Slide 3: People, languages And Cultures

Question 1

Describe Afro Asiatic

*super family language

Answer 1

• spoken in western, northern, and northeastern Africa
• Spoken by over 300 million peoples
• Main divisions: Semitic
• Examples: Arabic

Question 2

Describe Niger Congo

*super family language

Answer 2

• Spoken mainly in western, eastern, and Southern Africa regions
• largest in geographical area
• 600 million people speak the language

Question 3

Describe Nilo-Saharan

*super family language

Answer 3

• spoken mainly in Nile valley (Ethiopia, Sudan, northern Kenya)
• spoken by the 50-60 million Nilotic

Question 4

Describe Khoi-San

*super family language

Answer 4

• mainly spoken in the Namibia ( kalahari desert), Botswana and Central Tanzania
• 300,000 people speak the language

Question 5

Austronesian language

Answer 5

• spoken in Madagascar
• the sub branch of austronesian language spoken in Madagascar is Malagasy, which is in turn, a subgroup of Malayo- Polynesian

Question 6

Concept of ethnicity

Answer 6

Analytical tool that identifies the roles and interests influencing the choices of groups and individuals

Question 7

Ethnicity

Answer 7

Defines a sense of collective identity in which an ethnic group perceives itself as sharing a historical past and a variety of social norms and customs including:

• roles of elders and other age groups in the society
• relationship between males and females
• rites and practices of marriage and divorces
• proper means of resolving conflict

Question 8

What are the consenting views about ethnicity ?

Answer 8

First group argues

• its dysfunctional
• supposedly causes political instability, social instability, economic instability

Second group argues:
Traditional human identity was based on kinship groups or clans :
-implies that’s ethnicity effective means of social, economic, and political organizations for millennia
-ethnicity was not against stability or development
- ethnic groups do not have worse Econ performance
- are safer that homogenous society

In reality, ethnicity does not affect democracy or development. African leaders flares up conflict to prolong time in office

Question 9

When can ethnicity be dysfunctional?

Answer 9

• Ethnicity loyalties may overwhelm national purposes
• ethnic dominance may permanently bias public policy in favor of the dominant group
• minority groups may lose out

Question 10

What are the Single ethnic groups in Africa?

Answer 10

• Swaziland (e.g. Swazi )

- Somalia (e.g Somali)

Question 11

What are the two or more ethnic groups ?

Answer 11

• Rwanda (ethics groups Tutsis and Hutus)

- Botswana (Tswana and Kalanga)

Question 12

What are the dominant groups of Africa?

Answer 12

• Kenya ( e.g Kikuyu and Luo)
• Ethiopia ( Oromo & Amhara mange more that 70% of pop.)
  -Tanzania: 120 ethnic groups
  -Nigeria: over 500 ethnic groups
  Hausa-Fulani 29%
  Yoruba 21 %
  Igbo 18%

Question 13

Pre colonial Africa vs Colonialism

Answer 13

Precolonial: African states organized societies though an elaborate system based on family, lineage, clan etc

Colonialism: groups divided or combined with no regard to the common characteristic or distinctive attributes

Question 14

What are the major ethic groups in Africa and where do they reside ? HOYA

Answer 14

Hausa: spoken in Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Cameroon , Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan
50 million speakers
*chadic- sub family of Afro-astatic

Yoruba: spoken in Nigeria and Benin
40 million speakers

Oromo: spoken in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia
Cushitic (sub group of Afro asiatic)
35 million speakers

Akan: spoken in Ghana and Cote d’ivoire
sub group of Niger-Congo
20 million speakers

Question 15

What is body art? dates back? evidence of it found where? What is it’s purpose?

Answer 15

• Changing natural skin to “social skin”
• oldest form of art in Africa
• dates back 165,000 years ago
• evidence found in cave painting and rock engravings back to Stone Age
• engravings include human body decorated head to toe a testimony to the powerful human instinct to a beautif the skin
• body mondification is for:beauty, ritual, identity, treat certain aliements such as measles, pneumonia, stomach pains

Question 16

What is dental modification ?

Answer 16

• earliest evidence dates back to Tilemsi Valley of eastern Mali
• front tooth removal of sharpening common in Niger Congo and Nilo Saharan speakers

Question 17

What is symbolic about food?

Answer 17

“Food for thought”
Religious reasoning- learn to dislike idea of eating for example pork- that is feeding thought

Food develops relations- feeds spiritual need

Sorghum beer = “blood and mother milk” to bond everyone as brother and sister

Question 18

What are the religions in Africa?

Answer 18

-Contemporary African religions: monotheism ( Christianty, Islam, Judaism) and polytheism ( indigenous African religion)
Syncretize: merging to or more religions

Some religions are mergered to adjust the belief systems to practical life styles

All of life is arranged in hierarchy of souls and powers :
Supreme being
Ancestors
Magical powers

Question 19

What image does africa have of a happy life? What are the moral codes?

Answer 19

African image of happy life is one in which God is the superior and among the people, His presence supplies them with food, shelter, peace, immortality and a moral code

Moral code: 
Obey ancestors 
Honor parents and relatives 
 Be loyal and responsible to the others 
One must avoid breaking taboos or norms

Question 20

What is the dismal science ? What did Marshall Salins sugget about hunter gatherers?

Answer 20

• Economics traditionally take economic system as separable from social system
• void of cultural elements
• Anthropologists claim that Econ must Always be situated in its socio- cultural context
• Marshall Sahlins ( 1968-1972) suggested that hunter gatherers society don’t try to maximize their economic benefits

Question 21

Marshall Sahlins- the original affluent society theory

Answer 21

• Claims that hunter fathers were the original affluent society ( rich)
• Used this theory to shift anthropologist who sees hunter gatherers as primitive and always on the dye of starvation
• Sahlin’s stated that “all the people wants are easily satisfied”
• Supposedly hunter gathers reached affluence by wanting little and netting needs and wants by what’s required to them
• hunter gatherers road to affluence is desiring little why western societies produce too much

Question 22

What is Mary Douglas case study ?

Answer 22

“What determines economic development: culture or nature?”
-case studies the poverty amount Lele and Bushong
-she states lele are more poor than bushong even in the same vicinity
Lele:
lele have poor land and inefficient tech and begin work at 30 and retire early
Bushong start work at 18
Therefore Econ development is not only determined by physical environment but social organization

Question 23

What is Metaphor of economy ?

Answer 23

-Econ is a metaphor and model of and for moral and social order
-money obtained from such selling is tainted and brings bitter blessings
-Nuer distinction btw good money and bad money
• cattle reps. Blood of both the animal and lineage and should be used to create bondage such as marriage; separated from blood cattle and blood cattle
• money used for impersonal transactions such as paying taxes

Question 24

What is ghost marriage?

Answer 24

A man may marry his brother’s wife if he dies
The children from this marriage will be considered the descendants of a dead man
Purpose:
- to maintain continuity of family lineage and succession to important social position
- Nuer woman of wealth may marry a deceased man to keep her wealth but this form of “ghost” marriage
Consists of no loving husband and the woman can conceive children which in turns is a widow taking care of her wealth and children

Question 25

Why are religion in Africa syncretized?

Answer 25

In order to adjust the belief systems to their practical lifestyles