This can begin as early as childhood or before the children are born. In a typical traditional African society, the family comprised of a number of individuals, ranging from grandparents,aunts,uncles, father, mother, children etc sometimes the "sahwira" is also regarded as part of that family in some sense. The youth are believed to be free with them. Birth and naming 2. Reviews the biological and sociological constants of kinship; Previews the topicsto be covered in marriage, family and larger kinship units. Children could be named after their dead relatives. 3. - Courage. In view of the poor development of social security systems outside the family, hardly anyone would wish to escape the power of kinship ties. Almost 30% of all single-parent families headed by women are officially poor. 3. 5. Wealth was seen in terms of: 1. 41 Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. - Kinship ties also provide security to all concerned. Most of the time they suffer from old age diseases. Phone: (540) 828-5351 The size of the clan could differ from one to the other. - Some pieces of land are being regarded as public land. The verb kulobola is very specific meaning the valuables that are given partially or in full to the girls people to legitimate or seal the marriage. For example honesty is expected in marriage. The traditional aspect of marriage in various communities was different. IV, pp.66-87. It is believed that the dead relatives continue to live through children. Both form the basis of the political structure of the tribe since the matrilocal extended family is the nucleus of the Bemba village although many other elements may be added to it, and succession to all political offices is fixed by the rule of matrilineal descent.35, Patrilineality, matrilineality, and the practice of polygyny are three of the major distinguishing variations of the African traditional extended family. There are several forms of Initiation; these include:- i. Circumcision ii. So the relationship is often based on mutual expectations and is more beneficial for both parties than confrontational and fraught with issuing of orders. - They can foretell the future by receiving visions, dreams or words from God. The effective boundaries of the network vary for different people, over time and for different contents. TOPIC 9:AFRICAN MORAL AND CULTURAL VALUES MEANING AND WHOLENESS OF LIFE- In the African traditional society, life is believed to originate from God. - It is against Christian teaching on circumcision because God instructed Abraham to circumcise male descendants - It lowers the dignity of the individual (dehumanizing) - One can contract dangerous diseases such as HIV and AIDS. - Religious organizations assist widows to start income generating projects. - They would stay overnight and the following day they would go to bathe in the river with cold water. d. If it is a man, the wife is supposed to stay around the corpse among them show clearly she would miss the husband. Coser, Rose Lamb., (Ed.) Naming ceremonies also bring unity among the people whenever a new child is born, members of extended family would come to celebrate together. - It was a common belief that a woman belonged to the whole community. - They could also observe the weather conduction and interpret the movement of clouds and wind. These institutions are a cultural universal i.e. - They counsel and guide the youth on matters of sex and marriage Why guiding and counseling was done by elders 1. Caution should be applied when sweeping generalizations are made which make the traditional African family is made to appear static, rigid, and lacking in vitality. A total of 68 linguistic terms of relationships are used by the Baganda.12, The Baganda have a very important aspect of the social or family structure; the consanguinal kin group or blood line which is a line of descent traced through the male members of the family or patri-sib. Mbiri Ya Achewa, 195? These include birth, initiation, marriage and death. 6. 10. There were clear guidelines, rules and regulations on the use and ownership of land. - They are concerned with maintenance of law and order in the community. The common descriptions of the African traditional family in the literature is Eurocentric and biased. These three types of kinship are: Consanguineal: This kinship is based on bloodor birth: the relationship between parents and children as well as siblings, says the Sociology Group. Removal of teeth. For example, sickness in the indigenous African worldview is not only an imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in one's social life, which can be linked to a breakdown in one's kinship and family relations or even to one's relationship with one's ancestors. 7. Kinship relationships also determine social obligations and responsibilities, such as who has the right to inherit property or who is responsible for caring for children As such children at an early age learn that their father has little authority or responsibility for them. v. Others would also be killed for crimes such as murder. Less traditional family structures in sitcoms gained popularity in the 1980s with shows such as Diff'rent Strokes (a widowed man with two adopted African American sons) and One Day at a Time (a divorced woman with two teenage daughters). attack by wild animals. There are two main types of leisure: (1) Passive leisure: This is where there is minimal use of physical energy. People in the traditional African communities were afraid of acquiring property unlawfully for fear of curse. 