factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society

factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african societyfactors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society

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DEATH RITES When a person dies, members of the family gather at the home of the deceased and leave their everyday commitments for a while. In some societies it is young people themselves who make their own choices and after wards informs their parents about it. - Rainmakers are special people who have the ability to make rain. v. In some cases if a man is married and wants another wife his first or other wives would be involved in making the proposal. - Courage. - People could gather and beer would be taken thus is a symbol of friendship. Changing Family Patterns: Sub-Saharan Africa, in World Revolution and Family Patterns. The traditional healers are still important today especially to those who had let down by medicine prescribed by doctors. The traditional African family is a very broad concept which has challenging variations across the continent. 12 Stuart Queen, Robert W. Havenstein, and John B. Adams, The Polygynous Baganda Family, in The Family in Various Cultures. Death -The rites or ceremonies conducted on such occasions differ from one community to another. For example honesty is expected in marriage. Severing the ties of kinship is among the body sins and it is among the major sins. The gifts also act as security in case the marriage breaks then the gifts could be returned. And this, together with neolocality, makes it nearly impossible to use kinship in structuring our social order. We do not sell brides in our society. 5. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.30. Bantu Migrations Stateless Societies Bantu Societies did not depend on elaborate hierarchy of officials of a bureaucracy Governed through Kinship groups - extended families consisting of about 100 people. Researchers have examined the effects of matrilineal kinship systems for women's preferences, including preference for competition, altruism, risk, and political participation. ii. Through supernatural powers iii. The man who is the heir to the widow has the additional family responsibility of adopting the widows family. After initiation, one has the right to marry. -The spirit of sharing. MEDIUMS AND DIVINERS - Mediums are people through which ancestors and spirits communicate with the living. 9) The practice has also been affected by belief in conventional medicine. vi. 5) Modern science and technology also discourage people from believing mysterical powers. Explaining Caribbean Family Patterns. 2. Marriage 4. - Sometimes the orphans and widows have their property destroyed or snatched. - Life is also seen as communal. 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. They are given time to heal. 2. iii. Department of Sociology - In most African communities a widow was inherited by the husbands close relatives. Elders are respected [32777] [42770]. drought, famine etc. bribery, robbery and stealing. - Prayers are also offered to God for protection. Among the Akamba and the Agikuyu. 6. In many matrilineal societies, the maternal uncle in the go-between or undertakes all the arrangements and responsibilities for his nephews marriage.32 In case of divorce, the womens people were legal guardians of the children. It was used to bury the dead, the spirits were believed to dwell on land or below the ground. - The government and churches have built homes for them - They are given food etc. Changes that have affected ownership of property and wealth - Women and children are allowed to own property. The kinships are based on two broad aspects 1) Birth (Blood relationships) 2) marriages. 18. a) State five changes that have taken place in property ownership today. 7. Second Edition, London: Cambridge University Press, 1984, Ch. Many of the rituals that were performed to the mother and the child are today seen as unnecessary. TOPIC 9:AFRICAN MORAL AND CULTURAL VALUES MEANING AND WHOLENESS OF LIFE- In the African traditional society, life is believed to originate from God. 4. 36 Lucy P. Mair African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. Once somebody is married he got fully integrated to the society. Others bury the dead with property with a belief that they would continue to use them in the next world. But it makes it difficult to keep track of our kin. The elderly are physically in active. Through apprenticeship iv. He ..also adopts the deceased persons children, calling them his and making no distinction between them and his own children.16. 7 Stuart Queen, Robert W. Habenstein, and John B. Adams, The Polygynous Baganda Family, in The Family in Various Cultures, (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961) Ch. When a girl is getting married her mothers brother must be consulted. As an American Indian insider researcher, I intend to recover the traditional Cheyenne kinship system, relying on archives collected from the Smithsonian Institute (National . These could be through words or deeds. Death must have a cause. 1. 6 It separates one from the loved ones. - Thankfulness. The case studies presented will be those of the Baganda of Uganda and Bemba of Northern Zambia. 