A curse by the community. Initiation 3. i. There has been a lot of interference from Christian religious beliefs. 8. They are consulted in cases where western medicine has failed. That is, kinship is a network of relationships in which each tie is influenced by, and in turn influences, the others. Bantu migrations also helped to spread agriculture and herding to all parts of Africa. 7. When one dies, he joins the world of the living dead. Introduction. Indeed this sense of kinship binds together the entire life of the "tribe . Richards, Audrey I., Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969. The youth are ritually introduced to the communal living. These carried with them all the heavy social obligations demanded of a mother or father, daughter or son. It is kinship, which controls social relationship between people in a given community: it governs marital customs and regulations, it determines the behavior of individuals towards another. In some communities, a pregnant women returns to her parents when the time for giving birth draws near. It symbolized death and resurrection. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958, 1967, 1975). Kinship System in African Communities. Once the proposals are made, the parents and relatives would begin marriage negotiations. They do not have good food or accommodation. 5. Marriage involves much more than just the bride.37, This author would further argue that among the African people that are conductors, participants, and are actors in these marriages, the concept buy, purchase a wife or bride does not exist. Kinship is at the heart of First Nations society. It could also show how the bridegroom is capable of taking care of the bride. 5. 2. Boys and girls are not allowed to mix freely unless under supervision. This is brought by the following factors:- 1. Land was also a source of medicine in the form of herbs and minerals. Would you say in the Western marriage ritual of the priest leading on the saying of vowes, that the priest orders the groom to now kiss the bride, or put the ring on the brides finger, or ordered to be married for that matter? Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956, 1966, 1971. The traditional healers are still important today especially to those who had let down by medicine prescribed by doctors. (1) According to the Dictionary of Anthropology, "Kinship system includes socially recognized relationships based on supposed as well as actual genealogical ties.". 5. Urbanization has undermined the role of of the elders as it becomes difficult for elders to operate as the people come from different backgrounds. 6 It separates one from the loved ones. This explains why the family household included servants, female slaves, and their children. Kinship relationships also determine social obligations and responsibilities, such as who has the right to inherit property or who is responsible for caring for children giving the expectant mother certain herbs. Furthermore, the woman will bear children and thus enrich her husband and the wider circle of relatives from both sides. This background is essential to any application of Christian spirituality in Africa. 5. DeVos, New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1976. INITIATION - This is the second major important stage in ones life. They include: i. to find out if they are related. Death -The rites or ceremonies conducted on such occasions differ from one community to another. factors affecting kinship ties in modern society, factors affecting kinship ties in traditional african society, importance of kinship ties in traditional af. - Kinship system provides the peaceful ways of settling disputes in a community as all are treated as brothers and sisters. - In African traditional society, each individual is related to the other. In the African understanding, it is believed that there is no natural death. They are regarded as honest. Traditional African Society. pp.164-202. The children learn the customs, beliefs, and culture pertaining to the social roles of being a woman, mother, and wife for girls; and a man, father, and husband for boys. Because of this, extended families among the Bemba are not really as large as those found, especially among patriarchal polygynous traditional families in other tribes be it in Southern, Eastern, or West Africa.28 Polygamy is relatively speaking uncommon in this area and the institution is not an essential part of the Bemba family and economic life as it is among so many Bantu peoples.29, The Bembas kinship is based on descent in the matrilineal line. - The government and churches have built homes for them - They are given food etc. b. The midwife advises on post-natal care of the mother and the baby. - The girls would take back the sheet with a lot of ululation and rejoicing and one girl would remain behind to study the character of the man. It does not give warning. People learn to be thankful to God, parents, relatives and one another AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING OF COMMUNITY AND KINSHIP African community is used to refer to a group of people occupying a particular geographical area, share common interest and practices a sense of togetherness. And this, together with neolocality, makes it nearly impossible to use kinship in structuring our social order. T/F: Through slavery, forced separation of spouses, siblings, and parents from children led to a more expansive definition of kinship, and thus an extended family model took root. - They could also observe the weather conduction and interpret the movement of clouds and wind. 1. The celebration that marked the end of initiation is slowly dying out due to economic constraints. vi. Dec. 31, 2007. - During this period of seclusion:- i. As Eaton et al (2003) found in South Africa, for young people struggling for daily survival, protection from possible future illness may be a lower priority than meeting immediate economic needs. A Bemba belongs to his mothers clan (umukoa), a group of relatives more or less distantly connected, who reckon descent from real or fictitious common ancestries, use a common totem name, and a series of praise titles, recite a common legend of origin and accept certain joint obligations.30. - A child who remained an orphan was easily adopted into another family. One-parent families headed by a woman for any reason are much poorer ($30,296 in 2008 median annual income) than those headed by a man ($44,358). 5. Goode, William J. These relationships which are described in this way are rituals of respect between a son-in-law and his mother-in-law, a daughter-in-law and her father-in-law. - Many people have moved and have settled in foreign lands, which are not their ancestral lands. 1967. 41 Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. They advise the expectant mother on how to take care of herself. 