CULTURE, CONFLICT, AND CHANGE

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CULTURE, CONFLICT, AND CHANGE

• CHAPTER 6

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• There are two important factors that have
  contributed to the ethnic conflicts of
  Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The cultural values that existed in pre-colonial
  Africa, and,
• The infiltration of European culture.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Almost every major problem in Sub-Saharan Africa,
  be it war, ethnic conflicts, land disputes,
  breakdown in the family, bribery and corruption
  in government, can be traced back to these two
  factors.
• Cultural Geographers do study culture as it
  relates to physical and human landscapes.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• They also look at the spatial variations that
  come as a result of human behavior and activity.
• In studying peoples cultures, there are certain
  aspects that are evaluated.
• The peoples ways of life i.e. how they dress
  (the clothes they wear).
• Their meals (what do they eat?)

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Their customary habits
• Their beliefs (what kind of gods they belief in
  and worship)
• Their speech patterns and value systems.
• Geographers also examine how these cultural
  traits manifest themselves in the physical
  landscape.
• An example is how homes are arranged in a
  traditional family compound.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• These traits could be inherent in a patrilineal
  or matrilineal nature.
• Patrilineal is tracing ones descent through the
  paternal or father side of your family.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Matrilineal tracing once descent through the
  maternal or mother side of the family.
• Another important aspect of culture is the
  spatial patterns of crops produced.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• This cannot be explained solely by climate, but
  could be based on food preferences, taboos (based
  on religious beliefs) that in turn affect farming
  practices.
• All of these factors influence crop production or
  the choice of the crops to be produced.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Farming practices are influenced by a number of
  factors as well.
• The system of land ownership
• Land tenure which are accepted arrangements
  regarding land acquisition and use.
• All of these activities leave an imprint on the
  landscape.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Such an imprint is exploited by archeologists at
  some future date to learn how the people in that
  local lived at one point.
• In most patrilineal and matrilineal societies the
  landscape always often portrays the impact of
  cumulative successive occupation.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• How your g, g, g, grandfather lived to how you
  live today and your children in the future.
• In cultural geography this successive occupation
  of a piece of land is known as Sequent Occupant.
• In a broader sense Sequent Occupant refers to a
  succession of stages in the human occupancy of an
  area.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• As a result, the cultural landscape would include
  and not limited to
• Sounds, smells, attitudes and tastes and all the
  visual elements that reflect that culture.
• Matrilineal and Patrilineal societies operate in
  an interesting way.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• In a matrilineal society people trace their
  family tree through their mothers side of the
  family.
• In such a society FAMILY inheritance is by ones
  sisters son.
• The reason for this is to let the family wealth
  remain within the family blood line. (Explain).

