Wedding ceremony - After the negotiation the wedding ceremonies are arranged. They advise the expectant mother on how to take care of herself. Colson, Elizabeth., Marriage and the Family among the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia., Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958. It is a way of compensating the brides family for the loss of a member. Land is owned by individuals. Family. The naming of a child is therefore an important occasion, which is often marked with ceremonies. They are referred to as the Eskimo, Hawaiian, Sudanese, Omaha, Crow, and Iroquois systems. These rules would differ from one community to another. They lead people to communal prayer in time of crisis. Their relevance today Some people still consult prophets on seers some couples may consult in case of barrenness. Modern education and western culture has affected dowry payment in that many educated attach little value to dowry payment. Girls at an early age are taught a wide range of household and agricultural duties including cooking, cultivation and tending children. 6 It separates one from the loved ones. They would only speak through intermediaries. f. The grave is dug in a special place e.g. Through this, they believed they could receive blessings. The name gives the child identity. Although children among the Baganda are brought up in an unroutinized and casual way with a few rites of passage to adulthood, they seem to go through three distinct stages during their up bringing. 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. - It also regulates marriage relations, before marriage one has to find the back ground of the other. 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. People could also die due to shortage of food. Problems that the elderly face today 1. 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. 7. Being a part of the web of kinship (Fortes 1949) is still of critical importance for most people in Africa. Almost 30% of all single-parent families headed by women are officially poor. 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 descriptions implicitly portray (to the African and Westerner) African relationships as being negative, rigid and miserable. iii. Email: mtembo@bridgewater.edu, 2023 Mwizenge S. Tembo - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder: Book Review, Kinship and Clan of the Baganda of Uganda, Kinship and Clan of the Bemba of Northern Zambia, Eurocentricity and the Traditional African Family. - In others the bridegroom and its party have to fight the brides party in order to get her. Choosing of a marriage partner This differs from one community to another. There are two main types of leisure: (1) Passive leisure: This is where there is minimal use of physical energy. Rain makers ii. The mother may hug or caress the child and comfort it when hurt or in distress. DeVos, New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976. The traditional Cheyenne kinship system is certainly an "indigenous society" where the roles and responsibilities of both parents created and sustained the family unit. 1. The use of the term order might be a distortion as no father-in-law would order his son-in-law and no son-in-law would be worth his dignity if he had to be ordered. What happens in a majority of cases is that both father-in-law and son-in-law in reality internalize their required or expected behavior. Same ancestry: People of a particular community believe that they have the same origin e.g. b) Explain the purpose of bride wealth in the traditional African community. It is a source of food for the people and the animals. They are not supposed to take part in heavy duties or carry heavy loads. vii. Today choosing of a marriage partner is individualized and the parents do nowadays not choose the marriage partner. - Through marriage, the living dead and those yet to be born are brought together. Bridgewater, VA 22812 Circumcision of the girls is a practice that has been widely condemned for health reasons. 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. It symbolized death and resurrection. - 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. Traditional kinship structures remain important in many First Nations communities today. a person born during locusts invasion can be called Adede among the luo. - Life is also considered to be more precious and highly valued. Defines kinship and explains its importance. - There is individual ownership of property. 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. In traditional African society this entails a bride-exchange in form of cattle, services, foodstuffs, family ties, or other expressions of the marriage contract. Clyde., The Yao Village: a Study in the Social Structure of a Malawian Tribe. .The eldest son cannot inherit.15, The Baganda practice the levirate custom. During this period he conducted extensive research and field work in rural Zambia particularly in the Eastern and Southern Provinces of the country. - Attending discos and nightclubs. it governs behavior towards each other - Kinship binds together the entire life of a community, the departed and those yet to be born. - In African traditional society, each individual is related to the other. 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. 10. ii. - Kinship helps to care for the less fortunate members of the society e.g. - They could also feel their body senses to predict rain. 2. Edited by G.A. iii. Some names are given in the remembrance of the departed relatives. 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. - The departed relatives are kept alive through naming. pp. Goode, William J. 2. - They help the priests to performing certain rituals such as sacrifices. The African notion of "family," by contrast, typically refers to the extended family system. The kin group is also a source of emotional and spiritual belonging. The youth are ritually introduced to the communal living. 