Photo - Abraham

An Introduction to Africa

Global Studies - Today’s Activities and Objectives

Act: Overview of Africa’s Geography

Essential Questions• How has Africa’s geography shaped its population distribution

and history?

• Why is Africa sometimes described as having a symmetrical climate distribution?

• How does the Sahara and the Sahel serve as a major cultural demarcation line?

• Why might it be of academic usefulness to divide or break Africa into sub-regions?

Maps – Physical Features Africa

Africa’s Major RiversNileWhite NileBlue NileCongoZambeziOrangeNiger

Africa’s Climate Zones

The Sahara desert dominates northern Africa.

The purple area is known as the steppe (low lying shrub), or Sahel.

Note the large amount of savannah, also called grasslands, or “wet-dry” climate.

Note the relatively small area of rainforest in Africa.

A look at Africa’s climate patterns reveals a unique symmetry.

What is the reason for this symmetry?

The Northern Coast - Africa’s north coast, the Mediterranean Sea, has mild weather all year around.

Northern Africa

The countries of northern Africa are largely Arab speaking and closely linked with the affairs and cultures of the Middle East and Islamic world at large.

Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are sometimes referred to as the Maghreb, or Arab west.

The rest of the continent – below the Sahara – is often referred to as Sub-Saharan Africa.

Photo - Abraham

The Nile

From its origins in Central Africa to its outlet on the Mediterranean Sea the Nile flows for more than 4,000 miles.

The White Nile which begins near Lake Victoria is joined in Sudan by the Blue Nile which begins in Ethiopia.

By the time the Nile arrives in Egypt it has passed by several nations.

SEARCH FOR PATTERNS OF AMONG AFRICAN SOCIETIES

Discovering what is “African” isn’t easy. With some 56 nations and over 1,000 different ethnic groups and languages, the search for common themes among African peoples can be elusive. Still, study of Africa can reveal some common attributes. These include:

Means of sustenance (e.g. - hunter-gathering, herding, agriculture)

Artwork that is often spiritual and functional, in that it is intended to appease, or satisfy a spirit or divinity

Music that accompanies storytelling, ceremony, rites of passage

The co-existence of local and outside religions (Islam and Christianity)

Patriarchal societies whereby men appear to make major decisions, and women perform a multitude of tasks

Importance yielded to elders

The colonial experience

A Multitude of Ethnic Groups

Within any single African nation exists a large number of different ethnic groups or tribes. Usually, these tribes have different languages and traditions.

In some cases, such as the Masai in Kenya and Tanzania, tribes are split by national borders. This is due to the fact that the present borders of African nations grew out of the period of European rule or colonization.

ExploringAfrica.matrix

Language in Africa

Most Africans speak either indigenous (local or Bantu) or European colonial languages such as English or French.

The only African “super language” that is spoken across several nations is Swahili which blends bantu languages and Arabic.

Used largely on the east coast of Africa, Swahili is a blend of indigenous (native) African words and Arabic.

Photos Abraham

Traditional African Governance

Contrary to popular beliefs, by tradition most African societies arrived at major decision-making through an intricate process of discussion, negotiation and compromise, rather than being ruled by a single person, or “chief”.

Often, a council of elders was granted the right of final approval of major decisions.

Religion in Africa

Many African societies today blend traditional, or folk religions with outside religions such as Christianity and Islam.

Today, Islam is practiced widely in northern Africa, while Christianity and indigenous religions are prevalent in other parts of Africa.

Ife bronze – Benin. Representation of 15th century king later worshipped as ancestor. Photo – African Studies Center

Nok – Terracotta headDB Weldon Library

The Artistic Tradition

Nok Bronze from Nigeria

Meaning Behind Masks

Wee masks embody spirits of the forest who request (through dreams) that masks be made so they can "appear" before the people. The Dan classify their masks into masculine and feminine types. The masculine mask, such as the bagle grotesque mask shown here, has square outlines, tubular eyes, and zoomorphic features. This mask is intended to look powerful and fearsome, with its animal horns, bulging forehead, tubular eyes, gaping and toothy mouth, large beard, and mustache. The bagle masker dances vivid pantomimes that entertain the guests at festivities and often caricatures the events of the day.

Deangle, We/Dan, Côte d'Ivoire/Liberia, 20th century, wood, fiber, pigment, and feathers. Museum purchase, de Young Art Trust and Salinger Bequest Fund. (78.40)

Wee Mask – wood, fiber, metal and fur. Liberia & Cote d’Ivorie.

Drum, Senufo, Côte d'Ivoire/Mali, 20th century, wood and skin with hair. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. (1991.17)

Music and Ceremony in Africa

Music – particularly drum playing accompanied African storytelling and ceremonies.

Ceremonies that incorporated music included those celebrating childbirth, achievement of adulthood, marriage, and funerals.

This mask is worn over the head of a female elder who dances for the Sande women's society. The mask displays and celebrates Mende ideals of female beauty and virtue: elaborately braided hair (cosmetic skills, sexuality); neck creases (full-bodied, good health); smooth, broad forehead (nobility, intelligence); lowered eyes (contemplativeness, restraint); well shaped ears; small nose; small mouth (not given to gossip); composed expression (inner serenity), smooth skin (youthfulness). All these features are exaggerated in the mask, its three thick rows of braided hair, large neck folds, wide forehead, diminutive nose and mouth, and polished surface. The bird figure (missing its head & tail) perched on top of the coiffure has many meanings: clairvoyance, love, fertility, power, danger, discipline, prudence, and laughter. The mask's shining blackness connotes the essence of female beauty and moral purity.