2. There are three main types of kinship: lineal, collateral, and affinal. Today the dead can be buried in cemeteries in towns. Naming ceremonies also provide opportunity to teach the culture of the youth. It is feared and marked with a lot of sorrow. Through this, they believed they could receive blessings. - Property can be owned outside ones ancestral home. Clitoridectomy Female circumcision. iii. Large tracts of land 4 Large herds of cattle. ii. Among the Baganda, the clan has remained the most important kinship entity. Courtship gives the two families time to prepare in advance for the real marriage. The belief in Christianity has also affected traditional beliefs in death to believe that death is a gateway to heaven and there is resurrection of the body. Culture and values are adaptive .. 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The mother may hug or caress the child and comfort it when hurt or in distress. 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. 7. v. They are taught secrets of the society. For example, in debt and marriage obligations. Clyde., The Yao Village: a Study in the Social Structure of a Malawian Tribe. - Gambling. Names are also given in honor of ancestors. - Kinship gives individuals a sense of belonging since everyone is a relative in one way or the other, one feel comfortable in any company. 6 Ibid., p.10 Note also that special attention should be paid to the distinction between polygyny being practiced widely among people of Africa and it being the dominant form of traditional family pattern. b. 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. 35 3Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions. The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers. 9. 2. 4. Traditional kinship structures remain important in many First Nations communities today. 5. c. The corpse is washed using water. There is no proper dosage of the herbs. The naming ceremony is very important early in the childs life. They believe iron implements attract lightning. A good son-in-law hoes the garden, chops trees, and generally help his wifes family as proof of his love for his wife, dedication, and being a well cultured individual. That is one cannot escape it 2 It brings impurity to the family and thus several rites are observed after death 3 It deprives the family and the community of the individual. 2. - They negotiate for peace in time of war with another community. The Baganda use classificatory system of kinship terminology which seems common to virtually all the Bantu peoples of Central and Southern Africa. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING Today many people talk of the way things were sometimes back many factors have affected the African culture. - A lot of bleeding can lead to the death of an individual. Professor of Sociology, Bridgewater College. b) Explain the purpose of bride wealth in the traditional African community. - People do not have a lot of attachment to land, as there are other means of survival. It marks change from childhood to adulthood. Land was also the habitat of people, animals and plants. BIRTH Pregnancy - This is the first stage in the life of a person. It symbolizes the union between the living and the dead. vi. They would only speak through intermediaries. v. There was a lot of fairness in the distribution of property. She organizes the disposal of the placenta (after birth). ii. But they are terminologically differentiated from parallel cousins and from sisters. the Agikuyu the ancestors are Mumbi and Gikuyu were created by Ngai. Yet, equal opportunities is, perhaps, the essential defining element of an inclusive Introduction to Kinship. 8 It brings poverty to the family involved as sometimes it takes the bread winner 9 At times it brings misunderstanding in the community when the cause of death is blamed on someone or some people. a child born after a long period of childless marriage is called Ogwedhi among the Luo. Western culture and education has really affected marriage. - Patriotism. 1967. 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 African traditional society, each individual is related to the other. vi. Importance of seclusion period 1. There are counselors that give the aged hope and love. The tie reduces cases of incest. 47 Mwizenge S. Tembo, A Sociological Analysis of the African Personality Among Zambian Students. 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. 5. 2. But quite to the contrary, the clan seems to have a more supreme influence. 2. The major reason cited is that with increasing modern influences, marrying more than one wife became an economic burden. Many wives 3. Some people also consult them before making important decisions e.g. a diviner would be called when something was stolen. This is because; 1 It is unavoidable. Mair, Lucy P., African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. Some of the traditional forms of leisure include. How Names are given in the traditional African societies 1. Religion: Africans now get identified with new groupings e.g. p119. The study of African societies has become an established area of scholarship, with sophisticated analyses that are far from earlier works . 4. Angering the living dead and the spirits e.g. © 2023 Tutorke Limited. 