Traditional Society

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Traditional Society Culture in Africa

• Global History I Spiconardi

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Stateless Societies

• Family organization is central to African society
• Many families are organized into groups called
  lineages (clans)
• Lineages ? people, both living and dead, who are
  descended from a common ancestor
• Lineages took the place of rulers in many African
  societies

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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
Turn to your partner and create a list of the
positive and negative attributes of a stateless
society.
Positives
Negatives
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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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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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Traditional Societies Griots

• Griot ? keeper of history via oral tradition in
  West Africa
• Poet, praise singer, musician
• told tales of births, deaths, marriages, battles,
  hunts, and hundreds of other folklores via song

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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.

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Traditional Societies Griots

• My master has requested that I ask you the exact
  meaning of your name Da. Is it Da Guinea hemp?
  Is it Da clay pot? Is it Da the syphilis? Is
  it Da the mouth? Is it Da the door? Is it Da do
  you sleep there? If you are a pot, Kaarta Tiema
  will break you. If you are Guinea worms he will
  harvest you in order to give you to his fishermen
  who will make nets of you. If you are syphilis,
  he will treat you with a red hot iron. If you
  are a mouth, he will rip you open to your ears.
  If you are a door, he will close you for good
  and you will never serve for any pathway. If you
  are sleeping there, he will stand you up like a
  house at the top of a hill. That's what my
  master put in my mouth with the order to spit
  right into your face.

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Religion

• Animism ? the belief that spirits are present in
  natural objects
• Many Africans believed the spirits of their
  departed ancestors were present on Earth
• Ancestral spirits would be called upon for help
  in times of need/trouble

What animals is portrayed by the apparel in the
photo?
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African Animism
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Religion

• Islam
• Spreads throughout North Africa
• Enters West Africa during the age of the trade
  empires
• West African Islam
• Many maintained traditional aspects of animistic
  religion
• Women were not veiled interacted with men in
  public
• Mosques designed in traditional architecture

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Assessment

1. In what sense were the early societies of
   Sub-Saharan Africa stateless?
2. They lacked centralized government and tax
   systems
3. They did not have an agriculturally-based economy
   
4. There were no cities or large villages where the
   majority of the population lived.
5. Provincial governors owned the majority of the
   land in their respective territories

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Assessment

1. The Islamization of sub-Saharan Africa was
   similar to the spreading of Buddhism to Japan in
   that both
2. led to the creation of a rigid class hierarchy
3. involved blending with native cultural and
   religious practices
4. were a result of extensive missionary work
5. led to tensions between aristocrats and peasants