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African Cultures (ethnic groups), page 1
We will not try to define the terms cultures and ethnic groups, but
it something to do with common language and history. These pages will never
become "complete" there are more than 700 cultures or ethnic grups in Africa
today. Some of the groups bellow are ancient, they dont exist anymore,
some are small. The reason for adding them to these pages are their significance
and importance for ethnic, folk and world music music of today.
Some of them are not actual ethnic groups, they are generic terms,
in other words, these groups consists of two or more subgroups. These groups
are refered as people.
Most of the historic, economic, political and religious material are
based at information from Art
and Life in Africa Online. At this site you will find some interesting
essays about African Culture and history. |
Akan people
There about 4 million Akan speaking people located in Ghana
and southeastern Ivory Coast. Akan
are generic term referring to many related peoples. The Asante
and Fante are the two largest of these subgroups.
The Akan history is an oral history, but there are evidence of terra-cotta
works from the 1600th century. There are traces of an Akan state from the
13th century based at trade routs (gold) in the area. In the 17th century
the Akan had their peak when it grew into the Asante empire, a mix
of ethnic groups uniting under Chief of Kumasi. The economy in the Asante
empire was based at slave and gold trade in exchange for weapons. The other
economic fundaments where agricultural and fishing. Women had a important
role, and the as traders, and where relativity independent. The one who
could trace descendency to a "founding member" of a village where considered
as noble. The society was hierarchical organized around the village headman,
then a territorial chief, then the paramount chief of each division within
the Asante confederacy. The highest level of power is reserved for the
Asanthene, who inherited his position along matrilineal lines.
The Asante empire was dissolved and colonized around 1900. The Asantene's
have an important role in Ghana today.
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Akuapem
A subgroup of Akan people living in southern Ghana.
Akuapemes believe in a supreme god, and many lower gods.
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Akye
A small subgroup of Akan people living in southern
Ivory
Coast.
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Anyi
A subgroup of Akan people living in southeastern Ivory
Coast. They did not have the same power as the Asante people. The Anyi
people had a basically agricultural economy. The Anyi people had lived
in a spread neighborhood, not in villages. They believed in their ancestors
spirits, not in gods.
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Aowin
A subgroup of Akan people living in southern Ivory
Coast.
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Asante
The largest (1,5 million people) subgroup of Akan people
living in southern Ghana. There are traces
of an Asante state back in 13th century, but it was not before in late
17th century the Asante state rose in power. The Golden Stool of the Asante
descended from heaven as a result of prayers. The Golden Stool became the
focal point of the creation of the Akan confederacy, of which the most
important people were the Asante. Slave and gold trade was the main income
for the Asante society. The Asanthene had strong centralized culture. This
empire lasted for about 200 years.
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Bamana
Bamana people are living in central Mali,
and are a part of the strong Mande culture,
a triad of Bamana, Mandinka and Maninka cultures. It is about 2 million
Bamana people. In the 19th century there was religious wars between Bamana
and Islamic societies.
In the rural parts of Bamana areas people make their living as farmers
with a bit of hunting.
Bamana music are pentatonic (five-note), and often low-tempo
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Bamileke
There are 8 million Bamileke people living in grasslands of western Cameroon.
Fulani
traders moving steadily southwards into Cameroon in the 17th century forced
the southern drift of most of the Bamileke. Eventually, the majority settled
in scattered villages to the south of Bamum territory. The Bamileke are
mainly farmers. Throughout history, the peoples of the Grasslands were
part of extensive trade routes connecting with the seaport of Douala and
through trans-Saharan traders including the Fulani and Hausa to the north.
The Bamileke have a village chief, who is supported by a council of elders,
and is called Fon. The chief is recognized as the de facto owner of all
the land. The Bamilike recognize a supreme god (Si), but they more commonly
pay homage to their ancestors. Ancestral spirits are embodied in the skulls
of the deceased ancestors.
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Bantu people
Bantu people are not an ethnic group, it is an generic term. refering to
many related peoples. Bantu have their origins in Cameroon. About 3000
years ago one of the largest migration of the human histroy started. This
migration ended 300 to 400 A.D. Now they live in equatorial areas, and
in eastern and southern Africa.
