit, he attended dinners, lunches, church services, a beach gathering and a tour of St. John. A farewell event was scheduled for Wednesday at Peterson Yard.

Kanton expressed optimism about the visit's potential impact. "This reciprocal visit by me undoubtedly further opens the doors for many other Cantons to return to their roots," he said. "Beyond the return, only heaven knows the potential implications for both family units living on opposite sides of the ocean."

He hopes the reconnection will create opportunities for trade, agriculture, education and tourism between the Virgin Islands and Tumu, including the possibility of nurses and teachers from Ghana filling local vacancies and the development of sister city relationships.