African Culture and Traditions

The vast continent of Africa is so rich and diverse in it's culture

with it not only changing from one country to another but within
an individual country many different cultures can be found.
Much of Africa's cultural activity centers on the family and the
ethnic group. Art, music, and oral literature serve to reinforce
existing religious and social patterns. The Westernized minority,
influenced by European culture and Christianity, first rejected
African traditional culture, but with the rise of African
nationalism, a cultural revival occurred. The governments of most
African nations foster national dance and music groups,
museums, and to a lesser degree, artists and writers.
Africa was the birthplace of the human species between 8 million
and 5 million years ago. Today, the vast majority of its inhabitants
are of indigenous origin. People across the continent are remarkably diverse by just about any measure:
They speak a vast number of different languages, practice hundreds of distinct religions, live in a variety
of types of dwellings, and engage in a wide range of economic activities.
Over the centuries, peoples from other parts of the world have migrated to Africa and settled there.
Historically, Arabs have been the most numerous immigrants. Starting in the 7th century, they crossed
into North Africa from the Middle East, bringing the religion of Islam with them. A later movement of
Arabs into East and Central Africa occurred in the 19th century.
Europeans first settled in Africa in the mid-17th century near the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern end
of the continent. More Europeans immigrated during the subsequent colonial period, particularly to
present-day South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Algeria. South Asians also arrived during colonial times. Their
descendants, often referred to as Indians, are found largely in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and South
Africa.
Traditions
African weddings are a family affair and involve the combining
of two lives, two families, and sometimes even two
communities! There are many different wedding traditions in the
African continent and no two are exactly alike. However, in all
the communities the bride plays a very special role and is treated
with respect because she is a link between the unborn and the
ancestors. A bride might eventually bear a very powerful child,
so she is treated with respect. In some areas of East Africa the
grooms family would even move to the brides village and set up a whole new house there.
There are many steps that take place before marriage starting at a very young age where training takes
place in how to be a suitable partner. Girls will many times go to circumcision schools where women
teach them what is involved in marriage, and in some ethnic groups even learn secret codes and languages
so that they can communicate with other married women. In the Wolof tribe there is even a time where
the elders of the village gather with the bride and give advice and gifts.
Weddings can be very elaborate, involving feasting and dancing for days within a community, they can be
very simple, or they can even be performed in huge marriage ceremonies involving many different
couples.

Africa has influenced and been influenced by other countries. This can be portrayed in the
willingness to adapt to the ever changing modern world rather than staying rooted to their static
culture. The Westernized few, persuaded by European culture and Christianity, first denied
African traditional culture, but with the increase of African nationalism, a cultural recovery
occurred. The governments of most African nations encourage national dance and music groups,
museums, and to a lower degree, artists and writers.
African arts and crafts

Africa has a rich tradition of arts and crafts. African arts

and crafts find expression in a variety
of woodcarvings, brass andleather art works. African arts
SUDAN basket -tray, tabar of
and crafts also
weaved natural plant fibre,
include sculpture, paintings, pottery, ceremonial and religi
coloured in different colours
ous headgear anddress. Maulana Karenga states that in
African art, the object was not as important as the soul force behind
the creation of the object. He also states that All art must be
revolutionary and in being revolutionary it must be collective,
committing, and functional.
Certain African cultures has always placed emphasis on personal
appearance and jewelry has remained an important
personal accessory. Many pieces of such jewelry are made
A Yombe sculpture
of cowry shells and similar materials. Similarly, masks are made
(Louvre, Paris).
with elaborate designs and are an important part of some
cultures in Africa. Masks are used in various ceremonies
depicting ancestors and spirits, mythological characters and
deities.
In many traditional arts and craft traditions in Africa,
certain themes significant to those particular cultures recur,
including a couple, a woman with a child, a male with a
weapon or animal, and an outsider or a stranger. Couples
may represent ancestors, community founder, married
BaKongo voodoo masks from the
Kongo Central region
couple or twins. The couple theme rarely exhibit intimacy
of men and women. The mother with the child or children reveals intense desire of the women to
have children. The theme is also representative of mother mars and the people as her children.
The man with the weapon or animal theme symbolizes honor and power. A stranger may be from
some other tribe or someone from a different country, and more distorted portrayal of the
stranger indicates proportionately greater gap from the stranger.
Folklore and religion