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MATRILINEAL INHERITANCE
FAMILY B
FAMILY A
FAMILY C
DAUGHTER WIFE
SON HUSBAND
DAUGHTER WIFE
DAUGHTER WIFE
SON HUSBAND
SON HUSBAND
CHILDREN
CHILDREN
INHERITANCE
DAUGHTER
SON
DAUGHTER
SON
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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Cultural Geographers sometimes incorporate the
  term cultural integration into their analysis.
• They try to identify the functional relationships
  that exist between cultural traits.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• For example - relationship between land ownership
  and an ancestral spirit.
• The believe in ancestral spirits is common in
  African beliefs.
• The people believe that ancestral spirits are
  capable of giving you a healthy harvest and it
  can curse you if your activities are unacceptable
  to the spirits.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• So cultural geographers do not ignore these kinds
  of relationships.
• In cultural geography there is what is known as a
  cultural region or culture area.
• Cultural region is a unit of geographic space
  occupied by people with one or more common
  cultural traits.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• In countries like the DRC (Zaire), Zambia and
  Mozambique, these culture regions are defined
  based on multiple related traits such as
  religion, language and social organization.
• Cultures do not exist in isolation.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• They interact with other cultures and the
  physical environment.
• Those geographers who study such
  interrelationships are known as cultural
  ecologists.
• What are resources?
• Resources are naturally occurring substances in
  the natural environment.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Natural resources are culturally appraised.
• This means that each culture evaluates natural
  resources differently.
• What one culture might think of as a natural
  resource might not be considered a resource by
  another culture.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Example
• Green Grasshoppers are a delicacy in some African
  tribes.
• However, in some countries Grasshoppers can be a
  nuisance.
• ln Taiwan dogs are a delicacy, but in the United
  States, dogs are mans best friend.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Taiwan/USA/INDIA COWS AND DOGS.
• The relationship between cultures and the
  physical environment has been a topic of intense
  research.
• Some geographers believe that the physical
  environment climate and terrain to be specific
  determines cultural development.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• It is also assumed that culture is the product of
  the natural environment and that similar
  environmental circumstances will produce similar
  cultures.
• This view point is known as Environmental
  Determinism which has been used as basis for
  explaining underdevelopment in Africa.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• It has been said that the inhibition of
  technological advancement in Africa is as a
  result of warm climates, abundant wildlife and
  naturally occurring foods.
• Alternatively, the extreme of climates in North
  America and other high latitude areas has led to
  technological advancement.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• In contrast to Environmental Determinism is
  Possibilism.
• Possibilism proposes that humans not the physical
  environment are primary determinants of cultural
  development.
• So culture changes might result from the
  improvement in technology or through interaction
  with other cultures.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Cultural Diffusion
• This is the spread or the movement of a phenomena
  or innovation over space and through time.
• The diffusion of culture in Africa can be placed
  in three categories generally known as the Triple
  Heritage Traditional African, Muslim, and
  European Influence.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Cultural Hearths
• These are source areas of innovations of a
  culture Origin of a culture.
• Most areas in history where civilization started
  are cultural hearths.
• Examples Nile valley, Tigris and Euphrates,
  Indus river valley, Huang He.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• In Africa we mentioned the diffusion of
  innovation from the ancient Kingdoms of the Kush,
  Nubia, Axum to the Medieval Kingdoms of the
  Savanna regions.
• The principal religions of Islam and Christianity
  spread throughout Africa through the process of
  diffusion from their hearths in the Middle East
  or Europe to their present location.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Expansion or Expansive Diffusion
• This is the process of transferring innovation
  from one place to another in the same neighboring
  location or decision points.
• In expansion diffusion the phenomena being
  diffused remains and the number of people using
  such a phenomena increases.

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EXPANSION LOCATION
Population
Language Hearth
Population
Population
Population
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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• There are two forms of expansion diffusion.
• Contagious which is an innovation that occurs as
  a result of personal contact.
• The spread of a contagious disease is a good
  example.
• AIDS/SARS is a good example of contagious
  diffusion.

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CONTAGIOUS EXPANSION
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CONTAGIOUS EXPANSION
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CONTAGIOUS EXPANSION
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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Relocation Diffusion
• This is similar to expansion diffusion but the
  original location is evacuated as the innovation
  moves or relocates to new locations.
• The Bantu migrations and language innovations are
  good examples of relocation diffusion.

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RELOCATION DIFFUSION
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RELOCATION DIFFUSION
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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Hierarchical Diffusion
• Involves the diffusion of information in a
  hierarchical manner either upward or downward
  Corporate gossips (Layoffs).
• The acceptance of an innovation decreases, in
  some cases with distance from the source area
  (Hearth).

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• The areas located close to the hearth usually
  accept the innovation earlier and more thoroughly
  than distant areas (distance decay).
• As a result, time and distance impacts diffusion.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• This is known as the Time Distance Decay.
• The diffusion of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa is a
  good example as the impact decreases with
  distance from the hearth area (Middle East).

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Obstacles to Cultural Diffusion
• Cultural diffusion process can be inhibited or
  even retarded by Diffusion Barriers.
• Contemporary means of communications have
  eliminated some of these barriers.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Distance and Space is now being talked of in
  terms of time which has minimized diffusion
  barriers.
• This is now known as Time Space Convergence.
• In the past, barriers to diffusion were created
  by the physical landscapes, mountains, oceans,
  rivers and valleys.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Even with the innovation in communication Air
  travel, water travel, internet, telephone, there
  are still certain places on our planet that are
  completely isolated from the outside world.
• The Khoisans and the Pygmies of the Congo Basin
  and the Bushmen of the Kalahari are examples.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• Political institutions have also in a way
  hindered cultural diffusion and advancement.
• The previous Apartheid regime in South Africa had
  a detrimental effect on the majority of blacks in
  south Africa.
• They were isolated and placed in homelands.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• In Africa today cultures are blending with
  certain aspects of African Customs and
  Traditions.
• A complete assimilation or acculturation is
  absent.

