Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Surname Origins by Country

    Uploaded by

    david644
    40 views1 page
    Surnames in Mali are typically derived from the clan name. Each clan has a totem, which is an item like an animal that the clan believes they have a mystical connection to. Often clans have stories of how the animal helped or saved a clan member. Clan members are forbidden from harming their totem animal if it is an animal. A clan may have two totems, one representing their life-force and the other representing their ancestors, and upon death clan members are said to transform into their ancestral totem. Some clan members are believed to be able to transform into their life-force totem when threatened.

    Original Description:

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Surnames in Mali are typically derived from the clan name. Each clan has a totem, which is an item like an animal that the clan believes they have a mystical connection to. Often clans have stories of how the animal helped or saved a clan member. Clan members are forbidden from harming their totem animal if it is an animal. A clan may have two totems, one representing their life-force and the other representing their ancestors, and upon death clan members are said to transform into their ancestral totem. Some clan members are believed to be able to transform into their life-force totem when threatened.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    40 views1 page

    Surname Origins by Country

    Uploaded by

    david644
    Surnames in Mali are typically derived from the clan name. Each clan has a totem, which is an item like an animal that the clan believes they have a mystical connection to. Often clans have stories of how the animal helped or saved a clan member. Clan members are forbidden from harming their totem animal if it is an animal. A clan may have two totems, one representing their life-force and the other representing their ancestors, and upon death clan members are said to transform into their ancestral totem. Some clan members are believed to be able to transform into their life-force totem when threatened.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Surname Origins

    Mali: Surnames are typically derived from the name of a clan. Each clan has a 'tana' (totem) which
    is an item, or items, the clan believes they have a mystical association with. Tana are often animals
    a clan has a history with. Vegetables also form some tanas. Often the clan has tales of how the clan,
    or a member of, was helped of saved by that animal. In the case the totem is an animal, members of
    the clan are forbidden to do harm to the species. In the Mandinka language, 'tana,' means 'not to
    eat.' A clan may have two tanas, one to represent the clan's nyama (life-force) and the other
    represent its ancestors. Upon death clan members are said to transform into the tana of their
    ancestors. Tradition has it that some clan members have the ability to transform into their nyama
    during life, particularly when under threat.
    Ref: Discourse and Its Disguises: The Interpretation of African Oral Texts; Totemism and exogamy,
    a treatise on certain early forms of superstition and society (Volume 2)

    Keita: hippopotamus - https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KqAaAQAAIAAJ&q=


    %22some+traditions+say+that+Sunjata+Keita+became+a%22&dq=
    %22some+traditions+say+that+Sunjata+Keita+became+a%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=G2nNVIXKpD3yQSkoYHACg&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA
    Lots here:
    http://www.theakan.com/Mande_Sirian_Reptilian_Totems.html
    https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22K%C3%A9l%C3%A9tigui+Abdourahmane+Mariko
    %22#tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22K%C3%A9l%C3%A9tigui+Abdourahmane+Mariko%22+diarra+diaka
    https://books.google.co.uk/books?
    ei=ymHNVKHGAsOSyATrw4K4CA&id=mysTAQAAIAAJ&dq=clan+tana+sidibe&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=sidib
    e
    https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ghc3AQAAMAAJ&q=inauthor:%22Fran%C3%A7ois-Joseph+Clozel%22+
    +oiseau+sidibe&dq=inauthor:%22Fran%C3%A7ois-Joseph+Clozel%22+
    +oiseau+sidibe&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BInNVOOSJqfesASw2oHIBQ&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA
    http://archive.org/stream/anthropologie19pari/anthropologie19pari_djvu.txt
    http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?
    hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.webguinee.net/bibliotheque/ethnographie/jGermain/societeTotemClan.html&prev=search

    You might also like