Like all human cultures, African folklore and religion

represents a variety of social facets of the various cultures
in Africa. Like almost all civilizations and cultures, flood
myths have been circulating in different parts of Africa.
Culture and religion share space and are deeply
intertwined in African cultures. In Ethiopia, Christianity
and Islam form the core aspects of Ethiopian culture and
inform dietary customs as well as rituals and rites.
[9]
Central mosque
According to a Pygmy myth, Chameleon, hearing a
in Nouakchott,Mauritania.
strange noise in a tree, cut open its trunk and water came
out in a great flood that spread all over the land.
Folktales also play an important role in many African
cultures. Stories reflect a group cultural identity and
preserving the stories of Africa will help preserve an entire
culture. Storytelling affirms pride and identity in a culture.
In Africa, stories are created by and for the ethnic group
telling them. Different ethnic groups in Africa have
different rituals or ceremonies for storytelling, which
creates a sense of belonging to a cultural group. To
Kenyan boys and girls
outsiders hearing an ethnic group's stories, it provides an
performing a traditional folklore
insight into the community's beliefs, views, and customs.
dance.
For people within the community, it allows them to encompass their group's uniqueness. They
show the human desires and fears of a group, such as love, marriage, and death. Folktales are
also seen as a tool for education and entertainment. They provide a way for children to
understand the material and social environment. Every story has a moral to teach people, such as
good will prevail over evil. For entertainment, stories are set in fantastic, non-human worlds.
Often, the main character of the story would be a talking animal or something unnatural would
happen to human character. Even though folktales are for entertainment, they bring a sense of
belonging and pride to communities in Africa.
There are different types of African stories: animal tales and day-to-day tales. Animal tales more
oriented towards entertainment, but still have morals and lessons to them. Animal tales are
normally divided into trickster tales and ogre tales. In the animal tales, a certain animal would
always have the same character or role in each story so the audience does not have to worry
about characterization. The Hare was always the trickster, clever and cunning, while the Hyena
was always being tricked by the Hare. Ogres are always cruel, greedy monsters. The messengers
in all the stories were the Birds. Day-to-Day tales are the most serious tales, never including
humor, that explained the everyday life and struggles of an African community. These tales take
on matters such as famine, escape from death, courtship, and family matters, using a song form
when the climax of the story was being told.

African stories all have a certain structure to them. Villagers would gather around a common
meeting place at the end of the day to listen and tell their stories. Storytellers had certain
commands to start and end the stories, "Ugai Itha" to get the audience's attention and begin the
story, and "Rukirika" to signal the end of a tale. Each scene of a story is depicted with two
characters at a time, so the audience does not get overwhelmed. In each story, victims are able to
overcome their predators and take justice out on the culprit. Certain tools were used in African
folktales. For example, idiophones, such as drums, were used to make the sounds of different
animals. Repetition and call-back techniques in the form of prose or poem were also used to get
the audience involved in the stories.
Clothing

Ashanti Kente
clothpatterns.

Women's traditional clothes in Ethiopia are made

from cloth called shemma and are used to make habesha kemis. The
latter garment is basically cotton cloth, about 90 cm wide, woven in
long strips which are then sewn together. Sometimes shiny threads
are woven into the fabric for an elegant effect. Men wear
pants and a knee-length shirt with a white collar, and
perhaps a sweater. Men often wear knee-high socks, while
women might not wear socks at all. Men as well as women
wear shawls, the netela.

Maasai wearing traditional

clothes
A woman
in Kenya wearing kanga

named Matavuvale while performing Adumu, a traditional

dance Zulus wear a variety of attire, both traditional for
ceremonial or culturally celebratory occasions, and modern westernised clothing for everyday
use. Traditional male clothing is usually light, consisting of a two-part apron (similar to a
loincloth) used to cover the genitals and buttocks. The front piece is called
the umutsha (pronounced Zulu pronunciation: [umtifash]), and is usually made of springbok or
other animal hide twisted into different bands which cover the genitals. The rear piece, called
the ibheshu [ibeu], is made of a single piece of springbok or cattle hide, and its length is usually
used as an indicator of age and social position; longer amabheshu (plural of ibheshu) are worn by

