Traditional African Society

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Traditional African Society

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1000 different languages 1000 different tribes
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Stateless Societies
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Early African Societies
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Early African Societies
Anthropologists think that the first humans lived
in East Africa. Over thousands of years, people
spread out over the continent, forming distinct
cultures and societies.
By about 2500 BC many people in these regions
practiced herding and mixed farming.
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Stateless Societies

• Stateless societies ? cultural groups in which
  authority is shared by lineages of equal power
  instead of being exercised by a central
  government no one executive ruler
• Community rule over individual rule

Usually the community that made the decisions
consisted of male family heads
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Stateless Societies

• Function of mobile population, underpopulation,
  and land as resource
• Even when dense population, there was no state
• Hunters valued over warriors
• Ideal was the large complex household with Big
  Man surrounded by 10-40 people
• Control happened laterally, not hierarchically
  (secret societies, age-grade societies, ritual
  experts as mediators)

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• What are some characteristics of a stateless
  society?
• Society divided into lineages group traces its
  collective ancestry to a common ancestor
• Authority is balanced among the various lineages
  families.
• No single group holds a majority of power.
• Operate through sharing of ideas and possessions,
  and cooperation is how they assume that society
  will operate.

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HOME
Lineages share power
Elders negotiate conflict
No centralized authority
Age-set system
continued . . .
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Characteristics of Traditional Tribal Life
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• Tribes

• a political group that comprises several bands or
  lineage groups, each with similar language and
  lifestyle and occupying a distinct territory

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Common Traits or Characteristics of Traditional
African Tribal Life

1. The good of the group comes ahead of the good of
   the individual.
2. All land is owned by the group.
3. Strong feeling of loyalty to the group.
4. Important ceremonies at different parts of a
   persons life.
5. Special age and work associations.
6. Deep respect for ancestors.
7. Religion is an important part of everyday life.
8. Government is in the hands of the chiefs kings.

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An Africans Search for Identity
1. Nuclear Family
2. Extended Family
3. Age-Set
4. Clan
5. Lineage (ancestry)
TRIBE (communal living)
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Social Structures

• Common Features
• Many societies developed village-based cultures
• At heart, extended family living in one household
• Families with common ancestors formed clans to
  which all members loyal

• Age-Sets
• In some areas, people took part in type of group
  called age-sets
• Men who had been born within same two, three
  years formed special bonds
• Men in same age-set had duty to help each other

• Specific Duties
• Loyalty to family, age-sets helped village
  members work together
• Men hunted, farmed women cared for children,
  farmed, did domestic chores
• Even very old, very young had own tasks elders
  often taught traditions to younger generations

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Structure of African Society
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Definitions

• Tribe- group of people that share language,
  customs, traditions, geographic location
• Clan- group of related families
• Extended family- parents, children, aunts,
  uncles, cousins, grandparents (common in Africa)
• Nuclear family- parents and children (not common
  in Africa )

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Kinship and Family Ties
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How people are related in traditional African
society?

• Kinship means a relationship that binds two or
  more individuals
• Blood relative
• Marriage

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What is kinship?

• Sense of being related to another person(s)
• Set by rules (sometimes laws)
• Often taken for granted as being natural rather
  than cultural
• Cultures define blood relative differently

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Kinship

• Includes relationships through blood and through
  marriage.
• Functions
• Provides continuity between generations.
• Defines a group on whom a person can rely for aid.

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Family Ties

• Farming and herding societies consisted of
  extended families
• Kinships created strong bonds and a sense of
  community

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Lineage Lines of Descent
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Matrilineal versus Patrilineal
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• Lineages
• Some societies group people in lineagesthose
  with common ancestor
• Members of a lineage have strong loyalties to one
  another
• In some African societies, lineage groups take
  the place of rulers
• These stateless societies balance power among
  lineages
• Stateless societiesno centralized system of
  power

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Lineage

• Means line of descent or family tree

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Traditional Societies Family Descent

• Matrilineal ? trace ancestors through mothers
• 20 of African societies are matrilineal today

• Patrilineal ? trace ancestors through fathers

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Inheritance and Descent
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Patriarchal Male-Dominated societyvery common
in African tribes
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Patrilineage

• Descent is traced through male lineage.
• Inheritance moves from father to son, as does
  succession to office.
• Mans position as father and husband is the most
  important source of male authority.
• Example Nuer or Sudan.

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Patrilineal Descent
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Matriarchal female Dominated societyuncommon
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Matrilineage

• Descent is traced through the female line.
• Children belong to the mothers descent group.
• The inclusion of a husband in the household is
  less important.
• Women usually have higher status.
• Example Hopi.

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Matrilineal Descent

• Found among 15 of all cultures
• Kinship is traced through the female line
• Women control land and products
• Found in the Pacific, Australia, small parts of
  Mediterranean coast
• Declining though capitalism

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Status and Roles of Women
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Status of Women
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Roles of Women

• An African woman's roles are as life bearer,
  nurturer, and source of generations.
• For an African woman in a traditional rural
  community, the chief measure of success in life
  is her ability to bear many children.
• The very existence of the family and clan depends
  on women's ability to bear children, who will
  provide security for their parents in old age and
  who will continue to nourish the spirits of the
  ancestors through sacrificial offerings.
• As a result, much African art is directed toward
  encouraging the fertility of women.
• Many shrines are devoted to spirits that provide
  the blessings of fertility, and these frequently
  contain sculpture and other objects devoted to
  the concept of fertility.

