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Amhara

The Tigrayans only made a brief return to the throne in the person of Yohannes IV, whose death in 1889 allowed the base to return to the Amharic speaking province of Shewa. Historians generally consider the Amhara to have been Ethiopia's ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in Haile Selassie. One possible source of confusion for this stems from the mislabeling of all Amharic-speakers as "Amhara", and the fact that many people from other ethnic groups have Amharic names. Another is the fact that most Ethiopians can trace their ancestry to multiple ethnic groups. In fact, the last Emperor, Haile Selassie I, often counted himself a member of the Gurage ethnic group on account of his ancestry, and his Empress, Itege Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, was in large part of Oromo descent. The expanded use of Amharic language results mostly from its being the language of the court, and was gradually adopted out of usefulness by many unrelated groups, who then became known as "Amhara" no matter what their ethnic origin. (multi-ethnicity who identify as Amhara, just like Zulu people)

MARRIAGE

See African Marriage Rituals

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Afar

The Afar people live primarily in Ethiopia and the areas of Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. They are know for their hostility to foreigners and for the notorious ritual of taken male genitalia as trophies. The Afar are an Muslim people related to the Oromo people.

Asante

Ashanti (people) or Asante, African people of the Twi (Tshi) linguistic stock, living principally in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The Ashanti people are composed of numerous tribes, notably the Dwaben, Mampon, Ofinsu, Nkwanta, Adansi, Daniassi, Nsuta, and Kumasi. Features of Ashanti tribal organization include ruling chieftains and common ownership of land. Ashanti religion is a mixture of animism and ancestor worship, and in the past human sacrifice was practiced. Renowned as warriors and as artisans-especially in cotton weaving, pottery making, and the manufacture of gold and silver ornaments-the Ashanti also are skillful farmers.

Anlo-Ewe
The Anlo-Ewe people are today in the southeastern corner of the Republic of Ghana. They settled here around 1474 after escaping from their past home of Notsie.

The Bantu first originated around the Benue-Cross rivers area in southeastern Nigeria and spread over Africa to the Zambia area. Sometime in the second millennium BC, perhaps triggered by the drying of the Sahara and pressure from the migration of people from the Sahara into the region, they were forced to expand into the rainforests of central Africa (phase I). In the 1st millennium BC, they began a more rapid second phase of expansion beyond the forests into southern and eastern Africa, and again in the 1st millennium AD as new agricultural techniques and plants were developed in Zambia.

By about AD 1000 it had reached modern day Zimbabwe and South Africa. In Zimbabwe a major southern hemisphere empire was established, with its capital at Great Zimbabwe.

Primary language: Beja, Arabic

Identity/Location
Sudan, Eritrea,

The Beja roam these mountains between the Red Sea and the Nile and Atbara rivers and also the plains that slope down westwards to the Nile river valley. They are a non-Arab, Hamitic people, numbering 1.8 million, who call themselves Bedawiyet and speak a Cushitic language called To-Bedawiye. Most Beja speak some Arabic as a second language, and in the south some of them speak Tigre.

There are five main Beja groups - the Hadendowa, the Bisharin, the Amar'ar, the Bani-Amir and the 'Ababda. Each group is subdivided into tribes and clans within the tribe. The Hadendowa developed into a tribal group around 1600 and are the largest and most important Beja group today. They live between the Atbara River and the Red Sea, reaching as far south as the Eritrean border. Traditionally they were camel breeders and caravan guides. Some of them are now settled farmers growing cotton and other crops in the Gash and Baraka River deltas near Kassala. The Bisharin emerged as a distinct tribal group sometime between 1000 and 1400 AD claiming an Arab ancestor called Bishar ibn-Marwan ibn-Ishaq ibn-Rabi'a. They have the largest territory of all Beja groups, stretching north of the Atbara-Port-Sudan railway line into Egypt. Most are still camel breeders, but some have settled as farmers near the Atbara River. The Ammar'ar developed into a tribal group around 1750. They live on the eastern slopes of the Red Sea Hills and in the coastal plain north of Port-Sudan (Gunob), and are still mainly nomads though many work as dock hands in the Port-Sudan harbour. The Beni-'Amir (also called Khasa) are mainly Tigre speaking Beja with some To-Bedawiye speaking sections living amongst them. They live on both sides of the Sudan-Eritrea border and have been Muslim for only about two centuries. Traditionally camel owners, some herd cattle and others are farmers. They are the only Beja to have a caste system, being divided into nobles called Nabtabs who claim Arab descent, and serfs or clients called Tigre.

Dinka People

Dinka, indigenous people of the Republic of Sudan in Africa, one of the largest indigenous groups in the south of the country. Since about the 10th century they have inhabited an area along both sides of the White Nile. Dinka people typically are tall and slim, have very dark skin, and almond-shaped eyes. Male Dinka between the ages of 10 and 16 have their foreheads marked with scarification (see Tattooing) during an initiation ceremony into their particular group. The Dinka speak five Dinka languages from the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family. A pastoral people, they raise herds of cattle, sheep, and goats for their livelihood. Cattle are extremely important to the Dinka culture and a symbol of wealth; milk in many forms is hence a primary food. However, the long-running civil war in Sudan has resulted in much-reduced herds and consequential changes in some of their cultural practices.

The traditional Dinka religion is a form of polytheistic animism, but some Christianity is practised. The religion is dominated by the god Nhialic (Sky), who speaks through spirits that take possession of individuals. The sacrifice of oxen, carried out by leaders known as the Spear-Masters, is an important aspect of the faith. The Spear-Masters guide the destiny of the people.
The Dinkas social system is headed by chiefs who also serve as priests and peacemakers. Currently, about 500,000 Dinka live in Sudan. Famous Dinka include Alek Wek.

Total People: 15 million Fulani with 100,000 Wodaabe
Urban Percent: 10% Fulani
Countries: Niger 1 million; Mali 1 million; Cameroon 700,000; Burkina Faso 500,000; Benin 230,000; Sudan 100,000; Togo 50,000; Central African Republic 25,000; Ghana 5,000; Nigeria 11 million. (Wodaabe: more than 40,000 in Niger and about 25,000 in Chad).

Fulani have a huge respect for beauty. Beauty is considered very important and one of the ways this is shown is through tattoos that are put all over the body. A distinguishing feature of a Fulani can be their lips, which are many times a blackish color from the use of Henna or tattooing done on the mouth.

Being brave and fearless are very important for the Fulani as is seen by their numerous weapons. One tradition is that when 2 boys reach coming of age they two boys hit each other with their staffs not showing any pain but instead laughing. Many have died in these ceremonies which are now against the law in many countries but continue to be practiced.

The most important object in Fulani society is cattle, and there are many names, traditions, and taboos concerning cattle. The number of cows a person owns is a sign of his wealth. This has caused significant conflict in recent months between the Fulani and other ethnic groups. The reason for this is that the cows will many times go into the fields and eat the grain of local farmers. With increasing numbers of other transportation being used the Fulani are at risk of losing their identity as nomads and are being forced to settle in farms and villages. This sometimes creates other problems, because the Fulani are very proud people of their unique culture and used to ruling over the other people.

Economics
Income: GDP US$280 (1991)
Occupations: While the men herd the cattle walking, the women ride with all their household belongings on the backs of donkeys. As well as fine cattle with huge horns, the Fulani have long legged sheep which have white hindquarters and black front half. The activities of the men vary with the seasons. They can have their brothers or sons replace them to take care of the cows. The women milk the cows, pound the millet, take care of the fire and look after the children.
Income sources: Cows (milk, meat, skins), traditional medicine. Some women earn money by braiding hair. Products: Curdled milk, butter.
Handcrafts: Beautifully decorated calabashes. Art forms: They are largely illiterate, but their culture abounds in rich proverbs, fables, myths and riddles, which subtly reflect the basic views and values.

Living Conditions/Community Development Status
Food: Their food is milk and very little else in the bush. They might also eat millet and tapioca. During feasts they will eat some meat and maybe some beans. No vegetables are eaten, in general. A problem is that the little money they have available for food is spent on tea instead of on nutritious food. Clothing: The man wears a tanned sheepskin around his hips, over this a black tunic. He also wears a turban. The married women do not cover their breasts for the 2 years after they have their first child. The young girls wrap a long piece of material around, made of woven strips sown together.
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The Hadzabe are a small groups of Hadzabe live around Lake Eyasi. Their language resembles the click languages of Khoisan further south in the Kalahari. Their small population was seriously threatened, in particular during the period when Julius Nyere tried to introduce his Ujuma policy.

Religion: 95% Sunni Muslim

Religion: The Hamer-Banna are 95% Sunni Muslim. They observe the five basic teachings of Muslim, which include acknowledging that Allah is the only god, praying, fasting, giving alms to the poor, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. However, many elements of their traditional religion are still practiced. For instance, they believe that natural objects (rocks, trees, etc.) have spirits. They also believe in jinns, or spiritsthat are capable of assuming human or animal form and exercising supernatural influence over people.

Social System: The Hamer live in camps that consist of several related families. The families live in tents arranged in a circle, and the cattleare brought into the center of the camp at night. When the campsite is being set up, beds for the women and young children are built first; then the tent frame is built around it. The tents are constructed with flexible poles set in the ground in a circular pattern. The poles are bent upward, joining at the top, then tied. The structures are covered with thatch during the dry season and canvas mats during the rainy season. Men and boys usually sleep on cots in the center of the camp, near the cattle. Herds belonging to the Hamer-Banna consist mainly of cattle, although there are some sheep and goats. Camels are used for riding and as pack animals.

Most Hamer-Banna plant fields of sorghum at the beginning of the rainy season before leaving on their annual nomadic journey. Some households also plant sesame and beans. Because the crops are usually leftunattended, the yields are low. Few households grow enough grain to last through the year.

One striking characteristic of the Hamer-Banna men and women is that they indulge in elaborate hair-dressing. They wear a clay "cap" that is painted and decorated with feathers and other ornaments. Much time is spent inpreparing the hair, and care must be taken to protect it from damage. This is one reason the men often sleep on small, cushioned stools. The women use the butter for the perfect look manteinance of their hair-dressing. A well-dressed man will wear a toga-like cloth and carry a spear and a stool. Women also commonly wear colorful toga-like garments. Men may marry as many women as they like, but only within their own ethnicity. A "bride price" of cattle and other goods is provided by the prospectivehusband and his near relatives. A typical household consists of a woman, her children, and a male protector. A man may be the protector of more than one household, depending on the number of wives he has.

CULTURE TRADITIONS (MAINLY PRE-ISLAMIC)

The maza are also responsible for a ritual whipping which precedes the main cattle jump. The village's women purposefully provoke the maza into lashing their bare backs with sticks which inflict raw, open wounds and scar them for life. However, these wounds are seen as the mark of a true Hamar woman, and the pain is worn with honor. Because the sister or relative was whipped at the man's ceremony and endured the pain for him she can later in life look to him for help if she falls on hard times because she has the scars from the whipping she received for him to prove his debt to her.

Women commonly end up as the heads of families because they marry men who are much older than themselves while they are young. When her husband dies she is left in control of the family's affairs and livestock. She is also in control of his younger brothers and their livestock if their parents are dead. Widows may not re-marry. Also, men are sometimes assigned the responsibility of protecting a divorced woman, a widow, or the wife of an absent husband (usually his brother). Marriage celebrations include feasting and dancing. Young girls as well as boys are circumcised.
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Religion: 100% Sunni Muslim

Originally organized into a group of feudal city-states, the Hausa were conquered from the 14th century on by a succession of West African kingdoms-among them, Mali, Songhai, Bornu, and Fulani. The Hausa occasionally attained enough power and unity, however, to throw off foreign domination and to engage in local conquest and slave raiding themselves. In the opening years of the 20th century, with the Hausa on the verge of overthrowing the Fulani, the British invaded northern Nigeria and instituted their policy of indirect rule. Under the British the Fulani were supported in their political supremacy, and the Hausa-Fulani ruling coalition, still dominant in northern Nigeria, was confirmed.

The Hausa have long been famous for wide-ranging itinerant trading, and wealthy merchants share the highest social positions with the politically powerful and the highly educated. Hausa architecture is distinctive: houses are made from cone-shaped mud bricks with wooden beams (from palm trunks) for the roof. They often have a dome-shaped room constructed from wooden frames that form arches and are then covered in mud.

The Hausa language is the largest and best-known member of the Chadic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. Hausa has borrowed freely from other languages, especially Arabic, and is adapting well to the demands of contemporary cultural change. It has become a common language for millions of non-Hausa West Africans, and sizeable Hausa-speaking communities exist in each major city of West and North Africa as well as along the trans-Saharan trade and pilgrimage routes. Extensive literature and several periodicals in Romanized script have been produced since the beginning of British rule. An Arabic-based writing system (ajami), developed before the British conquest, is still in limited use. Indigenous Hausa names are rare. Babies are named one week after birth.

Region: Islam

HISTORY: The Kanuri began losing power in this region when the British took control in 1914. Nevertheless, they have remained politically active and still have much influence on the surrounding people groups. In fact, aspects of Kanuri culture, language, and religion have been adopted by many of the neighboring groups.

Genetically their Y-haplogroup A, the most diverse or oldest-diverging Y haplogroup transmitted purely by patrilineal descent, is today present in various Khoisan groups at frequencies of 12-44%, and the other Y-haplogroups present have been formed by recent admixture of Bantu male lineages E3a (18-54%), and in some groups, noticeable Pygmy traces are visible (B2b). The Khoisan also show the largest genetic diversity in matrilineally transmitted mtDNA of all human populations. Their original mtDNA haplogroups L1d and L1k are one of the oldest-diverging female lineages as well. However, analysis of neutral autosomal (inherited through either parent) genes finds that the Khoisan are similar to other African populations.

The presence of Haplogroup A, especially the subclade A3b2, in East Africa suggests some ancient connection between those populations and the Khoisan. This may not be a simple migration in one direction, but the result of various movements of people in Eastern and Southern Africa over tens of thousands of years, followed by the recent Bantu expansion separating the two regions.One interpretation is that the Khoisan are the earliest-diverging human group, or even a group that has preserved the original human lifestyle along with genetics.

L

Many Lemba beliefs and practices can be linked to Judaism:

They are monotheists (they call their creator God Nwali).

They hold one day of the week to be holy and praise Nwali (similar to the Jewish Shabbat).

They praise Nwali for looking after the Lemba, considering themselves a chosen people.

They teach their children to honor their mothers and fathers.

They refrain from eating pork or other foods forbidden by the Torah, or forbidden combinations of permitted foods.

Their form of animal slaughter, which makes meats fit for their consumption, resembles Jewish shechita.

They practise male circumcision; (furthermore, according to Junod, surrounding tribes regarded them as the masters and originators of that art).

They place a Star of David on their tombstones.

Lembas are discouraged from marrying non-Lembas, as Jews are discouraged from marrying non-Jews.

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Masai

Men generally make the tribal decisions and care for the cattle. The women build the houses and talke care of the home. More and more villages are becoming less traditional. This can be seen by flat metal roofs instead of thatching, all wooden houses and even farm plots. Growing food is frowned upon by traditional Masai. There are even some homes with satellite dishes. In villages near lodges, income is supplemented by posing for photos, selling used spears or performing tradtional dances.

Each family marks its cattle with a unique brand and ear slits to identify them. The Masai live in small clusters of huts (called kraals or bomas ) made of sticks sealed together with cow dung; these kraals also include enclosures for the cattle. Masai males are rigidly separated into five age groups: child, junior warrior, senior warrior, junior elder, and senior elder. Both boys and girls undergo circumcision ceremonies, which initiate them into adulthood. Marriages are often arranged, and polygamy is practiced. The Masai believe in a supreme god, Engai, who blesses them with children and cattle.

Prior to European colonialism of Africa, the Masai herded their cattle freely across the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. They first encountered Europeans in the 1840s. During the 1880s and 1890s, the Masai experienced severe droughts, famine, and disease, including smallpox, which was due to European contact. The Masai cattle herds were decimated by rinderpest, a highly infectious febrile disease. The weakened Masai fought against the encroachment of the Europeans but were defeated. The Europeans wanted farmland, and acquired large portions of Masai land in the treaties of 1904, 1911, and 1912, which confined the nomadic Masai to reserves and gave the Europeans fertile land. Today the Masai, who number approximately 250,000, live in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. Despite government efforts to settle them, most are still nomadic.
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Region: Southern Ethiopia

Language: Mursi Mursi (or Murzu)

Population: 6-10,000.

The Mursi have their own language, also called Mursi. Few are familiar with Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, and their literacy level is very low. The religion of the Mursi ethnicity is classified as Animism, although about 15% are Christians. The Mursi women are famous of wearing plates in their lower lips. The reason of this "ornament" is for avoiding to be catched as slaves. These lip discs are made of clay. Girls are pierced in the age of 15 or 16. They remove the plate when eating. Similar body ornaments are worn by the Suyá people, a Brazilian ethnicity.

The Mursi and Bodi live in the valley of the River Omo. They grow crops (mainly sorghum) using both rain and the retreating floodwaters of the river. They depend heavily on cattle herding. Men compose songs to their favourite ox or cow. The Konso number about 200,000 and live in the mountains south of Lake Chamo. They farm using a system of terraces, on which they grow cotton and other plants. They weave the cotton into cloth which is exported to other parts of Ethiopia.

Culture
The Mursi are survivors whose isolated geographic location, combined with the crises of drought, famine, war, migration, and epidemic diseases has shaped their identity. Cattle raids and civil instability between bordering ethnic groups is merely a means of survival. Every aspect of daily life revolves around cattle and crops, which set the economic standard among the Mursi. When they trade in the market, crops and cattle are exchanged as money. When a young Mursi girl reaches the age of 15 or 16, her lower lip is pierced so she can wear a lip plate. The larger the lip plate she can tolerate, the more cattle her bride price will bring for her father.

Government
As one of the most remote people groups in Ethiopia, the Mursi have remained relatively autonomous from the Ethiopian government. They alternate between peaceful and hostile relations with their neighbors, the Bodi and the Banna.The Mursi are in danger of displacement and denial of access to grazing and agricultural land, by African Parks Foundation. It is claimed that the Mursi were coerced into signing documents they could not read by government park officials. In 2005 463 homes were burned down by the Ethiopian Government in Nech Sar National Park Ethiopia after African Parks Foundation signed an agreement with the government.
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Language: Nubian and Arabic

Region: Sudan and Egypt

Related groups: Ancient Egyptians

Religion: Islam

The " Nubians" are those who either presently speak dialects of the Nubian language, or who trace their descent from these people. The Egyptian Nubians are called Kanuz; the northern Sudanese Nubians from the Second Cataract to the Third are called Mahas; and those in the south, in the vicinity of Dongola, Sudan, are called Danagla. Before the spread of Muslim into the Sudan, about the fifteenth century, Nubian-speaking peoples occupied a much larger area, including the land southwards up the Blue Nile. Their descendants live there still, but today they speak only Arabic.

So from a modern racial context they would sit in the African world just as Ethiopians, Sudanese, Fulani and Somalis do today. The Egyptians really possessed a wide range of skin color and many differing physical characteristics, as did the ancient Nubians. But as time progressed an Egypt mixed more with outsiders with the final influx of modern Arabs the racial texture of Egypt became more complex with a higher percentage of "white skinned Arabs." (As seen in lower Egypt today (North Egypt).