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CULTURE, CONFLICT AND CHANGE

• In many parts of Africa, Pidgin English An
  African Lingua Franca - is a blend of English and
  African local languages.
• African dance forms and instruments have been
  modified to include African as well as western.

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ELEMENTS OF AFRICAN CULTURE
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Elements of African Culture

• Elements of African Culture
• It has been difficult to identify an authentic
  African culture because of the diffusion of
  European and Middle Eastern cultures.

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Elements of African Culture

• There is wide disparity in African Culture
  despite cultural unity in the aspects of ethnic
  linguistic and religious activities.

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Elements of African Culture

• An example is how Africans view their
  relationship with nature as opposed to some parts
  of the world.
• Africans believe that spiritual forces do
  manifest themselves everywhere in the environment.

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Elements of African Culture

• Major elements of the physical environment such
  as mountains, lakes rocks or rivers are
  associated with gods and spirits (Pantheism).
• Pantheism is a doctrine that equates god with
  forces of the universe.

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Elements of African Culture

• Sometimes misfortune or good fortune is
  associated with the wrath or generosity of these
  gods.
• In the African society the religious landscape is
  varied.
• The landscape is punctuated with shrines where
  traditional religious worship take place.

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Elements of African Culture

• There are also Christian Churches and Mosques.
• The oldest religion in Sub-Saharan Africa is
  Christianity where it existed in Ethiopia around
  the 4th Century A.D. After the baptism of the
  Ethiopian Eunuch by Phillip (See Acts 827)

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Elements of African Culture

• Christianity has flourished in Ethiopia in the
  form of the Coptic Church.
• The Coptic church served as a diffusion barrier
  to the spread of Islam
• to the south.
• Islam came to Africa after the death of Mohammad
  in 632 AD.

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Elements of African Culture

• Christianity in Africa is associated with
  Colonialism.
• The Europeans on arrival in Africa educated the
  people in the 3Gs.
• Gold, God and Glory but their main emphasis was
  on God.

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Elements of African Culture

• God was for the natives, Gold for the Europeans,
  and all of this done for the Greater Glory of
  Europe The Crown.
• Christianity in Africa is made up of many
  different denominations.
• Sometimes some of the denominations crash with
  each other.

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Elements of African Culture

• In Africa religious organizations include
  Catholics, Protestants such as Methodists,
  Presbyterians, Baptists Seventh Day Adventist,
  Pentecostal and a large amount of independent
  churches.
• The way the churches are built resemble or mimic
  European style architecture.

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Elements of African Culture

• Characteristics of these churches are the Phallic
  symbols that characterizes Male Domination.
• These models are in concrete or gothic.
• Church decorations have been Africanized as well
  as ways of worship.

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PHALLIC SYMBOL
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OUR NATIONS PHALLIC SYMBOL
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PHALLIC SYMBOL
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PHALLIC SYMBOLS
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Mares Favorite ride
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Phallic Symbol, Wat Po, Bangkok
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Elements of African Culture

• In Cameroon and Uganda carvings have been
  substituted for church decorations.
• During service there is a great deal of drumming
  and dancing.
• In Catholic churches, church bells have been
  substituted with drums.

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Elements of African Culture

• Independent churches are different in that they
  are a fusion of more than one form of worship
  (syncretistic) a combination of different forms
  of beliefs.
• Some of these independent churches permit
  polygamy, most of them use the bible and teach
  the Christian doctrine.

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Elements of African Culture

• Many are founded around a prophetic figure
  (somebody they belief was a prophet or is a
  prophet).
• Many of these independent churches stress faith
  healing and baptism by immersion.

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RELIGIONS
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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Islam
• A dominant religion in northern Africa and
  located to the northern sections of most West
  African Nations.
• Islam has diffused to many large cities and towns
  in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Evidence of this religion is spread over the
  landscape in the form of mosques and minarets.
• A minaret is a small slender tower which is
  attached to a mosque.
• A minaret resembles a Phallic Symbol.

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A MOSQUE IN DJENNE MALI WEST AFRICA
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MINARET IN IRAQ
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GIRALDA TOWER
KUTUBIYYAA MINARET
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Minaret and Fountain of IbnTulun Mosque - Egypt
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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• In most of Africa, the type of Muslim religion is
  Sunni and the Koran is used as the only truthful
  word of Allah (God).
• Traditional African Religions
• Very common in both large cities and towns and
  villages throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• In African Traditional religions, deities and
  Ancestral spirits are honored in Sacrificial
  Ceremonies.
• Most of the worshiping occurs in Shrines where it
  is believed that the deities or ancestral spirits
  exist.

