The Cultural Legacy of West Africa

1
The Cultural Legacy of West Africa

• Chapter 15

2
Words you need to know

• Genealogy an account of the line of ancestry
  within a family
• Folktale a story that is usually passed down
  orally ad becomes part of a communitys tradition
• Call and response a song style in which a
  singer or musician leads with a call and a group
  responds
• Terra-cotta a baked clay often used to make
  pottery and sculptures
• Appliqué a technique in which shaped pieces of
  fabric are attached to a background fabric to
  form a design or picture

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• Their culture is diverse
• Poems and stories to music and visual arts
• Oral traditions stories, sayings and history of
  city so not forgotten kept by a griot
• They helped preserve West Africas history and
  cultural legacy

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West African oral and written traditions

• Beliefs, values and knowledge of West Africans
  were passed from one generation to the next
• Griots record keepers of the people verbal
  artist of Mande people
• Tell stories, sing songs of praise and recite
  poems while playing a drum or stringed instrument
  skilled entertainers kept historical accounts
  and genealogies
• Every village had their own griot
• Tell the history of everyone in the village
• Could speak for hours or even days
• Passed from one griot to another
• They were trusted advisors to the king

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Folktales and proverbs

• Folktales
• Used to pass along history and to teach young
  people morals and values
• Many brought to America with slaves
• Trickster tale story of a clever animal or
  human that outsmarts others (hare)
• Brer Rabbit
• Proverbs
• Popular sayings
• Images from everyday life to express ideas or
  give advice giving wisdom and values
• every time a man dies, a library is burnt down
• Written tradition
• After Islam came to West Africa writing became
  important
• Turned ancient oral tradition into novels and
  other works

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West African music

• Important part of life
• Communicates ideas, values and feelings
• Celebrates historic events and important
  occasions
• Call and response
• Leader sings a short phrase call
• Group answer by singing short phrase response
• Used to ease burden of hard work for slaves
• Influenced gospel, jazz, blues, rock and roll,
  and rap
• Musical instruments
• Balafon wooden bars across a frame
• Ngoni small stringed wood with fishing line
• Kora harp like with 21 strings gourd and cow
  skin
• All these instruments are still used today

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Drumming

• Drummers perform during parties, religious
  meetings, and ceremonies
• Made of hollowed out logs and covered with animal
  skins
• Drummers play in ensembles or groups with
  different sizes and types of drums.
• Drumming, singing and dancing take place in a
  circular formation sometimes a call and
  response style
• Slaves brought the drumming traditions to America

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Dance

• Dance is as important as singing and drumming
• Dance during rituals and ceremonies
• Dance to educate children
• Seek help from spirits
• To connect with dead ancestors
• Movements reflect conditions live in
• Forest people look like they are moving through
  forest undergrowth
• Sometimes wear masks to represent spirits of
  traditional West African religion

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West African visual arts

• Fabrics and basket for everyday
• Masks and sculptures for rituals and ceremonies
• Sculpture
• Used to honor leaders
• Nok sculptures were made of terra-cotta narrow
  heads, unusual hair styles and dramatic
  expressions
• Yoruba made sculptures of terra-cotta and later
  bronze and copper
• By 16th century making elaborate plaques showing
  kings power and authority
• Masks
• Wooden masks worn during ceremonies and in sacred
  rites
• Used to bring spirits of gods and ancestors into
  the present
• Are detailed and expressive
• Influenced Spanish painter Pablo Picasso

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Textiles and everyday objects

• Stamped fabrics, story fabrics, kente cloth
• Use stamps to fill in squares with patterns
• Represent proverbs, historical figures, objects,
  plants or animals
• Story fabrics depict events (kings hunting lions)
• Made appliqués attached to background pieces to
  make designs or pictures
• Famous for kente cloth narrow strips of silk or
  simple fabrics with symbolic meanings that
  reflect history, values or beliefs
• Everyday objects
• Ceramic storage containers, utensils, furniture
  and baskets
• Used coil method for basket made tight so can
  hold water
• Still made today

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Summary

• Cultural achievements of West Africans still
  influence today
• Griots helped to preserve history and culture of
  West Africa
• Folktales and proverbs part of oral tradition
• Muslim scholars added written tradition
• Call and response
• Traditional drumming, instruments and dance
• Visual arts sculpture, masks, textiles, and
  everyday objects
• Music and art vital in West African life