Northern Egypt, being linked to Asia, also saw from very early times an influx of lighter-skinned, non-African peoples, who settled there, intermingled with the local people or drove them out. From Egyptian history we have clear evidence that northern Egypt was periodically settled by peoples of non-African origin, who invaded from the north or east. For example, during the Second Intermediate period (ca. 1700-1580 BC), all of northern Egypt and much of the eastern Mediterranean and coastal Palestine (modern Israel) was under the control of the so-called Hyksos kings. The word "Hyksos" comes from an Egyptian word meaning "rulers from foreign lands." These people were of Near Eastern origin and maintained their capital Avaris in the Nile Delta. Recent excavations at Avaris (modern Tell ed-Daba'a), have even revealed remains of a palace decorated in the style of those on Crete! This has suggested to the excavator, Dr. Manfred Bietak of the University of Vienna, the strong presence there of Minoan (Cretan) royalty. This palace appears to date to the period soon after the Egyptian king Ahmose drove the Hyksos into Palestine about 1550 BC. It is thought possibly to have belonged to a Minoan princess sent to marry the Egyptian king. Obviously she and her servants from Crete would have been very light-skinned. On the other hand, there were also certainly black-skinned people in the Delta at the same time. Nubian pottery has been found in one area of Tell ed-Daba'a, which strongly suggests that Nubian troops were also living there in large numbers. Dark African people were probably also living on Crete and mainland Greece at the same time, for at Pylos in Greece black-skinned warriors wearing contemporary Cretan and Mycenaean Greek armor are depicted in the palace frescoes, suggesting that African troops were being used not only by the Egyptian king but also by his European counterparts across the sea.

Ndebele (Matabele)

Ndebele are a branch of 500 Zulus who split from King Shaka in the early 1820s under the leadership of Mzilikazi, a former general in Shaka's army. They founded a settlement near modern day Bulawayo where the made contact with the Tswana people who called these Zulus the name "Matabele". Tabele comes from tebela which means 'to chase away' The Ndebele were generally viewed by the Shona as unwanted raiders.

They have a very vibrant art motif which is used in their houses and in their garments.

They not only depend on cattle for many of life's necessities but they have the herdsman's outlook on the world. Cattle are their dearest possession and they gladly risk their lives to defend their herds or to pillage those of their neighbours. Most of their social activities concern cattle and cherchez la vache is the best advice that can be given to those who desire to understand Nuer behaviour.

The attitude of Nuer towards, and their relations with, neighbouring peoples are influenced by their love of cattle and their desire to acquire them. They have profound contempt for peoples with few or no cattle, like the Anuak, while their wars against Dinka ethnicitys have been directed to seizure of cattle and control of pastures. Each Nuer ethnicity and tribal section has its own pastures and water-supplies, and political fission is closely related to distribution of these natural resources, ownership of which is generally expressed in terms of clans and lineages.

Disputes between sections are very often about cattle, and cattle are the compensation for loss of life and limb that is so frequently their outcome. Leopard-skin chiefs and prophets are arbiters in questions in which cattle are the issue, or ritual agents in situations demanding sacrifice of ox or ram. Another ritual specialist is the wut ghok, the Man of the Cattle. Likewise, in speaking of age-sets and age-grades we find ourselves describing the relations of men to their cattle, for the change from boyhood to manhood is most clearly marked by a corresponding change in those relations at initiation.
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OROMO

Monogamy is generally the rule, but in some areas polygamy is practiced, the number of wives being dependent upon the economic status of the husband. Polygamy is more common among the Muslim Oromo.

irecha ( Ireecha ) Festival:2007

47,5% are Muslim, 30,5% Orthodox Christians,17,7% Protestants, but a minority follow the traditional Oromo religion. Reecha is an Oromo ritual which is celebrated at Bishoftu in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.

Few Ethiopian traditional celebrations are as shrouded in mystery and color as Eretcha - the premier Oromo cultural celebration that marks the end of the rainy season in the Ethiopian highlands. A mixture of the Oromo traditional monotheist religion of Waqaa and in occasions elements of the Ethiopian orthodox church, Ireecha is celebrated every year towards the end of the month of September. Lake Hora in Debre Zeit is the most widely respected location of this celebration even though Eretcha is celebrated through out the country at different locations.

The ritual is performed over a 1 month period where a scared tree is anointed with gifts of food (kebe [butter], rice, etc). Followers and observers of this Oromo religion may also be Muslim and Christian and the religion is viewed as a culture more than a religion.Tradition has it that the Oromo people of Ethiopia annually give praise to the creator for the most valuable commodity on the Ethiopian highlands - water .

Putting grass and green leaves below the great Oak tree, the traditional coffee ceremony, a warrior , beautiful Oromo girls in the Arsi leather outfits, more Oromo girls carrying Adey Abeba, Lake Hora, young men dancing towards the end of the celebrations, the great Oak tree that has stood for many many years.

Among the most significant of the many Oromo clans are the warlike Tulama group, consisting of about 35 peoples, with traditions of caste and slaveholding, and the Wallo, consisting of about 25 peoples. However, today it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine differences between clans, particularly because of intermarriage.

SCRIPT

Until the 1970s, Afaan Oromo was written with either the Ge'ez script or the Latin alphabet Then during the early 1970s, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) chose the Latin alphabet as the official alphabet to write Afaan Oromo. Between 1974 and 1991 under the Mengistu regime the writing of Afaan Oromo in any script was forbidden, though limited usage of the Ge'ez script was allowed. On 3rd November 1991 the OLF convened a meeting of over 1,000 Oromo intellectuals to decide which alphabet to use to write Afaan Ormo. After a many hours of debate, they decided unanimously to adopt the Latin alphabet. How a European script could be used over a related African script speaks to the dangers of so-called liberation when those liberating forces are ignorant of the broader issues.

Unfortunately many Ormo have stopped using the indigenous African Ge'ez script after 1991 and began formally writing Oromoia in a latin format called called Qubee. Words are subsequently excessively long to accommodate for the inadequacies of latin. It is speculated that the motivation for the change was to create a distinctive cultural identify from the "semitic" groups who have historically suppressed their culture.

There was a modern script know as the Saphalo script which was in use around the time of the Italian invasion. Arabic is also common among Muslim communities.

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POPULATIONS: 17 Million

RELIGION: Exclusively Muslim
RELATED: Oromo

Somalis are a mono-ethnic nomadic people who traded with Arabia and Kemet (Ancient Kingdom of Punt). See Somalia Money and Civil War

Three great divisions of Somalis exist, roughly corresponding to the northern, central, and southern parts of the region, the Somalis demonstrate considerable cultural unity. The basis of Somali society is the rēr, or large, self-contained kinship group or clan, consisting of a number of families claiming common descent from a male ancestor. A Somali has obligations both to his rēr and to the loosely defined social unit of which his rēr is a part. Government of the rēr is markedly patriarchal, although the chief is chosen by a group of elders who counsel him.

A second category of Somalis are the townspeople and agriculturists of the urban centres, especially along the coast of the Horn of Africa, where intense and prolonged intimacy with the Muslim tradition has rendered the culture highly organized and religiously orthodox and where geographic position has turned the townspeople into commercial middlemen between the Arab wor ld and the nomadic peoples of the interior.

CULTURE

Somali people have a rich and distinctive Islamic culture. A favorite pastime is the controversial chewing of chat(khat). Somali women wear very vibrant Muslim shawls and jilbabs. The musical traditions of Somalia are very similar to that of neighboring Ethiopia. Somali people are very passionate about poetry and food.

LAW

Somalis for centuries have practiced a form of customary law, which they call Xeer. Xeer is a polycentric l gal system where there is no monopolistic agent that determines what the law should be or how it should be interpreted. A guurti (court) is traditionally formed beneath an acacia tree, where judges arbitrate a dispute until both parties are satisfied. This process can sometimes lead to several days' worth of discussions. The Xeer legal system is assumed to have developed exclusively in the Horn of Africa since approximately the 7th century. There is no evidence that it developed elsewhere or was greatly influenced by any foreign legal system. The fact that Somali legal terminology is practically devoid of loan words from foreign languages suggests that Xeer is truly indigenous

POPULATIONS: 17 Million

LOCATION: Zimbabwe, Mozambique
RELATED: Lemba, Ndebele

The Shona are a cluster of peoples who have lived for about 2,000 years in a region of the southern Africa Plateau. Shona speaking migrants of the late 1800s also live in Zambia, in the Zambezi valley, in Chieftainess Chiawa's area. The Shona are the builders of Great Zimbabwe. Which is the largest stone Structure of pre-colonial Africa south of the equator.

The Torwa State and Munhumutapa states which succeeded the Great Zimbabwe state as well as the Rozvi state which succeeded the Torwa State and with the Mutapa state existed into the 19th century. The states were based on Kingship with certain dynasties being royals. The Kingdoms were destroyed by new groups moving onto the plateau. The Ndebele destroyed the Rozvi state in the 1830's and the Portuguese slowly eroded the Mutapa State which had extended to the coast of Mozambique. The British destroyed the traditional power in the 1890 and colonised the plateau which the named Rhodesia. In Mozambique the Portuguese colonial government fought the remnants of the Mutapa state until 1902.

Most dress in very traditional clothing of bright red material used like a skirt and multi-beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings, especially when living away from the big cities.

The Samburu developed from one of the later Nilotic migrations from the Sudan, as part of the Plains Nilotic movement. The broader grouping of the Maa-speaking people continued moving south, possibly under the pressure of the Borana expansion into their plains. Maa-speaking peoples have lived and fought from Mt. Elgon to Malindi and down the Rift Valley into Tanzania. The Samburu are in an early settlement area of the Maa group.

Those who moved on south, however (called Maasai), have retained a more purely nomadic lifestyle until recently when they have also begun farming. The expanding Turkana ran into the Samburu around 1700 when they began expanding north and east.

The Chamus (Njemps) people speak the Samburu language and are often counted as Samburu people. They are reported to be 12% Christian, while the Samburu are considered as 8-9% Christian. The Ariaal group of Rendille have been greatly affected by the Samburu and now speak the Samburu language. The Ariaal number 102,000, making a total of 249,300 mother-tongue speakers of the Samburu language.

Swahili is used extensively, particularly among younger people. Swahili is the language of education and English is taught in schools. There is still a low level of literacy and education, however, among the Samburu.

Political Situation: The Samburu have been in a somewhat defensive position with surrounding peoples moving around them. They have had clashes with some of the migrating or nomadic peoples. They have maintained a military and cultural alliance with the Rendille, largely in response to pressures from the expanding Oromo (Borana) since the 16th century. The Ariaal Rendille have even adopted the Samburu language. They do not have such an aggressive military character as the Maasai proper.

They were associated with the Laikipiak (Oloikop) Maasai, also called Kwavi, who followed a lifestyle with light agriculture. They have added camels to their culture, further differentiating them from the Maasai. In recent decades, they have had mostly peaceful relations with their neighbors, who include Maasai, Somali, Borana, Turkana and Gabbra as well as Rendille.

The Samburu got separated from the other Maa speakers due to the migration of Maasai farther south and of other ethnic various groups around them. The Samburu have been somewhat outside the stream of national politics also. They have had less development than some others in Kenya.

Change is beginning to occur as group ranching schemes have developed and education has become available. Many Samburu warriors enlisted in the British forces during World War II. Likewise Samburu serve in the Kenya armed forces and police.

Customs: Generally between five and ten families set up encampments for five weeks and then move on to new pastures. Adult men care for the grazing cattle which are the major source of livelihood. Women are in charge of maintaining the portable huts, milking cows, obtaining water and gathering firewood. Their houses are of plastered mud or hides and grass mats stretched over a frame of poles. A fence of thorns surrounds each family's cattle yard and huts.

Marriage is a unique series of elaborate ritual. Great importance is given to the preparation of gifts by the bridegroom (two goatskins, two copper earrings, a container for milk, a sheep) and of gifts for the ceremony. The marriage is concluded when a bull enters a hut guarded by the bride's mother, and is killed.

Fertility is a very high value for the Samburu. A childless woman will be ridiculed, even by children. Samburu boys may throw cow dung against the hut of a woman thought to be sterile. A fertility ritual involves placing a mud figure in front of the woman's house. One week later, a feast will be given in which the husband invites neighbors to eat a slaughtered bull with him. As a little fat is spread over the woman's belly, they will say: "May God give you a child!"

Their society has for long been so organized around cattle and warfare (for defense and for raiding others) that they find it hard to change to a more limited lifestyle. The purported benefits of modern life are often undesirable to the Samburu. They remain much more traditional in life and attitude than their Maasai cousins.

Duties of boys and girls are clearly delineated. Boys herd cattle and goats and learn to hunt, defending the flocks. Girls fetch water and wood and cook. Both boys and girls go through an initiation into adulthood, which involves training in adult responsibilities and circumcision for boys and clitoridectomy for girls.

Initiation is done in age grades of about five years, with the new "class" of boys becoming warriors, or morans. (il-murran). The moran status involves two stages, junior and senior. After serving five years as junior morans, the group go through a naming ceremony, becoming senior morans for six years. After these eleven years, the senior moran are free to marry and join the married men (junior elders).

Samburu are very independent and egalitarian. Community decisions are normally made by men (senior elders or both senior and junior elders but not morani), often under a tree designated as a "council" meeting site. Women may sit in an outer circle and usually will not speak directly in the open council, but may convey a comment or concern through a male relative. However, women may have their own "council" discussions and then carry the results of such discussions to men for consideration in the men's council.

The Samburu love to sing and dance, but traditionally used no instruments, even drums. They have dances for various occasions of life. The men dance jumping, and high jumping from a standing position is a great sport. Most dances involve the men and women dancing in their separate circles with particular moves for each sex, but coordinating the movements of the two groups.

Religion: The Samburu traditional religion is based on acknowledgment of the Creator God, whom they call Nkai, as do other Maa-speaking peoples. They think of him as living in the mountains around their land, such as Mount Marsabit.

Registry of Peoples code
Tigray-Tigrinya: 110050

Registry of Languages code (Ethnologue)
Tigrinya: tir

NARRATIVE PROFILE

Location:
The Tigrinya (ti-GRIN-yuh) or Tigray (ti-GRAH-ee) people live in the southern highlands of Eritrea and the northern highlands of Ethiopia´s Tigray province. They also live in Ethiopia´s Gonder and Welo provinces. There are about 2 million in Eritrea and about 4 million in Ethiopia.

The term Tigray is used in Ethiopia for both the people and their province. Tigrinya is used in Eritrea for the same people, so-called from the language they speak. Differences in terminology and spelling have led to a different political identity of this people group on each side of the border dividing the group. Culturally they are one people group. The terms Tigray, Tigrinya or Tigray-Tigrinya apply to the total people group, unless otherwise indicated.

History:
The history of the two countries--Ethiopia and Eritrea--is closely linked, although beginning in the late 1800s, Eritrea was colonized by Italy. Eritrea was an Italian colony until 1941, then the British controlled it until 1951. Following the British occupation, the United Nations made it a federated autonomous territory with Ethiopia, until Ethiopia decided to annex it as a province in 1962.

The Tigray-Tigrinya (also referred to as Tigrean) people are descendants of early Semitic peoples who originally settled in the Horn of Africa about 1000 BC. It seems they are related to or descended from the Sabaean (Sheban) people. According to their traditions they trace their roots to Menelik I, the child born of the queen of Sheba and King Solomon. It is thought that the Sabaean (Sheban) people began to settle on the west coast of the Red Sea, from their home in southern Arabia, about 1000 BC.

Menelik I was the first of the Solomonic line of rulers of Ethiopia that ended only with the deposing of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. By about 1500 BC their civilization became the Aksum Empire, based on a mixture of the early Sabaean culture and the prior Cushitic culture. The ruins of the ancient city of Aksum can still be seen in Tigray Province. Except for a few notable exceptions, the Amhara have been the dominant people group in Ethiopia history. The strength of their culture is shown in this influence though they number only 15 million of the estimated 53 million population of modern Ethiopia.

The Sabaeans are referred to in the Quran along with Christians and Jews as "People of the Book." The Tigray-Tigrinya were associated with the Amhara in the ancient kingdom of Abyssinia, called in the Tigrinya language Etiopia, the source of the modern name of Ethiopia. The area where they live in the mountains was the center of the ancient Cushite empire of Aksum . The name Abyssinia comes from an early name--Habash--of an early group of the Sabaean settlers who became the Tigrinya.

RETURN
TUAREG (Kel Tamahaq - Kel Tamasheq - Kel Ajjer)

Population
Total People: approx. 1.25 million (Algeria 76,000; Mali 100,000; Libya 18,000; Niger 700,000; refugees in Mauritania and Burkina Faso).

LANGUAGE: Tamacheq. They have an ancient written script known as tifinagh

The Tuareg or "Blue Men of the Desert" have long been known as warriors, traders and travellers of the Sahara Desert - as a people of grace and nobility as well as fighters of fierce reputation. Timbuctoo had previously been sacked by the Tuaregs as early a 1433, and they had occupied it for thirty years. Between 1591 and 1593, the Tuaregs had already taken advantage of the situation to plunder Timbuctoo once more. Between 1723 and 1728, the Tuaregs once more occupied and looted Timbuctoo. Thus Timbuctoo, once the queen city of the Western Sudan, with more than 200,000 inhabitants, and the center of a powerful state, degenerated into a shadow of its former stature.

HISTORY: Tuareg is a term used to identify numerous diverse groups of people who share a common language and a common history. Tuareg camel caravans played the primary role in trans-Saharan trade until the mid-20th century when European trains and trucks took over. Goods that once were brought north to the edge of the Sahara are now taken to the coast by train and then shipped to Europe and beyond. Tuareg history begins in northern Africa where their presence was recorded by Herodotus. Many groups have slowly moved southward over the last 2,000 years in response to pressures from the north and the promise of a more prosperous land in the south. Today, many Tuareg live in sedentary communities in the cities bordering the Sahara that once were the great centers of trade for western Africa. Tuareg an Islam le who perform their 5 daily prays.

Tuareg is a term given to these people by the Arabs, as they initially resisted Islam. The name Tuareg means "abandoned by God". Individually the ethnicitys are recognised by area of origin or language: Kel Tamasheq (meaning the people who speak Tamasheq), Kel Tamashek, Kel Ajjer, Kel Tamahaq and there are other dialects and names they call themselves.

ECONOMY: For thousands of years, Tuareg economy revolved around trans-Saharan trade. There are basically five trade routes which extend across the Sahara from the northern Mediterranean coast of Africa to the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara. Tuareg merchants were responsible for bringing goods from these cities to the north. From there they were distributed throughout the world. Because of the nature of transport and the limited space available in caravans, Tuareg usually traded in luxury items, things which took up little space and on which a large profit could be made. Tuareg were also responsible for bringing enslaved people north from west Africa to be sold to Europeans and Middle Easterners. Many Tuareg settled into the communities with which they traded, serving as local merchants and representatives for their friends and family who continued to trade.

Economics
Occupations: Pastoralists, guards, domestic servants, blacksmiths
Income sources: Cheese, livestock, transport of salt, dates
Products/Crafts: Cheese, baskets, mats, leatherwork, knives, iron objects, jewelry
Trade partners: Neighbouring peoples, Algeria, Mali, Nigeria. There is a mutual economic dependency of nomads and farmers, and a rivalry over administration of production means.
Modernisation/Utilities: Many people were forced to give up their nomadic lifestyle and moved to the towns. Some villiages, also in remote areas, have one TV set with a solar panel (although maintainance is a problem) .

POPULATIONS: 1.6 Million

LOCATION: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan

RELIGION: Muslim

Languages: Tigre

The Tigre are a predominantly Muslim nomadic people who inhabit the northern, western, and coastal lowlands of Eritrea, as well as areas in eastern Sudan. 99.5% of the Tigre people adhere to the Islamic religion Sunni Islam, but there are a considerable amount of Christians among them as well (often referred to as the Mensaï in Eritrea)

Some Tigre are settled farmers, growing crops of corn, sorghum, wheat, barley, legumes, and linseed. They also raise goats and sometimes cattle. They live in villages, and their homes are round and have cone-shaped roofs made of branches and leaves.