4. Kinship ties are strong bonds that exist among community members. Human society is unique, he argues, in that we are "working with the same raw material as exists in the animal world, but [we] can conceptualize and categorize it to A Bemba belongs to his mothers clan (umukoa), a group of relatives more or less distantly connected, who reckon descent from real or fictitious common ancestries, use a common totem name, and a series of praise titles, recite a common legend of origin and accept certain joint obligations.30. Kinship connections are in turn based on two categories of bonds: those created by marriage and those that result from descent , which is socially recognized links between ancestors and descendants. © 2023 Tutorke Limited. Dowry is important in that:- 1. This is because; 1 It is unavoidable. They may receive messages from the spirits and ancestors. Some names are given in the remembrance of the departed relatives. 3. 5. Everyone has an obligation to marry or get married. 7 Nobody knows what happens after life on earth here. Kinship is a social relationship based on real consanguinity. Names are also given in honor of ancestors. - In some communities it would last for several days. Evans-Pritchard, J.J., Some Aspects of Marriage and the Family Among the Nuer, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1945, 1969. - In most communities the child and the mother are kept in seclusion for a number of days, depending on the sex of the baby. The houses of grandparents form their sleeping places. It also gives them time to find out the background of the partners e.g. The developments in science and technology. - Diviners are people who are believed to have the ability to reveal hidden things by use of magical powers Role of mediums and diviners in the societies i. Mediums link the living, spirits and the ancestors. There is a lot of secrecy surrounding the knowledge of herbs. Once the negotiations are over then dowry payment would begin. children born out of wed-lock are killed or abandoned. 5. vi. Stern norms/ values which promote individualism. Strong religious beliefs helped bind the members of society together and inspire a sense of unity. 12. The government has also set up insurance and pension schemes to enable people who are employed continue to get a decent life after retirement e.g. Division of labor in African societies, labor is divided according to sexes. How Names are given in the traditional African societies 1. Magic, sorcery and witchcraft. This paper aims at tackling the change in the anthropological view of marriage and kinship ties in the society. Problems experienced by widows and orphans - They suffer from lack of company because they feel abandoned. ix. Laziness was condemned or punished to ensure that people owned what they had actually worked for. This is done by breaking the hearts of relatives by refusing to be good-hearted when they need you. Their roles include the following:- i. iv. Some scholars have suggested that this arrangement might be fraught with potential social problems and conflict.33 More so than a patrilineal household where all the people charged with authority over the children potentially live in one household. It offers a general survey of the geographical environments they inhabited; their settlements, social structures and economies; and their religions and cultures. Such include: - - Birth - Initiation - Marriage - Death 5. Role of priests, prophets and seers 1. The issue to emphasize, is not so much that there are no weaknesses or shortcomings in the traditional African family, but that the Eurocentric Anglo-Saxon descriptions (that are believed to be objective and describe social phenomena as accurately as possible) eliminate, and over shadow the strengths and positive aspects that might have existed and may still exist in the African traditional family patterns. Chondoka, Yizenge A., Traditional Marriages in Zambia: A Study in Cultural History, Ndola, Mission Press, 1988. Dowry payment is no longer a communal affair but an individual affair. iii. The land belonged to the whole community. iii. They also play the role of priests and pray for people. However, it is not a form of payment as is mistaken by others. 3. Agikuyu umbilical cord is kept to symbolize the link between the mother and the child. Culture and values are adaptive .. - The introduction of money economy has reduced the value of land. Although polygamy is the act of an individual being married to more than one spouse at the same time, the more commonly practiced in Africa is polygyny .the legal marriage of one man to two or more women concurrently is permitted.4 This author argues that because of its perversity, the presence and absence of polygyny was a significant determinant and indicator of the nature of virtually every African social group; whether tribe, clan, or extended family, whether matrilineality or patrilineality was practiced, bride price existed, and how children were raised. Divorce and separation are discouraged. false T/F: Female slaves generally worked outdoors while male slaves did domestic work. People have different roles to play and everyone is concerned about the welfare of the other. It symbolizes the union between the living and the dead. Power and authority in matrilineal societies ultimately lies in the woman and her brother. Land was also the habitat of people, animals and plants. 