iii. Dowry is important in that:- 1. Colson, Elizabeth., Marriage and the Family among the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia., Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958. among the Luos the man is buried at the right and woman is buried the left. - 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. Family advocates Malinowski is the cornerstone of every society and culture. Both the mother and the child are given charms to protect them. 6. 5. 2. Therefore, the new families tend to generally live near or with the husbands parents. Their roles include the following:- i. - Life is also seen as communal. 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. However, the influence of mediums and diviners has been affected by Christianity, which is against consulting any power apart from God. The blood the binds the initiates and ancestors. It marks change from childhood to adulthood. v. Polygamy is encouraged for sexual satisfaction for men. They do not have good food or accommodation. In fact a woman was part of the property of the man. The kin group is also a source of emotional and spiritual belonging. 3. Leisure Activities: This is the time that one has at his disposal. - Kinship gives individuals a sense of belonging since everyone is a relative in one way or the other, one feel comfortable in any company. As the African society has not been static, changes in the traditional family patterns will be briefly alluded to. It is a way of compensating the brides family for the loss of a member. - They act as a court of law to errant members of the society. 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. Importance of Initiation i. Through this, they believed they could receive blessings. v. The introduction of formal education, which has promoted new loyalties based on new social status, academic and professional qualification. (Buffalo: Amulefi Publishing Company, 1980). Meanwhile, the husband works under his father-in-laws orders with other young son-in-laws.26 A matrilocal family of this kind forms the nucleus of a village community (umushi) which other relatives of the head of the family afterwards join.27, Polygamy or polygyny, which is a distinguishing feature in many traditional African families especially is patrilineal and patriarchal societies, is uncommon among the matrilineal Bemba. DeVos, (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976). (2) Generation: Kinship tie is established between the persons in relation to generation. People who are directly related to each other are known as primary kin. The mother may hug or caress the child and comfort it when hurt or in distress. At times girls could be given to repay debts. ii. Prayers are offered also during time of calamities. Changing Family Patterns: Sub-Saharan Africa, in World Revolution and Family Patterns. [1] Kinship refers to relationship between people through blood, marriage or adoption. Modern education and western culture has affected dowry payment in that many educated attach little value to dowry payment. That is, kinship is a network of relationships in which each tie is influenced by, and in turn influences, the others. 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. Extended Family: It ensures that children, orphans and the widows are well taken care of by the other members of the extended family. 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. 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. This is certainly no longer the case in the contemporary African traditional family. 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. 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. in the garden or when one is building a new house. Mothers and children would die at childbirth to cases where there is no skilled mid-wife. To give the mother time to heal. To give the mother instructions on how to take care of the child. iv. - Initiation rites have certain symbolic meanings. 4. 4. Angering the living dead and the spirits e.g. These are many. 1. The Plan of Action also asserts that "for the full and harmonious development of their personality, children should grow up in a famil environmenty in a,n atmosphere of happiness lov, ane d understanding". ii. Mair, Lucy P., African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. Once somebody is married he got fully integrated to the society. However the mode of dressing has seriously changed due to western influence. The dramatic social changes in Africa during the last three decades of political independence from European colonialism have obviously affected the traditional family. v. Others would also be killed for crimes such as murder. KINSHIP SYSTEM - Kinship refers to being related to another either by blood or marriage. © 2023 Tutorke Limited. 3. they are consulted before installation of a new king in some communities. - A lot of bleeding can lead to the death of an individual. Pregnant women are not allowed to handle certain types of tools. - In some communities such a girl would be stabbed by an arrow and killed while in others she would be married to an old man. - Some people acquire wealth through dishonest means e.g. Barnes, J.A., Marriage in a Changing Society: a Study in Structural Change among the Fort Jameson Ngoni, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1951, 1970. Communal worship prayers are offered to God to thank Him for whatever he has done. They also play the role of priests and pray for people. The histories and cultures of Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia and North Africa are covered . They are important because they have a lot of experience. Problems that the elderly face today 1. There was fair distribution of wealth to even those who did not have. Second, the continued Eurocentric descriptions and characterization of the African traditional family as some what depraved lead to the use of such terms as bride price, avoidance social taboos, segregated relationships, lack of love and tenderness in African marriages and families. A mock wrestling sometimes would be organized between the boy and the girl. 6. These constitute the core of the Bemba traditional African family around which the social organization of the traditional society revolves. Lous Wirth also believed that the city is not conducive to the traditional type of family life. 