older men. Married men will usually also wear a headband, called the umqhele [umle], which
is usually also made of springbok hide, or leopard hide by men of higher social status, such as
chiefs. Zulu men will also wear cow tails as bracelets and anklets called imishokobezi
[imioozi] during ceremonies and rituals, such as weddings or dances.
In the Muslim parts of Africa, daily attire also often reflects Islamic tradition.
Cuisine
The various cuisines of Africa use a combination of
locally available fruits, cereal grains and vegetables, as
well as milk andmeat products. In some parts of the
continent, the traditional diet features a preponderance of
milk, curd and whey products. In much of tropical Africa,
however, cow's milk is rare and cannot be produced
locally (owing to various diseases that affect livestock).
The continent's diverse demographic makeup is reflected
Fufu (right) is a staple meal
in the many different eating and drinking habits, dishes,
in West Africa and Central Africa.
and preparation techniques of its manifold populations.
It is served here with some peanut
In Central Africa, the basic ingredients are plantains and
soup.
cassava. Fufu-like starchy foods (usually made from
fermented cassava roots) are served with grilled meat and sauces. A variety of local ingredients
are used while preparing other dishes like spinach stew, cooked with tomato, peppers, chillis,
onions, and peanut butter. Cassava plants are also consumed as cooked greens. Groundnut
(peanut) stew is also prepared, containing chicken, okra, ginger, and other spices. Another
favorite is Bambara, a porridge of rice, peanut butter and sugar. Beef and chicken are favorite
meat dishes, but game meat preparations containing crocodile, monkey, antelope and warthog are
also served occasionally.
The cuisine of the African Great Lakes region varies from
area to area. In the inland savannah, the traditional cuisine
of cattle-keeping peoples is distinctive in that meat
products are generally absent. Cattle, sheep and goats were
regarded as a form ofcurrency and a store of wealth, and
are not generally consumed as food. In some areas,
traditional peoples consume the milk and blood of cattle,
Fresh Moroccan couscous with
but rarely the meat. Elsewhere, other peoples are farmers
vegetables and chickpeas.
who grow a variety of grains and vegetables. Maize (corn) is the basis of ugali, the East African
version of West Africa's fufu. Ugali is a starch dish eaten with meats or stews. In Uganda,
steamed, greenbananas called matoke provide the starch filler of many meals.
In the Horn of Africa, the main traditional dishes in Ethiopian cuisine and Eritrean
cuisine are tsebhis (stews) served withinjera (flatbread made from teff,[14] wheat, or sorghum),
and hilbet (paste made from legumes, mainly lentil, faba beans). Eritrean and Ethiopian
cuisine (especially in the northern half) are very similar, given the shared history of the two

countries. The related Somalian cuisine consists of an exotic fusion of diverse culinary
influences. Varieties of bariis (rice), the most popular probably being basmati, usually serve as
the main dish. Xalwo (halwo) or halva is a popular confection served during special occasions
such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions.[15] After meals, homes are traditionally perfumed
using frankincense (lubaan) or incense (cuunsi), which is prepared inside an incense
burner referred to as a dabqaad. All food is served halal.
The roots of North African cuisine can be traced back to the
ancient empires of North Africa, particularly in Egypt where
many of the country's dishes and culinary traditions date back to
ancient Egypt. Over several centuries traders, travelers, invaders,
migrants and immigrants all have influenced the cuisine of North
Africa. Most of the North African countries today have several
similar dishes, sometimes almost the same dish with a different
name (the Moroccan tangia and the Tunisian coucha are both
essentially the same dish: a meat stew prepared in an urn and
cooked overnight in a public oven), sometimes with a slight
change in ingredients and cooking style. To add to the confusion,
Potjiekos is a traditional
two completely different dishes may also share the same name
Afrikaner stew made with
(for example, a "tajine" dish is a slow-cooked stew in Morocco,
meat and vegetables and
cooked over coals in castwhereas the Tunisian "tajine" is a baked omelette/quiche-like
iron pots.
dish). There are noticeable differences between the cooking
styles of different nations there's the sophisticated, full-bodied flavours ofMoroccan palace
cookery, the fiery dishes of Tunisian cuisine, and the humbler, simpler cuisines
of Egypt and Algeria.[16]
The cooking of Southern Africa is sometimes called 'rainbow cuisine', as the food in this region
is a blend of many culinary traditions, including those of
the Khoisan, Bantu, European and Asian populations. Basic ingredients include seafood, meat
products (including wild game), poultry, as well as grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. Fruits
include apples, grapes, mangoes,bananas and papayas, avocado, oranges, peaches and apricots.
Desserts may simply be fruit. However, there are some more western style puddings, such as the
Angolan Cocada amarela, which was inspired by Portuguese cuisine. Meat products include
lamb, as well as game like venison, ostrich, and impala. The seafood includes a wide variety
such as crayfish, prawns, tuna,mussels, oysters, calamari, mackerel, and lobster. There are also
several types of traditional and modern alcoholic beveragesincluding many European-style beers.
A typical West African meal is heavy with starchy items, meat, spices and flavors. A wide array
of staples are eaten across the region, including those of Fufu, Bankuand Kenkey (originating
from Ghana), Foutou, Couscous, T, and Garri, which are served alongside soups and stews.
Fufu is often made from starchy root vegetables such as yams, cocoyams, or cassava, but also
from cereal grains like millet, sorghum or plantains. The staple grain or starch varies region to
region and ethnic group to ethnic group, although corn has gained significant ground as it is

