West African Culture

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West African Culture
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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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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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Anasi Books
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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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African People and Culture

• There are many different people and tribes in
  western Africa - with their culture varying from
  tribe to tribe.

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What is a Griot?

• A griot is a West African storyteller-musician.
  A griot doesnt just tell stories. They
  typically accompany themselves on a stringed
  instrument. They still play an important role
  todayto tell people about the past, to keep
  their history alive, and to safeguard their
  traditional culture. They sing the history of a
  tribe or family at weddings, naming ceremonies,
  and other social and religious occasions.

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Some Griot instruments

• A kora is made from a calabash, (a fruit like a
  watermelon) that has been cut in half. The front
  is made of cowskin. A traditional kora has 21
  strings, made of fishing line. The strings are
  plucked by the thumb and forefinger of each hand.
  

Click here to hear the Kora
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Balaphone

• A balaphone is similar to a xylophone, with 17-21
  wooden slats that are played with two mallets.

Click here to listen to the balaphone
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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 a djembe from Mali

Click here for videos of the Djembe
Djembe Video
Djembe Video 2
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An Ashanti ceremony
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Ashanti people
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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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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 and Mandinka
  people
• http//www.ashanti.com.au/
• http//www.africaguide.com/culture/tribes/ashanti
  .htm
• http//www.globalvolunteers.org/1main/ghana/ghana
  people.htm
• http//www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi3/3_wondr1
  .htm
• http//www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/UMS/Drummers/oraltr
  adition.html
• Gambian Griot School of Music and
  Dancehttp//home.planet.nl/verka067/African_grio
  t.html
• Example of Griot singing http//www.library.csi.c
  uny.edu/dept/history/lavender/griotimages.html