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Explore traditional African life, roles of women, forced marriages, ancestral beliefs, and kinship ties. Learn how societies unite, make decisions, and cherish cultural practices. Discover the resilience and heritage of indigenous African communities.
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Pre-Class • Africa’s Child • How are girls viewed in some parts of Africa? • What are the consequences of forced marriage? • How is forced marriage connected to tradition? • What steps have been taken to protect girls in some parts of Africa? • In your opinion, what else can be done to protect girls in some parts of Africa?
1. What holds society together? • Family Loyalty Clip
2. Family of hunting and gathering societies? • Groups of nuclear families
3. Families of farming and herding societies? • Extended families • Worked as an economic unit for survival • Families may work together on large projects
4. What unites people beyond extended family? Why? • Ties of kinship • Sharing lineage created bonds of loyalty and responsibility
5. Define • Lineage: • a group of distant relatives who trace their descent to a common ancestor • Clan: • several lineages form a clan- shared duties and obligation toward one another • Tribe like ethnicity
6. Where did most people live? • Small villages • Some villages linked together as a part of a larger government connected to empires • Tribal not as part of an empire
Zulu Benin
7. Who made decisions that affected daily life? • Village leaders • Council of elders • Village elders
8. In many areas how were decisions for village and issues of justice decided? • Full public discussions • Goal was to reach a consensus(Common agreement) • Community over individual • Trial by Oil 3:06
9. Define Subsistence Farming • Subsistence Farming: produce enough for own needs with little or no surplus
10. What varied according to environment? Examples • Methods of farming • Examples: forest: slash and burn savanna: crop rotation
11. How did people view the land in farming societies? • Communal property • no ownership but family had the right to use their fair share
12. What determined wealth in herding societies? • Number of cattle
13. Why were women seen as important in traditional society? • Contributed to economic well being of family • Worked the fields & took surplus to market • Respected • had children, educated
14. Describe the status of women. • Varies- • some high status & leaders • Wolof, Ashanti • Some women owned land and ruled the home • Patriarchal: others had no power and were dominated by men
15. Define • Polygamy • practice of having more than one spouse • Polygyny – One husband and multiple wives - most common • Polyandry – One wife and multiple husbands • Bride wealth • gift to bride’s family to recognize importance/respect of women
16. Explain the two types of traditions that govern inheritance & descent • Matrilineal • female lineage • Akan: Ghana - Ashanti • Patrilineal • male lineage
17. What is the age-grade system? • All boys and girls born in the same year • Helps develop loyalty • To learn values of society • Rites of passage page 89
18. What purpose does religion serve? • As elsewhere helps unite a society • Deals with origins, morality, right and wrong
19. Describe traditional African Beliefs/ Indigenous beliefs? • Indigenous beliefs: • original or local • Oral traditions – griot – Storytelling • Every human culture in the world seems to create stories (narratives) as a way of making sense of the world. • West African Story teller • series of stories from Africa by Zinse Africa's Number One storyteller
Griot Hereditary
Griot Burial chamber for griots. This practice was widespread. The special status of griots in society extended to their burials. Feared and respected for the manner in which they could affect destinies, griots were not buried in the earth lest they render it infertile. This is how it became known as "The Tree of Life". Baobab trees grow in 32 African countries. ... Baobab trees can provide shelter, food and water for animals and humans, which is why many savannah communities have made their homes near Baobab trees.
19. Describe traditional African Beliefs/ Indigenous beliefs? • Somewhat Monotheistic- • single supreme being that created the world with lesser gods and spirits for daily life • Ancestor veneration: • ancestors can help or hurt the living
African Religion Supreme Being Lesser Gods Ancestors Humans Medicine & Magic (Spirits)
20. Define Animism • Belief that spirits live in the natural world • belief systems that helped them understand and organize information about their world. • May play a role in daily life • Supports close ties with nature
Traditional African Religion ANIMISM 1. Belief in one remote Supreme Being. 2. A world of spirits (good & bad) in all things. 3. Ancestor veneration. 4. Belief in magic, charms, and fetishes. 5. Diviner mediator between the tribe and God.
21. What is the purpose of a Diviner and Healer? • Diviner (p.91) • To explain the cause of misfortune • Link between people and the spirits • Healer • Seek cause of illness • Herbal medicines
22. What major religions exist in Africa? • Islam • Christianity • Judaism • Hinduism