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• Marriage customs
• Many traditional African societies are polygamous
  
• Polygamy having more than one spouse
• Men may only have multiple wives if he can
  support them
• Bridewealth- payment a man gives a womans family
  before marriage (land, cattle, cloth, tools)
• Dowry- payment a womans family before marriage
  (land, cattle, cloth, tools)
• Some tribes allow divorce, some do not

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No marryd Women, after they are brought to Bed,
lie with their Husbands till three Years are
expired, if the Child lives so long, at which
Time they wean their Children, and go to Bed to
their Husbands. They say that if a Woman lies
with her Husband during the Time she has a Child
sucking at her Breast, it spoils the Childs
Milk, and makes it liable to a great many
Distempers. Nevertheless, I believe, not one
Woman in twenty stays till they wean their
Children before they lie with a Man and indeed I
have very often seen Women much censurd, and
judged to be false to their Husbands Bed, upon
Account only of their suckling Child being
ill.--F. Moore (European trader) on the River
Gambia in the 1730s, Travels into the Inland
Parts of Africa (London, 1738), pp. 132-3.
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Bride Wealth

• Part of Roles of Women

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Bride Wealth

• It has been argued that such a system commodifies
  the bride and thus dehumanizes her, but others
  also make the argument that the system defines
  her value to the marriage in a concrete way and
  that it contributes to the stability of the
  marriage, because were the marriage to end in
  divorce the "bride-wealth" must be returned to
  the groom's family, and if it has already been
  invested in "bride-wealth" for the bride's own
  brothers this can be difficult indeed.
• The "bride-wealth" creates a bond between the
  families which forces them to invest in the
  success of the marriage.
• When there is trouble between husband and wife
  the relatives on both sides intervene to find a
  solution.
• The male-female couple from the Dogon people of
  Mali represents the ideal of pairing that is
  necessary for procreation.
• The linking of the male arm around the woman's
  neck emphasizes the bond that is created by
  marriage.

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Age Grade or Set
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Traditional Societies Age-Set System

• Age-Set System ? a cohort of young people within
  a region who are born during a certain period
• Pass through life stages/rites of passage
  together
• At each life stage the age group inherits
  different responsibilities
• Boys and girls are generally separated

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Age Set

• Group of boys or girls born in the same year
• Go through rituals together
• Transition into adulthood together
• i.e. Manhood initiation
• Circumcision ceremony for boys
• Scarification- ritual markings for tribe

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The Age Grade System
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• What are some advantages of an age-set system?
• Each member can help others to pass through the
  various stages of life they can also help each
  other obtain the specific individual benchmarks
  of each stage.
• Teach discipline, community service, and
  leadership all together

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Problems of Tribalism Today
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Problems of Tribalism Today
1. The tribe is more important than the nation.
2. Communication problems.
3. Inter-tribal warfare ? civil wars.
4. Tribal favorites for government jobs
Nepotism
Breaks down tribal traditions.
Urbanization
Tribal intermingling on the job.
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Tribalism problem

• Tribalism is often a stronger force than
  nationalism.
• Political parties based on tribes
• Problem of creating nationalism artificially.

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Griots
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African Griots

• Musician, Storyteller, Tribal Historian

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Griots, pronounced "greeohs", are storytellers of
West Africa who use poetry and rhythm to teach
villagers about their history. Their home is the
territory of the Mandinke people in the country
of Mali where their tradition is alive to this
day. "Griot" is the French term for this class
of musicians the local term is jeli.
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Modern Role of the Griot

• Historian
• Genealogist
• Orator, artist, musician
• Counsellor
• Spiritual Leader

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Historical Role of the Griot

• tutored princes and gave council to kings.
• used their detailed knowledge of history to shed
  light on present-day dilemmas.
• would memorize significant events, like births,
  death, marriages, hunts, seasons and wars,
  ensuring that the collective heritage, culture
  and lineage of the clan continued.

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• Griots
• Many early societies did not develop systems of
  writing
• Maintained sense of identity, continuity through
  oral traditions
• Included stories, songs, poems, proverbs
• Task of remembering, passing on entrusted to
  storytellers, griots

• Music and Dance
• In many societies, music, dance central to many
  celebrations, rituals
• Carving, wearing of elaborate masks part of these
  rituals as well
• Early Africans excelled in sculpture, bronze as
  well as terra cotta
• Traditional music performed with variety of wind,
  stringed instruments

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West Africans have preserved their history
through storytelling and the written accounts of
visitors.
Writing was not common in West Africa. People
passed along information through oral histories,
a spoken record of past events.
West African storytellers were called griots.
They helped keep the history of their ancestors
alive for each new generation.
In addition to stories, they recited proverbs.
These were short sayings of wisdom or truth. They
were used to teach lessons to the people.
Some of the griot poems are epics that are
collected in the Dausi and the Sundiata.
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Proverbs

• Griots passed on more than stories, they also
  recited proverbs
• Proverbs are short sayings of wisdom or truth

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Griots Oral Storytelling

• Tradition passed down by storytelling
• Two forms of tales
• Human characters
• Animal characters
• Human tales dealt with creation, death, success
  love
• Animal tales focused on small creatures vs.
  larger beasts

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West African Proverbs

• It takes a village to raise a child.
• Talking doesn't fill the basket in the farm.
• Rats don't dance in the cat's doorway.

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The griot profession is inherited, passed on from
one generation to the next. Griots are very
different from the rest of society, almost a
different ethnic group. They are both feared and
respected by people in West Africa for their
wisdom and talent with words.
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Griot singer Suso is playing the kora (note his
name on the instrument).
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Traditional Societies Griots

• Father of the poor peopleHusband of beautiful
  ladiesAt whose absence the city is not
  interestingAt whose absence the people are not
  happy
• Be our motherBe our fatherProvide us with
  clothingBe the salt we need for our gravyBe the
  oil we need for our porridge
• You are our eyesYou are our mirrorYou are our
  hands and legsThat we use to walk.