The Tigre language uses the Ge'ez syllabary. However, due to the majority of Tigre speakers being Muslim also use the Arabic alphabet. However, the Ge'ez syllabary is also not ideal to transcribe Tigre as it does not portray vowel length, which is an important factor in the Tigre language

POPULATIONS: 2.5 Million

LOCATION: Rwanda, Congo, Brundi

Tutsi - The name of the ethnic group. Watutsi - One Tutsi (Wa means 'one' also in Ancient Egyptian.) Mututsi - Means the same as Watutsi. Batutsi - Means the Tutsi people as a whole. (Bah means 'men, people' in Ancient Egyptian.) Watusi - A breed of cattle.

ISLAM AND TUTSI

Rwandan Muslims converted in large numbers after the 1994 Genocide. One reason for this shift is that many Muslims had sheltered refugees - both Hutu and Tutsi - in Muslim homes, villages and suburbs. Many converts converted to Islam because of the role that some Catholic and Protestant leaders played in the genocide. Human rights groups have documented several incidents in which Christian clerics permitted Tutsis to seek refuge in churches, then surrendered them to Hutu death squads. Instances of Hutu priests and ministers encouraging their congregations to kill Tutsis have also been documented. Some Tutsi converted have converted for safety, as they feared continuing reprisal killings by Hutu extremists, and knowing that Muslims would protect them from such acts. Many Hutu converted as well, in search for "purification." Many Hutus want to leave their violent past behind them and to not have "blood on their hands." There are also a few, isolated instances, where Hutus have converted in the hope that they could hide within the Muslim community and thereby escape arrest. The rate of conversions slowed down in 1997. According to the mufti of Rwanda, the Islamic community has not seen any increases in conversions in 2002-3.[8] Christianity remains as the country's leading religion. Catholicism (it arrived in the late 19th century with the White Fathers order of the Roman Catholic Church) is still deeply embedded in the culture. According to Rwandan Muslim leaders, Muslims make up 14 percent of the 8.2 million people in Rwanda, Africa's most Catholic nation, twice as many as before the killings began.

The Tutsi of Rwanda first came into contact with the West at the end of the 19th century. Rwandan society was highly stratified. It was divided into the Tutsi, the ruling class who raised cattle, the Hutu who were farmers and the Twa who were hunters. Western discourses about the Tutsi emphasized race and social hierarchy. Based on their physical characteristics--they are among the tallest people in Africa--and their aristocratic demeanor, the Tutsi were assumed by early 20th-century Westerners to be the most "advanced" African peoples in the now-denounced evolutionary scheme promulgated at the time. Their appearance and elaborate court rituals made them perfect photographic subjects. The kings soon played into the wishes of photographers by staging for them the famous Ntore dances of young warriors. Pictures of these dances became signature images of Rwanda. Casimir Zagourski seems to have visited Rwanda twice and photographed King Yuhi V. Musinga--who ruled from 1897 until he was deposed by the Belgians in 1931--his son and successor Mutara III Rudahigwa (ruled 1931-1959) and Rudahigwa's mother. After the Second World War, Nyanza, the capital of the kingdom, became a stop on the tourist route through the region and was flooded by photographers and film makers, including the professionals of Inforcongo and Congopresse.
RETURN

Economy: Wodaabe are mainly nomadic herders and traders. The routes they established in western Africa provided extensive links throughout the region that fostered economic and political ties between otherwise isolated ethnic groups. Dairy products produced from cattle were traded to sedentary farmers for agricultural products and luxury items. These items could then be traded to trans-Saharan traders such as the Tuareg for shipment north. Fine woven cloth produced by the Wodaabe was considered a luxury item that could be traded on the international market.

Political Systems: The two most significant factors in Fulani political systems are clientage and competition. In order to gain political office a Fulani man would have to compete among his fellows for the right to rule. He could show his political favor by demonstrating that he had a large following in the form of individuals and families. By agreeing to become the client of a powerful man or family, a subject would offer tribute in the form of gifts and political support in exchange for security. Wodaabe men often held considerable political power within their own nomadic communities, as well as within the communities in which they settled in northern Nigeria.

Historically, it has not been unusual that such political and economic gains would be made in the name of Muslim and result in empire building. Muslim became a religion of importance among Wodaabe peoples during the 16th century when the great prophet El Maghili preached the teachings of Mohammed to the elite of northern Nigeria. El Maghili was responsible for converting the ruling classes among Hausa, Fulani, and Tuareg peoples in the region.

POPULATIONS: 3.6 Million

RELIGION: Islam

Languages: Wolof & (French, Arabic)

Wolof ( Wollof) people are a dominant cultural group of Senegal and Gambia. In Gambia even the dominant Mandinka people speak Wolof.

The Wolof Empire (jolof Empire) was a medieval West African state that ruled parts of Senegal and The Gambia from approximately 1350 to 1890. While only ever consolidated into a single state structure for part of this time, the tradion of governance, caste, and culture of the Wolof dominate the history of north-central Senegal for much of the last 800 years. Its final demise at the hands of French colonial forces in the 1870s-1890s also marks the beginning of the formation of Senegal as a unified state.
RELIGION
Islam entered into West Africa via Fulani and other traders. It then spread into the Wolof communities.

CULTURE

Culturally, clothing is very important to the Wolof, who are a style conscious society. To a Wolof what you wear says a tremendous amount about you. Women will dress elaborately, many times going into debt just to be dressed up to an occasion. They also wear elaborate hair styles and makeup. The Wolof are known as the trend-setters of West Africa. The family unit is very important to the Wolof. Many times a man and all his brothers and their wives and children will live together in a single compound. Many Wolof are also polygamous, however, polygamy doesn't seem to be considered natural to many of the Wolof who soon after obtaining a second wife are divorced from their first.
MARRIAGE
See African Marriage Rituals

POPULATIONS: 8 Million

LOCATION: South Africa (Eastern Cape)

Xhosa people are part of the Nguni group (See Zulu). During the Bantu Exapnsion the migrated South into Southern Africa. Xhosa and Zulu language is mutually intellgible. It is claimed that Xhosa language has more chareteristic "clicks" which were taken from the Khoisan language.

At the time of white settlement of the Cape, Xhosa groups were living far inland, into the area between Bushman's River and the Kei River. Since around 1770, they had been confronted with the Trek Boers who approached from the west. Both the Boers and the Xhosa were stock-farmers. The competition for grazing land led first to quarrels between the two groups, and eventually it came to a number of wars. The politics of the colonial government attempted to enforce the separation . But the more the colony developed into a modern state with a strong military organization, the more the whites tended towards a policy of land annexing and the subjugation of the African population.

In the middle of the 19th century, all the land formerly inhabited by Xhosa was in the hands of white settlers. With the founding of the South African Union in 1910, the British colony and the independent Boer Republics were united. A modern "democratic" state was formed. in which only the white population could execute the right to vote.

CULTURE

The Xhosas have a strong oral tradition with many stories of ancestral heroes; according to tradition, the leader from whose name the Xhosa people take their name was the first human on Earth. Other traditions have it that all Xhosas are descended from one ancestor named Tshawe. The key figure in the Xhosa oral tradition is the imbongi or praise singer. Rites of passage is key to manhood in Xhosa culture which generally include male circumcision, female FCM is not practiced.

By the 17th century the Yoruba had succeeded in establishing a strong and flourishing state, the kingdom of Oyo, in the region between Dahomey and the Niger River. Oyo disintegrated into numerous petty kingdoms during the first half of the 19th century. Toward the end of the 19th century the Yoruba came under British control. They now number about 27 million and make up one-fifth of the population of Nigeria, living chiefly in the city of Ibadan. Many of Nigeria's best-known artists and writers are Yoruba.

The Zaghawa are scattered throughout the African countries of Sudan, Chad and Niger. Also called the Beri, the Sudanese Zaghawa are a semi-nomadic Ethnicity that is found living primarily along the border between Sudan and Chad. Numbering approximately 171,000, they are a camel and cattle herding group who also engage in a fair amount of agriculture.

The Zaghawa are an ancient society that dates back to the seventh century. During that time, they had their own kingdom ruled by chieftans and divided into strict social classes and family clans. The various clusters of Zaghawa tribes are still divided into clans, yet the development of the nations of Sudan, Chad and Niger has weakened the chiefs and the overall Zaghawa social system.

The problem of water is a major preoccupation for the Zaghawa, who during normal years must wait nine dry months for a short rainy season which lasts between the end of June and the end of August. To survive, many herdsmen drive their animals north to graze during the dry season, and return south when it rains.

In addition to using the milk of their cattle, sheep and camels and selling some animals for income, the Zaghawa also grow vegetables such as tomatoes, onions and okra in small gardens surrounding their homes and raise crops such as millet and tubers (starchy root vegetables). Many Zaghawa are merchants who travel southward and eastward to find food and manufactured goods that are not available in their own region. Sugar, tea, oil, blankets, plastic products and soap are all purchased or exchanged for cattle, sheep, wild grasses and the gum of the acacia tree. Some men also work as blacksmiths, although craftsmen would be a better collective name for these artists who make metal tools, weapons and jewelry; create pottery; carve wooden stools and musical instruments; weave cotton; and tan hides to make various leather items.

The adoption of Muslim, which was introduced into the region in the 1600s. Villages have become hospitable to outsiders, and sacrifice and ancestor worship have either been modified and reinterpreted in order to be acceptable to Muslim. Although Muslim is widely accepted and the study of Muslim law is highly respected, the Zaghawa, like Muslims everywhere, still hang on to many of their traditional superstitions. To avoid the curse of the "evil eye," a rather vague yet terrifying phenomenon, they wear charms, construct their houses in a certain fashion and cover their babies' faces in public.

POPULATIONS: 11 Million

LOCATION: South Africa (KZN)

Zulu means "People of the sky/heaven"

The Zulu were originally a major clan in what is today Northern KwaZulu-Natal, founded ca. 1709 by Zulu kaNtombhela. So the Zulu nation is an 18th century amalgamation of different clans into the Zulu clan identity. In the Nguni languages, iZulu/iliZulu/liTulu means heaven. The Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. They are well known for their beautiful brightly colored beads and baskets as well as other small carvings. Historical they are know for defeating the British Army at Isandlwana (remaining the single greatest British military defeat at the hands of a native force in history). However Zulu history, as Molefi Asante said, is the history of blood flow.

In less than six months, Cetewayo was exiled to England, and the Zulu kingdom was divided to the British advantage. The last Zulu uprising against European domination was lead by Chief Bombatha in 1906. In recent times, Chief Gastha Buthelezi has doubled as the political leader of the Zulu, and the head of the Inkatha Freedom Party, leading the fight against Apartheid and the ANC, demanding a voice for his people who are more than three million strong.

RELIGION: The Zulu believe in a creator god known as Nkulunkulu, but this god does not interact with humans and has no interest in everyday life. Therefore, most Zulus interact on a day to day level with the spirits. In order to interact with the spirits the Zulu must use divination to interact with the ancestors. All misfortune is a result of a evil sorcery or offended spirits, nothing just happens because of natural causes. Zulu people perform ceremonial sacrifice of animals in a similar way to Muslim and Jews.

The Zulu are practically divided in half with about 50% living in cities and engaging in domestic work and another 50% working on farms.

Economy

NEW OPPRESSION and EXPLOITATION

Political Systems

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Amhara The Tigrayans only made a brief return to the throne in the person of Yohannes IV, whose death in 1889 allowed the base to return to the Amharic speaking province of Shewa. Historians generally consider the Amhara to have been Ethiopia's ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in Haile Selassie.

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The Maasai people of East Africa live in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania along the Great Rift Valley on semi-arid and arid lands. The Maasai occupy a total land area of 160,000 square kilometers with a population of approximately one half million people. However, many Maasai see the national census as government meddling and often miscount their numbers to census takers.

The Maasai society is comprised of sixteen sections (known in Maasai as Iloshon): Ildamat, Ilpurko, Ilkeekonyokie, Iloitai, Ilkaputiei, Ilkankere, Isiria, Ilmoitanik, Iloodokilani, Iloitokitoki, Ilarusa, Ilmatatapato, Ilwuasinkishu, Kore, Parakuyu, and Ilkisonko, also known as Isikirari (Tanzania's Maasai). There was also once Iltorobo section but was assimilated by other sections. A majority of the Maasai population lives in Kenya. Sections such as Isikirari, Parakuyu, Kore and Ilarusa lives in Tanganyika.

Homestead and labor

The Maasai live in Kraals arranged in a circular fashion. The fence around the kraal is made of acacia thorns, which prevent lions from attacking the cattle. It is a man's responsibility to fence the kraal. While women construct the houses. Traditionally, kraals are shared by an extended family. However, due to the new land management system in the Maasai region, it is not uncommon to see a kraal occupied by a single family.

The Inkajijik (maasai word for a house) are loaf-shaped and made of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and cow's urine. Women are responsible for making the houses as well as supplying water, collecting firewood, milking cattle and cooking for the family. Warriors are in charge security while boys are responsible for herding livestock. During the drought season, both warriors and boys assume the responsibility for herding livestock. The elders are directors and advisors for day-to-day activities. Every morning before livestock leave to graze, an elder who is the head of the inkang sits on his chair and announces the schedule for everyone to follow.

The Maasai are a semi-nomadic people who lived under a communal land management system. The movement of livestock is based on seasonal rotation. Contrary to many claims made by outsiders, particularly the Hardinian school of thought, this communal land management system allows us to utilize resources in a sustainable manner. Each section manages its own territory. Under normal conditions, reserve pastures are fallowed and guarded by the warriors. However, if the dry season becomes especially harsh, sections boundaries are ignored and people graze animals throughout the land until the rainy season arrives. According to Maasai traditional land agreement, no one should be denied access to natural resources such as water and land.

Subsistence economy

Livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep are the primary source of income for the Maasai. Livestock serves as a social utility and plays an important role in the Maasai economy. Livestock are traded for other livestock, cash or livestock products such as milk and siege. Individual, families, and clans established close ties through giving or exchange of cattle. "Meishoo iyiook enkai inkishu o-nkera"- so goes a Maasai prayer. The English translation of this praye is: "May Creator give us cattle and children. Cattle and children are the most important aspect of the Maasai people.
Maasai economy with outsiders
The Maasai economy is increasingly dependent on the market economy. Livestock products are sold to other groups in Kenya for the purchase of beads, clothing and grains. Cows and goats are also sold for uniform and school fees for children. It is now common to see young Maasai men and women in major towns and cities of Kenya selling, not just goats and cows, but also beads, cell phones, chacoal, grain among other items. The entrepreneurial spirit is something new in our society.

It was not until the early 1980s with the Group Ranch project that we became much more entrenched in a market economy and, hence, more impoverished generally speaking.

Maasai diet

Traditionally, the Maasai rely on meat, milk and blood from cattle for protein and caloric needs. People drink blood on special occasions. It is given to a circumcised person (o/esipolioi), a woman who has given birth (entomononi) and the sick (oltamueyiai). Also, on a regular basis drunk elders, ilamerak, use the blood to alleviate intoxication and hangovers. Blood is very rich in protein and is good for the immune system. However, its use in the traditional diet is waning due to the reduction of livestock numbers.

More recently, the Maasai have grown dependent on food produced in other areas such as maize meal (unga wa mahindi), rice, potatoes, cabbage (known to the Maasai as goat leaves), etc. The Maasai who live near crop farmers have engaged in cultivation as their primary mode of subsistence. In these areas, plot sizes are generally not large enough to accommodate herds of animals; thus the Maasai are forced to farm. Our people traditionally frown upon this. Maasai believe that tilizing the land for crop farming is a crime against nature. Once you cultivate the land, it is no longer suitable for grazing.

Private ownership

The concept of private ownership was, until recently, a foreign concept to the Maasai. However, in the 1960s and 1980s, a program of commercializing livestock and land was forced on us initially by the British and later by the government of Kenya. Since then, our land has been subdivided into group and individual ranches. In other parts of Maasailand people subdivided their individual ranches into small plots, which are sold to private developers.

The new land management system of individual ranches has economically polarized our people; some Maasais, as well as outside wealthy individuals, have substantially increased their wealth at the expense of others. The largest loss of land, however, has been to national parks and reserves, in which the Maasai people are restricted from accessing critical water sources, pasture, and salt lick. Subdivision of Maasailand reduced land size for cattle herding, reduced the number of cows per household, and reduced food production. As a result, the Maasai society, which once was a proud and self-sufficient society, is now facing many social-economic and political challenges. The level of poverty among the Maasai people is beyond conceivable height. It is sad to see a society that had a long tradition of pride being a beggar for relief food because of imposed foreign concepts of development.

The future of the Maasai is uncertain at this point. One thing, however, is certain that the Maasai culture is quickly eroding at the expense of civilization.

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The Maasai people of East Africa live in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania along the Great Rift Valley on semi-arid and arid lands. The Maasai occupy a total land area of 160,000 square kilometers with a population of approximately one half million people.

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Hutu - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major holidays, Rites of passage

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Hutu - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major holidays, Rites of passage Rwanda to Syria

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PRONUNCIATION: ahf-rih-KAHN-ers

ALTERNATE NAMES: Boers

LOCATION: Republic of South Africa

POPULATION: About 3.3 million

LANGUAGE: Afrikaans

RELIGION: Protestantism

1 * INTRODUCTION

South Africa is located at the southern point of Africa. During the seventeenth century, Dutch colonists from the Netherlands (known as Boers) settled there. Over the next 200 years, British, French, and German settlers joined them. At first, they settled along the coast, but eventually settlers moved inland. These settlers developed a unique cultural identity and language and became known as Afrikaners. Their language, Afrikaans, began as a spoken dialect, but developed into a written language, too.

Over the next 300 years, the Afrikaners battled indigenous (native) African peoples. established independent republics in the interior, and fought the British in two wars known as the Anglo-Boer Wars. All territories were finally united on May 31, 1910, to become the Union of South Africa. (The Republic of South Africa was established fifty years later on May 31, 1960.) In 1910, there was a clear division between the Afrikaners (who belonged to Afrikaner political parties, spoke Afrikaans, supported Afrikaner cultural and linguistic endeavors, and belonged to one of the Dutch Reformed Churches) and British-oriented, English-speaking South Africans. In 1948 the Afrikaner-based National Party came to power. Under a strong religious philosophy and racist social policy, the National Party started to implement the system of apartheid. Apartheid separated the people of South Africa by law along color lines. By the 1980s, there were many Afrikaners who joined the effort to do away with apartheid.

2 * LOCATION

The Afrikaners are concentrated in the Republic of South Africa, located at the southern tip of the African continent. The country consists of four plateaus: the coastal zone, averaging 500 feet (150 meters) above sea level; the Little Karoo, averaging 1,500 feet (450 meters) above sea level; the Great Karoo, averaging 2,500 feet (760 meters) above sea level; and the High Veld, which averages 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above sea level and rises to 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) above sea level in the northeast. South Aftrica's capital, Johannesburg, has an annual mean temperature of 60° F (15.6° C). This temperature range is typical for the entire country. Rainfall (which is so critical for farming and ranching) decreases as one moves from east to west. South Africa's eastern coastal zone has relatively high rainfall, but the western veld (open grassland) tapers into the Kalahari desert. About 75 percent of the country receives less than 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain per year. The country's average rainfall is only 17.5 inches (44.5 centimeters) because so much of the country is extremely dry. The highest rainfall is in the mountain region of the southern region-about 200 inches (508 centimeters) per year.

Of South Africa's 42 million people, about 3.3 million are Afrikaners.

3 * LANGUAGE

Afrikaans, the language spoken by Afrikaners, evolved as a dialect of Dutch spoken by settlers on the frontier during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As various groups-French, German, and English speakers-settled in South Africa, they contributed to the emerging language. Also contributing to the language and culture were slaves brought by the Dutch from their holdings in southeast Asia (especially Malaysians). Settlers also took vocabulary and cultural practices from the native Africa people. Afrikaans first appeared in print during the early nineteenth century. Among the unique features of the language is the double negative: Hy wil nie speel nie (literally, "He does not want to play not").

