Because of this wide spectrum, it is not possible to explore all aspects of the traditional African family. The paternal grandfather recites many names of the clans dead ancestors. Lastly, this author will argue that the Eurocentric nature of the descriptions and characterization of the traditional African family patterns by earlier scholars has tended to distort and obscure many of the strengths of the African traditional family. There is no proper dosage of the herbs. vi. - They preside over important occasions such as initiation, planting and marriage. - They can foretell the future by receiving visions, dreams or words from God. It symbolizes the union between the living and the dead. 6. Payment of dowry shows how the bridegroom values the wife. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961) p.68. It is also a way of remembering important events in the society. It could also show how the bridegroom is capable of taking care of the bride. 3. They could also warn of impending danger. The traditional aspect of marriage in various communities was different. - There are traditional midwives who help in delivery. They also play the role of priests and pray for people. 1. - When the baby arrives, the sex of the baby is announced by ululations. In this system, all brothers of the father are called father, all sisters of the mother are called mother, all their children brother and sister. At times force could be applied to get a reluctant young girl marry the partner. They can also reveal-hidden information e.g. This can begin as early as childhood or before the children are born. The youth are taught to be courageous in order to be able to face challenges in life e.g. 2. 8. - In some communities it would last for several days. These changes have been brought about by:- i. iv. Magic, sorcery and witchcraft. - Can interfere with an individuals reproductive system. Family offers a person residential identity, social status, right to property affiliation with kinship and emotional support. However dowry payment has been hindered by several factors today e.g. 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. Dishonoring or insulting God. The study of African societies has become an established area of scholarship, with sophisticated analyses that are far from earlier works . (Buffalo: Amulefi Publishing Company, 1980). (2) Generation: Kinship tie is established between the persons in relation to generation. 41 Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. D. at Michigan State University in Sociology in 1987. This shows concern that they have for the child. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961)p.76. Majority of women today give birth in hospitals. 5. This explains why the family household included servants, female slaves, and their children. These Anglo-Saxon or Eurocentric descriptions do not help in the fair and accurate perception of the traditional African family. Early marriages are encountered to reduce fornication. Among the Akamba and the Agikuyu. Today the dead can be buried in cemeteries in towns. - They counsel and guide the youth on matters of sex and marriage Why guiding and counseling was done by elders 1. They are given time to heal. the introduction of money economy. Traditional African Society. ii. v. There was a lot of fairness in the distribution of property. - Virginity is highly valued and girls who are not found virgin are ridiculed. This chapter only focussed on the matrilineal and polygynous patrilineal African traditional family patterns because they seem representative of the broad patterns that exists on the continent. Traditional kinship structures remain important in many First Nations communities today. They may receive messages from the spirits and ancestors. 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. Challenges facing herbalists 1. Once the proposals are made, the parents and relatives would begin marriage negotiations. 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 system provides the peaceful ways of settling disputes in a community as all are treated as brothers and sisters. - An orphan is a child whose both parents are dead. 1. 8. In the African understanding, it is believed that there is no natural death. v. They are also consulted in terms of crisis e.g. Importance of Kinship - Kinship system defines how members relate to one another i.e. 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 quote, for example, shows that polygamy was practiced among the Pondo but the dominant form of traditional marriage and the family was monogamous. Kinship ties are strong bonds that exist among community members. For example, among the Tumbuka38 of Eastern Zambia the verb kugula (to buy) is used to refer to purchasing of material objects or commodities and domestic animals. Girls take care of the babies and fetch firewood. among the Luos the man is buried at the right and woman is buried the left. 2. The continuance of Aboriginal society is dependent on keeping Aboriginal families strong and healthy both physically and culturally. Kinship systems provide each person with a defined role (based on age, gender, and other factors), and serve to link people via duties of care [35856]. 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. It could also help in paying of the dowry. Most of these ceremonies are religious. v. They are taught secrets of the society. 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. It is said to be the basic and universal in relationships. The mother and the child is no longer secluded. - Marriage brought unity in the society. iv. Thesis. 4. ii. - Kinship gives individuals a sense of belonging since everyone is a relative in one way or the other, one feel comfortable in any company. 1. GAZETTE: How have ancestors . A clan is made up of a family who either are related by blood and marriage. - They negotiate for peace in time of war with another community. He has no rights on his paternal clan. 7. - Children born out of marriage also provide security to the homes. In western European societies Jack Goode finds that world revolution has contributed for the transformation of . This helps to control peoples behaviors. Religion: People have some religious beliefs, which promote unity, and every community believes in the existence of one God. It cements the relationship between the two families through the exchange of gifts. Patterns of Personality in Africa, in Responses to Change: Society, Culture and Personality. This again is true among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lamba, Lala, Chewa, Kaonde, Luba, and others. ii. Dowry is important in that:- 1. factors. What is significant about the various descriptions of the traditional African family is that they are from back in the period before the 1940s and in case of the Baganda from the late 1800s. Babbie, Earl R., Sociology: An Introduction. Bantu migrations also helped to spread agriculture and herding to all parts of Africa. Lecture: Nexus kinship and blood has a taste if age-old ideologies. - Men are not allowed to go next to the delivery places. 