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. For example, all weapons and iron implements are removed from the house of an expectant mother. Kinship relationships were and still are important among African communities. People nowadays migrate and buy lands in far places. - Marriage ensures that children are not born outside wedlock. - Gambling. - There are rites of passage that one has to undergo. Would you say in the Western marriage ritual of the priest leading on the saying of vowes, that the priest orders the groom to now kiss the bride, or put the ring on the brides finger, or ordered to be married for that matter? Polygamy was preferred in African Traditional societies but today many people prefer monogamy marriage mainly due to economic hardship. Western Culture: Has provided the spirit of individualization. It must be emphasized, however, that these were traditional patterns as far back as late 1800s up to as late as 1960s. - They oversee the division of property in the community after death. - They can foretell the future by receiving visions, dreams or words from God. As Eaton et al (2003) found in South Africa, for young people struggling for daily survival, protection from possible future illness may be a lower priority than meeting immediate economic needs. They affect all aspects of Africa, including care, marriages, and social status, since kinship controls people's relationships, moral values, and attitudes. 3. 3. 6. When one dies, he joins the world of the living dead. T/F: Through slavery, forced separation of spouses, siblings, and parents from children led to a more expansive definition of kinship, and thus an extended family model took root. Twins are also given special names e.g. - In most communities the child and the mother are kept in seclusion for a number of days, depending on the sex of the baby. Others bury the dead with property with a belief that they would continue to use them in the next world. These could be through words or deeds. iii. Overall, there are two forms of social groups that from the basis of Bemba marriage and traditional family. Land was also the habitat of people, animals and plants. 4. For example, in the polygynous African family, like among the Baganda, and many others, your fathers wives and brothers were not just mothers and fathers just as mere kinship terms. Your husband or wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law are all kinsmen related to you through marriage. Children are attached to and cared for by many adults, including grandparents, aunties, uncles and older siblings [29064] [28917]. Through dreams and vision v. Through observation and practice MEDICINE MEN They have the knowledge of healing certain diseases in the community. This manuscript was written for a book, which was never published, which was to be edited by Dr. Elizabeth Brooks who was a lecturer at the University of Zambia. Some communities have abandoned initiation rites like among the luo; removal of six lower teeth is a practice of the past. 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. Lusaka: National Educational Company of Zambia, and Kenneth Kaunda Foundation, 1970. 3. - Misuse of sex. There are counselors that give the aged hope and love. Makini. People could also die due to shortage of food. Birth and naming 2. a diviner would be called when something was stolen. This is meant to send it clean into the world of the living dead. This difficulty in generalization bone of diversity was already apparent to many early scholars of the African traditional family like Mair(1) and Goode(2). ELDERS They are people who are elderly in society. The following day, the naming ceremony takes place. A person's position in the kinship system establishes their relationship to others and to the universe, prescribing their responsibilities towards other people, the land and natural resources. vii. The education provided is a lifelong process. - Life also continues after death, death does not mark the end of life but is just a change of state. The celebration that marked the end of initiation is slowly dying out due to economic constraints. to find out if they are related. c) Explain the factors weakening kinship ties among Africa communities. politicians. But rather as curiosities that were to succumb to the superior European monogamous marriage values legitimated by Christianity. However, both the organization of the family unit, marriage, decent systems and the structure of kinship relations vary from society to society and through time (Ingiabuna et al. 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. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958, 1967, 1975). iii. The written descriptions and therefore perceptions of the traditional African family were also a victim of the European colonial cultural bias and Christian values. It symbolized death and resurrection. Factors that have affected Kinship system 1. 