West African Culture

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West African Culture
Powerpoint presentation created by Sally
Horowitz Library Media Specialist Northside
Elementary Midway, KY
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Why study West Africa?

• In exchange for guns and other European goods,
  West Africans sold slaves, usually either
  captured in war or accepted as tribute from
  conquered peoples.
• The slave trade displaced millions of Africans
  from their native lands. Uprooted from their
  societies, the Africans brought with them their
  family values, beliefs, traditions, and religious
  practices.

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Where is West Africa?

• West Africa is the region of western Africa that
  includes the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso,
  Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana,
  Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger,
  Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
• It is on what is known as the Bulge of Africa.

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Regional Overview
(Click for movie)
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African People and Culture

• There are many different people and tribes in
  western Africa - with their culture varying from
  tribe to tribe. We are going to learn about one
  group the Ashanti people.

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Who are the Ashanti people?

• The Ashanti live in central Ghana in western
  Africa. They are the largest tribe in Ghana.
• In each village, the Chief and Elders maintain
  traditional customs and ceremonies and deal with
  disputes.
• The Ashanti religion is a mixture of spiritual
  and supernatural powers. They believe that
  plants, animals, and trees have souls. Does that
  remind you of any other culture?
• The Ashanti are known for their gold and metal
  crafts, woodcarving, and brightly colored woven
  cloth called kente.

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• The Ashanti are known for their intricate kente
  cloth

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• Ashanti

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An Ashanti ceremony
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Ashanti people
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African Drums

• Drums are used for sending messages to the people
  in town, for ceremonies such as weddings or
  naming ceremonies, and even for healing sick
  people.
• There are many different kinds of drums. Here
  is an example of some drums from Ghana

http//www.aviarts.com/demos/flash/abadjarhythm/in
dex.html
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Why do people tell stories?

• Every human culture in the world has created
  stories as a way of making sense of the world.

• Sharing the human experience - to express or
  communicate emotion, feelings, ideas, and
  information.

• Passing on tradition and culture - (e.g.,
  storytelling, folktales, myths and legends)

• Recreational drama for entertainment

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What are some popular forms of telling stories in
our culture today?

• Books
• Movies
• Television shows
• Plays
• Broadway musicals
• YouTube videos
• Magazines

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West African Storytelling

• Africans love a good story and a good
  storyteller. They are primarily an oral people
  (their stories are not written down, but told
  verbally), and are often created to be performed
  with music and dance.
• Histories and stories of a people that come to us
  in a spoken and sung form are part of what is
  called an oral tradition. Oral tradition means
  that the stories are told rather than written
  down.
• Because people hold the oral tradition in their
  memory, sometimes the story changes with the
  telling. Have you ever played telephone?

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African Storytelling
(Click for movie)
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Who is Ananse?

• Ananse (also spelled Anansi) is one of the most
  popular characters in West African storytelling.
• He is a trickster. Trickster tales use animal
  characters with human features to help us
  understand human nature.

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Bibliography

• Background downloaded from Backgrounds
  Etc.http//www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/4842
  /africa.html
• An introduction by Professor Cora Agatucci to the
  nature of storytelling in Africa
  http//web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/afrst
  ory.htm
• Map and article on West Africa from Wikipedia
  free encyclopediahttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes
  t_Africa
• African and African-American Folktales. United
  Learning (1993). Retrieved February 26, 2007,
  from Unitedstreaming http//www.unitedstreaming.c
  om
• Anansi image http//www.anansi.org/webwalker/intr
  o.html
• Regional overview of West Africa World
  Geography Africa. Discovery Channel School
  (2004). Retrieved February 26, 2007, from
  Unitedstreaming http//www.unitedstreaming.com
• Information about the Ashanti people
• http//www.ashanti.com.au/
• http//www.africaguide.com/culture/tribes/ashanti
  .htm
• http//www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi3/3_wondr1
  .htm
• http//www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/UMS/Drummers/oraltr
  adition.html