Chapter 7, Section 3

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Chapter 7, Section 3
African Society and Culture
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The BIG Idea

• Ideas, Beliefs, and Values
• African society was centered on village and
  family life, with distinct religious beliefs and
  a rich culture.

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Aspects of African Society

• African towns began as fortified walled villages
  and gradually grew into larger communities.
• These towns were the centers of government and
  trade.

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King and Subject

• In African society the gulf between the king and
  his subjects was not great.
• Rulers would often hold meetings to allow people
  to voice their complaints.

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Family Lineage

• As most Africans lived in small villages, few
  ever went to the meetings with the Kings.
• Their sense of identity was determined by their
  membership in an extended family and a lineage
  group.
• Lineage groups served as the basic building
  blocks of African society.

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Lineage Group

• Lineage groups In many African societies,
  extended families are very important. Lineage
  groups are comprised of people who share a common
  ancestry. Lineage groups play an important role
  in the governing of decentralized societies.
• Members were expected to support and care for one
  another.

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• Women were usually subordinate to men.
• In some communities women were valued for their
  ability to increase the size of the lineage group
  or were merchants.
• African societies were matrilineal, meaning the
  lineage was based on the mother rather than the
  father.

The Role of Women
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Community and Education

• In typical African villages, a process existed
  for educating young people.
• In the Congo for example
• Boys and girls were raised by their mothers until
  the age of 6 learning language, their family
  history, and the songs that gave meaning to their
  lives.
• At age 6 girls went the house of women, and
  boys went to the house of the men.

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Community and Education

• Fathers taught sons how to hunt and fish, grow
  plants and clear fields. Fathers prepared their
  sons to survive in the natural world.
• Mothers taught daughters how to take care of the
  home and work in the fields. Daughters were
  taught how to be good wives and mothers.
  Marriage and motherhood would be their entry into
  the adult female community.

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Community and Education

• Finally, young people reached a point where they
  were expected to fully enter the adult community.
• The transition occurred at puberty and was marked
  by an initiation ceremony.
• First they were isolated from the community, then
  they symbolically died and were reborn.

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• Slavery had been practiced in Africa since
  Ancient times.
• Berber groups regularly raided farming villages
  south of the Sahara for captives.
• Slaves included people captured in war, debtors,
  and criminals.
• They were not all seen as inferior, some were
  trusted servants.

Slavery
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Religious Beliefs

• Generally varied from place to place, but had
  some common ideas.
• Common ideas Single creator god who was
  merciful and could be pacified by proper behavior
• Uncommon ideas Creator god joined by lesser
  gods, Creator god had once lived on Earth

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Key Religious Characteristics

• Communication with gods through diviners (people
  who believe they have the power to foretell
  events, usually by working with supernatural
  forces).
• The importance of ancestors. Rituals were
  dedicated to them because they were believed to
  be closer to the gods.
• Belief in an afterlife. Human life occurred in
  two stages, on Earth and then in the afterlife.

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The Islamic Influence

• Islamic influence likely began as a result of
  trade merchants from Muslim territories.
• Islam swept across northern Africa in the wake of
  the Arab conquest.
• South of the Sahara the process was slower.
• The process was slowest in East Africa, where
  Christianity continued to gain followers.

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African Culture

• Art was a means of serving religion.
• A work of art was meant to express religious
  conviction.

Wood-carvers throughout Africa made remarkable
masks and statues to represent the gods, spirits
or ancestral spirits.
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Tassili Mountains
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African Culture

• African music and dance served religious and
  social purposes.
• African dance was a way to communicate with the
  spirits and pass historical stories to young
  people
• Storytelling was used in the absence of written
  language.
• Storytellers were known as griots.
• Much of what we know about Ancient Africa came
  from the oral traditions of the griot.

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Griot
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Griots
(and their)
Many Roles

• Most griots learned the craft from their griot
  parents.
• Traditionally griots were men, however there have
  been female griots.
• Griots spend years memorizing the long complex
  historical stories.

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