Anyway, it was a split in the language, to Eastern Bantu and Western
Bantu.
The Eastern Bantu migrated to Zimbabwe,
Mozambique
and down into South Africa. The
most important ethnic groups Eastern Bantu are the Xhosa,
Zulu,
Kikuyu, and Shona peoples.
The Western Bantu migrated into Angola,
Namibia, and parts of Botswana. The Western Bantu include the Herero and
Tonga peoples.
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Baule
A subgroup of Akan people (400.000 people) living in
central Ivory Coast. The Baule
people moved west to Ivory Coast from Ghana when the Asante empire rised.
They have a King or chief, and their government are centralized. Their
religion are a mix of belief in ancestor spirits, and natural gods.
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Berber
There are 3 million Berber people living in Morocco
and the neighboring Saharan countryes Algeria
and Tunisia. The Berber "territory"
are refered to as Magreb. Berber are a generic term, Tuareg,
Rif, Kabylia, Haratin and Shluh, are all considered as Berber people, or
subgroups of Berber people.
Their ancient ancestors settled in the area just inland of the Medeterraean
Sea to the east of Egypt. In the past centuries many Berber people have
converted to Islam, but many still beleave in spirits. They used to be
nomadic people. Trade routes established from western Africa to the Mediterranean
connected the peoples of southern Europe with much of sub-Saharan Africa
thousands of years ago. Berber society was divided between those who tended
the land and those who did not. Farming was the work of the low classes.
As time has passed, however, these sedentary farmers have been able to
accumulate wealth. They where given status by colonyal and postcolonyal
adminstrations.
Now most of the Berber people have settled down. Most actually practice
sedentary agriculture in the mountains and valleys throughout northern
Africa. Some of them still live as tradesmen, but they are not moving around.
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Bobo
A small population of Bobo people about 100.000 have been living in western
Burkina
Faso and Mali for more then 1000 years.
Their language are related to the Mande
languages. It is a agricultural society. Their societies are cooperatively
organized. It is against their believes to centralize political power to
one single person.
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Cameroon Grassland
The people of Cameroon Grassland are
not one ethnic group. It can be divided into three ethnic groups, Bamilike,
Bamum, and Bamenda Tikar. And these groups can be divided into more subgroups.
But they have a lot in common, in example, they have all migrated from
the north. They are farmers and had trade routs trough their area. Their
political system are organized around a chief (Fon), who is served by a
council of elders, advising him. Ancestral spirits are embodied in the
skulls of the deceased ancestors, and the eldest living male in family
are taking care of them.
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Chokwe
There are morethan 1 million Chokwe people living in southwestern
Congo
(Zaire),
Angola, Mozambique
and Zambia. Chokwe origin can perhaps
be traced to the Mbundu and Mbuti Pygmies. Between 1600 and 1850 they were
under considerable influence from the Lunda
states. In the second half of the 19th century there was made trade routes
from Chokwe land, to the Angolean coast. Chokwe people became wealthy and
took over the Lunda state. But overexpansion, disease, and colonialism
soon ruined the Chokwe state. The Chokwe do not recognize a paramount leader,
but instead offer allegiance to local chiefs. The chiefs consult with a
committee of elders. The Chokwe recognize Kalunga, the god of creation
and supreme power, and a series of nature and ancestral spirits.
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Dinka
The Dinka have lived at both sides of the White Nile in Sudan
since 1000 A.D. Now there are about 500.000 of them. Their lifes are clocely
connected to the river. They considered as cattle, sheep and goat owners.
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Djenne
The Djenne people are located on the Niger River in central Mali.
The culture of Djenne can be traced back to 250 B.C. Djenne city, founded
between 850 and 1200 A.D, are the oldest known city in sub-Sahara. It was
a trading post between western and central Sudan and Guinea, and was directly
linked to the important trading city of Timbuktu, down the Niger River.
Djenn was captured by the Songhai emperor Sonni 'Ali in 1468. Djenn was
known as a center of Islamic learning, attracting students from all over
the region.