cheap, swells to greater volumes and creates a beautiful white final product that is greatly
desired. Banku and Kenkey are maize dough staples, and Gari is made from dried grated
cassavas. Rice-dishes are also widely eaten in the region, especially in the dry Sahel belt inland.
Examples of these include Benachin from The Gambia and Jollof rice, a pan-West African rice
dish similar to Arab kabsah.
African music
Traditional Sub-Saharan African music is as diverse as the
region's various populations. The common perception of
Sub-Saharan African music is that it is rhythmic music
centered on the drums, and indeed, a large part of SubSaharan music, mainly among speakers of Niger
Congo and Nilo-Saharan languages, is rhythmic and
centered on the drum. Sub-Saharan music is polyrhythmic,
usually consisting of multiple rhythms in one composition.
Dance involves moving multiple body parts. These aspects
of Sub-Saharan music were transferred to the new world
by enslaved Sub-Saharan Africans and can be seen in its
influence on music forms as Samba, Jazz, Rhythm and
Blues, Rock & Roll, Salsa, and Rap music.
Other African musical traditions also involve strings,
horns, and very little poly-rhythms. Music from the
Yoruba drummers at celebration in
eastern Sahel and along the Nile, among the Nilo-Saharan,
Ojumo Oro, Kwara State, Nigeria.
made extensive use of strings and horns in ancient times. Dancing involve swaying body
movements and footwork.Among the Khoisans extensive use of string instruments with
emphasis on footwork.
Modern Sub-Saharan African music has been influenced by music from the New World (Jazz,
Salsa, Rhythm and Blues etc.). Popular styles include Mbalax in Senegal and Gambia, Highlife
in Ghana, Zoblazo in Cte d'Ivoire, Makossa inCameroon, Soukous in the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Kizomba in Angola, and Mbaqanga in South Africa. New World styles like Salsa,
R&B/Rap, Reggae, and Zouk also have widespread popularity.
Like the musical genres of the Nile Valley and the Horn of Africa, North African music has close
ties with Middle Eastern music and utilizes similar melodic modes (maqamat). It has a
considerable range, from the music of ancient Egypt to theBerber and the Tuareg music of the
desert nomads. The region's art music has for centuries followed the outline of Arabic
and Andalusian classical music. Its popular contemporary genres include the Algerian Ra.
Somali music is typicallypentatonic, using five pitches per octave in contrast to a heptatonic
(seven note) scale such as the major scale. InEthiopia, the music of the highlands uses a
fundamental modal system called qenet, of which there are four main modes: tezeta, bati,
ambassel, and anchihoy.Three additional modes are variations on the above: tezeta minor, bati

major, and bati minor. Some songs take the name of their qenet, such as tizita, a song of
reminiscence.
Languages
The main ethno-linguistic divisions in Africa are Afro-Asiatic (North Africa, Horn of
Africa), NigerCongo (including speakers from the Bantu branch) in most of Sub-Saharan
Africa, Nilo-Saharan in parts of the Sahara and the Sahel and parts of Eastern Africa, and
Khoisan (indigenous minorities of Southern Africa). The continent of Africa speaks hundreds of
languages, and if dialects spoken by various ethnic groups are also included, the number is much
higher. These languages and dialects do not have the same importance: some are spoken by only
few hundred people, others are spoken by millions. Among the most prominent languages
spoken are Arabic, Swahili and Hausa. Very few countries of Africa use any single language and
for this reason several official languages coexist, African and European. Some Africans speak
various European languages such as English, Spanish, French, and Dutch.