African Minkisi and American Culture
I. Introduction
African Minkisi have been used for hundreds of years in West Central Africa, This area where they are traditionally from was once known as the kingdom of Kongo, when Europeans started settling and trading with the BaKongo people. Kongo was a well-known state throughout much of the world by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The BaKongo, however, had probably long used minkisi before ethnographers and anthropologists ever recorded them. Minkisi are complex items that are used to heal and to harm people, and there is no equivalent term for nkisi in any European language. A seventeenth century Dutch geographer first wrote of the nkisi, and said that, “These Ethiopians [that is, the BaKongo] call moquisie [minkisi] everything in which resides, in their opinion, a secret and incomprehensible virtue to do them good or ill, and to reveal event of past and future” (Williams, 13). The term illness, in this context, is quite different than what we refer to illness. Illness, to the BaKongo, meant anything from sickness, to loss of property, and the inability to succeed in things like school and work. . “The perpetual struggle with the unseen forces that cause illness and misfortunes was (and is) called “war” in Kongo” (MacGaffey, 98). A war is ended when one side of the struggle proves that they have better magic. The objects themselves are extremely complex, and most of them require hours of, “painstaking labor to construct” (MacGaffey, 33). “All minkisi, whether in the form of wooden figures, snail shells, raffia bags, or clay pots, are containers for “medicines” that empowers them” (MacGaffey, 43). “The usual containers included the shells of large snails, antelope horns, cloth bags, gourds, and clay pots. Although minkisi in museums are usually wooden figurines and statues, containers of this kind may well have been the minority” (MacGaffey, 63). Without medicines, the minkisi are nothing, they are not alive, nor can they perform their functions. “To BaKongo, all exceptional powers result from some sort of communication with the dead” (MacGaffey, 59). Chiefs, witches, diviners/prophets, and magicians could all do this, especially through and with the help of the minkisi. There are rules and ways of doing things with them, to them, that exemplify so many aspects of Kongo cultu...
... middle of paper ...
...t, with a mirror-stoppered cow horn of clairvoyance (vititi mensu), musical instruments used in sacred ritual, and elaborate beaded artwork.
A red flag with protective signs hangs on the wall behind the nkisi to protect the altar, its owner and his family from harm.
The basic Kongo cosmogram is a cross within a circle, dikenga, that is a symbolic chart of the voyage of the soul. As a miniature of the sun, the soul is thought to have four moments -- birth, efflorescence, fading and the return in the dawn of a coming day. Triangles, diamonds, spirals, or crisscrosses denote this cyclical movement. The soul, which is thought by the Bakongo to reside in the forehead, is often represented in diamond form and can be seen on many African masks. The exhibition includes such masks -- 19th century Punu, Teke (Tsaaye), and Chokwe masks, and a 20th century Vili mask ringed with feathers. In addition, a fully feathered Mardi gras "Wild Man" costume from New Orleans, reminiscent of Kongo feather masks and headdresses worn by healers, is a living example of the creolized Kongo traditions found in the United
States.
http://www.art3st.com/various_pages/faceofthegods.html
This led to corruption of the departmental level and an unethical subculture based on skewed officer loyalty. An example of this given in the movie when Dowd and Eurell made a malfeasant deal with Adam Diaz, an infamous drug lord. In exchange for a hefty fee, Eurell and Dowd would alert Diez whenever his underground business was being watched by the police department. Furthermore, they would assist Diaz by putting his competition out of business by tipping off the narcotics unit or robbing the competitors’ headquarters at gunpoint. Dowd and Eurell became extremely rich from their criminal exploits and they often flaunted their wealth. Dowd began forgetting to pick up his measly paycheck from the police department, but he would be seen driving to work in a shiny, new Corvette. Dowd and Eurell also went on lavish vacations that did not go unnoticed by their fellow
The Muckleshoot are a Native American tribe are a part of the Coast Salish people. their territory can be found located in Washington. They are recognized as the Muckleshoot Tribe, they are composed of generations of different tribal groups who inherited Puget Sound areas and occupied river drainages from the rivers confluence in Auburn to their reservations in the Cascades.
Native Americans have been fighting till this day for freedom. Millions of Native Americans have lost their lives fighting for freedoms and their lands. So far, not much have been done to the Native Americans and they have not achieved everything they had hoped for. Most Native Americans are still living on reservations and government are doing little to help them. A book titled “Lakota Women” by Mary Crow Dog takes us into the lives of the Native Americans, her childhood, adulthood, and her experiences of being an Indian woman.
