Table of Contents
What is the role of kinship in West African cultures?
Kinship is the web of relationships woven by family and marriage. Traditional relations of kinship have affected the lives of African people and ethnic groups by determining what land they could farm, whom they could marry, and their status in their communities.
What role did families play in West African society?
What role did families play in West African society? Families were the foundation for all social, economic, and government activity.
Why is kinship important in Africa?
The importance of kinship, belonging and mutual support pervades every- day life in Africa. Everywhere, whether among farmers or herders, in urban spaces or in transnational family constellations, kinship relations determine people’s lives and survival.
Kinship, or connection based on family relationships, was very important to West African society. Kinship is based on lineage and clan. Lineages were large groups of people who were descended from the same ancestor. Families with related lineages formed larger family groups called clans.
What is kinship in African studies?
Abstract: Kinship can be understood as a culture’s system of recognized family roles and relationships. that define the obligations, rights, and boundaries of interaction among the members of a self-recognizing group.
What is the main role of a griot?
The griots’ role has traditionally been to preserve the genealogies, historical narratives, and oral traditions of their people; praise songs are also part of the griot’s repertoire. In addition to serving as the primary storytellers of their people, griots have also served as advisers and diplomats.
What is kinship in Africa studies?
What is the role of kinship?
(1)Kinship assigns guidelines for interactions between persons. It defines proper, acceptable role relationship between father- daughter, brother-sister etc. (2)Kinship determines family line relationships, gotra and kula. (3)Kinship decides who can marry with whom and where marital relationship are taboo.
What were the different family roles in African societies?
Family plays a central role in African society. It shapes such daily experiences as how and where individuals live, how they interact with the people around them, and even, in some cases, whom they marry. In rural areas, the family typically remains the basic unit of agricultural production.
What role did trade play in the development of early African empires?
Trade brought the early African kingdoms great wealth and power. Ivory and other valuable goods were not the only things shared between societies. Trade also allowed for the spread of culture, religion, language, and ideas.