6. It was written in 1988. 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. This is because; 1 It is unavoidable. WIDOWS AND ORPHANS - A widow is a woman whose husband is dead. The common descriptions of the African traditional family in the literature is Eurocentric and biased. - The government assists widows to get their husbands benefits. - The placenta is disposed of ceremoniously e.g. 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. Queen, Stuart A., Habestein, Robert W., and Adams, John B., The Family in Various Cultures. 4) Some people who falsely claim to be diviners today simply exploit the ignorance of the people. 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. 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. As such children at an early age learn that their father has little authority or responsibility for them. Explain the importance of Kinship in traditional African society african cultural and moral values 1 Answer 0 votes answered Aug 9, 2021 by anonymous Control social relationships in community of people related by blood and marriage Bind whole community hence social cohesion Makes people live in harmony/ peace Promotes mutual responsibility and help - In others the bridegroom and its party have to fight the brides party in order to get her. Land ownership: The ancestral land is communally owned and nobody is allowed to sell it. -The spirit of sharing. Opiyo and Odongo among the Luo. However, as a prospective husband, you are told to pay for the marriage and not the bride. Young men are taught to develop self-love and love for the community it provides a sense of belonging. There are also accidental deaths e.g. African societies are complex and diverse, requiring an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate and understand the continent's economic, political, social, and cultural institutions and change. There is no bride price in our society. The clan is linked by four factors. Death is believed to be a next journey to the world of the spirits. - It also shows that the woman is fully integrated to the husbands family - There are certain rules and regulations she is expected to observe. Elders are respected [32777] [42770]. 42 Yizenge A. Chondoka, Traditional Marriages in Zambia: A Study in Cultural History. 2. In difficult times such as during famine, those who have share what they have with their relatives. Kinship ties definition: Kinship is the relationship between members of the same family. These changes have been brought about by:- i. Initiation 3. It is feared and marked with a lot of sorrow. - Marriage was a source of wealth for the family. Answers - Modern science and technology - Western education - Influence from other religions - Rural-urban migration - Breakdown in traditional values - Western culture - Generation gap/specialists seen as outdated john3 answered the question on October 10, 2017 at 19:10 - Marriage brings completeness in a person. East Lansing, Michigan State University, 1980, Unpublished M. A. Thesis. They feel a strong bond towards each other because they are tied by kinship relationships to one another. This is sexual differentiation in socialization in which girls will become acceptable mothers and wives and boys husbands and fathers. Naming gives identity to a person before a child is given a name she or he is not considered as having full identity. 4. Family. Removal of teeth. 18. a) State five changes that have taken place in property ownership today. 7 Nobody knows what happens after life on earth here. - Through marriage, the living dead and those yet to be born are brought together. Land is owned by individuals. Because of this wide spectrum, it is not possible to explore all aspects of the traditional African family. There are strict rules and taboos governing sex. iv. And this, together with neolocality, makes it nearly impossible to use kinship in structuring our social order. Dr. Mwizenge S. Tembo Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953) p.14, 37 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.51 Naboth M. J. Ngulube, Some Aspects of Growing Up in Zambia. In some communities if a woman is barren, she would bring another woman to bring children on her behalf. a. society irrespective of their origins, background, class, ethnicity, race, gender and other markers of identity. For example, sickness in the indigenous African worldview is not only an imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in one's social life, which can be linked to a breakdown in one's kinship and family relations or even to one's relationship with one's ancestors. It is a sign of belonging to the society or identification. 3. Many communities made clothes from animal skins, bark of trees, sisal and leaves. They believe iron implements attract lightning. This was because: - i. Africans believe that land was given to them by God. among the Akamba pregnant women are not supposed to eat fats, beans or animals killed using poison. ix. 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). vi. - The wife or orphans sometimes get mistreated. - It causes physical injury to the victim. During this period he conducted extensive research and field work in rural Zambia particularly in the Eastern and Southern Provinces of the country. 