In 1910, the Constitution of the Union of South Africa recognized Afrikaans and English as official languages. Since then, most Afrikaners have been bilingual. In 1991, when apartheid was eliminated, eleven official languages were recognized.

There are also some 13,000 persons of Asian descent in South Africa who speak Afrikaans as their native language.

4 * FOLKLORE

Early Afrikaner beliefs and traditions come from three major sources: European colonists, native people, and immigrants from Malaysia and India. Heroes and myths from these groups became intertwined as stories were passed down orally.

Much folklore revolved around Oom (Uncle) Paul Kruger (1925-1904, the former president of the Afrikaner republic).

5 * RELIGION

Afrikaner religion comes from Protestant practices of the seventeenth-century Reformed Church of Holland. The British brought English-speaking ministers to South Africa in the early 1800s. Next, French settlers brought the ideas of Swiss reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) to South Africa. Calvin believed the church should influence government policy, and that races should remain pure and separate. This led to the development of a unique brand of Protestantism in South Africa. Government policies on apartheid (separation of the races) were supported by Afrikaners' religious doctrines.

6 * MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Religious holidays include Christmas (December 25), Good Friday (and the secular Easter Monday, in March or April), and Ascension Day (in April or May). Secular (nonreligious) holidays include New Year's Day and Boxing Day (also known as Goodwill Day, December 26). Political holidays include Founder's Day commemorating the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck (the first governor of the Cape) on April 6, 1652; Republic Day commemorating the establishment of the Union of South Africa on May 31, 1910 (and later the Republic of South Africa on May 31, 1960); Kruger Day, commemorating the birthday of Paul Kruger (1825-1904, former president) on October 10; and the Day of the Vow, commemorating the day when Afrikaners resisted an attack by Zulu warriors on December 16, 1838.

Traditionally, Afrikaners observed Sunday as a day of rest. Stores and movie theaters were closed, organized sports were not permitted, and very little activity took place. People were expected to attend church services. By the late 1990s, this had changed somewhat, although there is still less activity on Sunday than on other days of the week.

7 * RITES OF PASSAGE

It is the custom for Afrikaner married couples to name their first son after the husband's father and their first daughter after the wife's mother.

Birthdays are celebrated with a party accompanied by the giving of gifts. Almost all infants are baptized. Afrikaner children attend Sunday school where they are required to memorize verses from the Bible. At about age sixteen, young people must take catechism, where they learn the basis of Calvinistic Protestantism. Upon completion of catechism, the young person is confirmed as a church member and takes his or her first communion. In many families, sixteen is also the age when the young person is allowed to begin dating. The twenty-first birthday is a major celebration. The family often presents the son or daughter at age twenty-one with a key that symbolizes adulthood.

Adults celebrate birthdays, frequently with a braai- the equivalent of the American barbecue. Death is marked at the family level by mourning and the wearing of black dresses by women, and black ties or a black arm band by men. At church services on New Year's Eve, the front pew is draped in black or purple to remember those who have died during the year, and their names are read aloud.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

It is customary to greet each person, including children, with a handshake. Friends and relatives of both genders greet each other with a kiss on the lips. (This practice does not generally apply to males greeting males.) Taking leave involves the same actions and the expression, Totsiens (Till we see [each other] again). In the past, Afrikaners practiced informal gender separation. After a meal, men would visit with each other, smoking and discussing such topics as national affairs or sports. Women talked about homemaking and the children. By the late 1990s, opportunities for women in education and employment had improved, and this practice of separate social conversation had declined.

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

When Afrikaners controlled the government, most white people lived in luxury, with the best housing (many with swimming pools), schools, and hospitals available to them. Afrikaners controlled the best civil service and other jobs, earned dependable salaries, owned automobiles, and had electricity and telephones in their homes. After apartheid (separation of the races) ended in 1991, this lifestyle was legally available to everyone, regardless of race.

10 * FAMILY LIFE

In rural communities, Afrikaner families were large because children represented wealth. Some Afrikaner politicians advocated a policy of large families to assure the position of whites in South Africa. Today Afrikaner families average two or three children. Dogs and cats are favored as pets. Dogs are also bred to protect home and property.

Traditional Afrikaner dating and marriage practices involved a young man courting his girlfriend, and then formally requesting permission from her parents (especially her father) to become engaged. For three Sundays prior to the wedding, the couples' names were read in church. If there were no objections raised (for example, that one was already married to someone else), the marriage was performed in church, with a reception afterward. This practice had become less formal by the 1990s.

11 * CLOTHING

Afrikaners dress in modern Western clothing. On holidays and special occasions, traditional clothing may be seen. Boys and men wear shorts with knee socks. Women wear long dresses and bonnets for formal folk dancing called volkspele . Male folk dancing partners wear shirts with vests and long pants.

12 * FOOD

The everyday meal of the Afrikaner is characterized by an emphasis on meat, starch, and cooked vegetables. Green or fresh salads are rare. Breakfast features some kind of porridge. Away from the coast, Afrikaners learned from the native peoples to make a gruel called stywe pap or putu pap (stiff porridge or putu porridge). It is common to have this porridge for breakfast with milk and sugar, and also to eat it with meat or boerewors (boer sausage, made of beef and pork) at a braai (barbecue). Venison has always formed part of Afrikaner dishes, as grazing animals could be hunted or culled from national parks.

Sosaties (skewered marinated meat similar to shish kebab) is frequently included in a braai . A recipe for bobotie , another favorite dish accompanies this article. Fish has become popular for those living near the ocean. Two foods from pioneer days are still popular among Afrikaners: beskuit and biltong . Beskuit (rusks) are biscuits that have been oven-dried. They are served with coffee. Biltong are strips of dried meat (traditionally, beef or venison; more recently, elephant and ostrich). The biltong are treated with salt, pepper, and spices prior to drying.

13 * EDUCATION

Children are required to attend school from age six through age sixteen. Each school has its own colors, and girls and boys wear blazers that display the crest of the school. For girls, the uniform is dress or skirt in the color with a white or matching blouse. Boys wear the same color shirt and pants. During most of the year, boys wear shorts with knee socks. Among Afrikaners, almost everyone attends school and is literate (can read and write). Most Afrikaner students who have completed high school (by passing the national examination) continue their education. They go to a university or to a "technicon," an institute that offers technical training.

Recipe

Bobotie

Ingredients

2 slices of white bread, torn into pieces

1¼ cups milk

1 cup onions, chopped

1 tart apple, peeled and chopped

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 Tablespoons golden raisins

3 Tablespoons slivered, blanched almonds

2 Tablespoons curry powder

1½ pounds ground lamb

2 bay leaves

2 egg yolks

Directions

1. Place ground lamb in a frying pan. Cook over medium heat until browned, stirring frequently.

2. Combine bread and milk; set aside.

3. Add onions to the lamb and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes. Add apples and cook for 1 minute.

4. Remove bread pieces from milk and add to frying pan. (Save the milk for use in step 7.) Add lemon juice, raisins, almonds, and curry powder.

5. Preheat oven to 325° F . Transfer lamb mixture to a baking dish.

6. Insert bay leaves into mixture, and pat the mixture down in the center. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven but do not turn oven off.

7. Beat eggs yolks and milk (from step 4) together. Pour milk mixture slowly over meat mixture in casserole. Return to oven and bake 25 minutes more.

Adapted from Hillman, Howard. Great Peasant Dishes of the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

Much of Afrikaners' heritage is derived from European cultural traditions. The performing arts all follow the western European model. Some South African themes have been depicted, especially in visual arts.

15 * EMPLOYMENT

Most Afrikaners are employed in fields ranging from civil service and education to mining, industry, and business. Afrikaners are the majority of whites in rural areas. Afrikaners believe in hard, industrious work, and their religion reinforces that value. Children are raised with statements such as "Idleness is Satan's pillow," implying that idleness is where temptation to get into trouble can be found.

16 * SPORTS

Television was not permitted in South Africa until the 1960s, so the emphasis was on participating in, rather than watching, sports. Afrikaner children play organized sports starting at an young age. Boys play rugby, cricket, or athletics (track and field). Girls play netball (basketball), field hockey, and also participate in athletics. It is common to see a group of boys on an open field with a tennis or rubber ball playing informal cricket or tossing a ball in a variation of touch football. Girls are more likely to participate only in school or club sports.

Older adults engage in jukskei, a competition from pioneer days. Carved pieces of wood, resembling the yoke pin used on draft animals, are tossed in an attempt to knock over a stake. This resembles the American game of horseshoes.

17 * RECREATION

In the past, Afrikaner young people entertained themselves in folk dances, church-sponsored youth activities, and the bioscope (movies). By the 1990s, it was common for a group of young people to rent videos, gather at a bar or a dance, or go to a disco. It had also become acceptable to socialize with English-speaking persons and members of other ethnic groups.

18 * CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

There has been a clear division of labor based on gender among Afrikaners that carries over to the present. Women are known for quilting, crocheting, and knitting. A beautiful doily with a circle of shells or beads covers every jug of milk. Men are known for woodworking, delicate leather-working, and the making of chairs with seats of interwoven strips of leather.

19 * SOCIAL PROBLEMS

After the end of apartheid in 1991, Afrikaners still bore a heavy burden for the actions of their ancestors who developed the philosophy that led to apartheid. Not all Afrikaners agreed with the apartheid policy of their government and not all Afrikaners were racist. Yet, Afrikaners bear the stereotype or label. Their challenge in the late 1990s is to find a role for themselves in the new South Africa, known as the Rainbow Nation.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

De Klerk, W. A. The Puritans in Africa: A Story of Afrikanerdom. London, England: R. Collins, 1975.

Drury, Allen. A Very Strange Society: A Journey to the Heart of South Africa. New York: Trident, 1967.

Hillman, Howard. Great Peasant Dishes of the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983.

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PRONUNCIATION: ahf-rih-KAHN-ers ALTERNATE NAMES: Boers LOCATION: Republic of South Africa POPULATION: About 3.3 million LANGUAGE: Afrikaans RELIGION: Protestantism South Africa is located at the southern point of Africa. During the seventeenth century, Dutch colonists from the Netherlands (known as Boers) settled there. Over the next 200 years, British, French, and German settlers joined them.

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PRONUNCIATION: KOH-suh

LOCATION: South Africa (eastern, urban areas)

POPULATION: 6 million

LANGUAGE: Xhosa (Bantu)

RELIGION: Traditional beliefs (supreme being uThixo or uQamata ); Christianity

1 * INTRODUCTION

The word Xhosa refers to a people and a language of South Africa. The Xhosa-speaking people are divided into a number of subgroups with their own distinct but related heritages. One of these subgroups is called Xhosa as well. The other main subgroups are the Bhaca, Bomvana, Mfengu, Mpondo, Mpondomise, Xesibe, and Thembu. Unless otherwise stated, this article refers to all the Xhosa-speaking people.

Well before the arrival of Dutch in the 1650s, the Xhosa had settled the southeastern area of South Africa. They interacted with the foraging (food-gathering) and pastoral (nomadic herding) people who were in South Africa first, the Khoi and the San. Europeans who came to stay in South Africa first settled in and around Cape Town. As the years passed, they sought to expand their territory. This expansion was first at the expense of the Khoi and San, but later Xhosa land was taken as well. A series of wars between trekboers (Afrikaner colonists) and Xhosa began in the 1770s. Later, in the nineteenth century, the British became the new colonizing force (foreigners in control) in the Cape. They directed the armies that were to vanquish the Xhosa.

Christian missionaries established their first outposts among the Xhosa in the 1820s, but met with little success. Only after the Xhosa population had been traumatized by European invasion, drought, and disease did Xhosa convert to Christianity in substantial numbers. In addition to land lost to white annexation, legislation reduced Xhosa political autonomy. Over time, Xhosa people became increasingly impoverished. They had no option but to become migrant laborers. In the late 1990s, Xhosa make up a large percentage of the workers in South Africa's gold mines.

Under apartheid (a government policy requiring the separation of races), the South African government created separate regions that were described as Bantustans (homelands) for black people of African descent. Two regions-Transkei and Ciskei-were set aside for Xhosa people.

These regions were proclaimed independent countries by the apartheid government. Apartheid policy denied South African citizenship to many Xhosa. Thousands of people were forcibly relocated to remote areas in Transkei and Ciskei. The homelands were abolished with the change to democracy in 1994.

2 * LOCATION

Before the arrival of the Europeans in the late 1600s, Xhosa-speaking people occupied much of eastern South Africa. The region extended from the Fish River to land inhabited by Zulu-speakers south of the modern city of Durban. This territory includes well-watered rolling hills near scenic coastal areas as well as harsh and dry regions further inland. Many Xhosa live in Cape Town (iKapa), East London (iMonti), and Port Elizabeth (iBhayi). They can be found in lesser numbers in most of South Africa's major metropolitan areas. As of 1995, there were about 6 million Xhosa, making up approximately 17.5 percent of South Africa's population.

3 * LANGUAGE

The Xhosa language is properly referred to as isiXhosa . It is a Bantu language closely related to Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele. As with other South African languages, Xhosa is characterized by respectful forms of address for elders and in-laws. The language is also rich in idioms. To have isandla esishushu (a warm hand), for example, is to be generous.

Xhosa contains many words with click consonants that have been borrowed from Khoi or San words. The "X" in Xhosa represents a type of click made by the tongue on the side of the mouth. This consonant sounds something like the clicking sound English-speaking horseback riders make to encourage their horses. English speakers who have not mastered clicks often pronounce Xhosa as "Ko-Sa."

Names in Xhosa often express the values or opinions of the community. Common personal names include Thamsanqa (good fortune) and Nomsa (mother of kindness). Adults are often referred to by their isiduko (clan or lineage) names. In the case of women, clan names are preceded by a prefix meaning "mother of." A woman of the Thembu clan might be called MamThembu . Women are also named by reference to their children, real or intended; NoLindiwe is a polite name for Lindiwe's mother.

4 * FOLKLORE

Stories and legends provide accounts of Xhosa ancestral heroes. According to one oral tradition, the first person on Earth was a great leader called Xhosa. Another tradition stresses the essential unity of the Xhosa-speaking people by proclaiming that all the Xhosa subgroups are descendants of one ancestor, Tshawe. Historians have suggested that Xhosa and Tshawe were probably the first Xhosa kings or paramount (supreme) chiefs.

Xhosa tradition is rich in creative verbal expression. Intsomi (folktales), proverbs, and isibongo (praise poems) are told in dramatic and creative ways. Folktales relate the adventures of both animal protagonists and human characters. Praise poems traditionally relate the heroic adventures of ancestors or political leaders.

5 * RELIGION

The supreme being among the Xhosa is called uThixo or uQamata . As in the religions of many other Bantu peoples, God is only rarely involved in everyday life. God may be approached through ancestral intermediaries who are honored through ritual sacrifices. Ancestors commonly make their wishes known to the living in dreams.

Christianity in one form or another is accepted by most Xhosa-speaking people today. Cultural traditionalists are likely to belong to independent denominations that combine Christianity with traditional beliefs and practices. Xhosa religious practice is distinguished by elaborate and lengthy rituals, initiations, and feasts. Modern rituals typically pertain to matters of illness and psychological well-being.

6 * MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Xhosa observe the same holidays as other groups of South Africa. These include the Christian holidays, Workers's Day (or May Day, May 1), the Day of Reconciliation (December 16), and Heritage Day (September 24). During the apartheid era, two unofficial holidays were observed to honor black people killed in the fight for equality and political representation. June 16 was a national day of remembrance for students killed by police in Soweto on that day in 1976. March 21 honored protestors killed by authorities during a demonstration in Sharpeville in 1960. Both of these anniversaries continue to be recognized with a day of rest, meetings, and prayer. Another important holiday is April 27, the date of the first national election in which black South Africans could vote.

7 * RITES OF PASSAGE

After giving birth, a mother is expected to remain secluded in her house for at least ten days. In Xhosa tradition, the afterbirth and umbilical cord were buried or burned to protect the baby from sorcery. At the end of the period of seclusion, a goat was sacrificed. Those who no longer practice the traditional rituals may still invite friends and relatives to a special dinner to mark the end of the mother's seclusion.

Male initiation in the form of circumcision is practiced among most Xhosa groups. The abakweta (initiates-in-training) live in special huts isolated from villages or towns for several weeks. Like soldiers inducted into the army, they have their heads shaved. They wear a loincloth and a blanket for warmth. White clay is smeared on their bodies from head to toe. They are expected to observe numerous taboos (prohibitions) and to act deferentially to their adult male leaders. Different stages in the initiation process were marked by the sacrifice of a goat.

The ritual of female circumcision is considerably shorter. The intonjane (girl to be initiated) is secluded for about a week. During this period, there are dances, and ritual sacrifices of animals. The initiate must hide herself from view and observe food restrictions. There is no actual surgical operation.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

Xhosa have traditionally used greetings to show respect and good intentions to others. In interacting with others, it is crucial to show respect (ukuhlonipha) . Youths are expected to keep quiet when elders are speaking, and to lower their eyes when being addressed. Hospitality is highly valued, and people are expected to share with visitors what they can. Socializing over tea and snacks is common.

In Xhosa tradition, one often found a girlfriend or boyfriend by attending dances. One popular type of dance, called umtshotsho or intlombe , could last all night. On some occasions, unmarried lovers were allowed to sleep together provided they observed certain restraints. A form of external intercourse called ukumetsha was permitted, but full intercourse was taboo. For Westernized Xhosa, romances often begin at school, church, or through mutual acquaintances. Dating activities include attending the cinema as well as going to school dances, sporting events, concerts, and so forth.

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

During the early period of white rule in South Africa, Xhosa communities were severely neglected in terms of social services. In fact, rural areas were deliberately impoverished so as to encourage Xhosa to seek wage labor employment. In the later years of apartheid, some attempts were made to address major health concerns in these areas. However, most government money continued to be set aside for social services that benefited whites. As the Xhosa population in rural areas expanded through natural increase and forced removals, rural lands became increasingly overcrowded and eroded. In the twentieth-century, many men and women migrated to urban shantytowns (towns comprised of crudely built huts). Poverty and ill health are still widespread in both rural and urban communities. Since 1994, however, the post-apartheid government has expanded health and nutritional aid to the black population.

Housing, standards of living, and creature comforts vary considerably among Xhosa. Xhosa people make up some of the poorest and some of the wealthiest of black South Africans. Poor people live in round thatched-roof huts, labor compounds, or single-room shacks without running water or electricity. Other Xhosa are among an elite who live in large comfortable houses in quiet suburban neighborhoods.

10 * FAMILY LIFE

The traditional Xhosa family was patriarchal; men were considered the heads of their households. Women and children were expected to defer to men's authority. Polygynous marriages (multiple wives) were permitted where the husband had the means to pay the lobolo (bride wealth) for each, and to maintain them properly. Women were expected to leave their families to live with their husband's family.

The migrant labor system has put great strains on the traditional family. Some men have established two distinct families, one at the place of work and the other at the rural home. With the end of apartheid, some of the families previously separated by the labor laws are beginning new lives in urban areas. Some of these families live under crowded and difficult conditions in shanty-towns and migrant labor compounds.

11 * CLOTHING

Many Xhosa men and women dress similarly to people in Europe and the United States. Pants for women have only recently become acceptable. As a result of missionary influence, it has become customary for a woman to cover her hair with a scarf or hat. Many rural woman fold scarves or other clothes into elaborate turban shapes. They continue to apply white or ochre-colored mixtures to their bodies and faces. Other unique Xhosa dress includes intricately sewn designs on blankets that are worn by both men and women as shawls or capes.

12 * FOOD

Xhosa people share many food traditions with the other peoples of South Africa. Staple foods are corn (maize) and bread. Beef, mutton (sheep meat), and goat meat are popular. Milk is often drunk in its sour form. Sorghum beer, also sour in taste, continues to be popular.