11. vii. - Presents are given to the baby and mother as a sign of good will. The birth of a child is no longer a communal affair but a family affair. ii. Second Edition, London: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1974. First, two animal totems from one of which the clan derives its name. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961)p.76. NAMING Nearly all-African names have a meaning. 6. The degree of relatedness to the caregiver and socio-economic status of the fostering household were the strongest determinants of the well-being of children in kinship care. Thesis. - When a woman learns that she is pregnant, she becomes very happy and she becomes a special person in the community and receives special treatment. Yet, equal opportunities is, perhaps, the essential defining element of an inclusive - Children made marriage complete. Some communities such as the Maasai still maintain their traditional way of dressing. For example honesty is expected in marriage. i. - They preside over important occasions such as initiation, planting and marriage. Email: mtembo@bridgewater.edu, 2023 Mwizenge S. Tembo - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder: Book Review, Kinship and Clan of the Baganda of Uganda, Kinship and Clan of the Bemba of Northern Zambia, Eurocentricity and the Traditional African Family. ii. Many communities made clothes from animal skins, bark of trees, sisal and leaves. - The hair of the mother and the child is shaved. These can be by blood, marriage or adoption. Some of the celebrations like beer drinking are slowly dying out. African spirituality is truly holistic. The subject of traditional family patterns in Africa is so broad that it cannot be adequately addressed in one chapter. 2 Traditional foster care arrangements are referred to as non-kin foster care. WIDOWS AND ORPHANS - A widow is a woman whose husband is dead. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961) p.68. iii. 1. 3. Mothers and children would die at childbirth to cases where there is no skilled mid-wife. 18. a) State five changes that have taken place in property ownership today. iv. - People write wills to share or decide who should inherit their property. They could also give aid to increase productivity e.g. A father-in-law knows what to expect from a good son-in-law. iv. Importance of Initiation i. They also perform light duties for relatives. Less traditional family structures in sitcoms gained popularity in the 1980s with shows such as Diff'rent Strokes (a widowed man with two adopted African American sons) and One Day at a Time (a divorced woman with two teenage daughters). They feel a strong bond towards each other because they are tied by kinship relationships to one another. ii. It is believed that after death one continues to live in the spirit world and therefore the dead relatives are to be given descent burial so that they cannot harm the living. The naming of a child is therefore an important occasion, which is often marked with ceremonies. They can also reveal-hidden information e.g. BIRTH Pregnancy - This is the first stage in the life of a person. Lecture: Nexus kinship and blood has a taste if age-old ideologies. If they float, the clan chief accepts the children as legitimate; but if the cord sinks, the child to whom it belongs is considered born in adultery and disowned.18, After this part of the ceremony, a feast is held. It gives the mans family time to prepare for the dowry payment. Schapera, Isaac., Married Life in an African Tribe. - Honesty. Girls, in distinction to boys, seldom have time to play games.21, Among the Bemba people of Northern Zambia, marriage is matrilocal. 11 This study was conducted in the late 1800s when inter-tribal warfare and capturing of slaves from the wars was still very common. © 2023 Tutorke Limited. - It also shows that the woman is fully integrated to the husbands family - There are certain rules and regulations she is expected to observe. Many wives 3. v. They are also consulted in terms of crisis e.g. During initiation the initiates are given special instructions that prepare them for future life. Third, certain distinguishing personal names. Such influences as end of intra and inter-tribal warfare with the coming of European colonialism, the Western money economy, industrialization, migration, and urbanization have certainly transformed the traditional African family from what it was 50 to 100 years ago. Priests/prophets v. Blacksmiths The religious specialists acquire their skills through:- i. Inheritance from a relative ii. 9. These changes have been brought about by:- i. How the widows and orphans are supported - Church members offer them guidance and counseling (giving them hope) - They are prayed for. Changing attitudes to birth and naming 1. 4. - They are given financial assistance. A person's position in the kinship system establishes their relationship to others and to the universe, prescribing their responsibilities towards other people, the land and natural resources. Social change in Africa as everywhere else is ubiquitous. Urbanization: Where people of different cultures interact with one another. Some herbalists have been legalized by the government and have opened clinics e.g. - Gambling. 35 3Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions. The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers. - Wife inheritance has become risky due to HIV/AIDS. - They can foretell the future by receiving visions, dreams or words from God. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.30. The belief in Christianity has also affected traditional beliefs in death to believe that death is a gateway to heaven and there is resurrection of the body. Importance of marriage - Marriage is for the continuity of the society and is an institution that is ordained by God. iv. Other significant strengths are that the traditional African family increased group cohesion in an otherwise harsh physical and social environment. As such children at an early age learn that their father has little authority or responsibility for them. To protect the child from evil eyes. The wishes of parents and the dead were honored. Measures that are taken to make sure virginity is preserved i).Virginity is highly valued and a girl is meant to preserve her virginity until marriage. (East Lansing, Michigan State University, 1980) p.11 Unpublished M.A. Importance of courtship 1. They act as counselors and guide the people on all issues of life. This is because these ties: Similar customs or rules of restrictions in interaction apply between many other kin in a traditional African family. - In some communities such a girl would be stabbed by an arrow and killed while in others she would be married to an old man. c) Explain the factors weakening kinship ties among Africa communities. This is done by breaking the hearts of relatives by refusing to be good-hearted when they need you. 4 It disrupts normal human activities. 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