8. - During this period of seclusion:- i. This review finds that parental care remains the best care setting and should be highly encouraged within African society. - A child who remained an orphan was easily adopted into another family. The government, the church and non-governmental organizations have built homes for the aged. In some communities, it may be done in the forest while others the expectant mother would go back to their parents while others could also be done in the house of the in-law. - Kinship ties assist people to live peacefully and in harmony with others. In the western culture, marriage results in permanent bonds between the couple, with centrally assigned sexual rights among the couple and parenthood responsibility. The San society in general and the kinship system in particular are very different from contemporary American society. There are three main types of kinship: lineal, collateral, and affinal. Among the Chewa of Eastern Zambia, the custom of man living with his wifes parents temporarily or permanently was known as Ukamwini.23. Christianity: Christianity has weakened African Kinship ties by introducing new ties by the Christian family. Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953), 24 Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969). Other names may also refer to the characteristics of the mothers pregnancy or the nature of delivery e.g. The basic kinship unit of Bemba society is not the individual family, but a matrilocal extended family composed of a man and his wife, their married daughters, and the latters husbands and children.24, A young Bemba couple live in the same hut with a child of pre-weaning age whom they may have. x. KINSHIP SYSTEM - Kinship refers to being related to another either by blood or marriage. In some communities as soon as a woman realizes she is expecting, she and the husband completely stops having sexual intercourse until after birth. The church also gives them food, and clothing and their daily needs. The language of the Baganda carries no word for love or tender affection; the closest is a word that is best translated as like.43. Would provide medical care e.g. - Honesty. FACTORS AFFECTING THE SYSTEM 173 THE SIB: DESCENT AND EXOGAMY Kinship ties necessarily begin within the family as a pro- creational unit. 29 Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.30. 6. Natural Factors: ADVERTISEMENTS: Natural forces and factors play an important role in unifying or disintegrating the society. iv. Significance of dowry payment The custom of paying personal gifts to the brides people is practiced all over Africa sometimes referred to as Bride wealth or Bride price. People that belong to the same kinship system are referred to as kin. - There are cases of destruction of land and environment through dumping of wastes. - Taking of dangerous drugs. - Marriage enables one to assume leadership rules an unmarried person would not be chosen a leader. - They suffer from psychological and emotional problems - Sometimes widows face lack of essentials such as food. The kinship systems govern care,. However, children are never kissed kissing is not known to the Baganda and the close intimacy of the mother-child relationship as found in America, for example, is not present. Adams, Bert N., The Family: A Sociological Interpretation, 4th Edition, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1986. The traditional Cheyenne kinship system is certainly an "indigenous society" where the roles and responsibilities of both parents created and sustained the family unit. A Modern Introduction to The Family, Glencoe: The Free Press, 1960. 6. The medicine men lead the community in religious rituals. Some have even gone as far as saying that for the African husband nothing else matters so long as he impregnates his wife every few years.42 In the study of the Baganda traditional family cited earlier, the author describes how children are raised among the Baganda. 7. Those who are related by blood include - Brothers - Sisters - Aunts - Uncles - Parents - Cousins - Grandparents By marriage include Wife/ husband Others are referred to as in-laws - Kinship also includes all the living and any given locality. 2003). - The hair of the mother and the child is shaved. However the mode of dressing has seriously changed due to western influence. There is wailing in the house to show how the fellow was dear to them. Kinship is at the heart of First Nations society. vi. Elders act as role models to the youth i.e. Before this ceremony, the child is not considered a complete member of the clan or society. Introduction. These changes have been brought about by:- i. It does not give warning. - Marriage also unites the living and the dead. A woman inherits her maternal grandmother or sisters. Today initiation is not done at particular stage in life. v. There was a lot of fairness in the distribution of property. Lusaka: National Educational Company of Zambia, and Kenneth Kaunda Foundation, 1970. The kin group is also a source of emotional and spiritual belonging. - People write wills to share or decide who should inherit their property. 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