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Dogon
Dogon people live in southeastern Mali
and Burkina Faso. According to
oral traditions they came from the east bank of Niger River between 10th
and 13th century. They worships the ancestors and the spirits.
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Eket
There are 1 million Eket people located in southeastern Nigeria.
The Eket are really a subgroup of the Ibibio,
and their history and culture are very similar.
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Fang
There are 800.000 Fang people living in southern Gabon, Equatorial
Guinea and Cameroon. Fang people
came from northeast to their current area quite recently. They are rather
millitant, and they have no problem taking land from weaker people.
The Fang people have strong song traditions. The mvet, an harp zither
made of gourd, have the same significanse in Fang as the Kora
in Mali. It is used to accomponying epic songs. Most villages have a traditonal
chorus
and drum group. The music performed in these groups are call
and responce music.
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Fante
Fante people live at the southern coast of Ghana.
Fante and Asante are the two largest groups in the
Akan group. Akan are a generic term for many related ethnic groups.
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Fon
The Fon people lives in southern Benim
and in Togo. The Fon people are the creators
of the kingdom of Dahomey, in Benim. A kingdom lasting more than
200 years. After conquering numerous small coastal states, the Fon monopolized
the region's slave trade. The French colonized the area in 1894. The Fon
people worship and offer to their ancestors. Under the Dahomey regime slaves
and war captives where offered when a ruler was dead.
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Frafra
Frafra are a small population living in northeastern Ghana.
They are a subgroup of the Gurunsi people, living in southern Burkina
Faso and northern Ghana. Farmers throughout the region practice
slash and burn farming. They had no internal system of chiefs, and all
important decisions were made by a council of elders. Belief in a supreme
creator being is central to Frafra beliefs.
Traditional Frafra music are fiddle, lute and talking drum encembles.
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Fulani
There are approximately 7 million Fulani people are a nomadic people wandering
in Guinea, Burkina
Faso, Mali, Nigeria,
Niger,
Cameroon,
and Chad. They are considered to be cattle herders, but many have settled
dowm lately. Fulani people were responsible for introducing and spreading
Islam throughout much of western Africa. The height of the Fulani empire,
in northern Nigeria, was between the early 1800s and early 1900s. Fulani
was mainly nomadic herders and traders. Nowaday many of them have settled
down. Their routes provided extensive links throughout the region
between otherwise isolated ethnic groups in western Africa. Fulani people
are Islamic, and the Fulani empire fought series of holy wars, first they
defeated the Hausa people. The Islamic Fulanis are
still an important political factor in Nigeria.
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Hausa
Hausa are a large ethnic group in Nigeria
and Niger, they are somewhere between
10 and 15 million people. The Hausa people are mainly farmers, but they
are also skilled weawers, and leather and metalworkers, and they are also
traders. According to their origin myths their forefather, Bayajidda, came
to Daura. There he freed the people from a sacred snake. He married queen,
and the two gave birth to seven healthy sons, each of whom ruled the seven
city states that make up Hausa land. At 1200 this state was in control
of the region. The key to power in the Hausa state was to trace ancestry
to Bayajidda. Hausa people gradually converted to Islam. Throughout their
history Hausa people have been conquered by Fulani,
Bornu, Songhai and Mande
people. Around 1800 the Fulani took over control of the area in a series
of holy wars.
Instruments in Hausa music: Kontigi, a one stringed lute, molo,
a two stringed lute, goje, a one stringed fiddle, kukkuma,
a small fiddle, duma percursion, the drummer presses the skinn of
the drum to vary the sound, ganga, a big bubble skinned drum with
resonator, kalangu, a small talking drum, algahîta,
a small trumpet , and a long trumpet named kakati.
Hausa have two directions in music, state (court connected) music, and
rural music.
Ceremonial, rokon fada, music are important in Hausa. The musicians
are chosen because of their family background, not their musical qualities.
Hausa people have praise and court singing traditions. These musicians
are great performers.
The sara, a weekly statement of power and authoroty, are impessing,
with the kakakai trumpet. The kakakai originally comes from Songhai
cavallery.
In the rural areas traditional music is a dying artform. The few exemaples
that still exists goes back to before Islam.
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