West African Civilization Ms. A Flashcards
Notable in the Kingdom were all-female military
units known as “Mino” or Dahomey Amazons
(named by Western observers and historians). Mino,
which means “our mothers,” were a Fon all-female
military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the
present-day Benin which lasted until the end of the
19th century. Vodou originated in the ancient
kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Nigeria, Benin,
and Togo) and derives from the Fon word for “God”
or “Spirit.” Other accurate spellings include Vodun,
Vodoun, but never voodoo, the sensationalist and
derogatory Western creation. Vodou is a
comprehensive system of knowledge that has nothing
to do with simplistic and images such as sticking pins
into dolls. It is an organized form of communal
support that provides meaning to the human
experience in relation to the natural and supernatural
forces of the universe. Vodou is essentially a
monotheistic religion, which recognizes a single
and supreme spiritual entity or God, known as
Mawu-Lisa among the Dahomey (Fon)
Kingdom of Dahomey
Notable in the Empire was Nana Yaa
Asantewaa. After the King Prempeh I was exiled,
the Asante government called for a meeting to
discuss how to secure the return of their king. There
was a disagreement among those present on how to
go about this. Yaa Asantewaa, who was present at
this meeting, stood and addressed the members of the
council with these now-famous words: Now I have
seen that some of you fear to go forward to fight for
our King. If it were in the brave days of Osei Tutu,
Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware, leaders would
not sit down to see their King taken away without
firing a shot. No white man could have dared to
speak to a leader of the Ashanti in the way the
Governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that
the bravery of the Ashanti is no more? I cannot
believe it. It cannot be! I must say this, if you the
men of Ashanti will not go forward, then we will. We
the women will. I shall call upon my fellow women.
We will fight the white men. We will fight till the
last of us falls in the battlefields. ” Yaa Asantewaa was
chosen by a number of regional Asante kings to be
the war-leader of the Asante fighting force.
The Asante and other subgroups of the Akan
ethnic group are Matrilineal societies. Many but not
all of the Akan still practice their traditional
matrilineal customs, living in their traditional
extended family households. The traditional Akan
economic and political organization is based on
matrilineal lineages, which are the basis of
inheritance and succession. A lineage is defined as
all those related by matrilineal descent from a
particular ancestress. Several lineages are grouped
into a political unit headed by a council of elders,
each of whom is the elected head of a lineage –
which itself may include multiple extended-family
households. “A man is strongly related to his
mother’s brother (wɔfa) but only weakly related to his
father’s brother.
From the 15th century to the 19th century the
Akan people dominated gold mining and trading in
the region; throughout this period they were among
the most powerful groups in Africa.The Akan
goldfields, were highly auriferous areas between the
Komoe and Volta rivers.
Asante Empire/ Akan
The Serer people have been historically noted as
an ethnic group that violently resisted the expansion
of Islam, fought against jihads in the 19th century
and opposed the French colonial rule.
The Sabar drum and dance tradition associated
with the Wolof people originated from the Serer
Kingdom of Sine and spread to the Kingdom of
Saloum. The Wolof people who migrated to Serer
Saloum picked it up from there and spread it to
Wolof Kingdoms.
Senegalese wrestling called Njom in Serer
originated from the Serer Kingdom. It was a
preparatory exercise for war among the warrior
classes. That style of wrestling (a brutal and violent
form) is totally different from the sport wrestling
enjoyed by all Senegambian ethnic groups today,
nevertheless the ancient rituals are still visible in the
sport version. Among the Serers, wrestling is
classified into different techniques and each
technique takes several years to master.
Serer Kingdom
Notable in the Empire was Queen Ndaté Yalla
Mbodj. Sheis regarded as a heroine in Senegambian
history, and one of the most famous women of 19th
century Senegambia. Along with several other
African heroines, she was a warrior Queen and
played a crucial role in the struggle for African
liberation. Oral historians, also known as Griots have
recorded her bravery, and she remains a symbol of
female empowerment. During her life and
afterwards, Ndaté Yalla was a symbol of resistance
against French colonialism.
The Wolof Empire ruled parts of Senegal and the
Gambia from approximately 1350 to 1890. The
tradition of governance, caste, and culture of the
Wolof dominated the history of north-central Senegal
for much of the last 800 years. Wolof people are the
Creators of Jollof rice (Now prepared in most West
African countries)
Wolof Empire
Igbos had a calendar in which a week has four
days. A month has seven weeks and thirteen months
a year. The last month had an extra day. They also
had mathematics called Okwe and Mkpisi and a
saving and loans bank system called Isusu. They
settled law matters by oath taking to a god. If that
person died in a certain amount of time, he was
guilty. If not, he was free to go, but if guilty, that
person could face exile or servitude to a deity.
Traditional Igbo religion includes belief in a
creator god (Chukwu or Chineke), an earth goddess
(Ala), and numerous other deities and spirits as well
as a belief in ancestors who protect their living
descendants.
Igbo Civilization
Notable in the Kingdom was Kunta Kinte, a
Mandinka Warrior who became victim of the
TransAtlantic Slave Trade.
The Mandinka (also known as the Mandingo and
Malinke, among other names) are a West African
people spread across parts of Guinea, Ivory Coast,
Mali, Senegal, the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
With a global population of some 11 million, the
Mandinka are the best-known ethnic group of the
Mande peoples, all of whom speak different dialects
of the Mande language. They are descendants of the
great Mali Empire that flourished in West Africa
from the 13th through the 16th centuries. The most
notable Mandinka instrument used by the Griots is
the Kora.
Mandinka Empire
Notable of the ethnic Group was Thomas
Sankara, First president of Burkina Faso and one of
the most revolutionary leaders in Africa.
The Mossi Kingdoms, sometimes referred to as the
Mossi Empire, were a number of different powerful
kingdoms in modern-day Burkina Faso which
dominated the region of the upper Volta river for
hundreds of years. The kingdoms were founded when
warriors from the Mamprusi area, in modern-day
Ghana moved into the area and intermarried with
local people.
The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina
Faso, constituting more than 40% of the population,
or about 6.2 million people.
Mossi Kingdom
