AFRICAN ORGINS

A Huge and Diverse Land

• 2nd largest continent in the world

• 10% of the world’s population.• 2 ½ times the size of the U.S.

West Africa

• Physically, ethnically, and culturally diverse

• variety of cultures and languages• Divided labor by gender• Lived in villages composed of extended

families

Birthplace of Humanity

• Fossil and genetic evidence– Out-of-Africa model – Multiregional model

–“Eve” model–“All living people today are closely

related”

• Anthropologists discovered these fossilized bones of a female australopithecus afarenisis, nicknamed “Lucy,” in 1974 at Hadar, Ethiopia. Dated to 3.2 million years ago, Lucy’s bones are among the more famous in the world. They provide strong evidence that human origins lay in Africa.

West Africa

• Accorded semi-divine status to their kings

• Cultivated crops• Tended domesticated animals• Produced iron tools and weapons

West Africa

–Trade with North Africa•Essential part of the economy and kingdoms

Berbers

GOLDGOLD

SALTSALT

Major Focus: Gold-Salt Trade

West African Society and Culture

• Most were farmers–Villages and hamlets

• Extended families and clans–Some patrilineal, others

matrilineal • Produced cotton for clothes• Variety of crops

Types of West African Societies

There were over 800 different cultures in West Africa with different types of societies:

1.Hunter-Gather: The main form of food production consists of the collection of wild plants and hunting of wild animals.

2.Pastoral: Members in a pastoral society rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs.

Hunter-gatherer society

Pastoral

Types of West African Societies

3. Horticultural Societies: Main source of food is fruits and vegetables grown in garden plots that have been cleared from the jungle or forest.

4. Agricultural Societies: Animals are used to pull plows and till fields. Larger scale than horticultural. Creates surplus as wealth.

Horticultural Society

Agricultural Society

Class and Slavery

• Royalty:Landed nobles, warriors, peasants and

bureaucrats• Lower classes:

• Artisans and laborers: blacksmiths, butchers, tanners, and oral historians called griots

Class and Slavery

• Slavery–Common in West Africa

• More so in the savannah region than in forest areas

–Variety of forms• Not a permanent condition

Class and Slavery (cont.)

– Islamic regions• Masters responsible for slaves’

religious well-being– Non-Islamic regions’ children of slaves

• Legal rights–Not to be sold from the land

they occupied

Class and Slavery (cont.)

– Slaves in royal courts or in the armies • Owned property and often held power

over free people– Agricultural slaves

• Less fortunate–Work and privilege for second and

third generation offspring similar to free people

Religion• Islam (15th century West Africa)

• Introduced by Arab traders–More prevalent in cosmopolitan areas–The religion of merchants and bureaucrats –Fostered learning and building mosques in West

African cities

Religion (cont.)

–Indigenous religions• Strongest in forest areas

–Polytheistic and animistic–One creator God and a host of

lesser gods

Religion (cont.)

–Saw the force of God in all things»Ancestor worship, magicians,

and oracles»Ceremonies and animal

sacrifices

African People and Culture

• There are many different people and tribes in western Africa - with their culture varying from tribe to tribe. We are going to learn about one group: the Ashanti people.

Who are the Ashanti people?

• The Ashanti live in central Ghana in western Africa. They are the largest tribe in Ghana.

• In each village, the Chief and Elders maintain traditional customs and ceremonies and deal with disputes.

• The Ashanti religion is a mixture of spiritual and supernatural powers. They believe that plants, animals, and trees have souls. Does that remind you of any other culture?

• The Ashanti are known for their gold and metal crafts, woodcarving, and brightly colored woven cloth called kente.

• The Ashanti are known for their intricate kente cloth

Breakthrough Africa

• http://breakthruhour.org/videos.php

Ashanti people

An Ashanti ceremony

Art and Music

• Related to religious practices• Excelled in woodcarving and sculpture

– Wooden masks and terra-cotta figurines• Used in funerals, medical practices, and in coming-of-

age ceremonies

• Musical instruments– Drums, xylophones, bells, flutes, and mbanzas

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-HV-j3TuZo

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikxd8iNTjac&feature=related

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 some drums from Ghana:

http://www.aviarts.com/demos/flash/abadjarhythm/index.html

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

What are some popular forms of telling stories in our culture today?

Literature

• Oral histories(griots), poetry, and tales – Specially trained poets and musicians

• Served kings and nobles

– Views of common people also represented

Literature

• Prose tales–Human characters

»Tales about creation, success, romance

• Animal characters–“Trickster tales”–Entertained and taught lessons

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.

West African Culture Legacy

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmOfWJIhUro