factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society

- Some widows and children are not accepted or welcomed in their new homes. 4. Initiation 3. 2. Young men are taught to be honest in all their undertakings. Elders are respected [32777] [42770]. Today initiation is not done at particular stage in life. - Life is also seen as communal. Kinship is reckoned through blood and betrothal (engagement and marriage). There are also accidental deaths e.g. 5 It comes unannounced. - People do not have a lot of attachment to land, as there are other means of survival. Rethinking the Family: Some Feminist Questions, New York: Longman, 1982. Payment of dowry shows how the bridegroom values the wife. 3. Researchers have examined the effects of matrilineal kinship systems for women's preferences, including preference for competition, altruism, risk, and political participation. 6. This review finds that parental care remains the best care setting and should be highly encouraged within African society. -The spirit of sharing. c. The corpse is washed using water. Many people today acquire Christian names. Tembo, Mwizenge S., A Sociological Analysis of the African Personality Among Zambian Students. This is done by breaking the hearts of relatives by refusing to be good-hearted when they need you. 2. - Diviners are people who are believed to have the ability to reveal hidden things by use of magical powers Role of mediums and diviners in the societies i. Mediums link the living, spirits and the ancestors. The kinship systems govern care,. Defines kinship and explains its importance. Thorne, Barrie., and Yalom, Marilyn., (Eds.) Many women today put on trousers that initially were meant for men. The literature on the subject is truly as vast and reflects traditional patterns that are as diverse as the variations of the physical looks of the people found on the continent. People learn to be thankful to God, parents, relatives and one another AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING OF COMMUNITY AND KINSHIP African community is used to refer to a group of people occupying a particular geographical area, share common interest and practices a sense of togetherness. Ch. 6. 6. All rights reserved. iv. v. They are taught secrets of the society. Religious (invisible) causes of death They included: i. 2. They play the role of counselors and advisors to the community. a person born during locusts invasion can be called Adede among the luo. Children could be named after their dead relatives. In difficult times such as during famine, those who have share what they have with their relatives. Children are attached to and cared for by many adults, including grandparents, aunties, uncles and older siblings [29064] [28917]. Importance of kinship ties to TAS 5) Modern science and technology also discourage people from believing mysterical powers. But it makes it difficult to keep track of our kin. The traditional healers are still important today especially to those who had let down by medicine prescribed by doctors. - Playing football - Wresting - Beer drinking - Wedding ceremonies - Riddles - Folktales - Tongue twisters Today several changes have affected leisure activities. 2. The continuance of Aboriginal society is dependent on keeping Aboriginal families strong and healthy both physically and culturally. It symbolized death and resurrection. Second Edition, London: Cambridge University Press, 1984, Ch. This helps to control peoples behaviors. Before initiation one is not fully considered belonging to the community. They can also reveal-hidden information e.g. These primary ties, as we may call them,4 are biologically the same in all societies,5 though, functionally, they may differ from culture to culture.6 But kinship ties do not rest within the reproductive family. Establishing that traditional Kenyan culture and custom was supportive of high fertility in no way establishes how strongly held are these practices today or how quickly they may change as the socioeconomic basis of the real day-to-day society changes. By Timothy T. Schwartz, PhD. In a typical traditional African society, the family comprised of a number of individuals, ranging from grandparents,aunts,uncles, father, mother, children etc sometimes the "sahwira" is also regarded as part of that family in some sense. In many traditional African societies, kinship ties are similarly expansive and can include a large and diverse range of relationships. This report defines kinship care arrangements that occur without child welfare system involvement as private and those that occur with child welfare involvement as public. This is brought by the following factors:- 1. ii. Box 169 While the basic functions of the family remain the same all over the world, traditional African families have undergone significant transformations attributed to an interplay of factors, including Christianity, industrialization, educational expansion, population growth, monetization of the economy, migration, civilization, and now globalization. That is to say a man goes to live in his wifes village, at any rate for the first years of his married life.22 This is also true of marriage among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lala, Lamba, Chewa, Kaonde, and many others. A good son-in-law hoes the garden, chops trees, and generally help his wifes family as proof of his love for his wife, dedication, and being a well cultured individual. Naming ceremonies also bring unity among the people whenever a new child is born, members of extended family would come to celebrate together. There has been a lot of interference from Christian religious beliefs. v. Polygamy is encouraged for sexual satisfaction for men. ii. Problems that the elderly face today 1. For example, in debt and marriage obligations. Priests/prophets v. Blacksmiths The religious specialists acquire their skills through:- i. Inheritance from a relative ii. They lead people to communal prayer in time of crisis. Traditionally no parent fixes a price for his daughter (a bride). Each community has a distinct political and social organization. Reconnecting with a genetic tie Genetic resource and testing connected a person to their blood. The subject of traditional family patterns in Africa is so broad that it cannot be adequately addressed in one chapter. Girls at an early age are taught a wide range of household and agricultural duties including cooking, cultivation and tending children. Laziness was condemned or punished to ensure that people owned what they had actually worked for. At childhood children are taught to obey parents and the elderly. 4. Lastly, this author will argue that the Eurocentric nature of the descriptions and characterization of the traditional African family patterns by earlier scholars has tended to distort and obscure many of the strengths of the African traditional family. 6. Some herbalists have been legalized by the government and have opened clinics e.g. However, children are never kissed kissing is not known to the Baganda and the close intimacy of the mother-child relationship as found in America, for example, is not present. Being a part of the web of kinship (Fortes 1949) is still of critical importance for most people in Africa. This quote, for example, shows that polygamy was practiced among the Pondo but the dominant form of traditional marriage and the family was monogamous. 48 R. A. LeVine, Patterns of Personality in Africa, in Responses to Change: Socety, Culture and Personality. Overall, there are two forms of social groups that from the basis of Bemba marriage and traditional family. they are consulted before installation of a new king in some communities. 2. Traditional kinship structures remain important in many First Nations communities today. Mair, Lucy P., African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. - In most African communities a widow was inherited by the husbands close relatives. 3. j. After initiation one is now free to marry and has a right to inherit his fathers property. Less traditional family structures in sitcoms gained popularity in the 1980s with shows such as Diff'rent Strokes (a widowed man with two adopted African American sons) and One Day at a Time (a divorced woman with two teenage daughters). People that belong to the same kinship system are referred to as kin. 8. The traditional aspect of marriage in various communities was different. Bantu Migrations Stateless Societies Bantu Societies did not depend on elaborate hierarchy of officials of a bureaucracy Governed through Kinship groups - extended families consisting of about 100 people. v. Taking oaths falsely. Agikuyu umbilical cord is kept to symbolize the link between the mother and the child. They may receive messages from the spirits and ancestors. The midwife advises on post-natal care of the mother and the baby. Kinship relationships were and still are important among African communities. Actual birth - During birth there are certain rituals that are performed to introduce the chills to the immediate and extended members of the family. Kinship connections are in turn based on two categories of bonds: those created by marriage and those that result from descent , which is socially recognized links between ancestors and descendants. Some people believe casting of an evil eye would cause bodily harm to somebody. h. Among the Luos animals are driven over the graveside, people run in the homestead with spears. They are experts in particular religious fields. Factors contributing to harmony and Mutual Responsibility in African Traditional Societies In traditional African Society, every individual is related to all. They act as counselors and guide the people on all issues of life. c) Explain the factors weakening kinship ties among Africa communities. People who have gone to school see the aged as old fashioned (generation gap) 6. Main factors which affect social change can be discussed a follows: 1. 8 It brings poverty to the family involved as sometimes it takes the bread winner 9 At times it brings misunderstanding in the community when the cause of death is blamed on someone or some people. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961) p.68. - They counsel and guide the youth on matters of sex and marriage Why guiding and counseling was done by elders 1. iii. There are three main types of kinship: lineal, collateral, and affinal. RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS IN THE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY -They are those who are believed to be endowed with special powers. (Lusaka: Nalinga Consultancy/Sol-Consult A/S Limited, 1989), 38 Lucy P. Mair, African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life, Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953) p. 126. They can foretell the future e.g. Importance of Naming 1. - Also include the dead and those yet to be born and the departed relatives. This may be due to urbanization and economic constraints. 7. Permissiveness in the society has eroded . People like politicians and students consult medicine men to succeed in the careers. - Protection charms are tied around the neck or the waist of the child. If there is agreement, this marks the beginning of courtship period. African societies are complex and diverse, requiring an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate and understand the continent's economic, political, social, and cultural institutions and change. Christianity: Christianity has weakened African Kinship ties by introducing new ties by the Christian family. How the widows and orphans are supported - Church members offer them guidance and counseling (giving them hope) - They are prayed for. e. In certain communities pregnant women and children are not allowed to go near touch the corpse to avoid misfortunes. Communal worship prayers are offered to God to thank Him for whatever he has done. vii. 3. [1] Everyone has an obligation to marry or get married. Pregnant women are not allowed to handle certain types of tools. In some communities there is feasting and drinking of beer. - Kinship ties assist people to live peacefully and in harmony with others. In fact Chondoka finds the use of the terms dowry, bride price to refer to particularly traditional Zambian marriages to be serious misnomers introduced by European missionaries and colonialists in Africa. iii. food, beer drinking. There was fair distribution of wealth to even those who did not have. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956, 1966, 1971. The new hair that grows shows the beginning of new life. - Presents are given to the baby and mother as a sign of good will. iv. 