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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• (Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe).
• These spirits and ancestors are represented by
  carvings such as stools or animals or human
  figures or sculptures.
• These goods are placed in some kind of hierarchy
  from the highest to the lowest and are termed
  (Spiritual Beings).

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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• A prominent activity with such a religion is
  Divination and fortune telling.
• Priest in such religious settings do expose those
  who are actively involved in witchcraft.

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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• They also claim to have powers to protect people
  from being cursed by witches and wizards and can
  cure people who have been bewitched.

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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• The activities of witches have been characterized
  as having the capability of leaving their bodies
  under the cover of darkness to inflict pain and
  suffering on their victims.

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Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

• This might lead to sickness and eventual death.
• Most activities of these Sorcerers are to invoke
  the spirits to neutralize the impact of
  witchcraft on their victims.

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KINSHIP
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KINSHIP

• An African family consist of a husband, wife or
  wives and Children.
• The family goal is to work together in the
  maintenance of the household.
• This can be termed an economic unit and it is the
  simplest form of the African Family.

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KINSHIP

• Quite frequently the family includes several
  other members usually called the (Extended
  Family).
• All of these family members have ties to the main
  family.
• So kinship in its simplest terms in sub-Saharan
  Africa relates to family ties or relations both
  dead and alive.

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KINSHIP

• As if the simple family form is not complicated
  enough, there is the bilateral kinship system.
• In this system, family descent is traced through
  both the mother and father side of the family.

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KINSHIP

• In a unilineal system, family lines are traced
  through either mother or father side of the
  family.

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KINSHIP

• In north America, the bilateral system is used to
  trace family ties.
• In Africa, the unilineal system is common in
  which kinship is either traced through the line
  of male parent (Patriliny) or female parent
  (Matriliny).

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KINSHIP

• In a patrilineal society lines of descent and
  authority are linked to husband or father.
• The wife is gradually incorporated into her
  husbands descent group.
• Examples are the Masai and Kikuyu in Kenya,
  Yoruba in Nigeria and Ganda of Uganda.

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KINSHIP

• In such a case wife and husband become like
  brother and sister.
• Matriliny or matrilineal relationship which is
  descent through mother side is also common.
• In matrilineal societies the link to father side
  of the family is secondary and inheritance
  through the father side is secondary as well.

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MATRILINEAL INHERITANCE
FAMILY B
FAMILY A
FAMILY C
DAUGHTER WIFE
SON HUSBAND
DAUGHTER WIFE
DAUGHTER WIFE
SON HUSBAND
SON HUSBAND
CHILDREN
CHILDREN
INHERITANCE
DAUGHTER
SON
DAUGHTER
SON
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PATRILINEAL INHERITANCE
FAMILY B
FAMILY A
FAMILY C
DAUGHTER WIFE
SON HUSBAND
DAUGHTER WIFE
DAUGHTER WIFE
SON HUSBAND
SON HUSBAND
CHILDREN
CHILDREN
INHERITANCE
DAUGHTER
SON
DAUGHTER
SON
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KINSHIP

• In addition to the types of kinship already
  mentioned is Patrilocality and Matrilocality.
• After marriage a woman leaves her home and family
  to live NEAR her husbands family.
• This is called Patrilocality.

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KINSHIP

• In Matrilocality, it is the husband that moves,
  his wife still living with her relatives.
• The groom leaves his family to live with or near
  the wifes matrikin.

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KINSHIP

• After several years of the husband living and
  providing for his wife and children he may
  request permission to move to his maternal
  uncles village to establish residency there.
• The practice is known as Avunculocality.

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AVUNCOLOCALITY
Maternal Uncles Location
Before Marriage Husband of wife
Moves to new location
Husband moves to Maternal Uncles
Husband or wifes family
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KINSHIP

• As mentioned earlier, Marriage in Africa is not
  only a union between a man and a woman or women
  (Husband and Wife/wives) but a Union of two
  extended families.
• Marriage becomes a contract which calls for the
  transfer of goods or money or both.

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KINSHIP

• This transfer in most cases is from the
  bridegrooms family to the brides.
• This is contrary to western beliefs that women
  are sold.
• This transfer of wealth is a recompense to the
  brides family for the loss of the services of
  their daughter.

