By Timothy T. Schwartz, PhD. He ..also adopts the deceased persons children, calling them his and making no distinction between them and his own children.16. a child born after a long period of childless marriage is called Ogwedhi among the Luo. - People tend to be individualized. Impact of Modernism on Family. - In some communities, marriage is not recognized without children. iv. iii. Religion: People have some religious beliefs, which promote unity, and every community believes in the existence of one God. - Land can now be sold or auctioned. 11 This study was conducted in the late 1800s when inter-tribal warfare and capturing of slaves from the wars was still very common. 3. Property could be owned by community, individuals or families. In some communities the choice is made by the parents. Lous Wirth also believed that the city is not conducive to the traditional type of family life. They advise the expectant mother on how to take care of herself. - People write wills to share or decide who should inherit their property. For example honesty is expected in marriage. The cultural and physical diversity added with the dramatic social changes of the last three decades on the continent makes the family pattern situation so variegated as to defy any sweeping generalizations. - However the practice of looking after widows and orphans is dying out. The traditional healers are still important today especially to those who had let down by medicine prescribed by doctors. 4. Many wives 3. 3. Overall, there are two forms of social groups that from the basis of Bemba marriage and traditional family. Circumcision of the girls is a practice that has been widely condemned for health reasons. In some instances a go between would be used to identify a suitable partner. viii. 4. Strong religious beliefs helped bind the members of society together and inspire a sense of unity. - Sometimes the orphans and widows have their property destroyed or snatched. 2. 4. They believe iron implements attract lightning. In the late and early 19th century, a detailed study conducted among the Baganda found that, Polygyny, the type of marriage in which the husband has plural wives, is not only the preferred but the dominant form of marriage for the Baganda.8 Commoners had two or three, chiefs had dozens, and the Kings had hundreds of wives. IV, pp.66-87. 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. Edited by G.A. b) Explain the purpose of bride wealth in the traditional African community. That is, kinship is a network of relationships in which each tie is influenced by, and in turn influences, the others. Social change in Africa as everywhere else is ubiquitous. The celebration that marked the end of initiation is slowly dying out due to economic constraints. These relationships which are described in this way are rituals of respect between a son-in-law and his mother-in-law, a daughter-in-law and her father-in-law. 7. 4. Kinship refers to the relationships between people. DeVos, New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976. 2. Second, an identifying drum beat used at ceremonies. 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. They could also warn of impending danger. 3. - Children born out of marriage also provide security to the homes. Kinship ties definition: Kinship is the relationship between members of the same family. 1975. There is no bride price in our society. 4. This was because: - i. Africans believe that land was given to them by God. among the Kisii, a person born crossing the river could be called Kwamboka. If they float, the clan chief accepts the children as legitimate; but if the cord sinks, the child to whom it belongs is considered born in adultery and disowned.18, After this part of the ceremony, a feast is held. 12 Stuart Queen, Robert W. Havenstein, and John B. Adams, The Polygynous Baganda Family, in The Family in Various Cultures. The birth of a child is no longer a communal affair but a family affair. But quite to the contrary, the clan seems to have a more supreme influence. 4. .. iii. - There are cases of destruction of land and environment through dumping of wastes. Which factors have led to the weakening of kinship ties in Kenya today? Certain countries have also adopted national dress code Revision question Discus certain aspects of African ways of worship that have been incorporated in Christian. 2. ii. The contention that questions the existence of African traditional society and culture has been clearly beyond reasonable doubt asserted to agreement however there are presences of constraints towards the flourishing of these societies as, Internal factors which include; Lack of unity among members of the society, differentiation of ideologies . - They preside over important occasions such as initiation, planting and marriage. Such influences as end of intra and inter-tribal warfare with the coming of European colonialism, the Western money economy, industrialization, migration, and urbanization have certainly transformed the traditional African family from what it was 50 to 100 years ago. This article looks at the societies and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa in pre-modern history. RAIN MAKERS - Rain in traditional Africa is understood to come directly from God. v. The land was believed to belong to the ancestors and nobody was allowed to sell or lease it out without the consent of the other members of the family. - They oversee the division of property in the community after death. Politics: New political systems and forms of government have changed the traditional community. These can be by blood, marriage or adoption. Characteristics of African community 1. 6 It separates one from the loved ones. Polygyny though set the tone and often determined the strength of the society and pattern of social organization of the traditional African family. It can determine a person's political identity and the way money and property are transferred. Elders are respected [32777] [42770]. - The hair of the mother and the child is shaved. Prophets or priests also have political role e.g. iii. The subject of traditional family patterns in Africa is so broad that it cannot be adequately addressed in one chapter. Introduction The primary objective of this paper is to define the African traditional religious system as the basis of understanding Christian spiritual warfare within an African context. Scholars of the African traditional family agree that the one widely known aspect that distinguishes the African traditional family, say from the European one, is the perversity of polygamy3. At times girls could be given to repay debts. Diseases such as epidemics would kill people. - They are concerned with maintenance of law and order in the community. - 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. 