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. - Alcoholism. Wealth was seen in terms of: 1. Such include: - - Birth - Initiation - Marriage - Death 5. This can begin as early as childhood or before the children are born. In some societies it is young people themselves who make their own choices and after wards informs their parents about it. Polygyny was widely practiced in Africa and it often formed the backbone of the traditional African family patterns. - Playing football - Wresting - Beer drinking - Wedding ceremonies - Riddles - Folktales - Tongue twisters Today several changes have affected leisure activities. They are also given special instructions that prepare them for marriage life. - In some communities e.g. ii. Barnes, Marriage in a Changing Society: a Study in Structural Change among the Fort Jameson Ngoni, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1951, 1970). It is also a way of remembering important events in the society. The mother and the child is no longer secluded. - Marriage extended relationship and therefore enlarged kinship ties. Even traditionally, ordinary citizens could not achieve marrying more than one wife. children born out of wed-lock are killed or abandoned. 6. Before this ceremony, the child is not considered a complete member of the clan or society. v. They are also consulted in terms of crisis e.g. - They give direction on funeral ceremonies and advise on what should be done about the ceremony. The kinship systems govern care,. 7. Responsibility of elders: - They help in the settlement of disputes. 2. The children learn the customs, beliefs, and culture pertaining to the social roles of being a woman, mother, and wife for girls; and a man, father, and husband for boys. It shapes such daily experiences as how and where individuals live, how they interact with the people around them, and even, in some cases, whom they marry. D. at Michigan State University in Sociology in 1987. Other names may also refer to the characteristics of the mothers pregnancy or the nature of delivery e.g. 2. v. Marking of the body (scarification) - During initiation, the initiates are removed from the rest of the community. Majority of women today give birth in hospitals. In fact Chondoka finds the use of the terms dowry, bride price to refer to particularly traditional Zambian marriages to be serious misnomers introduced by European missionaries and colonialists in Africa. 3. They act as counselors and guide the people on all issues of life. Members of a community could also come together when defending the community against outside invaders. Girls at an early age are taught a wide range of household and agricultural duties including cooking, cultivation and tending children. - Kinship helps to care for the less fortunate members of the society e.g. 4. 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. People of the same age set consider themselves as brothers and sisters. The government has also set up insurance and pension schemes to enable people who are employed continue to get a decent life after retirement e.g. Naming ceremonies also provide opportunity to teach the culture of the youth. 9. - Kinship helps to prevent the spread of hereditary diseases. 5. This background is essential to any application of Christian spirituality in Africa. BIRTH Pregnancy - This is the first stage in the life of a person. During initiation the initiates are given special instructions that prepare them for future life. 5. 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. Women were not allowed to own property. attack by wild animals. - Sometimes the orphans and widows have their property destroyed or snatched. They are given time to heal. It is also a symbolic act of breaking the bride completely from the state of unmarried life once dowry is paid she becomes full and mature person. Their relevance today Some people still consult prophets on seers some couples may consult in case of barrenness. Some people also consult them before making important decisions e.g. Ngulube, Naboth M. J., Some Aspects of Growing Up in Zambia, Lusaka: Nalinga Consultancy/Sol-Consult A/S Limited, 1989. bribery, robbery and stealing. People nowadays try to show their loyalty to state and not the society. iv. Marriage ceremonies brought people together as they came together to rejoice. 2. b. - There is individual ownership of property. 11. Urbanization: Where people of different cultures interact with one another. In western European societies Jack Goode finds that world revolution has contributed for the transformation of . Information on traditional marriage customs among both patrilineal and matrilineal peoples of Zambia is available in Yizenge A. Chondoka, Traditional Marriages in Zambia: A Study in Cultural History, (Ndola: Mission Press, 1988). 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. Importance of seclusion period 1. It offers a general survey of the geographical environments they inhabited; their settlements, social structures and economies; and their religions and cultures. 7. 1. - Protection charms are tied around the neck or the waist of the child. Those who had not been initiated were not allowed to own property. Western Culture: Has provided the spirit of individualization. 2. Education of children has been left to teachers. 6 It separates one from the loved ones. 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. Wide range of household and agricultural duties including cooking, cultivation and tending children of household and agricultural duties cooking. Through observation and practice MEDICINE men they have the knowledge of healing certain diseases in the garden or when is! Words from God clean into the world of the same age set consider themselves as and. 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