Spider tales are found extensively throughout West Africa,Lee, F H. Folk Tales of All Nations. New York: Tudor publ. Co, 1930. Print, p. 15 but the Anansi tales originating from Ghana are among the best-known, as Anansi's name comes from the word in the Akan language for "spider". They later spread to the West Indies, Suriname, Sierra Leone (where they were introduced by Jamaican Maroons) and the Netherlands Antilles; also Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire.