Selection of Book: There were numerous purposes and objectives as to why I chose to read this particular anthropology manuscript of all the various other options available. For one, I selected this book initially due to the title of the book. “Dancing Skeleton” was the portion of the title that primarily stuck out to me, and made me imagine African children – who we see on commercials all the time in third world countries, which tend to look malnourished all throughout their adolescents – dancing around with skin-wrapped skeletal bones. Personally, for me, seeing children suffering from malnourishment and starvation must be one of the most unbearably agonizing pains a child can go through, not to mention the suffering of a mother having to watching her child gradually starve to death. I was additionally very much interested in understanding precisely what other individuals in different parts of the world and specifically Mali, are lacking that is affecting their health and well-being so noticeably. Furthermore, I was especially interested is reading informal stories and accounts through the eyes of the author about conducting specified field research on infant feeding and the importance of children
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
Considering historical evidence, the notion: Native –Americans was not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid accounts of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by those records, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited America before the arrival of another human race; the Iroquois: The Iroquois of Native Americans was one of the tribes that lived in America before other people came. Based on historical evidence, it is believed that the Native Americans came from Asia way back during the Ice Age through a land bridge of the Bering Strait. When the Europeans first set foot in America, there were about 10 million Native Americans
The imprudence of drivers causes immoral reputation and increases costs. According to the Department of Health Policy and Management, individuals who do not use seat belts are more probable to have outstanding hospital payments. Adding also that Insurance status increases periodic charges for vehicle titleholders as a method to reimburse the money that irresponsible individuals are pending. By the same reason, every year insured car owners pay extra for coverage because they are required to do consequently. Furthermore, certain government laws impose drivers to use a seat belt while driving. For instance, a number of states have declared specific laws with the purpose of reducing the effects of an accident. As an example, fines for those car drivers who drive lacking a seat belt go from fifty to two hundred dollars, depending on age and unbelted passengers. Similarly, minors unbelted are under the responsibility of the car user so it would be a fine of the similar amount if not used a seat belt. Government has to try to impose the law beholding for the best of
African- American folklore is arguably the basis for most African- American literature. In a country where as late as the 1860's there were laws prohibiting the teaching of slaves, it was necessary for the oral tradition to carry the values the group considered significant. Transition by the word of mouth took the place of pamphlets, poems, and novels. Themes such as the quest for freedom, the nature of evil, and the powerful verses the powerless became the themes of African- American literature. In a book called Fiction and Folklore: the novels of Toni Morrision author Trudier Harris explains that "Early folk beliefs were so powerful a force in the lives of slaves that their masters sought to co-opt that power. Slave masters used such beliefs in an attempt to control the behavior of their slaves"(Harris 2).
This woman’s story may not be one that will ever happen to many people, but if it did a seatbelt is one of the only defenses one has against it. A seatbelt is not a new development and seatbelt laws are not new either and refusing to wear a seatbelt is disregard for the law and one’s own safety. Everyone has to wear a seatbelt, no one is picked, and people from celebrities down to a common sixteen-year-old driver have to wear one. No one is exempt from the law and no one should be aloud to break it. It’s not hard to do and shouldn’t be hard to remember because all it takes is a click and even though some have come up with many reasons not to wear them the benefits of wearing a seatbelt outweigh the disadvantages by far.
The seat belt or safety belt is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop. As part of an overall automobile passive safety system, seat belts are intended to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting the hard interior of the vehicle, or other passengers, when in the correct position for the airbag to deploy it prevents the driver and passengers from being thrown from the vehicle. Seat belts absorb the energy of the impact by being designed to stretch during any sudden deceleration, so that there is less speed differential between the passenger's body and their vehicle interior, and also to spread the loading of impact on the passenger’s
Robertson, L. S. (2002, December). Bias in estimate of seat belt effectiveness. Injury Prevention, 263.
Did you know that seat belts save over 13,000 lives each year, according to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration). In an accident seat belts are usually the difference between life or death. The NHTSA estimates that over 7,000 lives could be saved if the victims had used their seat belts. There are also many other safety features of a car, like the airbags, zones, and even padded dashboards. Car safety is very important in our everyday lives, and there needs to be more awareness about the effects of not being safe in a car.
Seat belt usage is a struggling problem today through out the United States. It is also lower then any other industrialized nation in the world. The best way to prevent a death in a motor vehicle accident is to wear a seat belt. Everybody has their opinions on safety belts and the laws that go with them, but until they prove them harmful, people recommend for occupants to wear it while in a vehicle. Still today people want it to be a national law for people to buckle up. Estimations from people all over the country prove that seat belts really help save lives. But also some safety belts have failed and have cause people to get trapped in the car. For instance, if someone happens to run off a bridge and go into the water, they would have to
And when they look for a messenger to go find flowers, they’re talking about re-finding the tranquillity and lack of fear that they wanted. I believe that the burials, actually represent life. It may sound a bit peculiar, but in real life once you get accustomed to living a happy, joyful life, you then will not be able to live without it and so, you will need to do practically anything, as the people in the star did, to find the “flowers”. The symbol of the deity that the youth saw in the temple, I understand that by the way in which the story progresses the symbol is actually representing the fact that war, or trouble (the bird of prey) destroys all happiness or good hearted feelings. I think that the representation is what I mentioned above, because when the messenger “goes” to the foreign star he sees destruction and a total lack of joy.
Images of different different seasons of the year to explain the process of growing older. Images that depict the fading of light in a persons soul transforming into darkness. Images that the reader can perceive as vivid actions. Images that all symbolize one thing, death. In the first quatrain the speaker begins by comparing an old middle age man to a tree with few to none yellow leaves hanging on its branch, and branches moving to the wind of a cold late autumn/early winter day. Image that depicts a lifeless trees and shivering branches, branches that perhaps represent the weak muscles of the speaker. Another image is depicted in the first quatrain containing the same idea. The image of an old church choirs in ruins. In the second quatrain the speaker depicts a moving image of a twilight that can be seen fading on him as the sun sets in the west and soon turns into darkness. Symbolizing the last moments of life the speaker has. In the third quatrain the speaker depicts an image with a similar meaning as the previous, except for one distinctly last thought. The speaker depicts a living image of a bonfire extinguishing and turning into ashes, ashes that may represent his well lived youth. The image gives the idea that ashes represent what once was a beautiful life to the speaker. Overall the images representing the