One particular food popularly identified with the Xhosa is umngqusho . This dish combines hominy corn with beans and spices. Xhosa also regularly eat the soft porridge made of corn meal flour that is widespread in Africa. Eggs were traditionally taboo for women, and a just-married wife was not allowed to eat certain types of meat. Men were not supposed to drink milk in any village where they might later take a wife.

The major mealtimes are breakfast and dinner. Children may go without lunch, although school lunch programs have been established by the government.

13 * EDUCATION

The first Western-style schools for Xhosa-speakers were begun by missionaries. One of the most famous of the missionary institutions, the University of Fort Hare, boasts Nelson Mandela and a number of other famous African leaders as former students.

Under apartheid, African access to education was restricted and many of the best mission schools were shutdown. As a result, adult literacy rates (percentage able to read and write) dropped, in some areas to as low as 30 percent. Today, the goal is free education for all those aged seven to seventeen. Literacy and education are now seen as keys to success and are highly valued by most people.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

Xhosa traditional music places a strong emphasis on group singing and handclapping as accompaniment to dance. Drums, while used occasionally, were not as fundamental a part of musical expression as they were for many other African peoples. Other instruments used included rattles, whistles, flutes, mouth harps, and stringed-instruments constructed with a bow and resonator.

Missionaries introduced the Xhosa to Western choral singing. Among the most successful of the Xhosa hymns is the South African national anthem, Nkosi Sikele' iAfrika (God Bless Africa). It was written by a school teacher named Enoch Sontonga in 1897.

Xhosa written literature was established in the nineteenth century with the publication of the first Xhosa newspapers, novels, and plays. Early writers included Tiyo Soga, I. Bud-Mbelle, and John Tengo Jabavu.

15 * EMPLOYMENT

Many rural Xhosa have left home to find employment in the city. Under white rule, Xhosa men were most frequently hired as miners and farm laborers. Women also worked as farm laborers, but work in domestic service was more valued. For those with high school and college educations, the greatest opportunities were in health care, education, and government administration. In the 1990s, Xhosa sought degrees in all fields. South Africa's migrant labor system has dramatically altered Xhosa social life and put strain on the family.

16 * SPORTS

Xhosa children enjoy skipping rope, racing, swimming, and playing hopscotch. Boys enjoy wrestling and stick fighting.

The most popular sport in South Africa is soccer. There are many professional, school, and company teams. There are also organized competitions between schools in athletics (track and field).

17 * ENTERTAINMENT

Popular entertainment includes attending movies, plays, and musical performances. Televisions and videocassette recorders are also popular. Most movies are imported from other countries, but a South African film industry is developing. Plays are often broadcast over TV and radio. Television broadcasts also include programs in Xhosa. Xhosa "soap operas" are a regular feature.

South Africa has a well-established music industry. The most popular musicians are typically those that perform dance tunes. Religious choirs are also popular.

18 * CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

Folk craft traditions include beadwork, sewing, pottery making, house decoration, and weaving. Hand-woven materials were generally functional items such as sleeping mats, baskets, and strainers. Xhosa ceremonial clothing is often elaborately decorated with fine embroidery work and intricate geometric designs.

19 * SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Most of the social problems found among Xhosa people today stem directly or indirectly from the apartheid past. These include high rates of poverty, fractured families, malnutrition, and crime. Competition for scarce resources has also led to conflict with other African ethnic groups. There are also divisions within the Xhosa community-between men and women, young and old, rural and urban, and highly educated and illiterate. These divisions may lead to tensions if not resolved in the post-apartheid era. One of the biggest challenges for South Africa as a whole is to meet rising expectations for education, employment, and improved standards of living.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ramphela, Mamphela. A Bed Called Home: Life in the Migrant Labour Hostels of Cape Town. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1993.

Switzer, Les. Power and Resistance in an African Society: The Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.

Zenani, Nongenile. The World and the Word: Tales and Observations from the Xhosa Oral Tradition. Collected and edited by Harold Scheub. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992.

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PRONUNCIATION: KOH-suh LOCATION: South Africa (eastern, urban areas) POPULATION: 6 million LANGUAGE: Xhosa (Bantu) RELIGION: Traditional beliefs (supreme being uThixo or uQamata ); Christianity The word Xhosa refers to a people and a language of South Africa. The Xhosa-speaking people are divided into a number of subgroups with their own distinct but related heritages.

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PRONUNCIATION: ZOO-loo

LOCATION: KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa

POPULATION: 9.2 million

LANGUAGE: IsiZulu; Zulu; English

RELIGION: Mixture of traditional beliefs and Christianity

1 * INTRODUCTION

For many people, the Zulu are the best-known African people. Their military exploits led to the rise of a great kingdom that was feared for a long time over much of the African continent. The Zulu are the descendants of Nguni-speaking people. Their written history can be traced back to the fourteenth century.

In the early nineteenth century a young Zulu prince, Shaka, came onto the scene and welded most of the Nguni tribes into the powerful Zulu Kingdom. Shaka ruled from 1816 to 1828, when he was assassinated by his brothers. During his reign, Shaka recruited young men from all over the kingdom and trained them in his own novel warrior tactics. After defeating competing armies and assimilating their people, Shaka established his Zulu nation. Within twelve years, he had forged one of the mightiest empires the African continent has ever known.

However, during the late 1800s, British troops invaded Zulu territory and divided the Zulu land into thirteen chiefdoms. The Zulu never regained their independence. Throughout the mid-1900s they were dominated by different white governments, first the British and later on, the Afrikaner. The Zulu have endeavored to regain a measure of political autonomy, both before South Africa's first democratic election in 1994 and in the subsequent period to the present. They have been unsuccessful, however, with both governments.

2 * LOCATION

The 9 million Zulu-speaking people live mainly in KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Some are also scattered throughout the other provinces. KwaZulu-Natal borders on Mozambique in the north, Eastern Cape in the south, the Indian Ocean in the east, and Lesotho in the west. The capital city is Pietermaritzburg. KwaZulu-Natal is semi-fertile with a flat coastal plain, highlands to the west, and numerous rivers and streams. The subtropical climate brings lots of sunshine and brief, intense rain showers.

While many Zulu still live in traditionally structured rural communities, others have migrated to urban areas. However, links between urban and rural residents remain strong. A mixture of traditional and Western ways of life is clearly evident in the lives of almost all Zulu people.

3 * LANGUAGE

The dominant language in South Africa is isiZulu. In KwaZulu-Natal, the most frequently spoken languages are Zulu and English. Zulu is idiomatic and proverbial and is characterized by many clicks. The Zulu language is characterized by hlonipha (respect) terms. Addressing those who are older than oneself, especially elderly and senior people, by their first names is viewed as lack of respect. Therefore terms like baba (father) and mama (mother) are used not only to address one's parents but also other senior males and females of the community.

4 * FOLKLORE

Among the Zulu, the belief in ancestral spirits ( amadlozi or abaphansi ) has always been strong. These are the spirits of the dead. The Zulus recognize the existence of a supreme being. UMvelinqangi (One Who Came First) or uNkulunkulu (Very Big One) is God because he appeared first. This supreme being is far removed from the lives of the people and has never been seen by anyone. No ceremonies are, therefore, ever performed for uMvelinqangi. Zulu people believe that the spirits of the dead mediate between uMvelinqangi and the people on earth.

Zulus believe in a long life that continues after death. Getting old is seen as a blessing. This is based on the myth that long ago people did not die but rather lived for years. The Creator did not think that people should die. He, therefore, called a chameleon and said, "Chameleon, I am sending you to the people. Go and tell them that they are not to die." Although the chameleon was very slow, the Creator did not mind. He waited for the reply. However, after walking a long distance, the chameleon saw wild berries and decided to stop and eat them. It told itself that the Creator would not see it. Unfortunately, the Creator saw it and became very angry. He called a lizard, which came swiftly. The Creator told the lizard to go and tell the people that they are to die. The lizard sped off, passed the chameleon on the way, and delivered the message to the people. After a long time, the chameleon appeared, breathing heavily, and delivered its message. The people were very angry and said to it, "Why did you waste time? We have already received the lizard's message!" Thus, growing old among the Zulu is seen as a special privilege from the Creator. Elderly people are believed to be sacred, and are thus are always respected.

5 * RELIGION

Ancestral spirits are important in Zulu religious life. Offerings and sacrifices are made to the ancestors for protection, good health, and happiness. Ancestral spirits come back to the world in the form of dreams, illnesses, and sometimes snakes. The Zulu also believe in the use of magic. Anything beyond their understanding, such as bad luck and illness, is considered to be sent by an angry spirit. When this happens, the help of a diviner (soothsayer) or herbalist is sought. He or she will communicate with the ancestors or use natural herbs and prayers to get rid of the problem.

Many Zulu converted to Christianity under colonialism. Although there are many Christian converts, ancestral beliefs have far from disappeared. Instead, there has been a mixture of traditional beliefs and Christianity. This kind of religion is particularly common among urbanites. There are also fervent Christians who view ancestral belief as outdated and sinful.

6 * MAJOR HOLIDAYS

The Zulu recognize the national holidays of the Republic of South Africa. In addition, they celebrate Shaka's Day every year in September. This holiday is marked by celebrations and slaughtering cattle to commemorate the founder of the Zulu Kingdom. On this important day, Zulu people wear their full traditional attire (clothing and weapons) and gather at Shaka's tombstone, kwaDukuza in Stanger. This is a very colorful day attended by both national and international dignitaries who represent their governments. Izimbongi (praise-poets) sing the praises of all the Zulu kings, from Shaka to the present king, Zwelithini.

7 * RITES OF PASSAGE

Among the Zulu, birth, puberty, marriage, and death are all celebrated and marked by the slaughter of sacrificial animals to ancestors. Birth and puberty are particularly celebrated. To Zulu traditionalists, childlessness and giving birth to girls only are the greatest of all misfortunes. No marriage is permanent until a child, especially a boy, is born.

The puberty ceremony (umemulo) is a transition to full adulthood. Nowadays it is performed only for girls. It involves separation from other people for a period to mark the changing status from youth to adulthood. This is followed by "reincorporation," characterized by ritual killing of animals, dancing, and feasting. After the ceremony, the girl is declared ready for marriage. The courting days then begin. The girl may take the first step by sending a "love letter" to a young man who appeals to her. Zulu love letters are made of beads. Different colors have different meanings, and certain combinations carry particular messages.

Dating occurs when a young man visits or writes a letter to a woman telling her how much he loves her. Once a woman decides that she loves this man, she can tell him so. It is only after they have both agreed that they love each other that they may be seen together in public. Parents should become aware of the relationship only when the man informs them that he wants to marry their daughter.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

In contrast to their known warriorism, the Zulu are very warm and amicable people at a personal level. Ubuntu (literally, "humanness," "good moral nature," "good disposition") shapes the everyday life of the Zulu people. This comes from a notion that a human being is the highest of all species. There are hundreds of proverbs written about ubuntu. These proverbs relate to the treatment of people, good and bad behavior, pride, ingratitude, bad manners, moral degeneracy, conceit, cruelty, obstinacy, pretense, helping others, and so forth.

Sawubona is usually enough of a greeting for strangers, but a formal greeting is more appropriate for those who are familiar. The formal greeting includes a three-times handshake, while asking about the well-being of the person and his or her relations (Ninjani?) . Taking leave involves the standard Sala/Nisale kahle (Remain well), and the other person responds by saying, Uhambe/Nihambe kahle (Go well). It is customary for juniors and the young to initiate the greetings when they meet their seniors and their elders.

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

In South Africa, living conditions cannot be divorced from local politics. Conditions for the Zulu are similar to those of other black people. Zulu in most of the rural areas do not have adequate basic services such as electricity, clean water, formal housing, transport, hospitals, or clinics. Urban Zulu live in the so-called black townships and the areas fringing industrial cities. Their living conditions are, at least, better than those in rural areas. They constitute the Zulu middle class; their lifestyle is usually no different from that of other Western urbanites. Since the education available in rural black schools is inferior, the people in these areas are not equipped to migrate and seek a better life in the urban areas. If they migrate, most end up in the poor areas fringing cities.

In the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal, a typical Zulu homestead will be circular and fenced, with a thatched-roof house.

10 * FAMILY LIFE

The Zulu term for "family" (umndeni) includes all the people staying in a homestead who are related to each other, either by blood, marriage, or adoption. Most rural households comprise extended families, brothers with their wives, unmarried sisters, children, parents, and grandparents all staying together in the same homestead. As a sign of respect, parents and elders are not called by their first names; instead, kinship names (surnames) are used.

The Zulu family is patriarchal; a man is both the head of the family and the figure of authority. It is not unusual for young men to have as many girlfriends as they wish. If they can afford it, they can take more than one wife when they decide to get married. Traditionally, women were not supposed to go out and work, since they were a man's responsibility. Nowadays the status of Zulu women is slowly improving with more women receiving an education.

Marriage is exogamous; marriage to any person belonging to one's father's, mother's, father's mother's, and mother's mother's clan is prohibited. If it happens, the ukudabula (literally, "cutting of the blood relationship") ritual is performed.

11 * CLOTHING

Today, the everyday clothing of a Zulu is no different from that of any modern urbanite. Traditional clothing, however, is very colorful. Men, women, and children wear beads as accessories. Men wear amabheshu , made of goat or cattle skin, which looks like a waist apron, worn at the back. They decorate their heads with feathers and fur. Men also wear frilly goatskin bands on their arms and legs. Women wear isidwaba , a traditional Zulu black skirt made of goat or cattle skin. If a woman is not married, she may wear only strings of beads to cover the top part of the body. If she is married, she will wear a T-shirt. Zulu only wear their traditional clothes on special occasions, such as Shaka's Day and cultural gatherings.

12 * FOOD

The rural Zulu economy is based on cattle and agriculture. Consequently, the main staple diet consists of cow and agricultural products. This includes barbecued and boiled meat; amasi (curdled milk), mixed with dry, ground corn or dry, cooked mealie-meal (corn flour); amadumbe (yams); vegetables; and fruits. The Zulu traditional beer is not only a staple food but a considerable source of nutrition. It is also socially and ritually important and is drunk on all significant occasions.

Drinking and eating from the same plate was and still is a sign of friendship. It is customary for children to eat from the same dish, usually a big basin. This derives from a "share what you have" belief which is part of ubuntu (humane) philosophy.

13 * EDUCATION

Illiteracy (inability to read and write) is high among most black South Africans. However, education is slowly improving with the new government. Before, children went to school only if their parents could afford to send them. Schooling started at seven years of age and continued until about twenty-four years of age. Since education was not compulsory, pupils could take their time to finish matric (high school). Passing matriculation (graduating) was and still is regarded as a high achievement by the whole community. After matriculation, those parents who can afford it usually send their children to college.

Education and raising a child is like a cycle among the Zulu. Parents spend all they have to raise and educate their children. In turn, the children take care of their parents and their own children when they start working. A person who breaks this cycle is viewed as a community outcast, one who has forgotten about his or her roots.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Zulu are fond of singing as well as dancing. These activities promote unity at all the transitional ceremonies such as births, weddings, and funerals. All the dances are accompanied by drums. The men dress as warriors, wave their clubs, and thrust their cowhide shields forward.

Zulu folklore is transmitted through storytelling, praise-poems, and proverbs. These explain Zulu history and teach moral lessons. Praise-poems (poems recited about the kings and the high achievers in life) are becoming part of popular culture.

15 * EMPLOYMENT

In the past, only able-bodied men were supposed to work. Before the 1970s, especially in rural areas, being able to send a written letter and get a reply meant that a young boy was ready to go and look for work. Now Zulus want to complete their high school education. In the mind of the Zulu, work should benefit either one's parents or children and siblings. The first salary (or the bigger portion), therefore, is usually given to parents in return for blessings.

16 * SPORTS

Soccer is very popular for both young boys and men. Children learn the game by watching their older brothers play. Whenever boys are together and not engaged in some household or school activity, they play soccer. Young boys, especially those who live next to big rivers, also compete in swimming. Girls, if they are not at school, are expected to assist their mothers in the house. However, they can play games once they have finished their chores. One popular game played by girls, especially in rural KwaZulu, is masishayana/maphakathi. Two girls stand opposite each other, usually not more than 165 feet (50 meters) apart. Another girl stands between them, facing the one who is holding a tennis ball. The idea of this game is to try to hit the girl standing in the middle while she tries to avoid being hit. If the ball hits her or touches her clothes, she is out. Being able to avoid being hit ten times earns the girl a point. Having the most points means winning a game and becoming the best player in your circle of friends. One sport which is participated in by both girls and boys is track and field, an organized school sport.

17 * RECREATION

Ritual ceremonies also serve as part of the entertainment and recreation for the whole community. Zulu custom does not mandate formal invitations to gatherings where food will be served, such as weddings and birthday parties. The Zulu believe that food should be shared. Therefore, uninvited arrival at a celebration is an honor to the host. These celebrations include singing and dancing.

Television is very popular among urban Zulu households. Owning a television set is a luxury for rural Zulu since very few rural areas have electricity. Those who can afford to go to the movies do so. For urban teenagers, American youth culture, especially clothing and music, is very popular. Among adults, stokvels (voluntary or common-interest associations) provide financial assistance, friendship, and recreation.

18 * CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

The Zulu, especially those from rural areas, are known for their weaving, craftmaking, pottery, and beadwork. Women and children weave everyday-use mats, beer sieves, and baskets for domestic purposes. They also make calabashes (decorated gourds used as utensils). Men and boys carve various household objects and ornaments from wood and bone. These include headrests, trays, scrapers, household utensils, and chairs. Beadmaking is mainly women's work because beads are believed to be a way of sending messages without being direct.

19 * SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The Zulu terms ubuntu and hlonipha summarize everything about human rights. However, it is evident that some individuals in Zulu society, particularly women and children, enjoy fewer human rights than others.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Haskins, J., et al. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker and Company, 1995.

Khuzwayo, W. "Kinship Substitutions." Paper presented at the PAAA Conference in Cameroon, West Africa, 1994.

Macnamara, M. World Views. Pretoria: J. L. van Schaik Pty, 1980.

West, M. Abantu. Cape Town: C. Struik Publishers, 1976.

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Zulu - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major holidays, Rites of passage Rwanda to Syria

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PRONUNCIATION: DEEN-kuh

LOCATION: Republic of Sudan

POPULATION: Over 1 million

LANGUAGE: Dinka

RELIGION: Monotheistic worship

1 * INTRODUCTION

The Dinka are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Republic of Sudan. They belong to a group of cultures known as the Nilotic peoples, all of whom live in the southern Sudan.

In 1983, a civil war erupted in the Sudan, pitting the largely Arab and Muslim northern Sudan against the black African peoples of the south. Lasting into the 1990s, the war has had dire consequences for the Dinka and other Nilotic peoples. Tens of thousands of Dinka have died; countless others have become refugees. Rebel groups and international human rights organizations have accused the Sudanese government of attempting genocide against (extermination of) the Dinka.

2 * LOCATION

The Dinka inhabit a vast region in the south of the Sudan that forms a seasonal swampland when the Nile River floods. Due to civil war, large numbers of Dinka have migrated from the southern Sudan to the northern Sudanese capital of Khartoum, as well as to Kenya, Uganda, Europe, and the United States.

3 * LANGUAGE

Linguists classify Dinka as a major language family in the Nilotic category of African languages. The Dinka have a diverse vocabulary with which to describe their world. It is estimated that they have more than 400 to refer to cattle alone-their movements, their diseases, and their variety in color and form.

4 * FOLKLORE

The Dinka tradition of oral literature is extensive and a considerable amount has been recorded. Two figures stand out prominently, Col Muong and Awiel Longar. Col Muong has an enormous appetite for all things in life. When he is hungry, he is said to eat an entire herd of cattle or an entire field of grain. Stories about him suggest that people should do the best they can with what they have. Awiel Longar figures as the common ancestor of all Dinka peoples.