4. People could also die due to shortage of food. 48 R. A. LeVine, Patterns of Personality in Africa, in Responses to Change: Socety, Culture and Personality. To give the mother instructions on how to take care of the child. Western Culture: Has provided the spirit of individualization. There are basically eight primary kinswife father son, father daughter mother son, wife; father son, father daughter, mother son, mother daughter; brother sister; and younger brother/sister older brother/sister. Some of the major issues raised will include polygamy, tribe, clan, the extended family, bride price and the raising of children. - The practices vary from one community to another. Some communities have abandoned initiation rites like among the luo; removal of six lower teeth is a practice of the past. 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. Education of children has been left to teachers. 2. It was written in 1988. They are experts in particular religious fields. Most social scientists agree that kinship is based on two broad areas: birth and marriage; others say a third category of kinship involves social ties. viii. The developments in science and technology. - Kinship helps to care for the less fortunate members of the society e.g. v. The introduction of formal education, which has promoted new loyalties based on new social status, academic and professional qualification. Girls, in distinction to boys, seldom have time to play games.21, Among the Bemba people of Northern Zambia, marriage is matrilocal. Christianity: Christianity has weakened African Kinship ties by introducing new ties by the Christian family. a. People that belong to the same kinship system are referred to as kin. 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. - During this period of seclusion:- i. 3. This is brought by the following factors:- 1. Indeed this sense of kinship binds together the entire life of the "tribe . Large tracts of land 4 Large herds of cattle. People of the same age set consider themselves as brothers and sisters. - Playing football - Wresting - Beer drinking - Wedding ceremonies - Riddles - Folktales - Tongue twisters Today several changes have affected leisure activities. Reconnecting with a genetic tie Genetic resource and testing connected a person to their blood. vii. to find out if they are related. - Kinship ties also provide security to all concerned. The author describes the interaction between the Baganda mother and her baby as unfavorable and lacking any affection or love. The medicine men lead the community in religious rituals. They are neglected by their children especially those working in the towns. These views were expressed before 1930s and as late as 1960s. ii. There was fair distribution of wealth to even those who did not have. - The government and churches have built homes for them - They are given food etc. 3. 6. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1983. 2. The size of the clan could differ from one to the other. p.19, 45 Naboth M. J. Ngulube, Some Aspects of Growing Up in Zambia. Land Ownership: It is no longer communal affair but a private affair. Kinship refers to the relationships between people. The Family; Its Structures and Functions. - Sometimes the orphans and widows have their property destroyed or snatched. LAND In the traditional African society, people had a lot of attachment to land. - It is through marriage that children are born to the community. These are many. Defines kinship and explains its importance. v. Others would also be killed for crimes such as murder. Such include: - - Birth - Initiation - Marriage - Death 5. in women. - They are many types of the wedding ceremonies. Meanwhile, the median income of married-couple families is much higher ($72,589). Factors contributing to harmony and Mutual Responsibility in African Traditional Societies In traditional African Society, every individual is related to all. 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. This was because: - i. Africans believe that land was given to them by God. Colson, Elizabeth., Marriage and the Family among the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia., Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958. The houses of grandparents form their sleeping places. Courtship gives the two families time to prepare in advance for the real marriage. Introduction to Kinship. Reviews the biological and sociological constants of kinship; Previews the topicsto be covered in marriage, family and larger kinship units. 7. 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. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING Today many people talk of the way things were sometimes back many factors have affected the African culture. 6. In difficult times such as during famine, those who have share what they have with their relatives. Courage is usually praised. 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. People nowadays try to show their loyalty to state and not the society. The husband could take his wife home if the marriage was thought stable especially after the couple has had two or more children. KINSHIP SYSTEM - Kinship refers to being related to another either by blood or marriage. Urbanization: Those who move away from home to towns in search of Jobs are drawn from their ancestral homes. 8. 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 - Different communities have different rules on where the delivery should take place. 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. 6. 7 Nobody knows what happens after life on earth here. 4. Choosing of a marriage partner This differs from one community to another. The African notion of "family," by contrast, typically refers to the extended family system. The clan chooses the heir. They are consulted in cases where western medicine has failed. But typically news, information, and gossip flow readily through the network, with some individuals acting as "kin . in some communities it is thrown to uncultivated land to show fertility. Aboriginal kinship ties, values, beliefs, identity and language are maintained by the family. Other names can refer to place of birth e.g. - People do not have a lot of attachment to land, as there are other means of survival. Anthropologists have discovered that there are only six basic kin naming patterns or systems used by almost all of the thousands of cultures in the world. - They are kept company. ELDERS They are people who are elderly in society. 5. - Wife inheritance ensured that the late mans family would not suffer. - Misuse of sex. In some communities girls are given to kings or chiefs as gifts. The elderly are physically in active. The traditional healers are still important today especially to those who had let down by medicine prescribed by doctors. Role of priests, prophets and seers 1. 3. Leisure Activities: This is the time that one has at his disposal. Mothers and children would die at childbirth to cases where there is no skilled mid-wife. Economy e.g. Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953) p.1, 10 Stuart Queen, Robert W. Habenstein, and John B. Adams, The Polygynous Baganda Family, in The Family in Various Cultures. iii. 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