Patterns of Life in Africa

Proverb of the Yoruba• Read the proverb on page 85 in your textbook

(Ch 4 Section 2)• What does this tell us about the daily lives of

the Yoruba?• What does the proverb tell us about male and

female jobs?• What do you think they value?

Family Ties • Family loyalty was the bond that held societies

together throughout Africa • Availability of resources helped to determine

family sizes– Ex- hunting and gathering families would be smaller

than civilized societies • Farming and herding societies had extended

families – Parents, unmarried children, married children and

their spouses and other relatives

Family Ties • Farming Villages– Families pooled their labor

so that everyone worked together

• Clearing land, building homes and harvesting crops

• All projects needed lots of people to help

• Large families gave you plenty of labor

• Living Areas– Shared a common living

area or compound– Separate homes for

different family members– Eldest male was the leader

of the family – Children were taught that

their work was needed by the family

– Respect for their ancestors and those that came before them

Family Ties • Lineage– United people beyond the

extended family– Ability to trace their

descent to a single ancestor

– Linked different families together

- Creates bonds of loyalty and responsibility

- Kept all the different groups united with one another

• Clan– Groups of lineages could

form a clan- which traced itself back to a common ancestor

– Shared duties and responsibilities to one another

– Each clan had its own leaders

– Strong sense of community and cooperation

Patterns of Government • African societies developed different governmental

systems• Villages would unite to form a larger government • Village leaders would be picked for each village and

they made the decisions for the village – Listened to the people and tried to reach a consensus on

disagreements• Powerful empires like the Songhai and Mali had

emperors • Question:– What would make a place more likely to have an empire

or a group of villages?

Community and Consensus• Consensus- common agreement amongst the

people • Village leaders stressed the good of the

community over the individual • Ex- The Ibo of West Africa – In a dispute over land the leader and council would

listen to both sides– The goal is to make both sides happy– After a decision was made the parties would exchange

gifts to show that they were satisified

Economic Activities • Those not living in the larger city areas are mostly

engaged in farming and herding • Savanna area was ideal for farming with good soil

and rainfall• Subsistence Farmer- produce enough for their

own needs with little surplus • Farming in forest areas required slash and burn

methods• Hard on the soil and required movement after 2-3

crops to different areas

Herding Activities • Drier areas of the Savanna farming was not a

viable option• In areas with no Tsetse fly most people were

herders• Masai – live in East Africa and herd cattle • Herders lived off the cattle that they cared for– Food and clothing

• Owning cattle gave people higher status in the society

• Dependent on their animals for survival

Textbook Activity • Analyzing Pictures – Look at the pictures on pages 86 and 87– Carefully look at the people, things and

environment that you see– Read the captions of the pictures

• Answer the following:– 1.) What other tasks might members of this family

share? (Pg 86)– 2.) How does the environment influence how

people live on the savanna (pg 87)

Lives of Women• Major contributors to the wealth of a family• Did the planting, weeding, and harvesting• Sometimes took surplus crops to markets • Respected in society for their child bearing ability• Educated the young boys and girls in the villages• Prepared daughters for future roles as wives and

mothers• Compare and Contrast:– How does this compare with the lives of women in the

United States?

Lives of Women• Social Status of Women– Varied from place to place– Wolof – made women their

leaders – Ashanti- believed that

women made land fertile (they were the landowners)

• Many places women had few rights

• Polygamy- practice of having more than one wife

• Bride Wealth – In many areas women

were married at 14 to 15– Men offered gifts to the

brides family as a sign of respect

– Bride wealth recognized the value of the wife

– Both sides of the family gained something by this arrangement

– It was similar to a marriage license in USA Society