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KINSHIP

• It could also be a validation of the legality of
  the marriage or a gift to seal this contract.
• It could also be a goodwill gesture on behalf of
  the bridegrooms family to the brides family for
  their ability to bringing up his bride.

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KINSHIP

• In some cases, if the amount is not satisfactory
  to the bride and her family, the bride might give
  her husband-to-be a hard time.
• The brides price/wealth as it is called could
  assumes various forms.
• Firewood, Palm Wine, Cattle and Sheep or goats,
  Some money, food stuff etc. or all of the above.

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KINSHIP

• Dowry is usually paid by the brides family to
  the family of the bridegroom.
• The price differs with the various cultures and
  wealth.
• It varies from very little to very expensive
  depending on how wealthy the girls family is.
  (India a very good example).

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KINSHIP

• In some tribes there is no time limit as to when
  these gifts are going to end.
• The bridegrooms family continues to bring the
  gifts until the brides family indicates that
  they have had enough.
• It is important to note that paying bride price
  is an ongoing process.

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KINSHIP

• Polygamy is a permitted form of marriage accepted
  both traditionally and Legally.
• However, some jealousies could occur when one of
  the wives is barren.La Vie est Belle.
• In many cases there are more advantages than
  disadvantages.
• Some benefits of Polygamy are

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KINSHIP

• The sick are always attended to
• Orphaned children are often taken care of.
• Single parenting is not a problem
• Prostitution is rare
• Divorces are infrequent and when they are
  unavoidable they can be granted for a number of
  reasons such as

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KINSHIP

• Adultery
• Barrenness
• Unharmonious relationship with a mother-in-law
• Impotence (a case in which a women can seek a
  divorce)

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KINSHIP

• Divorce is only granted when attempts at
  counseling and family intervention has failed.
• Because in these kinds of settings the girl is
  absorbed into her husbands family, if there is a
  problem with the marriage and the wife happens to
  run away, she runs to the house of her in-laws
  her husbands father and mother.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY
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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• The geography of languages in Sub-Saharan Africa
  is intriguing.
• It is estimated that more than 1,000 languages
  are spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Most of these languages do not have a written
  tradition.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• About 40 of these languages are spoken by more
  than 1 million people.
• There are 4 major language families that have
  been identified by linguists for Sub-Saharan
  Africa.
• Niger Kordofanian
• Nilo-Saharan
• Khoisan
• Afro-Asiatic

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• The Niger-Kordofanian is the largest language
  family group in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• It falls within two distinct categories
• Kordofanian
• Niger-Congo
• The Kordofanian is spoken by a small group in the
  Nuba hills of the Sudan.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• It consists of about 20 languages.
• The Niger-Congo is spoken by more than 150
  million people.
• The spatial extent of this group is more than ½
  of Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Within the Niger-Congo language family the Bantu
  Sub-family constitute the largest.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• This sub-group stretches through the equatorial
  region to South Africa.
• The origins of the Bantu language has been traced
  to the southeast margins of the Congo rainforest.
• Other linguistic studies suggest a linkage to the
  West African forest and savanna regions.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• About 10 million people speak the subfamily Bantu
  language.
• Among the Bantu language subfamily are
• Lingala spoken in the Congo,
• Swahili spoken in East Africa,
• Bemba spoken in Zambia, and
• Luba spoken in The Democratic Republic of the
  Congo (Zaire).

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• The Nilo-Saharan stretches from the Songhai area
  in West Africa to East Africa.
• The Khoisan family group is confined to the
  Kalahari desert region.
• Prominent within this group are
• the Bushmen,
• the Nama and
• the Hottentots.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• The Afro-Asiatic (Semitic-Hamitic) is found
  around Mauritania and the Horn of Africa.
• Languages of non-African origin are the
  Malay-Polynesian family group that was introduced
  in Madagascar about 2,000 years ago.
• The Afrikaans introduced by the Dutch in 1602.

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LANGUAGES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• It is of the Indo-European origin and was
  introduced by the Boers when they arrived South
  Africa.
• In East Africa, Swahili is a Lingua Franca.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• In West Africa, Hausa is a Lingua Franca and
  spoken by more than 50 million of the population.
• The most common language spoken in Sub-Saharan
  Africa is Pidgin English.

