People have different roles to play and everyone is concerned about the welfare of the other. .The eldest son cannot inherit.15, The Baganda practice the levirate custom. b) Explain the purpose of bride wealth in the traditional African community. The Family; Its Structures and Functions. These are many. 7. Although among the Baganda, the nuclear family of the mother, father, and their children constitutes the smallest unit of the Baganda kinship system, the traditional family consists of several nuclear units held in association by a common father.9 Because the Baganda people are patrilineal, the household family also includes other relatives of the father such as younger unmarried or widowed sisters, aged parents, and children of the fathers clan sent to be brought up by him. 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. Maintaining ties of kinship is the way to the security of the Muslim nation. They are made aware of their responsibilities in adulthood. LEISURE Leisure is the free time that an individual has at his disposal when he is not bound by duty. Everybody in the community is expected to work hard. Death always strikes unexpectedly. What was the structure of the polygynous family? The descriptions implicitly portray (to the African and Westerner) African relationships as being negative, rigid and miserable. 42 Yizenge A. Chondoka, Traditional Marriages in Zambia: A Study in Cultural History. Matrilineality is the major influence in what children learn and come to accept about their society. vi. 7. Hotel Hope Ministries is a fully registered South African non-profit organisation established with aim of ensuring that each and every child is brought up in a safe, happy and healthy home so that they can grow up and develop into responsible and positive adults. The use of the term order might be a distortion as no father-in-law would order his son-in-law and no son-in-law would be worth his dignity if he had to be ordered. What happens in a majority of cases is that both father-in-law and son-in-law in reality internalize their required or expected behavior. v. They drive a way witches and evil spirits. i. Land was owned by the community. 9. Many children 2. - People tend to be individualized. The . 2. Fourth, special observations related to pregnancy, childbirth, naming of the child, and testing the childs legitimacy as clan member.14, The existence of patriarchy and the patrilineal system among the Baganda might suggest that individual men have the most dominant social status. There are societies where prayers are made to the mother and the child. Other significant strengths are that the traditional African family increased group cohesion in an otherwise harsh physical and social environment. They could also give aid to increase productivity e.g. Mbiri Ya Achewa, 195? Second, an identifying drum beat used at ceremonies. Young men are taught to develop self-love and love for the community it provides a sense of belonging. among the Kisii, a person born crossing the river could be called Kwamboka. So the relationship is often based on mutual expectations and is more beneficial for both parties than confrontational and fraught with issuing of orders. 2. Third, certain distinguishing personal names. - Thankfulness. In traditional African society this entails a bride-exchange in form of cattle, services, foodstuffs, family ties, or other expressions of the marriage contract. 4. To give the mother instructions on how to take care of the child. The continuance of Aboriginal society is dependent on keeping Aboriginal families strong and healthy both physically and culturally. society. To protect the child from evil eyes. i. ii. In the African understanding, it is believed that there is no natural death. J. Clyde Mitchell, The Yao Village: a Study in the Social Structure of a Malawian Tribe. The father knows that his children are not his ultimate responsibility but his sisters children. The clan chooses the heir. It is a sign of belonging to the society or identification. Boys and girls are not allowed to mix freely unless under supervision. In many matrilineal societies, the maternal uncle in the go-between or undertakes all the arrangements and responsibilities for his nephews marriage.32 In case of divorce, the womens people were legal guardians of the children. - They oversee the division of property in the community after death. 1. Virginity is not highly valued and many people break their virginity at stage of adolescence. Western Culture: Has provided the spirit of individualization. Kinship relationships were and still are important among African communities. 6. - Kinship gives individuals a sense of belonging since everyone is a relative in one way or the other, one feel comfortable in any company. - It also regulates marriage relations, before marriage one has to find the back ground of the other. Furthermore, the woman will bear children and thus enrich her husband and the wider circle of relatives from both sides. This shows that children seals marriage. Sometimes people mistake that they are witch doctors especially Christians. Second, the continued Eurocentric descriptions and characterization of the African traditional family as some what depraved lead to the use of such terms as bride price, avoidance social taboos, segregated relationships, lack of love and tenderness in African marriages and families. In the late and early 19th century, a detailed study conducted among the Baganda found that, Polygyny, the type of marriage in which the husband has plural wives, is not only the preferred but the dominant form of marriage for the Baganda.8 Commoners had two or three, chiefs had dozens, and the Kings had hundreds of wives. Such occasions include beer drinking, wrestling, playing football, singing and dancing etc. First, two animal totems from one of which the clan derives its name. They live in one Geographical area. 7. Diviners also have religious functions and perform duties of priests such as offering of sacrifice. It was written in 1988. Today initiation is not done at particular stage in life. ii. 1. If the child laughs, then the last mentioned name is given to him or her, .and the soul of the ancestors is considered to have entered its body.19, The significant feature of the second stage in Baganda childhood is that after they are