The Zulus tribe is an independent clan and the largest ethnic group in South Africa. The Zulu clan reputation is well known for their proud, fierce, and barbaric behavior. According to Ethnologies, in 1816 a new chief Shaka Zulu conquered and created a nation that was named after him. His descendants made up the Zulu clan. During the year of 1820, Native Africans did not have any political rights. The king of the Zulu ethnic groups or clans was the only one allowed to have judicial and legislative power. Zulu chiefs steadily demanded increasing tribute to taxes from their acquired great wealth, commanded large armies; in many cases a Zulu military status allow men to achieve distinctions chiefdoms.
The kinship in the Zulu family is extremely important. The Zulu people are traditionally both pastoralists and agriculturists. As with many African tribes, reciprocity is important and the Zulu people are known for being extremely generous and even allowing guests to eat off their dinner plate as a gesture of friendship. In Zulu culture, women are supposed to dominate cooking only. As a result of socialization this habit teaches males at an early age that the mothers and sisters are suppose to cook for them. Some men who break the rules and learn how to cook are challenge as being weak. Olfami, Kuni (2008)
Zulu clans were organized into patrilineal. Their kinship also extended to people who were not blood related, inheriting property was only through a male and his father. If a child’s real parents pass away, they were not put away as an orphan other parents took over the responsibilities. As children get older they have kids on their own, but they are also required to start taking care of their parents as they reach an eld...
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.... The Zulus are considered as the most traditional pastoralists and agriculturist’s people.
Interestingly, most ancient Zulu tribes practice pastoralist and lives in more arid lands. The reason is natives of the Zulu tribe have always inhabited desert lands to remain traditional because their territory is not much valuable and desired to be confiscated by outsiders.
References
Flint, Karen E. Healing Traditions: African Medicine, Cultural Exchange, and Competition in South Africa, 1820-1948.
Athens, OH, USA: Ohio University Press, 2008. p xi.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/Doc?id=10472432&ppg=11
Elliott, Aubrey. "THE ZULU Traditions and Culture." Cape Town: Struik Publishers. 1986.
http://library.thinkquest.org/27209/History.htm
Olfami, Kuni. "African Tribes" Indigenous People of Africa 2008
http://www.african-tribes.org/
In addition, Social structure was another important factor pertaining to each tribe, Quapaw society was arranged by inherited statuses and relations that were acquired by marriage. Each person in the tribe belonged to a group of descent they received from their father’s side. People were divided into two groups sky and earth people, this also determined who a person could marry.
The social and political organization of the Basseri and the Nuer are very much different. The Basseri’s social organization is based upon that of nuclear families; they are also neolocal, meaning that upon marriage a couple starts their own nuclear family in a new tent. After marriage, in order for the couple to begin a new household, the husband usually receives part of his father’s herd and at times, if not given any animals, the husband can work and receive animals as a payment. During the spring, the nomadic tribes can be supported in large numbers in a single camp; while during the winter, camps are setup in smaller groups. The Basseri reckon descent patrilineally where inheritance is usually from father to son. A woman bestows membership rights to her own tribe or her offspring. The Basseri consider themselves one unified tribe because they are all subsumed under the authority of a single leader, the chief of all the Basseri.
The influence of a supernatural god and the spirit world influenced every aspect of the Indigenous African community including health and healing, thus a holistic approach to health and healing was essential.
Kinship is understood as the relationships in a society through blood and marriage. It is considered a fundamental cultural basis. From kinship systems social norms develop in the communities, including rights and responsibilities, greatly impacting behavior. These systems are described as kinship terms, relationships and groups in a society. Kinship ultimately has two core functions through kinship systems that are crucial for the preservation of culture and societies. First, these ties provide continuation of generations and family formation. The lines of descent, the upbringing and education of children, the compromise to provide material possessions and inheriting social positions are all very important. Second, since kinship is based on interdependent relationships, there are established aid systems. These, however would be compromise by the cultural implications of the extended or nuclear kin groups. Additionally, marriage may or may not be founded by blood relationships. Both the consanguineal and the affinal relationship represents a strong bond. However, the cultural norms would dictate whether both have equal value or acceptance in each society. Anthropologists have studied the implications of kinship. One of the topics researched is between kinship and social relationships. The Awlad ‘Ali Bedouin society in the Western Desert, as studied by Abu-Lughod in 1978-1980, through her ethnography ‘Veiled Sentiments’ (1986), showed distinct evidences of the influence of consanguineal and affinal ties into their idiom of kinship and how it links to their social interactions and relationships. In this way defining the different kinds of social relationships.
There are many different cultures and groups of people that we don’t know anything about. There are a lot of people in the world trying to close that gap. People like Catherine J. Allen, author of The Hold Life Has and Napoleon A. Chagnon, author of Yanomamo. In each of their respective books, they brought us closer to societies I had never heard of until now. We learned about the different aspects of the lives of the Sonqo (Allen) and the Yanomamo (Chagnon). They brought us insight on certain things like gender differences, family relationships and how where they live affects their lives. In this following essay, I’ll be discussing gender differences in both the Sonqo and Yanomamo societies as well as how each tribe uses kinship, reciprocity
Illness was treated in many ways but the main goal was to achieve a sense of balance and harmony.(p82). Applications of herbs and roots, spiritual intervention, and community wide ritual and ceremonies were all therapeutic practices.(p71). “It was the healer who held the keys to the supernatural and natural worlds and who interpreted signs, diagnosed disease and provided medicines from the grassland, woodland, and parkland pharmacopoeia.”(p18). The healers knowledge of herbs and roots and ways to administer and diagnose had been passed down from generation to generation.(p85). Healers stood as an advantage for the Aboriginal people. “Trust and a personal relationships would naturally build between the patient and the healer.”(p77). This must have ...
The statuses and roles for men and women varied considerably among Native Americans, depending on each tribe's cultural orientations. In matrilineal and matrilocal societies, women had considerable power because property, housing, land, and tools, belonged to them. Because property usually passed from mother to daughter, and the husband joined his wife's family, he was more of a stranger and yielded authority to his wife's eldest brother. As a result, the husband was unlikely to become an authoritative, domineering figure. Moreover, among such peoples as the Cherokee, Iroquois, and Pueblo, a disgruntled wife, secure in her possessions, could simply divorce her husband by tossing his belongings out of their residence.
Mathews, Holly F. "Introduction: A Regional Approach and Multidisciplinary Persepctive." Herbal and Magical Medicine: Traditional Healing Today. Ed. James Kirkland, Holly F. Mathews, C. W. Sullivan, III, and Karen Baldwin. Durham: Duke UP, 1992. 1-13. Print.
The history of the African American culture shows a culture that values family, children and marriage. These values were confused and stripped when blacks from Africa and the Caribbean where brought to America to perform as slaves. While on plantations under harsh treatment, husbands, wives and children were torn apart and sold t...
When Africans were brought to America during slavery they were forced to give up most of their heritage and were usually separated from their families. This common occurrence usually brought about tremendous pain and grief to the slaves. “West Africa family systems were severely repressed throughout the New World (Guttmann, 1976)”. Some slaves tried to continue practices, such as polygamy, that were a part of traditional African cultures but were unsuccessful. However, they were successful in continuing the traditional African emphasis on the extended family. In the extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents played important roles. Slaves weren’t allowed to marry, but they didn’t let that stop them, they created their own marriages. And through all the hardships they had placed on them, they developed strong emotional bonds and family ties. The slaves discouraged casual sexual relationships and placed a lot emphasis on marriage and stability. To maintain some family identity, parents named their children after themselves or other relatives or sometimes gave them African names.
After reading different articles and learning more about African American culture, it made me want to find out more about my own family culture. There are different traditions that are pasted down in generations, which could have been a part of African culture that we don’t realize such as parenting styles. I don’t remember hearing too many stories about my past relatives growing up, so I had to find out more on my family experiences in the south. Also, I wanted to see how spirituality played a roll in my family choices. My goal in this paper is to show how I got a better understanding of the reason my family could be structured the way it is now.
In all cultures, there are relationships by marriage and family/ household forms, relationships and groups defined by kinship organize a variety of tasks and activities. According to the book,...
In American homes, a traditional family consists of a mother, a father, and some children, who are all siblings. In these families, the parents try to guide their children on the “right” path and each child is equal in their parents’ eyes. In Sierra Leone homes, their traditional family is very different. It will have a single biological parent, an uncle, an aunt, or a community member as the head of the house. There will be many children, but most will not be siblings. While these guardians will also be caring, they will not have the time to help each child with every little problem. The aunts or uncles may pick a favorite to focus their time on, often one who is their own child. These two types of families create interesting children, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Prior to the period of slavery, the majority African family structure was in the realm of 2-parent households and was the main importance for everyone. However, during the period of slavery and beyond, the 2-parent household has been transformed and its looming effects are still in place today. The effects include the phenomenal increase in female-headed households and also the increase in households with individual living by himself or herself. African-American family structure has been inconsistent, and it has a tremendous impact on the children. Statistics have shown that African American males growing up without a father are more likely to end up in prison (Krampe & Newton, 2012). It is important, as the children are dependent on the family in terms of obtaining success in the future. In addition, the single-parent mother ends up taking new roles as mother and father for the child. This topic has many aspects, which showcase the prominent influence in
Lingenfelter, S.. (1985). [Review of A Critique of the Study of Kinship]. American Ethnologist, 12(2), 372–374. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/644228