Mende Mask

Worn by the women of Sierra Leone and Liberia.

CASE STUDIES OF AFRICAN ETHNIC GROUPS

The Pygmies

The Pygmies refer to themselves as Mbuti, or Twa and inhabit the rainforests of central Africa.

Traditionally, the Pygmies were hunter-gatherers and known for their short stature and intimate knowledge of the forest and ability to gather foods and plants for medicines. Pygmies usually travel in small bands, and the family serves as the main social outlet.

The Pygmies have been severely intruded upon by outsiders - logging and development threaten them. Most Pygmies have been forced to give up their wandering way of life.

The Bushmen

Thousands of years ago, the Bushmen (a.k.a. San, Khoi) left their mark on Africa in the form of cave drawings. Over the centuries the San migrated to the remote Kalahari Desert of southern Africa due conflicts with white settlers and stronger tribes. The San language includes a unique system of “clicks”, that have infiltrated other languages in southern Africa.

The San along with the Pygmies are among the very last of the hunter-gatherers in Africa. Initiation, or rite of passage for a young San was once to shoot an eland.

A popular portrayal of the Bushmen was the 1980’s film The Gods Must Be Crazy.

Rites of PassageChildbirthAdulthoodMarriageHaving ChildrenDeath/ Funerals

The Dinka

The Dinka are a tall, proud, pastoral (nomadic herders) people of Southern Sudan. By tradition, the Dinka were cattle herders. Men measured their wealth in cattle, and fathers set aside cattle for their sons in order to marry. The Dinka diet relied primarily on milk, and occasionally meat when a cow was slaughtered.

The Dinka were also noted for their unusual scarification patterns that indicated manhood or womanhood.

For decades, the Dinka fought a civil war against the Arab dominated gov’t of the north.

The Masai (Masaai)

The Masai are a pastoral (nomadic herding) people of Kenya and Tanzania. They measure wealth in cattle, and their diet relies mainly on milk and on special occasion meat.

Masai society is led by a laibon, or priest and the Masai revere a supreme creator god - Ngai. The Masai have a proud tradition as warriors and hunters, and circumcision is as a rite of passage into adulthood. Masai women fashion jewelry out of cowry shells.

Present challenges include loss of land and tribal members to outside employment.

Dogon, MaliThe Dogon often live on cliffs within the mountains of Burkina Faso and southeastern Mali close to Timbuktu. They carve their homes out of hills and are renowned for stilt walking, mask making and astronomy.

Photo - Boum Boum Workshops

The Zulu

The Zulu are agriculturalists with a proud history as warriors. Polygamy was once common, and Zulu villages were arranged in circular kraals. The Zulu believe in a creator god – Nkulunkulu.

The Zulu rose to prominence among southern African tribes in in the early 19th century under the great chieftain Shaka. In the late 19th century, the British fought costly wars of resistance against Dutch settlers known as Boers, or Afrikaners.

The Zulu are by far the most numerous of the ethnic groups in South Africa today.

The Ashanti

The Ashanti live primarily in present day Ghana in Western Africa.

The Ashanti once presided over the powerful kingdom of Ghana that flourished in the 9th–10th centuries CE.

Ashanti society is both matriarchal (female influenced) and matrilineal (family name comes from mother). The Ashanti believe that all individuals inherit their father’s soul, but their mother’s flesh and blood. The Ashanti worship a supreme being – Nyami and acknowledge a host of spirits and supernatural beings. They also believe that all living things, including plants, have souls. At right – replica of golden stool and talking drum (djembe).

Yoruba Elder

YorubaThe Yoruba are an important tribe in SW Nigeria and Benin – long known for their craftsmanship including woodcarving, pottery and mask making.

A good deal of Yoruba artwork is produced to pay homage, or respect to the many Yoruba gods (i.e. the Yoruba are polytheistic).

The Yoruba, unlike their neighbors the Fulani, did not embrace Islam but chose to hold onto traditional Yoruba religion. This has led to tensions between the two. During the era of the slave trade many Yoruba were taken. SMA Art Museum

Description of Yoruba Wood Crafting

“ Among the Yoruba, twins (ibeji) are special children whose birth can bless their parents with good fortune. The Yoruba have one of the highest rates of twin births in the world, and the loss of twins is therefore considered a great misfortune. If a twin dies, the mother commissions a memorial figure (two if both twins die), and the soul of the deceased twin is transferred to it. The mother dresses the statuette in cloth and adorns it with jewelry, and keeps it near her bed. She also offers it food and prayers weekly and performs more elaborate rituals on the occasion of birthdays and annual festivals.

The statuettes conform to the Yoruba aesthetics of physical proportion. The head is one third the size of the body, because the head is associated with a person's destiny or "inner head," which determines success and failure in life. Artistic emphasis is placed on "human resemblance," rather than photographic likeness, and the facial features, though stylized, are carefully deliniated and delicate.”

Benjamin Ray – Photographer and Anthropologist

Hausa

Ibo

Modern African Art

Modern African art is distinctly different from traditional African art in that it is one-dimensional (e.g. paintings) rather than three dimensional (e.g. sculptures).

Much of the credit for modern African art goes to the famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso who studied and reinterpreted African art from 1907 – 1909. Picasso is supposed to have received a gift of an African mask from French painter Henri Matisse that sparked his interest.

The two figures farthest to the right of the painting reveal Picasso's strong interest in the form of the African mask.

Below: Paintings based upon Picasso’s travels to the Dan region of Africa