weaned, Baganda children do not live with their biological parents. It is also a symbolic act of breaking the bride completely from the state of unmarried life once dowry is paid she becomes full and mature person. Importance of courtship 1. The government, the church and non-governmental organizations have built homes for the aged. The purpose of sex is purely for procreation hence this discouraged sex before marriage. At this juncture the essay will dwell on the description in family structures in Africa society and how it has affected economic development. People in the traditional African communities were afraid of acquiring property unlawfully for fear of curse. The kinships are based on two broad aspects 1) Birth (Blood relationships) 2) marriages. v. They are also consulted in terms of crisis e.g. Religion: People have some religious beliefs, which promote unity, and every community believes in the existence of one God. vi. First, the strengths, durability, and resilience of the African traditional family were never dwelt on explicitly and at length. Kinship ties are strong bonds that exist among community members. - Wife inheritance has become risky due to HIV/AIDS. Bell, Norman W., and Vogel, Ezra F. The study of African societies has become an established area of scholarship, with sophisticated analyses that are far from earlier works . - It causes physical injury to the victim. A community has distinct beliefs, customs and cultural practices. Ngulube, Naboth M. J., Some Aspects of Growing Up in Zambia, Lusaka: Nalinga Consultancy/Sol-Consult A/S Limited, 1989. 2. Priests/prophets v. Blacksmiths The religious specialists acquire their skills through:- i. Inheritance from a relative ii. It cements the relationship between the two families through the exchange of gifts. People nowadays migrate and buy lands in far places. In rural areas, the family typically . Rain makers ii. - Among the Luo the bride could be accompanied by her other sisters and on the first night, the people would witness the breaking of virginity. Kinship connections are in turn based on two categories of bonds: those created by marriage and those that result from descent , which is socially recognized links between ancestors and descendants. Explain the importance of Kinship in traditional African society african cultural and moral values 1 Answer 0 votes answered Aug 9, 2021 by anonymous Control social relationships in community of people related by blood and marriage Bind whole community hence social cohesion Makes people live in harmony/ peace Promotes mutual responsibility and help 2 Traditional foster care arrangements are referred to as non-kin foster care. There is socialization to raise boys and girls to become responsible and acceptable adults of the village, community, and ultimately society. During seclusion there is sex education, which is meant for girls and boys for marriage. People who have gone to school see the aged as old fashioned (generation gap) 6. The kinship systems govern care,. v. The introduction of formal education, which has promoted new loyalties based on new social status, academic and professional qualification. Lucy P. Mair, African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life. 6. 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. Economy e.g. .. - Presents are given to the baby and mother as a sign of good will. - Marriage enables one to assume leadership rules an unmarried person would not be chosen a leader. This is done by breaking the hearts of relatives by refusing to be good-hearted when they need you. They feel a strong bond towards each other because they are tied by kinship relationships to one another. This chapter only focussed on the matrilineal and polygynous patrilineal African traditional family patterns because they seem representative of the broad patterns that exists on the continent. At childhood children are taught to obey parents and the elderly. It is believed that the dead relatives continue to live through children. Midwife could assist the mother in actual delivery to ensure the safety of the baby. In some communities the choice is made by the parents. The birth of a child is no longer a communal affair but a family affair. 5. Their relevance today Some people still consult prophets on seers some couples may consult in case of barrenness. iv. 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. If he did, it would be like selling her. The term 'brother' and 'sister' shows the sex of blood relations. Polygyny though set the tone and often determined the strength of the society and pattern of social organization of the traditional African family. 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. Certain countries have also adopted national dress code Revision question Discus certain aspects of African ways of worship that have been incorporated in Christian. 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. Living with new parents means no particular change in status; the biological parents do not forget their off spring and are always present for any ceremonies involving their children.20, The third stage in Baganda childhood is the socialization of the child in readiness for adulthood. Urbanization: Where people of different cultures interact with one another. The midwife advises on post-natal care of the mother and the baby. BIRTH Pregnancy - This is the first stage in the life of a person. a person born during locusts invasion can be called Adede among the luo. 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Dishonoring or insulting God. - In others the bridegroom and its party have to fight the brides party in order to get her. vii. 3. Birth and naming 2. But typically news, information, and gossip flow readily through the network, with some individuals acting as "kin . Lous Wirth also believed that the city is not conducive to the traditional type of family life. The literature on the subject is truly as vast and reflects traditional patterns that are as diverse as the variations of the physical looks of the people found on the continent. 25 This book is written in Chewa indigenous Central African language. 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. 5 It comes unannounced. It was a signed to individuals by the elders. 4. 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