African Society and Culture

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African Society and Culture

• Global Studies I
• Mrs. Ledford

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Aspects of African Society

• Role of women
• subordinate to men in Africa, but valued because
  of the work they could do and for having children
  
• often worked in the fields, while men tended the
  cattle or hunted
• often allowed to inherit property
• husband was often expected to move into his
  wifes house upon marriage
• Some societies were matrilineal (societies in
  which descent is traced through the mother).

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Aspects of African Society

• Education
• Both boys and girls were raised by their mothers
  until they were six years old.
• learned language, songs, and family history
• At six, fathers took control of their sons
  education.
• learned to hunt and fish, to grow plants, and to
  clear fields
• Girls continued to learn from their mothers.
• Learned to take care of the home and work in the
  fields

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Aspects of African Society

• Slavery in Africa
• practiced from ancient times
• people captured in war, debtors, and criminals
• Many were trusted servants or were respected
  because of their special knowledge or talents.
• Life was difficult for most slaves.
• Those who worked on farmlands had hard, long
  hours. Those who worked as soldiers were
  sometimes better off. Slaves who worked as
  domestic servants usually had the best lives.

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Religious Beliefs in Africa

• Role of ancestors
• Ancestors were believed to be closer to the gods
  and to have the power to influence the lives of
  their descendants.
• Ceremonies dedicated to ancestors were important
  rituals.
• Ancestral souls would live on in the afterlife as
  long as the lineage group (a community whose
  members trace their heritage from a common
  ancestor) continued to perform rituals in their
  names
• Religious Conflict
• Islam rejected spirit worship and insisted on the
  separation of men and women.

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African Culture

• Religious Purposes
• African art forms
• represented gods, spirits, or ancestral figures
• Dances
• a means of communicating with the spirits
• African songs
• passed religious traditions from generation to
  generation