5 * RELIGION

Dinka religion may be regarded as monotheistic (believing in one deity). Nhialic (creator) is thought to be the source of all life and death. Lesser manifestations of the creator's power are honored by the Dinka through ritual sacrifices. Rituals are performed at births, deaths, to cure disease, and in times of crisis.

6 * MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Celebrations take place in the autumn when the whole tribe is together. To honor their traditional spiritual and political leaders, the Dinka enacted day-long ceremonies marked by large public gatherings and the sacrifice of many cattle.

7 * RITES OF PASSAGE

Birth, marriage, and death are all marked by standardized customs involving public ceremonies. These are typically accompanied by animal sacrifice. In the passage to adult status, young men, rather more than young women, are publicly recognized. Adult males decorate initiates' heads with a series of deep gashes that form permanent scars.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

When men become adults, they no longer refer to themselves by their birth names. Instead they adopt "ox-names"-derived from characteristics of their favorite cattle. Thus, a man may be known as Acinbaai (a man who never leaves his herd of cattle). Children's names often reflect the circumstances of their birth.

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

Traditionally, the Dinka dwelled in round clay huts with conical thatched roofs. Homesteads were typically surrounded by a garden and separated from each other by an open expanse of grassland forest. Garden soil would typically maintain its fertility for ten to twelve years. Following this, the area would be set afire and a new homestead erected nearby.

10 * FAMILY LIFE

Polygamy (multiple spouses) is common among the Dinka. Men of high social standing may have as many as fifty to one hundred wives. In polygamous marriages, wives cooperate in performing household duties, although each rears her own children. Much of Dinka public life is dominated by men. However, women play a significant and even powerful role in local life.

11 * CLOTHING

The Dinka wear very little clothing and no shoes. Men go naked, and the women may wear goatskin skirts. Both men and women wear strings of beads around their necks. Women also wear bangles on their arms and legs, and they may also wear elaborate jewelry in their ears.

12 * FOOD

Dinka have traditionally produced all the material resources needed to sustain their livelihood via a combination of horticulture (gardening) with pastoralism (nomadic herding), fishing and occasional hunting. Millet is the mainstay of the Dinka diet. Depending on the season, it is supplemented with cow milk, fish, meat, beans, tomatoes, or rice.

13 * EDUCATION

The Dinka lacked any formal system of education until literacy (reading and writing) was introduced via mission schools in the late 1930s. Even today, most Dinka lack the ability to read and write. The educational system has disappeared due to war.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

Song and dance play an important role in Dinka culture. A set of drums is found in every Dinka settlement. Artistic expression is associated with cattle, which they often imitate in songs and dances. There are also battle songs, songs of initiation, and songs celebrating the tribe's ancestors.

Following is a typical Dinka song:

O Creator

Creator who created me in my mother's womb

Do not confront me with a bad thing

Show me the place of cattle,

So that I may grow my crops

And keep my herd.

15 * EMPLOYMENT

Tending herds of cattle and growing millet form the basis of the livelihood and economy of the Dinka. Labor is clearly divided along gender lines, with men in their twenties and thirties devoting their time to cattle-herding. Women are responsible for growing crops, although men clear new fields for planting. Women also cook and draw water.

16 * SPORTS

Dinka men engage in mock sparring, using spears or sticks and shields, in order to develop their fighting skills.

17 * RECREATION

There is little time for recreation during the dry season, when much of the Dinka population disperses to follow the herds. Song and dance accompany social events such as marriages, which take place during the rainy season.

18 * CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

Dinka men make spears and fishing hooks. Women make clay cooking pots using a coiling technique. Besides making pots, which are essential for carrying water, Dinka women also weave baskets and sleeping mats.

19 * SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Since the civil war that began in the 1980s, numerous Dinka villages have been destroyed by burning or bombing. Thousands of Dinka women have been raped and their husbands castrated in their presence. Many Dinka have been abducted and sold as slaves in the northern Sudan. Violence against the Dinka is now on a level that has no precedent in their remembered past.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Burton, John W. "Dinka." Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1992.

Deng, Francis Mading. Dinka Cosmology. London, England: Ithaca Press, 1980.

Deng, Francis Mading. Dinka Folktales: African Stories from Sudan . New York: Africana Publishing, 1974.

Deng, Francis Mading. The Dinka and Their Songs. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1973.

Lienhardt, R. G. Divinity and Experience: The Religion of the Dinks. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1961.

Ryle, John. Warriors of the White Nile. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Time-Life Books, 1982.

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PRONUNCIATION: DEEN-kuh LOCATION: Republic of Sudan POPULATION: Over 1 million LANGUAGE: Dinka RELIGION: Monotheistic worship The Dinka are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Republic of Sudan. They belong to a group of cultures known as the Nilotic peoples, all of whom live in the southern Sudan.

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PRONUNCIATION: swah-HEE-lee

ALTERNATE NAMES: Waswahili

LOCATION: Eastern Africa from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique

POPULATION: About 500,000

LANGUAGE: KiSwahili; English

RELIGION: Islam (Sunni Muslim); spirit cults

1 * INTRODUCTION

For at least a thousand years, Swahili people, who call themselves Waswahili, have occupied a narrow strip of coastal land extending from the north coast of Kenya to Dar es Salaam (the capital of Tanzania). They also occupy several nearby Indian Ocean islands, including Zanzibar, Lamu, and Pate. Over the past few hundred years, the coastal area has been conquered and colonized several times-by Portuguese in the sixteenth century, by Middle Eastern Arabs who ran a slave trade in the nineteenth century, and by the British in the twentieth century. Thus, Swahili people are accustomed to living with strangers in their midst, and they have frequently acted as middlemen in trade relations. In addition, they have incorporated many people and practices into their vibrant social world.

Swahili are all Muslims. They became Muslim through the influence of people coming from the north and also from across the Indian Ocean. They have forged extensive economic, political, and social ties with Middle Eastern Muslims.

During the colonial period and since independence in the early 1960s, Swahili people have been a minority Muslim population in the secular states of Kenya and Tanzania.

3 * LANGUAGE

KiSwahili, the Swahili language, is widely spoken across East Africa. For most Kenyans and Tanzanians, KiSwahili is learned as a second language. Swahili people speak KiSwahili as their "mother tongue," and it reflects their mixed origins and complex history. The language includes many words borrowed from Arabic (and other languages), yet its grammar and syntax place it in the Bantu language family, which has roots on the African continent. Like many Kenyans, Swahili people also use English in their daily interactions, particularly in schools, government offices, and the tourist industry.

4 * FOLKLORE

Myths and heroes are generally from Islamic sources. For example, many people tell short, moralistic tales based on the Prophet Muhammad's life.

5 * RELIGION

Being Swahili is inextricably connected to being Muslim. Swahili Muslims recognize the five pillars of faith that are basic to Islamic practice worldwide: 1) belief in Allah as the Supreme Being and in Muhammad as the most important prophet; 2) praying five times a day; 3) fasting from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan; 4) giving charity; and 5) making a pilgrimage (hajj) to the holy city of Mecca, if feasible. For Swahili people, Islam encompasses more than just spiritual beliefs and practices; Islam is a way of life.

6 * MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Swahili people celebrate the nation's secular (nonreligious) public holidays. These include, in Kenya, Jamhuri Day and Madaraka Day, which mark the steps toward Kenya's Independence in the early 1960s. In Tanzania, secular holidays are Labor Day (May 1), Zanzibar Revolution Day (January 12); Nane Nane (formerly Saba Saba- Farmer's Day, in August); Independence Day (December 9); and Union Day (April 26), which commemorates the unification of Zanzibar and the mainland.

For Muslims, the most important holidays are religious. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the month of Ramadan. Eid al-Hajj celebrates the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca. Each Eid is celebrated by praying, visiting relatives and neighbors, and eating special foods and sweets. During the month of Ramadan, Swahili (along with all other) Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Maulidi, or the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, is widely celebrated by Muslims.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

Swahili people are as likely to greet one another with the Arabic greeting Asalaam Aleikhum as they are to say Jambo, the common KiSwahili greeting. People who know each other exchange a string of greetings inquiring about the health of family members and the latest news. Children greet an elder with respect by kissing his or her hand.

Swahili people greatly value modest behavior. Men and women are not permitted to mix freely. Dating is generally non-existent. Most people pursue their daily activities with others of the same gender. Women are encouraged to congregate at home, while men spend time in public places.

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

Houses vary depending on a family's means and the type of town in which they reside. "Stone towns," like Lamu and Mombasa, are characterized by large stone houses, some divided into apartments. Some Swahili people living in "country towns" still occupy houses made of hardened mud and stones, although these are less common than houses of stone or coral. Most homes have electricity, indoor plumbing, several bedrooms, and a living room furnished with a couch and chairs. Access to water is critical for Muslims who must wash before prayers. In comparison with many people in Kenya, Swahili people enjoy a relatively high standard of living.

11 * CLOTHING

In the early twentieth century, women generally wore brightly colored cotton cloths ( kanga or leso ). These were wrapped around their waists and upper bodies and draped over their shoulders and heads. Men wore a striped cloth ( kikoi ) around the waist that hung to the knees. As a mark of being Muslim some men sported small white caps with elaborate tan embroidery.

Dressing well but modestly is highly valued. Women wear Western-style dresses in many colors, patterns, and fabrics. Outside the house, women wear a black, floor-length cloak with an attached veil, called a buibui. Men wear Western-style trousers and shirts. On Fridays (the Muslim day of rest), or other religious occasions, they wear long, white caftans. Shorts are worn only by children.

Recipe

Sweet Tea with Milk

Ingredients

2 teaspoons loose, black tea

1 cup milk (whole or 2 percent)

1 cup water

2 teaspoons (or more) sugar

Pinch of ground ginger

Pinch of ground cardamon

Directions

1. Combine tea, milk, and water in a saucepan. Heat until the mixture is just beginning to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Increase the heat and bring the mixture just to the boiling point again. Stir in sugar (at least 2 teaspoons) and the ginger and cardamon.

3. To serve, pour tea through a strainer into cups.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

Taarab music, which has distinctly Arabic origins, is performed at weddings and concerts. Band members play keyboards, flutes, brass instruments, and drums to accompany singers. Many KiSwahili lyrics are double entendres (having double meanings) that hint at romantic love.

Several women's dance groups perform at weddings for all-female audiences. They dance chakacha, which resembles belly dancing, and also lelemama, a very subtle dance with tiny hand movements.

KiSwahili oral literature includes songs, sayings, stories, and riddles. The main written form is poetry. KiSwahili poems include long epics, prayers, and meditations on many subjects.

15 * EMPLOYMENT

Some Swahili still fish, farm, and trade as they did in previous generations. However, the difficult local economy has meant that many people are unemployed or dependent on the unpredictable tourist industry. Educated men and women enter the civil service (government administration) and work in offices, shops, and schools. Although husbands are obligated to provide for their families, many wives earn money through cooking food, sewing, or trading from their homes.

16 * SPORTS

Few adults play sports. Many boys join soccer teams and play in hotly contested competitions. Soccer matches involving Kenyan regional teams or local boys' clubs provide rare, exciting entertainment, mostly for men. In school, girls play sports such as net-ball (similar to basketball) and track. Children are sometimes taken to swim at the ocean.

18 * CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

Artisans on the island of Lamu are famous for their intricately carved wooden furniture and doors. They also construct miniature, painted replicas of the boats ( dhows ) used for fishing. Young boys play with these at the shore. Women use brown colored henna to paint complex flower designs on their hands and feet (up to the knees) as preparation for attending a wedding. The color, which stains the skin and nails, lasts for several weeks.

19 * SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Swahili view the declining economy and erosion of their culture by tourism as significant social problems. Tourists who walk around in immodest clothing (such as shorts and bikinis), drink alcohol in public, and encourage loose behavior among young people have threatened the proper Islamic life that many Swahili people struggle to maintain.

Swahili face some discrimination by Kenyans who have resented their connection to the slave trade and their ties to Middle Eastern wealth. Their role in Kenyan politics, though marginal, is increasing as Kenya moves forward in multiparty democracy.

A worrisome problem is the growing prevalence of marijuana use among young men, which is condemned as antisocial. However, chewing miraa , a plant grown locally that contains a mild stimulant, is regarded as an acceptable social activity.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, James de Vere. Swahili Origins . London, England: James Currey, 1993.

Bakari, Mtoro bin Mwinyi. The Customs of the Swahili People . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981.

Caplan, Patricia. African Voices, African Lives: Personal Narratives From a Swahili Village. New York: Routledge, 1997.

Kaula, Edna Mason. The Land and People of Tanzania. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1972.

Knappert, Jan. Four Centuries of Swahili Verse: A Literary History and Anthology . London, England: Heinemann, 1979.

Margolies, Barbara A. Rehema's Journey. New York: Scholastic, 1990.

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PRONUNCIATION: swah-HEE-lee ALTERNATE NAMES: Waswahili LOCATION: Eastern Africa from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique POPULATION: About 500,000 LANGUAGE: KiSwahili; English RELIGION: Islam (Sunni Muslim); spirit cults For at least a thousand years, Swahili people, who call themselves Waswahili, have occupied a narrow strip of coastal land extending from the north coast of Kenya to Dar es Salaam (the capital of Tanzania).

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PRONUNCIATION: HOW-suh

LOCATION: Hausaland in West Africa (northwestern Nigeria and in adjoining southern Niger)

POPULATION: More than 20 million

LANGUAGE: Hausa; Arabic; French or English

RELIGION: Islam; native cults

1 * INTRODUCTION

The Hausa, numbering more than 20 million, are the largest ethnic group in west Africa. They are widely distributed geographically and have intermingled with many different peoples.

Islam arrived in the area by the fourteenth century. By the fifteenth century, there were a number of independent Hausa city-states. They competed with each other for control of trade across the Sahara Desert, slaves, and natural resources. In the nineteenth century, the region was unified by a jihad (Islamic holy war) and became known as Hausaland. The British arrived and colonized the area in about 1900. Even during colonial times, the city-states and their leaders maintained some autonomy. Many Hausa traditions were preserved until late in the twentieth century.

2 * LOCATION

The Hausa people are concentrated mainly in northwestern Nigeria and in adjoining southern Niger. This area is mostly semiarid grassland or savanna, dotted with cities surrounded by farming communities. The cities of this region-Kano, Sokoto, Zari, and Katsina, for example-are among the greatest commercial centers of sub-Saharan Africa (Africa south of the Sahara Desert). Hausa people are also found living in other countries of west Africa like Cameroon, Togo, Chad, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Ghana.

3 * LANGUAGE

Hausa is the most widely spoken language in west Africa. It is spoken by an estimated 22 million people. Another 17 million people speak Hausa as a second language. Hausa is written in Arabic characters, and about one-fourth of Hausa words come from Arabic. Many Hausa can read and write Arabic. Many can also speak either French or English.

4 * FOLKLORE

According to tradition, Bayajidda, the mythical ancestor of the Hausa, migrated from Baghdad in the ninth or tenth century AD . After stopping at the kingdom of Bornu, he fled west and helped the king of Daura slay a dangerous snake. As a reward, he was given the Queen of Daura in marriage. Bayajidda's son, Bawo, founded the city of Biram. He had six sons who became the rulers of other Hausa city-states. Collectively, these are known as the Hausa bakwai (Hausa seven).

Hausa folklore includes tatsunya- stories that usually have a moral. They involve animals, young men and maidens, and heroes and villains. Many include proverbs and riddles.

5 * RELIGION

Most Hausa are devout Muslims who believe in Allah and in Muhammad as his prophet. They pray five times each day, read the Koran (holy scriptures), fast during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and aspire to make the pilgrimage (hajj) to the Muslim holy land in Mecca. Islam affects nearly all aspects of Hausa behavior, including dress, art, housing, rites of passage, and laws. In the rural areas, there are communities of peoples who do not follow Islam. These people are called Maguzawa. They worship nature spirits known as bori or iskoki.

6 * MAJOR HOLIDAYS

The Hausa observe the holy days of the Islamic calendar. Eid (Muslim feast days) celebrate the end of Ramadan (month of fasting), follow a hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), and celebrate the birthday of the prophet Muhammad. On Eid al-Adha, Muslims sacrifice an animal to reenact the time Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son to God. Families also slaughter an animal in their own homes. This may be a male sheep or cow. People then celebrate with their relatives and friends and give each other gifts.

7 * RITES OF PASSAGE

About a week after a child is born, it is given a name during an Islamic naming ceremony. Boys are usually circumcised at around the age of seven, but there is no special rite associated with this.

In their mid-to late teens, young men and women may become engaged. The marriage ceremony may take as long as several days. Celebrations begin among the bride and her family and friends as she is prepared for marriage. Male representatives of the bride's and the groom's families sign the marriage contract according to Islamic law, usually at the mosque. Shortly thereafter, the couple is brought together.

Following a death, Islamic burial principles are always followed. The deceased is washed, wrapped in a shroud, and buried facing eastward-toward the holy land of Mecca. Prayers are recited, and family members receive condolences. Wives mourn their deceased husbands for about three months.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

Hausa tend to be quiet and reserved. When they interact with outsiders, they generally do not show emotion. There are also some customs that govern interaction with one's relatives. For example, it is considered a sign of respect not to say the name of one's spouse or parents. By contrast, relaxed, playful relations are the norm with certain relatives, such as younger siblings, grandparents, and cousins.

From an early age, children develop friendships with their neighbors that may last a lifetime. In some towns, young people may form associations whose members socialize together until they marry.

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

In rural villages, Hausa usually live in large households (gidaje) that include a man, his wives, his sons, and their wives and children. In large cities, such as Kano or Katsina, Hausa live either in the old sections of town or in newer quarters built for civil servants. Hausa housing ranges from traditional family compounds in rural areas to modern, single-family houses in new sections of cities.

10 * FAMILY LIFE

Relatives cooperate in activities such as farming and trade in rural areas, and business activities in urban areas. Relatives hope to live near each other to socialize and support each other. Families arrange marriages for their young people. Marriages between relatives, such as cousins, are preferred. Under Islamic law, a man may marry up to four wives.

Following Islamic custom, most married Hausa women live in seclusion. They stay in the home and only go out for ceremonies or to seek medical treatment. When they do leave their homes, women wear veils and are often escorted by their children.

11 * CLOTHING

Hausa men are recognizable by their elaborate dress. Many wear large, flowing gowns (gare, babban gida) with elaborate embroidery around the neck. They also wear colorful embroidered caps (huluna). Hausa women wear a wrap-around robe made of colorful cloth with a matching blouse, head tie, and shawl.

12 * FOOD

Staple foods include grains (sorghum, millet, or rice) and maize, which are ground into flour for a variety of foods. Breakfast often consists of porridge. Sometimes it includes cakes made of fried beans (kosai) or wheat flour (funkaso). Lunch and dinner usually include a heavy porridge (tuwo). It is served with a soup or stew (miya). Most soups are made with ground or chopped tomatoes, onions, and peppers. To this are added spices and other vegetables such as spinach, pumpkin, and okra. Small amounts of meat are eaten. Beans, peanuts, and milk also add protein to Hausa diets.

13 * EDUCATION

From about the age of six, Hausa children attend Koranic schools (schools where teaching is based on the Islamic holy scripture, the Koran). They learn to recite the scriptures and learn about the practices, teachings, and morals of Islam. By the time they reach adulthood, many achieve high levels of Islamic scholarship.

Since Nigeria received its independence in 1960, the government has built many schools and universities. A majority of Hausa children, especially in urban areas, are now able to attend school, at least at the primary level.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

Music and art play are important in everyday life. From a young age, Hausa children participate in dances, which are held in meeting places such as the market. Work songs often accompany activities in the rural areas and in the markets. Praise-singers sing about community histories, leaders, and other prominent individuals. Storytelling, local dramas, and musical performances are also common forms of traditional entertainment.

