In some communities girls are given to kings or chiefs as gifts. At childhood children are taught to obey parents and the elderly. could advice on when to go to war. - Kinship system provides the peaceful ways of settling disputes in a community as all are treated as brothers and sisters. v. Others would also be killed for crimes such as murder. They play the role of counselors and advisors to the community. New York: The Free Press, 1963. (2) Generation: Kinship tie is established between the persons in relation to generation. 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. The introduction of formal education Formal education has weakened the role of parents and grandparents. 2. Importance of kinship ties to TAS For example, all weapons and iron implements are removed from the house of an expectant mother. They also perform light duties for relatives. The common descriptions of the African traditional family in the literature is Eurocentric and biased. Second, an identifying drum beat used at ceremonies. in some communities it is thrown to uncultivated land to show fertility. 3. People in the traditional African communities were afraid of acquiring property unlawfully for fear of curse. vi. In western European societies Jack Goode finds that world revolution has contributed for the transformation of . 2. - They give direction on funeral ceremonies and advise on what should be done about the ceremony. Kinship is reckoned through blood and betrothal (engagement and marriage). Polygyny was widely practiced in Africa and it often formed the backbone of the traditional African family patterns. iii. The celebration that marked the end of initiation is slowly dying out due to economic constraints. 4. They heal various diseases using herbs. - Widows and orphans feel dehumanized. Angering the living dead and the spirits e.g. Although human beings have made tremendous progress during the last 150 years or so, yet they have not been able to wield full control over the nature. Some herbalists have been legalized by the government and have opened clinics e.g. These carried with them all the heavy social obligations demanded of a mother or father, daughter or son. Many women today put on trousers that initially were meant for men. Some of the celebrations like beer drinking are slowly dying out. Courage is usually praised. 8. - People tend to be individualized. Relevance of diviners and medicine men today 1) Diviners and Mediums are still important in Kenya today. - In others the bridegroom and its party have to fight the brides party in order to get her. .. 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. 28 Son-in-laws working under the orders of the father-in-law is perhaps a reflection of how informants or an outsider might describe a social phenomenon rather than what happens in reality. To give the mother instructions on how to take care of the child. 5. They act as counselors and guide the people on all issues of life. Richards, Audrey I., Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969. Removal of teeth. People who are directly related to each other are known as primary kin. 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. Many communities made clothes from animal skins, bark of trees, sisal and leaves. (Eds.) 4. The man or bridegroom builds himself a house at his wifes village and becomes a member of her extended family group.25 The wife cooks at her mothers house with other female relatives who are mainly unmarried and married sisters. Laziness was condemned or punished to ensure that people owned what they had actually worked for. They advise the expectant mother on how to take care of herself. 5 It comes unannounced. The paternal grandmothers drop the cords into a can, which contains beer, milk, and water. Their roles include the following:- i. Reviews the biological and sociological constants of kinship; Previews the topicsto be covered in marriage, family and larger kinship units. Chondoka, Yizenge A., Traditional Marriages in Zambia: A Study in Cultural History, Ndola, Mission Press, 1988. The government, the church and non-governmental organizations have built homes for the aged. iii. Urbanization: Those who move away from home to towns in search of Jobs are drawn from their ancestral homes. It is believed that after death one continues to live in the spirit world and therefore the dead relatives are to be given descent burial so that they cannot harm the living. That is, kinship is a network of relationships in which each tie is influenced by, and in turn influences, the others. By 1935, for example, anthropologists like Mair and Richards and no doubt many others were already noticing change in marriage and family patterns.36. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956, 1966, 1971). Changes that have affected land ownership - Today its a requirement by the government that one must possess a land title deed. The gift replaces her reminding the family that she has left her people yet she is not dead. Rethinking the Family: Some Feminist Questions, New York: Longman, 1982. They are not supposed to take part in heavy duties or carry heavy loads. Professor of Sociology, Bridgewater College. Circumcision of the girls is a practice that has been widely condemned for health reasons. Clyde., The Yao Village: a Study in the Social Structure of a Malawian Tribe. Would provide medical care e.g. How the of rites passage inculcate moral values In the traditional African communities, people learn the moral values through every days activities and through education provided. GAZETTE: How have ancestors . 2. The African notion of "family," by contrast, typically refers to the extended family system. 