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. The moral values learnt include:- -Obedience/loyalty. among the Akamba pregnant women are not supposed to eat fats, beans or animals killed using poison. Opiyo and Odongo among the Luo. - Some people acquire wealth through dishonest means e.g. But however, after a few years of contact with white civilization and subsequent social change, the custom has gradually changed. Most of the time they suffer from old age diseases. Western culture and education has really affected marriage. vi. Edited by G.A. 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. 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. Herbalists find it difficult to carry out research due to financial constraints. This again is true among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lamba, Lala, Chewa, Kaonde, Luba, and others. There is no proper dosage of the herbs. In some communities girls are given to kings or chiefs as gifts. The permissive society has also encouraged trial marriages. - Playing football - Wresting - Beer drinking - Wedding ceremonies - Riddles - Folktales - Tongue twisters Today several changes have affected leisure activities. Wealth was seen in terms of: 1. in cases of death, the whole community mourn. By 1935, for example, anthropologists like Mair and Richards and no doubt many others were already noticing change in marriage and family patterns.36. Culture and values are adaptive .. to find out if they are related. - Marriage raised the status of the couples once somebody was married he was given a lot of respect. What role did religion play in medieval Africa communities? Impact of Modernism on Family. Fourth, special observations related to pregnancy, childbirth, naming of the child, and testing the childs legitimacy as clan member.14, The existence of patriarchy and the patrilineal system among the Baganda might suggest that individual men have the most dominant social status. But typically news, information, and gossip flow readily through the network, with some individuals acting as "kin . c. The corpse is washed using water. This was because: - i. Africans believe that land was given to them by God. Children are attached to and cared for by many adults, including grandparents, aunties, uncles and older siblings [29064] [28917]. Would provide medical care e.g. if a person may not have been buried properly. - Property can be owned outside ones ancestral home. 5. People in the traditional African communities were afraid of acquiring property unlawfully for fear of curse. ix. 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. It cements the relationship between the two families through the exchange of gifts. The church also gives them food, and clothing and their daily needs. They are free most of them and can get time for the younger generation. (2) Generation: Kinship tie is established between the persons in relation to generation. 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. These carried with them all the heavy social obligations demanded of a mother or father, daughter or son. They give information concerning cause, nature and treatment of diseases. Kinship is reckoned through blood and betrothal (engagement and marriage). Matrilineality is the major influence in what children learn and come to accept about their society. Importance of kinship ties to TAS Where as chiefs have a number of wives, it is very rare to find ordinary men who have more than one wife. theories regarding family structure" (D . They are believed to be full of wisdom. .. 4. The study of African societies has become an established area of scholarship, with sophisticated analyses that are far from earlier works . Second Edition, London: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1974. He has no rights on his paternal clan. The birth of a child is no longer a communal affair but a family affair. 2. The husband could take his wife home if the marriage was thought stable especially after the couple has had two or more children. Their roles include the following:- i. They also lead the community in offering sacrifices to God. Many of the rituals that were performed to the mother and the child are today seen as unnecessary. This is meant to send it clean into the world of the living dead. 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. Second, an identifying drum beat used at ceremonies. Rituals associated with death vary from one community to another. Magic, sorcery and witchcraft. 7. They could also clean newly born baby. Polygyny though set the tone and often determined the strength of the society and pattern of social organization of the traditional African family. 8. Naming ceremonies also bring unity among the people whenever a new child is born, members of extended family would come to celebrate together. There are three main types of kinship: lineal, collateral, and affinal. - Kinship ties assist people to live peacefully and in harmony with others. 5. It is feared and marked with a lot of sorrow. However, the influence of mediums and diviners has been affected by Christianity, which is against consulting any power apart from God. -Responsibility. A mock wrestling sometimes would be organized between the boy and the girl. Twins are also given special names e.g. Urbanization has undermined the role of of the elders as it becomes difficult for elders to operate as the people come from different backgrounds. 2 William J. Western Culture: Has provided the spirit of individualization. To protect the child from evil eyes. - A white bed sheet is spread this is to collect blood during the breaking of virginity. First, in succession and inheritance the man inherits his dead grandfather, maternal uncle, or brother. 5. - Prayers are also offered to God for protection. Kinship refers to relationship between people through blood, marriage or adoption. 6. Among the Akamba and the Agikuyu. 1 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) pp.1 177. 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