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. People who have become educated consider the shaving of the hair unnecessary. The degree of relatedness of carer to the child, socio-economic status of fostering households, gender and age were identified as factors contributing to the well-being of children in kinship care. ii. Land Ownership: It is no longer communal affair but a private affair. For example, all weapons and iron implements are removed from the house of an expectant mother. Yet others could also die due to old age. Kinship is a cultural system. - They ensure the values and culture of the community is observed. First, two animal totems from one of which the clan derives its name. 6. DeVos, (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976), 49 Stuart Queen, Robert W. Habenstein, and John B. Adams, The Polygynous Baganda Family, in The Family in Various Cultures. Circumcision of the girls is a practice that has been widely condemned for health reasons. - It also shows that the woman is fully integrated to the husbands family - There are certain rules and regulations she is expected to observe. This is brought by the following factors:- 1. The clan is linked by four factors. among the Kisii, a person born crossing the river could be called Kwamboka. Boys herd goats, cows, and livestock. These changes have been brought about by:- i. 4 It disrupts normal human activities. - They preside over important occasions such as initiation, planting and marriage. African spirituality is truly holistic. Their roles include the following:- i. Rethinking the Family: Some Feminist Questions, New York: Longman, 1982. The midwives perform the following:- 1. Many women today put on trousers that initially were meant for men. iv. Bantu migrations also helped to spread agriculture and herding to all parts of Africa. - An orphan is a child whose both parents are dead. They include: i. Rain makers ii. Even traditionally, ordinary citizens could not achieve marrying more than one wife. Those who abuse sex are heavily punished. iii. Download Now. .. The purpose of sex is purely for procreation hence this discouraged sex before marriage. Christianity: Christianity has weakened African Kinship ties by introducing new ties by the Christian family. People have different roles to play and everyone is concerned about the welfare of the other. In traditional African society this entails a bride-exchange in form of cattle, services, foodstuffs, family ties, or other expressions of the marriage contract. Although human beings have made tremendous progress during the last 150 years or so, yet they have not been able to wield full control over the nature. 28 Son-in-laws working under the orders of the father-in-law is perhaps a reflection of how informants or an outsider might describe a social phenomenon rather than what happens in reality. It is also a sign of acceptance of the children into the new family. h. Among the Luos animals are driven over the graveside, people run in the homestead with spears. They are regarded as honest. Rituals associated with death vary from one community to another. To protect the child from evil eyes. He has no rights on his paternal clan. Problems experienced by widows and orphans - They suffer from lack of company because they feel abandoned. Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1971. FACTORS AFFECTING THE SYSTEM 173 THE SIB: DESCENT AND EXOGAMY Kinship ties necessarily begin within the family as a pro- creational unit. - Respect. It was a signed to individuals by the elders. Through dreams and vision v. Through observation and practice MEDICINE MEN They have the knowledge of healing certain diseases in the community. 3. These variations are caused by differences in tribal customs or culture according geography, history, religion, external influence of colonialism, inter migration, political and economic structures and influences. 3. - 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. J. Clyde Mitchell, The Yao Village: a Study in the Social Structure of a Malawian Tribe. That is to say a man goes to live in his wifes village, at any rate for the first years of his married life.22 This is also true of marriage among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lala, Lamba, Chewa, Kaonde, and many others. Importance of Naming 1. Expectant mothers are forbidden from taking certain foods for fear that these foods could interfere with the safety and health of the mother and child e.g. 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 naming of the child takes place some days after birth. It shows an act of bravery and hardship one I s to meet in life. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.33 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). It can determine a person's political identity and the way money and property are transferred. 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. Spirit of sharing: In African Traditional Community there is the spirit of sharing of resources among the members of a community e.g. - Wife inheritance has become risky due to HIV/AIDS. 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. Young initiates are trained to be responsible husbands and wives in future. However, it is not a form of payment as is mistaken by others. (1) According to the Dictionary of Anthropology, "Kinship system includes socially recognized relationships based on supposed as well as actual genealogical ties.".

factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society