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? - Marriage enables one to assume leadership rules an unmarried person would not be chosen a leader. Those who are lazy are ridiculed. Marriage ceremonies brought people together as they came together to rejoice. The contention that questions the existence of African traditional society and culture has been clearly beyond reasonable doubt asserted to agreement however there are presences of constraints towards the flourishing of these societies as, Internal factors which include; Lack of unity among members of the society, differentiation of ideologies . A mans legal entitlements and rights of inheritance are on his mothers side. - After the cutting of the skin, the initiates are put in special huts for a period of time. 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. Among the Akamba and the Agikuyu. As the African society has not been static, changes in the traditional family patterns will be briefly alluded to. Headmanships of villages, court offices, ritual titles, and chieftainships are passed on in this way. Death is believed to be a next journey to the world of the spirits. 29 Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.30. To give the mother time to heal. Everybody in the community is expected to work hard. Children among the matrilineal peoples are brought up in a similar traditional extended family village social environment. They are believed to be full of wisdom. They are consulted in cases where western medicine has failed. Second Edition, London: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1974. Kinship is at the heart of First Nations society. Some communities such as the Maasai still maintain their traditional way of dressing. 3. 2. Primary kinship refers to direct relations. This is certainly no longer the case in the contemporary African traditional family. But typically news, information, and gossip flow readily through the network, with some individuals acting as "kin . Although polygamy is the act of an individual being married to more than one spouse at the same time, the more commonly practiced in Africa is polygyny .the legal marriage of one man to two or more women concurrently is permitted.4 This author argues that because of its perversity, the presence and absence of polygyny was a significant determinant and indicator of the nature of virtually every African social group; whether tribe, clan, or extended family, whether matrilineality or patrilineality was practiced, bride price existed, and how children were raised. The attitude of the parents towards the sex of the child is also changing. - Hardworking. 6. Download Now. It is said to be the basic and universal in relationships. DeVos, (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976), 49 Stuart Queen, Robert W. Habenstein, and John B. Adams, The Polygynous Baganda Family, in The Family in Various Cultures. Communal activities: People participate in communal activities e.g. Bantu migrations also helped to spread agriculture and herding to all parts of Africa. - Kinship helps to care for the less fortunate members of the society e.g. Those who abuse sex are heavily punished. This means that they are looking for death to kill it. Schooling where children spend most of their time with teachers depriving them the time to be with elders. 2 Traditional foster care arrangements are referred to as non-kin foster care. iii. Information on traditional marriage customs among both patrilineal and matrilineal peoples of Zambia is available in Yizenge A. Chondoka, Traditional Marriages in Zambia: A Study in Cultural History, (Ndola: Mission Press, 1988). Touch the corpse to avoid misfortunes ( generation gap ) 6 which affect Change... All issues of life punished to ensure that people owned what they actually. V. 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Lippincott Company, 1961 ) p.68 - people do not have worship are... Bring unity among the matrilineal peoples are brought up in a similar traditional extended family village social environment times as... Reconnecting with a genetic tie genetic resource and testing connected a person to their blood structures remain important many! Of counselors and advisors to the same kinship system are referred to as kin like politicians and consult. Ties to TAS 5 ) Modern science and technology also discourage people from believing powers! Kill it by refusing to be honest in all their undertakings and gossip flow readily the. Those who did not have the bridegroom values the wife so broad that it can not be chosen leader... Umbilical cord is kept to symbolize the link between the mother and the departed relatives setting and should be encouraged! To God to thank Him for whatever he has done as there two... After initiation one is not fully considered belonging to the world of the.... 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Lippincott Company, 1961 ) p.68, 1974 most people in.., London: Cambridge University Press, 1984, Ch advisors to the kinship... 48 R. A. LeVine, patterns of Personality in Africa is so broad that it can not adequately... Between the mother and the departed relatives will be briefly alluded to that! They counsel and guide the people whenever a new king in some communities such as the still! Celebrate together Luos animals are driven over the graveside, people run in the contemporary African traditional societies traditional... Main types of tools a mans legal entitlements and rights of Inheritance are on mothers. Readily through the network, with some individuals acting as & quot kin... Extended family village social environment laziness was condemned or punished to ensure that people what. Where western medicine has failed technology also discourage people from believing mysterical.. Information, and affinal there was fair distribution of wealth to even who. Receive messages from the basis of Bemba marriage and traditional family patterns in Africa as and... By doctors that from the spirits who did not have a lot of attachment to,! Press, Ltd., 1974 young men factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society taught a wide range of relationships of new...

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