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LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

• Pidgin English is a mixture of European and
  African Languages.
• In Cameroon, there are about 276 different
  languages and therefore the people use Pidgin
  English to communicate as a lingua-franca.

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LAND TENURE
124
LAND TENURE

• Land Tenure constitutes the rights and
  obligations that make up relationship between
  human customs land and society.
• Land Tenure can be considered as a set of
  prescribed customary or procedural rules
  concerning peoples rights to land including the
  institutions that administer these rights be it
  social or political.

125
LAND TENURE

• Land tenure in Africa is broken into different
  categories depending on use.
• There are at least 5 main categories
• Family Land
• Communal Land
• Stool Land
• State Land
• Individual Land

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LAND TENURE

• Family Land
• This is land that is passed down through the
  lineage.
• It could be passed down through either the
  matrilineal or patrilineal lineage.
• The rights to this land is jointly held by a
  number of heirs (Brothers).

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LAND TENURE

• The heirs have a right to this piece of land and
  is not sold to the heirs.
• However, with the very high demand for land some
  family members have sold family land without
  consulting other heirs.
• This has also led to excessive land fragmentation
  which is becoming a major problem.

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LAND TENURE

• Fragmentation has led to congestion in villages.
• Fragmentation occurs because of population
  expansion.
• Another problem is the iniquities associated with
  matrilineal inheritance.
• Communal Land
• This land is owned by a following either a
  lineage, Village or Community (Park Land)

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LAND TENURE

• Each of the members of the society has as much
  right to this land.
• There is no landless class and selling the land
  is prohibited.
• The village head or clan head is the sole person
  with the responsibilities and jurisdiction over
  the land.

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LAND TENURE

• Stool Land
• This is land held by the king, chief or skin in
  trust for the people.
• In such an arrangement the subjects can use the
  land for building or farming.
• In return they must pay homage to the Chief or
  King (Not Bribery).
• They in addition have to provide customary
  services.

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LAND TENURE

• Individual (Private Ownership)
• This is land which is privately owned by
  individual families.
• A piece of family is sometime sold to obtain cash
  to solve a pressing problem (Sickness, Education
  or the payment of Bride Price).
• The decision to sell such land rest with the
  family or clan.

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LAND TENURE

• If authorization is not given by the family head,
  the violator can expect the wrath of the gods or
  ancestral spirits.
• Individuals are also allowed Freehold rights
  which is outright ownership or leasehold rights
  ranging from 49-99 years.
• This type of an arrangement is discouraged
  because it reminds many people and governments of
  colonialism.

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ADORNMENT DRESS FORMS AND SYMBOLISM
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ADORNMENT DRESS FORMS AND SYMBOLISM

• Dressing like in any culture is a form of
  expression.
• Sub-Saharan Africa is not an exception.
• Dress forms and symbolism vary through out the
  region and in most cases displayed in the form of
  dressing.

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ADORNMENT DRESS FORMS AND SYMBOLISM

• From the way somebody dresses you can deduce the
  persons status in the society.
• It is also possible to tell or fairly predict the
  persons role, age, and mood.
• In some tribes in Ghana, colors are very symbolic
  of certain occasions.

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ADORNMENT DRESS FORMS AND SYMBOLISM

• For example During mourning in the Akan tribe
  in Ghana, Red, Brown and Dark Brown is worn.
• White dress symbolizes victory, joy and success.
• In many tribes the chief portrays his authority
  by his regalia (emblems, Royal right and
  prerogatives, symbols or paraphernalia.

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ADORNMENT DRESS FORMS AND SYMBOLISM

• His attendants clothing similarly portray
  subordination.
• The symbols and designs in African fabrics are
  not just a random mix of colors.
• They have certain significance.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF NON-AFRICAN
CULTURE
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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• The greatest influence on African cultural
  development resulted from colonialism.
• Most of European culture was imposed on Africans.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• European languages, Religion, social
  organizations and their values.
• Nowadays, indigenous African languages have been
  replaced by European languages such as English,
  French, Portuguese etc.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• The two leading religions are foreign.
• Another impact of colonialism was the fact that
  most of African culture was discouraged by the
  colonialist.
• Such things as traditional names, music dance,
  art, religion, marriage and systems of
  inheritance.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• When the Europeans instituted schools these
  facets of African culture were not taught and
  were absent.
• Worst of all, dressing to work in African attires
  were unacceptable and even in some cases banned.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• Colonial education viewed the African Culture as
  primitive and discourage such practices.
• This has resulted in the loss of African Art,
  Dignity and Respect for African Culture.
• There are some disparities between African and
  European cultures.