2. The major reason cited is that with increasing modern influences, marrying more than one wife became an economic burden. i. Challenges facing herbalists 1. The written descriptions and therefore perceptions of the traditional African family were also a victim of the European colonial cultural bias and Christian values. Natural Factors: ADVERTISEMENTS: Natural forces and factors play an important role in unifying or disintegrating the society. Death always strikes unexpectedly. GAZETTE: How have ancestors . It also gives them time to find out the background of the partners e.g. i. RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS IN THE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY -They are those who are believed to be endowed with special powers. Lobola is widely used among the Bantu peoples of Central and Southern Africa.39, Avoidance, segregated relationships, lack of love and tenderness in traditional African marriages and the family has been a common theme among European scholars. Laziness was condemned or punished to ensure that people owned what they had actually worked for. In some communities if a woman is barren, she would bring another woman to bring children on her behalf. But rather the matrilocal extended family comprised of a man and his wife, their married daughters, son-in-laws, and their children. This paper aims at tackling the change in the anthropological view of marriage and kinship ties in the society. Once somebody is married he got fully integrated to the society. v. It brings people together; relatives and friends co me together hence strengthening kinship ties. MARRIAGE This is the third rite that an individual is expected to go through in life. - In some communities e.g. The paternal grandfather recites many names of the clans dead ancestors. Other names can be given according to important events that take place in the community e.g. Phone: (540) 828-5351 - Wealth is no longer determined in terms of the number of wives or children. Each stage has its own features, some of which are perhaps peculiar to the Baganda customs and system of socialization in their traditional family pattern. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961)p.76. It was written in 1988. 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. The mothers bring children of both sexes with the umbilical cords carefully kept after birth. It is believed that the dead relatives continue to live through children. viii. - They would stay overnight and the following day they would go to bathe in the river with cold water. This is sexual differentiation in socialization in which girls will become acceptable mothers and wives and boys husbands and fathers. ii. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that the study of kinship is the study of what humans do with these basic facts of life - mating, gestation, parenthood, socialization, siblingship etc. Removal of teeth. 4. The midwife also monitors the development of the foetus. Coser, Rose Lamb., (Ed.) Religion: Africans now get identified with new groupings e.g. - Attending discos and nightclubs. 2. - Among the Luo the bride could be accompanied by her other sisters and on the first night, the people would witness the breaking of virginity. Second Edition, London: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1974. ii. - Some widows and children are not accepted or welcomed in their new homes. Angering the living dead and the spirits e.g. 2. In fact cases where the father-in-law has to issue orders are perhaps such a minority that it is ironical that they are used to characterize the whole social interaction. Rain makers ii. ii. It is kinship, which controls social relationship between people in a given community: it governs marital customs and regulations, it determines the behavior of individuals towards another. This has been due to western culture, industrialization, urbanization Christianity, limited time and economic constraints. iv. - Wife inheritance ensured that the late mans family would not suffer. Boys herd goats, cows, and livestock. There are several forms of Initiation; these include:- i. Circumcision ii. 1. - The placenta is disposed of ceremoniously e.g. -The spirit of sharing. If one fails to show respect to such seniors. Traditional African society. 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). Included in this same bigger household will be servants, female slaves, and their children.10 The father remains the head of the nuclear family units. This again is true among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lamba, Lala, Chewa, Kaonde, Luba, and others. Yet, equal opportunities is, perhaps, the essential defining element of an inclusive 2. Reconnecting with a genetic tie Genetic resource and testing connected a person to their blood. iv. Opiyo and Odongo among the Luo. 11. (Lusaka: Nalinga Consultancy/Sol-Consult A/S Limited, 1989), 38 Lucy P. Mair, African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life, Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953) p. 126. The community disciplined those who showed traits of greed over ownership of property. The name gives the child identity. - Initiation rites have certain symbolic meanings. Furthermore, the woman will bear children and thus enrich her husband and the wider circle of relatives from both sides. Because of this wide spectrum, it is not possible to explore all aspects of the traditional African family. LeVine, R.A., Patterns of Personality in Africa, in Responses to Change: Society, Culture and Personality. Ngulube, Naboth M. J., Some Aspects of Growing Up in Zambia, Lusaka: Nalinga Consultancy/Sol-Consult A/S Limited, 1989. Ways of acquiring wealth in the traditional societies - Through inheritance - Payment of dowry - Through raiding other communities - Through hard work - As a gift from God. How Names are given in the traditional African societies 1. ii. The blood the binds the initiates and ancestors. - They counsel and guide the youth on matters of sex and marriage Why guiding and counseling was done by elders 1. - Kinship defines and enforces duties and responsibilities of individuals. Reviews the biological and sociological constants of kinship; Previews the topicsto be covered in marriage, family and larger kinship units. Schooling where children spend most of their time with teachers depriving them the time to be with elders. Some of the issues that were the products of the Eurocentrically biased judgements include the following two. He has no rights on his paternal clan. Some names are given in the remembrance of the departed relatives. They are made aware of their responsibilities in adulthood. They may receive messages from the spirits and ancestors. They also do the work of advisors e.g. People nowadays migrate and buy lands in far places. - Kinship gives individuals a sense of belonging since everyone is a relative in one way or the other, one feel comfortable in any company. vi. When a girl is getting married her mothers brother must be consulted. (2) Generation: Kinship tie is established between the persons in relation to generation. - They ensure the values and culture of the community is observed. People that belong to the same kinship system are referred to as kin. Some of them are (i) Rites of passage (2) Good morals (3) Participation in communal activities such as ceremonies, work, leisure activities and worship (4) Sharing of property and ideas (5) Division of labour. - The government assists widows to get their husbands benefits. - Through marriage, the living dead and those yet to be born are brought together. The medicine men lead the community in religious rituals. The book describes and explains Chewa traditions and customs including Ukamwini. There was fair distribution of wealth to even those who did not have. Living with new parents means no particular change in status; the biological parents do not forget their off spring and are always present for any ceremonies involving their children.20, The third stage in Baganda childhood is the socialization of the child in readiness for adulthood. iii. People learn to be thankful to God, parents, relatives and one another AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING OF COMMUNITY AND KINSHIP African community is used to refer to a group of people occupying a particular geographical area, share common interest and practices a sense of togetherness. Africa's traditional religion is based on the Ubuntu philosophy, which is a Zulu word for human-ness, and was developed over many centuries in traditional African culture. - It also regulates marriage relations, before marriage one has to find the back ground of the other. 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