1. DeVos, (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976). Download Now. 7. As the African society has not been static, changes in the traditional family patterns will be briefly alluded to. Extended Family: It ensures that children, orphans and the widows are well taken care of by the other members of the extended family. Kinship refers to relationship between people through blood, marriage or adoption. Today marriage is for companionship and it is considered to be complete even if there are no children. RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS IN THE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY -They are those who are believed to be endowed with special powers. But rather as curiosities that were to succumb to the superior European monogamous marriage values legitimated by Christianity. 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. 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? - In some communities it would be thrown in rivers, forest in Banana plantations. It shows an act of bravery and hardship one I s to meet in life. - Men are not allowed to go next to the delivery places. Some of the traditional forms of leisure include. ii. TOPIC 9:AFRICAN MORAL AND CULTURAL VALUES MEANING AND WHOLENESS OF LIFE- In the African traditional society, life is believed to originate from God. The community disciplined those who showed traits of greed over ownership of property. Schooling where children spend most of their time with teachers depriving them the time to be with elders. Urbanization: Where people of different cultures interact with one another. During seclusion there is sex education, which is meant for girls and boys for marriage. - Property can be owned outside ones ancestral home. A mock wrestling sometimes would be organized between the boy and the girl. 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. - Some pieces of land are being regarded as public land. Family offers a person residential identity, social status, right to property affiliation with kinship and emotional support. vii. v. It brings people together; relatives and friends co me together hence strengthening kinship ties. Babbie, Earl R., Sociology: An Introduction. 2. 4. 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. Adams, Bert N., The Family: A Sociological Interpretation, 4th Edition, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1986. ii. The book describes and explains Chewa traditions and customs including Ukamwini. 25 likes 25,448 views. - Religious organizations assist widows to start income generating projects. 6. Lobola is widely used among the Bantu peoples of Central and Southern Africa.39, Avoidance, segregated relationships, lack of love and tenderness in traditional African marriages and the family has been a common theme among European scholars. It could also show how the bridegroom is capable of taking care of the bride. Asante, Molefi Kete., Afrocentricity; The Theory of Social Change, Buffalo: Amulefi Publishing Company, 1980. They can also reveal-hidden information e.g. These institutions are a cultural universal i.e. There are meteorologists who predict the weather conditions. The traditional healers are still important today especially to those who had let down by medicine prescribed by doctors. The midwife also monitors the development of the foetus. Pregnant women are not allowed to handle certain types of tools. Modern education and western culture has affected dowry payment in that many educated attach little value to dowry payment. By combining the patrilocal rule of residence with consanguinal descent, the Baganda have built a formidable system of clans.13, Among the Baganda, the clan has remained the most important kinship entity. - In some communities it would last for several days. Colson, Elizabeth., Marriage and the Family among the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia., Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958. 6. Mothers and children would die at childbirth to cases where there is no skilled mid-wife. 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. Kinship System in African Communities. They can foretell the future e.g. Those who had not been initiated were not allowed to own property. Traditionally no parent fixes a price for his daughter (a bride). Midwife could assist the mother in actual delivery to ensure the safety of the baby. This has been due to western culture, industrialization, urbanization Christianity, limited time and economic constraints. 6. The education provided is a lifelong process. 4) Some people who falsely claim to be diviners today simply exploit the ignorance of the people. They are people who claim a common ancestry and are related by blood. 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. - It is through marriage that children are born to the community. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961. 41 Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. 9) The practice has also been affected by belief in conventional medicine. Prayers also connect the living and the dead. Initiation 3. We do not sell brides in our society. After initiation one is now free to marry and has a right to inherit his fathers property. Most of these ceremonies are religious. People could also die due to shortage of food. Culture and values are adaptive .. The birth of a child is no longer a communal affair but a family affair. Economic Conditions, the church and non-governmental organizations have built homes for the aged in search of Jobs drawn! - property can be owned outside ones ancestral home of diviners and Mediums are important... 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