15 * EMPLOYMENT

Hausa society has a strong division of labor according to age and sex. The main activity in the towns is trade; in rural areas, it is agriculture. Many Hausa men have more than one occupation. In the towns and cities, they may have formal jobs, such as teaching or government work, and engage in trade on the side. In rural areas, they farm and also engage in trade or crafts. Some Hausa are full-time traders with shops or market stalls. Many Hausa are full-time Islamic scholars.

Hausa women earn money by processing, cooking, and selling food. They also sell cloth scraps, pots, medicines, vegetable oils, and other small items. Since women are generally secluded according to Islamic law, their children or servants go to other houses or the market on their behalf.

16 * SPORTS

Both wrestling (koko) and boxing (dumb) are popular traditional sports among the Hausa. Matches take place in arenas or markets, often on religious holidays. Music, particularly drumming, accompanies the competition. Opponents wrestle until one is thrown to the ground. Boxers fight until one is either brought to his knees or falls flat on the ground.

Soccer is the most popular modern competitive sport, and is considered the national sport of Nigeria.

17 * RECREATION

Musicians perform at weddings, naming ceremonies, and parties, as well as during Islamic holidays. Today, Western forms of entertainment are popular. Hausa listen to Western music, including rap and reggae, and view American and British television programs. Many have stereos, televisions, and VCRs in their homes.

18 * CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

Hausa are well known for their craftsmanship. There are leather tanners and leather-workers, weavers, carvers and sculptors, ironworkers and blacksmiths, silver workers, potters, dyers, tailors, and embroiderers. Their wares are sold in markets throughout west Africa.

19 * SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Poverty is widespread among the Hausa. Poverty results in poor nutrition and diet, illness and inadequate health care, and lack of educational opportunities. Most of the region where the Hausa live is prone to drought. Hausa people suffer during harsh weather. Some Hausa have been unable to earn a living in rural areas, and have moved to the cities in search of work.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Coles, Catherine, and Beverly Mack. Hausa Women in the Twentieth Century . Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991.

Koslow, Philip. Hausaland: The Fortress Kingdoms. Kingdoms of Africa. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995.

Smith, Mary. Baba of Karo: A Woman of the Muslim Hausa. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1981.

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PRONUNCIATION: HOW-suh LOCATION: Hausaland in West Africa (northwestern Nigeria and in adjoining southern Niger) POPULATION: More than 20 million LANGUAGE: Hausa; Arabic; French or English RELIGION: Islam; native cults The Hausa, numbering more than 20 million, are the largest ethnic group in west Africa. They are widely distributed geographically and have intermingled with many different peoples.

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PRONUNCIATION: EE-bo

ALTERNATE NAMES: Ibo

LOCATION: Southern Nigeria (Igboland)

POPULATION: 5.5 million

LANGUAGE: Igbo (Kwa subfamily of the Niger-Congo language family)

RELIGION: Tribal religion

1 * INTRODUCTION

The Igbo are the second largest group of people living in southern Nigeria. They are socially and culturally diverse, consisting of many subgroups. Although they live in scattered groups of villages, they all speak one language.

The Igbo have no common traditional story of their origins. Historians have proposed two major theories of Igbo origins. One claims the existence of a core area, or "nuclear Igboland." The other claims that the Igbo are descended from waves of immigrants from the north and the west who arrived in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Three of these are the Nri, Nzam, and Anam.

European contact with the Igbo began with the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid-fifteenth century. At first the Europeans confined themselves to slave trade on the Niger Coast. At this point, the main item of commerce provided by the Igbo was slaves, many of whom were sent to the New World. After the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, British companies pushed beyond the coastal areas and aggressively pursued control of the interior. The Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, created in 1900, included Igboland. Until 1960, Nigeria remained a British colony, and the Igbo were British subjects. On October 1, 1960, Nigeria became an independent nation structured as a federation of states.

3 * LANGUAGE

The Igbo language belongs to the Niger-Congo language family. It is part of the Kwa subfamily. A complicated system of high and low tones indicates differences in meaning and grammatical relationships. There are a wide range of dialects.

5 * RELIGION

The major beliefs of the Igbo religion are shared by all Igbo-speaking people. However, many of its practices are locally organized, with the most effective unit of religious worship being the extended family. Periodic rituals and ceremonies may activate the lineage (larger kinship unit) or the village, which is the widest political community.

The Igbo believe in a supreme god who keeps watch over his creatures from a distance. He seldom interferes in the affairs of human beings. No sacrifices are made directly to him. However, he is seen as the ultimate receiver of sacrifices made to the minor gods. To distinguish him from the minor gods he is called Chukwu-the great or the high god. As the creator of everything, he is called Chukwu Abiama.

There are also minor gods, who are generally subject to human passions and weaknesses. They may be kind, hospitable, and industrious; at other times they are treacherous, unmerciful, and envious. These minor gods include Ala, the earth goddess. She is associated with fertility, both of human beings and of the land. Anyanwu is the sun god who makes crops and trees grow. Igwe is the sky god, the source of rain.

In addition to their gods, the Igbo believe in a variety of spirits whose good will depends on treating them well. Forests and rivers at the edge of cultivated land are said to be occupied by these spirits. Mbataku and Agwo are spirits of wealth. Others include Aha njoku (the yam spirit) and Ikoro (the drum spirit).

The Igbo attitude toward their deities and spirits is not one of fear but one of friendship.

7 * RITES OF PASSAGE

Circumcision takes place about eight days after the birth of a boy. At this time the umbilical cord is buried at the foot of a tree selected by the child's mother.

The name-giving ceremony is a formal occasion celebrated by feasting and drinking. A wide variety of names may be chosen. The name may be based on anything from the child's birthmarks to the opinion of the diviner, or seer. The name Nwanyimeole -"What can a woman do?"-means that a father desires a male child. Onwubiko -"May death forgive"-expresses the fact that parents have lost many of their children and pray that this child may survive.

The process of marrying a young Igbo woman is a long, elaborate one. It is rarely accomplished in less than a year and often takes several years. The process falls into four stages: asking the young woman's consent, negotiating through a middleman, testing the bride's character, and paying the bride wealth, a kind of dowry.

Death in old age is accepted as a blessing. After death, the body is clothed in the person's finest garments. The corpse is placed on a stool in a sitting posture. Old friends and relatives visit and pay their last respects. Young men wrap the corpse in grass mats, carry it out to the burial ground, and bury it. When the head of a family dies, he is buried beneath the floor of his house. Burial generally follows within twenty-four hours of death.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

Two criteria shape interpersonal relations: age and gender. Respect is given to males, and to older persons. Children are always required to offer the first greeting to their elders.

Social status is based on wealth, regardless of occupation. The Igbo distinguish between obgenye or mbi (the poor), dinkpa (the moderately prosperous), and nnukwu madu or ogaranya (the rich).

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

Village life has changed considerably since the discovery of oil in Nigeria. Houses, which used to have mud walls and thatched roofs, are now constructed of cement blocks with corrugated iron roofs. Electricity has been introduced; television sets and radios are now commonplace. Villages have running water, although it is not connected to every house.

11 * CLOTHING

The everyday clothing in urban areas is not different from that of Westerners. Traditional clothing is still worn on important occasions in the cities and every day in rural areas. For everyday wear men wear a cotton wrap (robe), a shirt, and sandals. For formal occasions they wear a long shirt, often decorated with tucks and embroidery, over a dressy wrap, shoes, and a hat. Women wear wraps for both informal and formal occasions. The everyday wrapper is made from inexpensive cotton, dyed locally. For formal wear, the wrapper is either woven or batikdyed, and often imported.

The blouse for formal wear is made of lace or embroidered. Women also wear a head tie, a rectangular piece of cloth that can be worn a number of different ways. The Igbo traditional dress is a danshiki , a long, loose-fitting top. Formerly Igbo women added pieces of cloth to show their marital status and number of children.

13 * EDUCATION

Since gaining independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has set a priority on education. Universal primary education is the norm in southern Nigeria, where the Igbo live. Secondary education has also developed rapidly.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Igbo have number of wind and stringed musical instruments. The ugene is a whistle made of baked clay, round in form, and about the size of a billiard ball. Probably the most interesting of the Igbo instruments is the ubaw-akwala, a sort of guitar. It has a triangular body formed by three pieces of soft wood sewn together. It is played by strolling singers in the evenings. Igbo singers improvise as the song proceeds and show great skill in fitting words to the song's rhythm and tune.

Recipe

Shrimp Jollof Rice

Ingredients

1 pound of shrimp, cooked, shelled, and deveined

2 or 3 fresh tomatoes, or 1 8-ounce can whole tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

3 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 cup white rice cooked in chicken broth according to directions on the package

Directions

1. Heat the peanut oil in a large kettle.

2. Add the tomato, peppers, onion, and cook for about 3 minutes until the onions and peppers are softened.

3. Add the tomato paste, about 2 cups of water, and the red pepper flakes and black pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

4. While this is simmering, cook the rice in another pot according to package directions.

5. Add the shrimp and simmer about 5 minutes longer.

6. Combine the shrimp sauce with the rice, and pour mixture into an ovenproof dish and cover.

7. Place in an oven set at 250° F . Bake until the liquid is absorbed completely.

8. Stir to loosen the rice grains and serve.

The flavors improve if this dish is made several hours in advance and allowed to rest in the oven with the door ajar.

Dancing is a great Igbo pastime, practiced by everybody. There are special dances for boys, girls, men, women, and mixed groups. Group dancing is associated with religious observances and festivals.

17 * RECREATION

Traditional entertainment includes storytelling, rituals, dancing, and music making. Modern forms of entertainment include watching television and going to movies and discos. Most households own radios, and there are several television sets in each village. The Igbo enjoy games, including card games and checkers. Among the younger people American youth culture is popular. Most enjoy listening to rap and rock music.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Knopf, 1995.

Njoku, John E. Eberegbulam. The Igbos of Nigeria: Ancient Rites, Changes, and Survival. Lewiston, N.Y.: E. Mellen Press, 1990.

Ogbaa, Kalu. Igbo . Heritage Library of African Peoples. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 1995.

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PRONUNCIATION: EE-bo ALTERNATE NAMES: Ibo LOCATION: Southern Nigeria (Igboland) POPULATION: 5.5 million LANGUAGE: Igbo (Kwa subfamily of the Niger-Congo language family) RELIGION: Tribal religion The Igbo are the second largest group of people living in southern Nigeria. They are socially and culturally diverse, consisting of many subgroups.

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PRONUNCIATION: YAWR-uh-buh

LOCATION: West Africa (primarily Nigeria; also Benin and Togo)

POPULATION: 5.3 million

LANGUAGE: Yoruba

RELIGION: Ancestral religion; Islam; Christianity

1 * INTRODUCTION

The Yoruba are one of the largest African ethnic groups south of the Sahara Desert. They are, in fact, not a single group, but rather a collection of diverse people bound together by a common language, history, and culture. Within Nigeria, the Yoruba dominate the western part of the country. Yoruba mythology holds that all Yoruba people descended from a hero called Odua or Oduduwa. Today there are over fifty individuals who claim kingship as descendants of Odua.

During the four centuries of the slave trade, Yoruba territory was known as the Slave Coast. Uncounted numbers of Yoruba were carried to the Americas. Their descendants preserved Yoruba traditions. In several parts of the Caribbean and South America, Yoruba religion has been combined with Christianity. In 1893, the Yoruba kingdoms in Nigeria became part of the Protectorate of Great Britain. Until 1960 Nigeria was a British colony and the Yoruba were British subjects. On October 1, 1960, Nigeria became an independent nation structured as a federation of states.

2 * LOCATION

The Yoruba homeland is located in west Africa. It stretches from a savanna (grassland) region in the north to a region of tropical rain forests in the south. Most Yoruba live in Nigeria. However there are also some scattered groups in Benin and Togo, small countries to the west of Nigeria. The occupations and living conditions of the Yoruba in the north and south differ sharply.

Current census figures are difficult to obtain. The Yoruba population is estimated to be 5.3 million.

3 * LANGUAGE

The Yoruba language belongs to the Congo-Kordofanian language family. Yoruba has many dialects, but its speakers can all understand each other.

Yoruba is a tonal language. The same combination of vowels and consonants has different meanings depending on the pitch of the vowels (whether they are pronounced with a high voice or a low voice). For example, the same word, aro , can mean cymbal, indigo dye, lamentation, and granary, depending on intonation. Pele o is "Hello"; Bawo ni? is "How are you?"; and Dada ni is "Fine, thank you."

4 * FOLKLORE

According to a Yoruba creation myth, the deities (gods) originally lived in the sky with only water below them. Olorun, the Sky God, gave to Orishala, the God of Whiteness, a chain, a bit of earth in a snail shell, and a five-toed chicken. He told Orishala to go down and create the earth. Orishala approached the gate of heaven. He saw some deities having a party and he stopped to greet them. They offered him palm wine and he drank too much and fell asleep. Odua, his younger brother, saw Orishala sleeping. He took the materials and went to the edge of heaven, accompanied by Chameleon. He let down the chain and they climbed down it. Odua threw the piece of earth on the water and placed the five-toed chicken upon it. The chicken began to scratch the earth, spreading it in all directions. After Chameleon had tested the firmness of the earth, Odua stepped down. A sacred grove is there today.

5 * RELIGION

As many as 20 percent of the Yoruba still practice the traditional religions of their ancestors.

The practice of traditional religion varies from community to community. For example, a deity (god) may be male in one village and female in another. Yoruba traditional religion holds that there is one supreme being and hundreds of orisha, or minor deities. The worshipers of a deity are referred to as his "children."

There are three gods who are available to all. Olorun (Sky God) is the high god, the Creator. One may call on him with prayers or by pouring water on kola nuts on the ground. Eshu (also called Legba by some) is the divine messenger who delivers sacrifices to Olorun after they are placed at his shrine. Everyone prays frequently to this deity. Ifa is the God of Divination, who interprets the wishes of Olorun to mankind. Believers in the Yoruba religion turn to Ifa in times of trouble. Another god, Ogun (god of war, the hunt, and metalworking), is considered one of the most important. In Yoruba courts, people who follow traditional beliefs swear to give truthful testimony by kissing a machete sacred to Ogun.

Shango (also spelled Sango and Sagoe) is the deity that creates thunder. The Yoruba believe that when thunder and lightning strike, Shango has thrown a thunderstone to earth. After a thunderstorm, Yoruba religious leaders search the ground for the thunderstone, which is believed to have special powers. The stones are housed in shrines dedicated to Shango. Shango has four wives, each representing a river in Nigeria.

The Yoruba who practice other religious are divided about evenly between Muslims (followers of Islam) and Christians. Nearly all Yoruba still observe annual festivals and other traditional religious practices.

6 * MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Local festivals are usually dedicated to individual deities. Yoruba may also celebrate the following holidays, depending on whether they are Christians or Muslims: New Year's Day, January; Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice), June or July; Easter, March or April; Maulid an-Nabi (Muhammad's birthday); Ramadan, followed by a three-day feast; Nigerian Independence Day (October); Eid al-Fitr ; Christmas (December).

7 * RITES OF PASSAGE

A newborn infant is sprinkled with water to make it cry. No word may be spoken until the infant cries. Also, no one younger than the mother should be present at the birth. The infant then is taken to the backyard. The umbilical cord is bound tightly with thread and then cut. The placenta is buried in the backyard. On the placenta burial spot, the child is bathed with a loofah sponge and rubbed with palm oil. The child is held by the feet and given three shakes to make it strong and brave. After a specified number of days, a naming ceremony is held. Relatives attend and bring small amounts of money. Male and female circumcision are usually performed in the first month.

Marriages are arranged. A man must negotiate with the girl's father. If he is approved he must bring the family a payment called a bride wealth, paid in three installments. Wedding ceremonies begin at the bride's house after dark. There is a feast to which the groom contributes yams. The bride then is taken to the groom's house. There she is washed from foot to knee with an herbal mixture meant to bring her many children. For the first eight days after marriage she divides her time between her husband's and in her parents' compounds. On the ninth day she moves to her husband's home.

Burials are performed by the adult men who are not close relatives but belong to the clan of the deceased. The grave is dug in the floor of the room where the deceased lived. After the burial there is a period of feasting. Many of the rituals associated with burial are intended to insure that the deceased will be reborn again.

8 * RELATIONSHIPS

Kinship is the most important relationship for the Yorubas. Best friends are very important as well. A best friend is referred to as "friend not-see-not-sleep." This means that one does not go to sleep without having seen his best friend. When approaching death, a Yoruba shares his last wishes with his best friend.

Also important are clubs that grow out of childhood associations. When a group of young friends starts spending time together, they form a club. They choose a name and invite an older man and woman to serve as advisors. The clubs continue through adulthood. They hold monthly meetings, with the members serving as hosts in turn.

9 * LIVING CONDITIONS

Traditional compounds (which house clans) in Yoruba villages are made up of rectangular courtyards, each with a single entrance. Around each courtyard is an open or a partly enclosed porch. Here the women sit, weave, and cook. Behind this are the rooms of each adult. Today the old compounds are rapidly being replaced by modern bungalows made of cement blocks with corrugated iron roofs. Most Yoruba towns, even small ones, have adequate basic services, including electricity, running water, and paved roads.

10 * FAMILY LIFE

Every Yoruba is born into a clan whose members are descended from a common ancestor. Descent is patrilineal-both sons and daughters are born into the clan of their father. Clan members live in a large residential area called a compound. The males are born, married, and buried in it. Females live in the compound of their birth until they marry. Then they go to live with their husbands. The eldest male, or Bale, is the head of the compound. A husband is responsible for settling quarrels within his own family. However, if he is unsuccessful or if an argument involves members of two different families, it is referred to the Bale.

Within the compound, the immediate family consists of a man, his wives, and their children. The Yoruba practice polygyny (having more than one wife). Each wife and her children are considered a sub-family. They have a separate room within the husband's and they share possessions. Each mother cooks for her own children only. A man is expected to treat each wife equally. However, wives compete to gain additional favors for their own children. The father is strict and distant. Often, he sees little of his children. When they are young, children of co-wives play together. However, as they grow older, they usually grow apart because of quarrels over possessions.

11 * CLOTHING

Western-style dress is worn in urban areas. Traditional clothing is still worn on important occasions and in rural areas. It is very colorful and elaborate. Traditional fabrics were block printed with geometric designs. Women wear a head tie made of a rectangular piece of fabric. They carry babies or young children on their backs by tying another rectangular cloth around their the waists. A third cloth may be worn over the shoulder as a shawl over a loose-fitting, short-sleeved blouse. A larger cloth serves as a wrap-around skirt.

Recipe

Fufu (Pounded Yam)

Ingredients

Choose one of these:

3 or 4 white yams, preferably round and fat

3 or 4 orange yams

1 bunch plaintains

1 bunch green (unripe) bananas

Directions

1. Peel the vegetable or fruit of choice and cut into chunks or slices. Place the pieces into a pot and cover with water.

2. Cover the pot and heat until the water boils. Cook until the yams (plaintains or green bananas) can be pierced easily with a fork.

3. Drain well and place one or two pieces into a large mortar and pestle. Pound the pieces until a mass is formed that pulls away from the sides of the mortar. (This cannot be done with an electric mixer, because the pounded yams will be very stiff.)

Fufu is served with soups and stews at main meals. Diners pinch off a piece of fufu, make an indentation in it, and use it as a spoon to scoop up a mouthful of the main dish.

Chicken and Okra Soup

Ingredients

6 to 10 chicken legs or wings

1 small onion, chopped

18 large okra, chopped

1 teaspoon dry ground red pepper

1½ ounces (40 grams) dry crayfish, ground

2 medium fresh tomatoes

2 teaspoons tomato paste

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon potash

Directions

1. Place the chicken in a pot with salt and pepper, cover with water and boil until tender. Drain, reserving broth for next step. Remove meat from bones and cut into bite-sized chunks.

