There are counselors that give the aged hope and love. 2. Religion, in the African indigenous context, permeates all departments of life. Family. among the Akamba pregnant women are not supposed to eat fats, beans or animals killed using poison. Because of this wide spectrum, it is not possible to explore all aspects of the traditional African family. 3. - The government assists widows to get their husbands benefits. - The girls would take back the sheet with a lot of ululation and rejoicing and one girl would remain behind to study the character of the man. People nowadays try to show their loyalty to state and not the society. Before initiation one is not fully considered belonging to the community. 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). Asante, Molefi Kete., Afrocentricity; The Theory of Social Change, Buffalo: Amulefi Publishing Company, 1980. - Life is also considered to be more precious and highly valued. 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. - Virginity is highly valued and girls who are not found virgin are ridiculed. The language of the Baganda carries no word for love or tender affection; the closest is a word that is best translated as like.43. - The bathing symbolizes the beginning of a new state in life. Explain the importance of Kinship in traditional African society african cultural and moral values 1 Answer 0 votes answered Aug 9, 2021 by anonymous Control social relationships in community of people related by blood and marriage Bind whole community hence social cohesion Makes people live in harmony/ peace Promotes mutual responsibility and help 3. What was the structure of the polygynous family? Family plays a central role in African society. 41 Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. The youth are ritually introduced to the communal living. Others reflect the problems the parents faced e.g. Stephens, William N., The Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York: University Press of America, 1982. They are senior members of the community. The kinships are based on two broad aspects 1) Birth (Blood relationships) 2) marriages. The verb kulobola is very specific meaning the valuables that are given partially or in full to the girls people to legitimate or seal the marriage. This is sexual differentiation in socialization in which girls will become acceptable mothers and wives and boys husbands and fathers. What are the 6 kinship systems? v. They are taught secrets of the society. to find out if they are related. Large tracts of land 4 Large herds of cattle. The naming ceremony is very important early in the childs life. Some of them are (i) Rites of passage (2) Good morals (3) Participation in communal activities such as ceremonies, work, leisure activities and worship (4) Sharing of property and ideas (5) Division of labour. 5. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961) p.68. Third, certain distinguishing personal names. Bridgewater College Marriage ceremonies brought people together as they came together to rejoice. First, there is the local unit of matrilocal marriage .. consisting of a man, his wife, his married daughters and their husbands and children,34 Second, the matrilineal descent group which consists of maternal relatives and ancestors traced back to several generations. Urbanization has undermined the role of of the elders as it becomes difficult for elders to operate as the people come from different backgrounds. Many wives 3. This was because: - i. Africans believe that land was given to them by God. iii. 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. The mother and the child is no longer secluded. Some herbalists have been legalized by the government and have opened clinics e.g. RAIN MAKERS - Rain in traditional Africa is understood to come directly from God. - A lot of bleeding can lead to the death of an individual. food, beer drinking. v. There was a lot of fairness in the distribution of property. Bridgewater, VA 22812 5. the introduction of money economy. Same ancestry: People of a particular community believe that they have the same origin e.g. The birth of a child is no longer a communal affair but a family affair. They at times suffer from loneliness and psychological problems How the aged are taken care of today 1. Current notions of kinship still owe a great deal to ideas about the physiological connections between kin. According to Dziro and Mhlanga (2018), urbanization, HIV/AIDS, and poverty in Africa are all factors that stifle the effectiveness of informal kinship approaches to proper childcare and. Second, the continued Eurocentric descriptions and characterization of the African traditional family as some what depraved lead to the use of such terms as bride price, avoidance social taboos, segregated relationships, lack of love and tenderness in African marriages and families. They include: i. Other names can refer to place of birth e.g. In view of the poor development of social security systems outside the family, hardly anyone would wish to escape the power of kinship ties. Tembo, Mwizenge S., A Sociological Analysis of the African Personality Among Zambian Students. - Gambling. Virginity is not highly valued and many people break their virginity at stage of adolescence. Some are circumcised when they are still infants. Box 169 Death always strikes unexpectedly. they are operational and obtainable in every society around the world be it traditional or modern. It is kinship, which controls social relationship between people in a given community: it governs marital customs and regulations, it determines the behavior of individuals towards another. Today many people do not believe in rainmakers. This again is true among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lamba, Lala, Chewa, Kaonde, Luba, and others. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961) p.68, 23 Lucy P. Mair, African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. viii. They believe iron implements attract lightning. v. It brings people together; relatives and friends co me together hence strengthening kinship ties. iv. The moral values learnt include:- -Obedience/loyalty. iii. Other significant strengths are that the traditional African family increased group cohesion in an otherwise harsh physical and social environment. 2. Clitoridectomy Female circumcision. This chapter will briefly explore traditional African family patterns describing the patrilineal and matrilineal families. They lead people to communal prayer in time of crisis. There are physical (visible) causes of death and religious (invisible) causes. They may receive messages from the spirits and ancestors. African spirituality is truly holistic. The name gives the child identity. The common descriptions of the African traditional family in the literature is Eurocentric and biased. They could also clean newly born baby. politicians. - Many people have moved and have settled in foreign lands, which are not their ancestral lands. a person born during locusts invasion can be called Adede among the luo. 4. 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. Elders act as role models to the youth i.e. In the traditional African Community, marriage was considered incomplete without children. Importance of kinship ties to TAS The mid wife checks any abnormalities on the babies at the correct time. They include;- 1. Among the Chewa of Eastern Zambia, the custom of man living with his wifes parents temporarily or permanently was known as Ukamwini.23. In some communities if a woman is barren, she would bring another woman to bring children on her behalf. vi. First, in succession and inheritance the man inherits his dead grandfather, maternal uncle, or brother. Names could also depict the character of the child. 7) Many of the traditional medicine men are not willing to divulge information to others (a lot of secrecy surrounding traditional medicine) 8) Those who are educated also do not believe in the powers of diviners and mediums. - In some communities it would be thrown in rivers, forest in Banana plantations. People who have become educated consider the shaving of the hair unnecessary. These carried with them all the heavy social obligations demanded of a mother or father, daughter or son. Hotel Hope Ministries is a fully registered South African non-profit organisation established with aim of ensuring that each and every child is brought up in a safe, happy and healthy home so that they can grow up and develop into responsible and positive adults. It is a token of appreciation in the part of the bridegrooms people to those of the bride for the care over her. Mair, Lucy P., African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. After initiation one is now free to marry and has a right to inherit his fathers property. Some of the major issues raised will include polygamy, tribe, clan, the extended family, bride price and the raising of children. In some communities, a pregnant women returns to her parents when the time for giving birth draws near. 1 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) pp.1 177. - They oversee the division of property in the community after death. As Eaton et al (2003) found in South Africa, for young people struggling for daily survival, protection from possible future illness may be a lower priority than meeting immediate economic needs. Some communities such as the Maasai still maintain their traditional way of dressing. Severing the ties of kinship is among the body sins and it is among the major sins. - The placenta is disposed of ceremoniously e.g. The medicine men lead the community in religious rituals. A change in attitude towards joint family is evident among the urban educated persons. It also gives them time to find out the background of the partners e.g. 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 . Circumcision is carried out at times in hospitals for health reasons. In male-speaking terms, fathers sisters daughters (cross-cousins) are called cousins. Most of these changes in most cases are in conflict with the African customs. These relationships which are described in this way are rituals of respect between a son-in-law and his mother-in-law, a daughter-in-law and her father-in-law. fellow Christians. Traditional kinship structures remain important in many First Nations communities today. Diviners and mediums iii. The continued, persistent and wide use of the term bride price to describe the valuables that were often given to the brides parents before marriage was legitimated is one excellent example of evaluating and perceiving a custom from a biased Eurocentric perspective. (New York: The Free Press, 1963.) 6. Email: mtembo@bridgewater.edu, 2023 Mwizenge S. Tembo - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder: Book Review, Kinship and Clan of the Baganda of Uganda, Kinship and Clan of the Bemba of Northern Zambia, Eurocentricity and the Traditional African Family. Kinship ties definition: Kinship is the relationship between members of the same family. The new hair that grows shows the beginning of new life. Names are also given in honor of ancestors. At times force could be applied to get a reluctant young girl marry the partner. 5. Both the mother and the child are given charms to protect them. 6. Goode, William J. 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