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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EUROPEANS AND AFRICANS
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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• Today many westerners that have discovered these
  hidden talents in the African culture have
  excelled rapidly in their profession or have
  become recognized.
• Examples Paul Simon Graceland
• Hillary Clinton It Takes a Village to Raise a
  Child.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• One of the legacies of colonialism in Sub-Saharan
  Africa has been the super-imposition of political
  boundaries over existing lineage and clan or
  tribal group boundaries.
• The result has been ethnic and tribal disputes
  (ethnic cleansing).

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• In many cases these disputes have been deadly.
• Bakongo is an area that is now divided by or
  shared by four countries Congo, DRC (Zaire),
  Angola, Gabon.
• Hutus and Tutsis share Zaire, Burundi, Rwanda,
  Uganda, Tanzania.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• In West Africa the Akan is shared by Ivory Coast
  and Ghana.
• The Senufo live in three different countries
  Mali, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• In Eastern Africa, the Somalis live in Ethiopia,
  Kenya and Djibouti.
• All of these distribution has led to conflicts
  such as those in Somalia Clan Warfare.

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COLONIALISM AND THE DIFFUSION OF Non-African
Culture

• In Liberia a persistent problem is that of
  indigenous Africans and the Ex-slaves liberated
  by Abraham Lincoln.
• They call themselves Americo-Liberians.
• In the Sudan, the problem is religious Muslim
  North versus Christian South.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• The aged in Sub-Saharan Africa are viewed with
  dignity and respect.
• It is assumed that old people form the foundation
  of village life.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• It is also assumed that the older you are the
  wiser you become.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, old age is a desirable
  stage in the evolution of humans.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• It is a time of honor and teaching.
• The extended family in Africa becomes a very
  important source of care providing for the old or
  elderly.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• The elderly in turn provide child-care (nannies)
  because your child with your mother is safe.
• The elderly also help with other chores but still
  maintaining their status in society.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• The elderly in return get food, clothing
  accommodation and above all love something
  which is very abstract in western societies.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• The elderly feels that they belong, that they
  have security and that they are able to play an
  important function in the society even though
  they are old.
• Unfortunately, modernization is rapidly changing
  all this.
• Nursing homes are being constructed.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• Many young men who get employed in the cities
  rarely return to the villages and those who go
  abroad rarely return home.
• Their sense of responsibility has been
  interrupted by changing times and distance.
• As a result, the elderly are left without any
  means of support.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• Institutional care would have been the best
  alternative but it is not well accepted in
  Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Africans have constantly argued against
  institutionalization as a way of caring for the
  elderly.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• A representative from Cameroon to the World
  Assembly on Aging argued that Africans should
  resist making the mistakes of the industrialized
  nations.
• Despite resistance to institutionalization there
  are still some African countries that practice
  institutional care.

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MODERNIZATION AND THE AGED

• Countries that are engaged in institutional care
  are Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia.
• In Kenya, a planned integrated community is being
  initiated.
• In such an arrangement, elderly persons will live
  with persons of other age groups.

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AFRICAN CULTURAL VALUES
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CULTURAL VAUES

• Another area of cultural conflict is Bribery,
  Corruption, nepotism and misappropriation
  (Theft).
• In many African Societies, what is called bribery
  in the West, is actually prior-appreciation.

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CULTURAL VAUES

• It is an act of reciprocity in the act of
  serving.
• It is always assumed that the beneficiary of a
  favor should give something back in return.

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CULTURAL VAUES

• Bribery is a gift in anticipation of asking for a
  favor later.
• This is considered bribery and corruption in
  western tradition.
• Nepotism occurs when people are hired for
  employment not through qualification but through
  relation (maybe the good old boys).

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CULTURAL VAUES

• Finally theft or misappropriation of government
  funds is a common practice.
• It was assumed that the colonial governments were
  not legitimate and therefore could not be
  respected or trusted.
• They were a scam, scamming the countries that
  they colonized.

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CULTURAL VAUES

• Scamming the scam was an act of heroism.
• This activity has continued even into present day
  independent governments.
• This has led to the kind of corruption which has
  almost bankrupted many African Nations.
• Examples Mobutu of Zaire, Bokosa of Central
  African Republic.

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End of Lecture