2. Combine okra with reserved broth and remaining ingredients. Boil for 5 minutes. Add chicken and continue to cook for 5 minutes more. Serve with fufu.

Men wear tailored cloth hats, gowns, and trousers. One popular type of gown is shaped like a poncho. It reaches to the fingertips, but is worn folded back on the shoulders. Trousers are usually very loose and baggy. All the cloth for traditional clothing is hand woven. Often it is elaborately embroidered.

12 * FOOD

The Yoruba diet consists of starchy tubers, grains, and plantains. These are supplemented by vegetable oils, wild and cultivated fruits and vegetables, meat, and fish. The daily family diet relies on cassava, taro, maize, beans, and plantains. One of the most popular foods is fufu (or foo-foo ), similar to a dumpling, but made of cassava (white yams). Rice and yams are eaten on special occasions.

The recipes are very popular and are usually served together.

13 * EDUCATION

Since attaining independence (1960), Nigeria has set a high priority on education. Universal primary education has become the norm in southern Nigeria, where the Yoruba live. Secondary school (high school) education also became common. The first university in Nigeria was located in a Yoruba city. Originally called University College, it is now known as the University of Ibadan. The majority of students at Ibadan are Yoruba.

14 * CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Yoruba oral tradition includes praise poems, tongue twisters, hundreds of prose narratives and riddles, and thousands of proverbs.

Yoruba music includes songs of ridicule and praise, as well as lullabies, religious songs, war songs, and work songs. These usually follow a "call and response" pattern between a leader and chorus. Rhythm is provided by drums, iron gongs, cymbals, rattles, and hand clapping. Other instruments include long brass trumpets, ivory trumpets, whistles, stringed instruments, and metallophones. Perhaps the most interesting musical instrument is the "talking drum." The "talking drum" features an hourglass shape with laces that can be squeezed to tighten the goatskin head, altering the drum's pitch.

15 * EMPLOYMENT

About 75 percent of the Yoruba men are farmers, producing food crops for their domestic needs. Farming is considered men's work. Clearing or hoeing fields is done only by men. Wives help their husbands plant yams and harvest corn, beans, and cotton. They also help at the market, selling farm produce. Some Yoruba have large cocoa farms worked by hired labor.

The Yoruba enjoy trading. Huge markets with over a thousand sellers are common. Trade in foodstuffs and cloth is confined to women. Meat selling and produce buying are the province of men.

The new, educated generation is moving away from farming, and its members are looking for white-collar jobs.

16 * SPORTS

Although there are few organized sports, Yoruba (like other Nigerians) in some areas participate in wrestling and soccer.

17 * RECREATION

Traditional entertainment includes rituals, dancing, and music making. Modern forms of entertainment include watching television and going to movies and discos. Most households own televisions sets. The more religious households prohibit family members, especially women, from going to see films. Among urban teenagers, American youth culture is popular. Most young people listen to rap and rock music from the U.S. Ayo, a board game, is popular among people of all ages. It is a mancala game-a type of game popular in west Africa, that is played on a board with two rows of indentations or wells that are filled with small seeds or stones.

18 * CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

Crafts include weaving, embroidering, pottery making, woodcarving, leather and bead working, and metalworking.

Both men and women weave, using different types of looms. Cloth is woven from wild silk and from locally grown cotton.

Men also do embroidery, particularly on men's gowns and caps, and work as tailors and dressmakers. Floor mats and mat storage bags are also made by men.

Women are the potters. In addition to palm oil lamps, they make over twenty kinds of pots and dishes for cooking, eating, and carrying and storing liquids.

Woodcarvers, all of whom are men, carve masks and figurines as well as mortars, pestles, and bowls. Some Yoruba woodcarvers also work in bone, ivory, and stone. Blacksmiths work both in iron and brass to create both useful and decorative objects.

19 * SOCIAL PROBLEMS

There are vast differences in wealth among Yoruba of different social classes. Many urban occupations do not provide adequate wages to support a family.

Nigeria's human rights record is poor. A Yoruba, Olisa Agbakobe, led a group of lawyers that founded the human rights group, the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO).

The crime rate in Nigeria is high, particularly in Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, and other urban areas. More than half the offenses are property crimes. Drug-related crime is a major problem. Young people are using both marijuana and cocaine in increasing numbers.

20 * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bascom, William. The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria . Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1984.

Hetfield, Jamie. The Yoruba of West Africa. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 1996.

Koslow, Philip. Yorubaland: The Flowering of Genius. Kingdoms of Africa. New York: Chelsea House, 1996.

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PRONUNCIATION: YAWR-uh-buh LOCATION: West Africa (primarily Nigeria; also Benin and Togo) POPULATION: 5.3 million LANGUAGE: Yoruba RELIGION: Ancestral religion; Islam; Christianity The Yoruba are one of the largest African ethnic groups south of the Sahara Desert. They are, in fact, not a single group, but rather a collection of diverse people bound together by a common language, history, and culture.

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Bibliography

Hoben, Alan (1973). Land Tenure among the Amhara of Ethiopia: The Dynamics of Cognatic Descent. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Levine, Donald M. (1965). Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Messing, Simon D. (1985). Highland Plateau Amhara of Ethiopia. Edited by Lionel M. Bender. 3 vols. New Haven: HRAFlex Books, Human Relations Area Files.

Molvar, R. K. (1980). Tradition and Change in Ethiopia: Social and Cultural Life as Reflected in Amharic Fictional Literature ca. 1930-1974. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Young, Alan L. (1975). "Magic as a Quasi-Profession: The Organization of Magic and Magical Healing among Amhara." Ethnology 14:245-265.

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Hoben, Alan (1973). Land Tenure among the Amhara of Ethiopia: The Dynamics of Cognatic Descent. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Levine, Donald M. (1965). Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Messing, Simon D. (1985). Highland Plateau Amhara of Ethiopia. Edited by Lionel M.

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ETHNONYMS: Aʿraab, Bedu (sing. Bedawi)

Bibliography

Abu-Lughod, Lila (1986). Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Asad, Talal (1970). The Kababish Arabs: Power, Authority, and Consent in a Nomadic Tribe. London: C. Hurst & Co.

"Badw" (1979). In Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. 1, A-B, 872-882. New ed. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Behnke, Roy (1980). The Herders of Cyrenaica: Ecology, Economy, and Kinship among the Bedouin of Eastern Libya. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Chatty, Dawn (1986). From Camel to Truck: The Bedouin in the Modern World. New York: Vantage Press.

Cole, Donald (1975). Nomads of the Nomads: The Al Murrah of the Empty Quarter. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.

Fagan, Brian (1986). Peoples of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

Lancaster, William (1981). The Rwala Bedouin Today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Marx, Emanuel (1967). Bedouin of the Negev. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Peters, Emrys (1968). "The Tied and the Free: An Account of a Type of Patron-Client Relationship among the Bedouin Pastoralists of Cyrenaica." In Contributions to Mediterranean Sociology, edited by J. G. Peristiany. The Hague: Mouton & Co.

DAWN CHATTY AND WILLIAM YOUNG

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ETHNONYMS: Aʿraab, Bedu (sing. Bedawi) Abu-Lughod, Lila (1986). Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Asad, Talal (1970). The Kababish Arabs: Power, Authority, and Consent in a Nomadic Tribe. London: C. Hurst & Co. "Badw" (1979). In Encyclopedia of Islam.

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ETHNONYMS: Bororo'en, Fellaata, Fellah, Filani, Fula, Fulata, Fulbe, Hilani, Peul, Toroobe

Bibliography

Azarya, Victor (1978). Aristocrats Facing Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Ba, Amadou Hampata (1990). Ou t of the Land of Shadows." UNESCO Cornier , May, 22-25.

Dupire, Marguerite (1973). "Women in a Pastoral Society." In Peoples and Cultures of Africa , edited by Elliott P. Skinner, 297-303. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.

Eguchi, Paul K. (1993). "'Fulbe-ness' in Fulbe Oral Literature of Cameroon." In Unity and Diversity of a People: The Search for Fulbe Identity , edited by Paul K. Eguchi and Victor Azarya, 181-200. Senri Ethnological Studies, no. 35. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology.

Eguchi, Paul K., and Victor Azarya, eds. (1993). Unity and Diversity of a People: The Search for Fulbe Identity. Senri Ethnological Studies, no. 35. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology.

Frantz, Charles (1981). "Settlement and Migration among Pastoral Fulbe in Nigeria and Cameroun." In Contemporary Nomadic and Pastoral Peoples, edited by Philip Carl Salzman, 57-94. Studies in Third World Society, Publication no. 17. Williamsburg, Va.: College of William and Mary, Department of Anthropology.

Hopen, C. Edward (1984). "Fulani." In Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey. 2nd ed., rev. and expanded, edited by Richard V. Weekes, 257-261. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Riesman, Paul (1977). Freedom in Fulani Social Life: An Introspective Ethnography. Translated by Martha Fuller. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Salamone, Frank A. (1985). "Colonialism and the Emergence of Fulani Ethnicity." Journal of Asian and African Studies 20: 170-201.

Schultz, Emily A. (1981). Image and Reality in African Interethnic Relations: The Fulbe and Their Neighbors. Studies in Third World Society, Publication no. 11. Williamsburg, Va.: College of William and Mary, Department of Anthropology.

Stenning, Derrick J. (1959). Savannah Nomads: A Study of the Wodaabe Pastoral Fulani of Western Bornu Province, Northern Region , Nigeria. London: International African Institute; Oxford University Press.

Wilson, Wendy (1990). "Women Pastoralists and Project Participation." Sage 7:18-23.

Wilson-Haffenden, James Rhodes (1967). The Red Men of Nigeria: An Account of a Lengthy Residence among the Fulani or " Red Man ," and other Pagan Tribes of Central Nigeria. London: Cass.

Wyatt-Brown, Bertram (1988). "The Mask of Obedience: Male Slave Psychology in the Old South." American Historical Review 93:1228-1252.

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ETHNONYMS: Bororo'en, Fellaata, Fellah, Filani, Fula, Fulata, Fulbe, Hilani, Peul, Toroobe Azarya, Victor (1978). Aristocrats Facing Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Ba, Amadou Hampata (1990). Ou t of the Land of Shadows." UNESCO Cornier , May, 22-25. Dupire, Marguerite (1973). "Women in a Pastoral Society."

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ETHNONYMS: Bembe, Kongo, Kunyi, Manianga, Mboma, Mpangu, Ndibu, Ntandu, (N)Sandi, Solongo, Vili, Yombe, all with or without the plural prefix "Ba." "MuKongo" or "Mwisi Kongo" refers to an individual. The people call their homeland "Kongo." The language is KiKongo (KiBembe, etc.)

Bibliography

Bockie, Simon (1993). Death and the Invisible Powers: The World of Kongo Belief. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Dupré, Georges (1985). Naissances d'une société: Historique et histoire chez les Beeme du Congo. Paris: OSTROM.

Janzen, John M. (1978). The Quest for Therapy in Lower Zaire. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

MacGaffey, Wyatt (1970). Custom and Government in the Lower Congo. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

MacGaffey, Wyatt (1986). Religion and Society in Central Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Thornton, John K. (1983). The Kingdom of Kongo. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

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ETHNONYMS: Bembe, Kongo, Kunyi, Manianga, Mboma, Mpangu, Ndibu, Ntandu, (N)Sandi, Solongo, Vili, Yombe, all with or without the plural prefix "Ba." "MuKongo" or "Mwisi Kongo" refers to an individual. The people call their homeland "Kongo." The language is KiKongo (KiBembe, etc.) Bockie, Simon (1993). Death and the Invisible Powers: The World of Kongo Belief.

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ETHNONYMS: Amandebele, Mapoggers, Ndzundza, Ndzundza-Ndebele or Manala-Ndebele, Southern Ndebele

Bibliography

Courtney-Clarke, Margaret (1986). Ndebele: The Art of an African Tribe. Cape Town: Struik.

Delius, Peter (1989). "The Ndzundza-Ndebele: indenture and the Making of Ethnic Identity." In Holding Their Ground, edited by P. Bonner, I. Hofmeyr, D. James, and T. Lodge. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.

James, Deborah A. (1990). "A Question of Ethnicity: Ndzundza Ndebele in a Lebowa Village." Journal of Southern African Studies 16(1).

Kuper, Adam (1976). "Fourie and the Southern Transvaal Ndebele." African Studies 37(1).

Levy, D. (1989). "Ndebele Beadwork." In Catalogue: Ten Years of Collecting (1979-1989 ), edited by W. D. Hammond-Tooke and A. Nettleton. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.

McCaul, Colleen (1987). Satellite in Revolt: KwaNdebele-An Economic and Political Profile. Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations.

Schneider, Elizabeth A. (1885). "Ndebele Mural Art." African Arts 18(3).

Van Vuuren, Chris J. (1991). "Historical Land and Contemporary Ritual: The Innovation of Oral Tradition in Understanding Ndzundza-Ndebele Ethnicity." In Oral Tradition and Innovation. New Wine in Old Bottles, edited by E. Sienaert, N. Bell, and M. Lewis. Durban: University of Natal Oral Documentation and Research Centre.

Van Warmelo, N. J. (1930). Transvaal Ndebele Texts. Ethnological Publications, vol. 1. Pretoria: Government Printer.

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ETHNONYMS: Amandebele, Mapoggers, Ndzundza, Ndzundza-Ndebele or Manala-Ndebele, Southern Ndebele Courtney-Clarke, Margaret (1986). Ndebele: The Art of an African Tribe. Cape Town: Struik. Delius, Peter (1989). "The Ndzundza-Ndebele: indenture and the Making of Ethnic Identity." In Holding Their Ground, edited by P. Bonner, I. Hofmeyr, D. James, and T. Lodge.

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ETHNONYM: Karanga (historical)

Bibliography

Beach, David N. (1980). The Shona and Zimbabwe, 900-1850. Gweru: Mambo Press.

Bourdillon, M. F. C. (1987). The Shona Peoples. 3rd ed. Gweru: Mambo Press.

Ellert, Henrik (1984). The Material Culture of Zimbabwe. Harare: Longman.

Gelfand, Michael (1979). Growing Up in Shona Society. Gweru: Mambo Press.

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ETHNONYM: Karanga (historical) Beach, David N. (1980). The Shona and Zimbabwe, 900-1850. Gweru: Mambo Press. Bourdillon, M. F. C. (1987). The Shona Peoples. 3rd ed. Gweru: Mambo Press. Ellert, Henrik (1984). The Material Culture of Zimbabwe. Harare: Longman. Gelfand, Michael (1979). Growing Up in Shona Society. Gweru: Mambo Press.

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ETHNONYMS: Ebantfu ba kwa Ngwane (the people of Ngwane), emaSwati, emaSwazi, Swati

Bibliography

Beidelman, T. O. (1966). "Swazi Royal Ritual." Africa 36(4): 373-405.

Bowen, Paul N. (1993). A Longing for Land: Tradition and Change in a Swazi Agricultural Community. Aldershot: Avebury, Ashgate.

Gailey, Charles R. (1968). "Changes in the Social Stratification of the Swazi, 1936-1967." Ph.D. dissertation, University of South Africa.

Gort, Enid (1987). Changing Traditional Medicine in Rural Swaziland: A World Systems Analysis. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International.

Green, E. C. (1987). "The Integration of Modern and Traditional Health Sectors in Swaziland." In Anthropological Praxis, edited by R. Wulff and S. Fiske, 87-97. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.

Holleman, J. F. (1964a). "The Land Use Survey." In Experiment in Swaziland, edited by J. F. Holleman, 52-57. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

Hughes, A. J. B. (1962). "Some Swazi Views on Land Tenure." Africa 32(3): 253-278.

Hughes, A. J. B. (1972). Land Tenure, Land Rights, and Land Communities on Swazi Nation Land: A Discussion of Some Interrelationships between the Traditional Tenurial System and Problems of Agrarian Development. Monographs of the Institute for Social Research, no. 7.

Kuby, David Joseph (1980). Elitism and Holiness in Swazi Conversion. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International.

Kuper, Hilda (1947a). An African Aristocracy: Rank among the Swazi. London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.

Kuper, Hilda (1947b). The Uniform of Color in Swaziland: A Study of White-Black Relationships in Swaziland. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.

Kuper, Hilda (1963). The Swazi: A South African Kingdom. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Kuper, Hilda (1978). Sobhuza II: Ngwenyama and King of Swaziland. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co.

Marwick, Brian Allan (1940). The Swazi: An Ethnographic Account of the Swaziland Protectorate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ngubane, Harriet (1983). "The Swazi Homestead." In The Swazi Rural Homestead, edited by Fion de Vletter, 95-122. Mbabane: University of Swaziland, Social Science Research Unit.

Nhlapo, Ronald Thandabantu (1992). Marriage and Divorce in Swazi Law and Custom. Mbabane: Websters.

Rose, Laurel L. (1991). "Swaziland: Witchcraft and Deviance." In Deviance: Anthropological Perspectives, edited by Morris Freilich, Douglas Raybeck, and Joel Savishinsky. New York: Bergin & Garvey.

Rose, Laurel L. (1992). The Politics of Harmony: Land Dispute Strategies in Swaziland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rosen-Prinz, Beth (1976). "Urbanization and Political Change: A Study of Urban Local Government in Swaziland." Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.

Russell, Margo (1983). "Boundaries and Structures in the Swaziland Homestead." Research paper no. 6. University of Swaziland, Social Science Research Unit.

Sibisi, Harriet (1980). "Sociological Observations on Some Aspects of Rural Development in Swaziland." Traditional Securities and the Response to "Modern" Economic Opportunities, Paper no. 3. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Mbabane.

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ETHNONYMS: Ebantfu ba kwa Ngwane (the people of Ngwane), emaSwati, emaSwazi, Swati Beidelman, T. O. (1966). "Swazi Royal Ritual." Africa 36(4): 373-405. Bowen, Paul N. (1993). A Longing for Land: Tradition and Change in a Swazi Agricultural Community. Aldershot: Avebury, Ashgate. Gailey, Charles R. (1968). "Changes in the Social Stratification of the Swazi, 1936-1967."

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ETHNONYMS: Egyptian Nubians, Halfans, Lower Nubians, Sudanese Nubians.

Bibliography

Ammar, Hamed (1973). Growing up in an Egyptian Village: Silwa, the Province of Aswan. New York: Octagon Books.

Ammar, Nawal H. ( 1988). "An Egyptian Village Growing Up: Silwa, the Governorate of Aswan." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida.

Dafalla, Hassan (1975). The Nubian Exodus. London: C. Hurst & Co.

Fahim, Hussein M. (1981). Dams, People, and Development: The Aswan High Dam Case. New York: Pergamon Press.

Fahim, Hussein M. (1983). Egyptian Nubians: Resettlement and Years of Coping. Salt Lake City: University of Utah.

Geiser, Peter (1986). The Egyptian Nubian: A Study in Social Symbiosis. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

Hamed, Sayyed (1994). Al-Nuba Al-Gadida: Dirasah anthropologia fi al-Mugtama' Al-Misri (The New Nubia: An anthropological study of Egyptian society). Cairo: Ein for Human and Social Studies.

Reisner, George (1910). Archaeological Survey of Nubia , Reports for 1907, 1 908, 1908-1909, and 1909-1910. Cairo: National Printing Department.

Rouchdy, Aleya (1991). Nubians and Nubian Language in Contemporary Egypt: A Case of Cultural and Linguhtic Contact. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Wenzel, Marian (1972). House Decoration in Nubia. Toronto: Toronto University Press.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ETHNONYMS: Egyptian Nubians, Halfans, Lower Nubians, Sudanese Nubians. Ammar, Hamed (1973). Growing up in an Egyptian Village: Silwa, the Province of Aswan. New York: Octagon Books. Ammar, Nawal H. ( 1988). "An Egyptian Village Growing Up: Silwa, the Governorate of Aswan." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida. Dafalla, Hassan (1975).

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