Storytelling in Africa

Traditional storytelling is as old as humanity itself! 

We know the ancestors of all humanity evolved in Africa, so it is safe to say that story telling also originated in Africa. With time, the art of story telling developed as humans migrated to different regions of the world.  Even today, African narratives are character-building tales with morals told through legends, songs, dances, myths and riddles.

But let me give you a brief historical background to the origin of humanity, the migration patterns and how story telling and oral traditions have been sustained. 

Image from aianjack. com

Africa is where ALL humanity is believed to have originated. Historians have traced the periods in which humans moved from present day Africa to the Mediterranean, Europe, Asia, America, and finally New Zealand, which is believed to be the last habitable land mass colonized by humankind. Genetic drift and adaptation that has happened in the time since they migrated, contributed to the difference in appearances. 

According to genetic evidence and the most recent fossil discoveries, groups of modern humans first moved across the Sinai Peninsula about 180,000 years ago. Innovative talent carried our species into every exploitable niche. We were living in the eastern Mediterranean region by 90,000 years ago and reached Asia and Australia by 40,000 years ago and Europe by 30,000 years ago. 

During ice ages, sea levels were as much as 425 feet lower than they are today, so there were land bridges connecting many of today’s islands and continents. Humans walked across what is now the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska by 15,000 years ago, and reached the southern tip of South America by 12,000 years ago.  Polynesian voyagers even colonized New Zealand at least 700 years ago.

So, anyway, back to the story telling:

Olduvai Gorge- Image by Nwbeeson

The stone age is believed to have been significant in stimulating development of of the modern human cognitive abilities. Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the places where deposits of stone tools over one million years old were found. With the stone age came human mastery of fire, and many stories in traditional African societies were told around fireplaces. 

Image by Gateway Africa

Traditionally, story telling has been a way of sustaining heritage and traditions, and communicating knowledge. Stories were told around themes of love, conquest and death, involving discipline, work ethic, leadership, and other morals. 

The decline of the art of story telling in Africa was influenced by foreign art forms. This is not to say that those forms are bad, but rather that it has been difficult to balance the traditional art with books, movies and television, especially when those media are strategically marketed as superior. This identity crisis is evident in many indigenous communities, including those beyond of the continent of Africa.

Unfortunately, story telling and folklore has become endangered because its value to the community has been lowered enough to not be preserved in many urban places. It has been replaced by Disney fantasies for both children and adults. Parents and communities have lost the skill of telling stories to their children.

Here is a story from my mother’s tribe.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there was a spring where there lived a songbird that would distract people who went to draw water from the spring. The moment someone would put a water pot on their head to carry it home, the bird would sing so beautifully, shaking its beads and cowrie shells, and the person would look back to see it, drop their pot and break it.  

When the people reported to the king, he laughed out loud and said that any man who drew water from that spring and brought an intact pot of water to him, would have his beautiful daughter for a wife. 

Many men tried, but whenever they would put the pot of water on their heads, the bird would break out in its song

Children listening to an African Tale, at Acton TV

Semusajja agenda, Kaleeba

Ndabira abali eka eyo, Kaleeba

Akanyonyi Kali Kuluzzi, Kaleeba

Kambadde ensiimbi, Kaleeba

Ensiimbi n’obutiiti, Kaleeba

Kyo Kyoki, Kaleeba

Kyuka nondeeba, Kaleeba

One day a deformed person, akakokolo, came to visit the King’s family and declared his intention to marry the girl.  He told them he had heard all about the bird, but was determined not to fail like the previous people. The parents and their daughter laughed so hard, but the akakokolo stood his ground and pleaded to be given a chance. 

“Do you promise to give me the girl if I succeed in bringing back the pot of water?” 

“Of course we will keep our part of the bargain, but we know there is no way someone like you can do this. Worthy men have failed. We do not want to waste our time, but for the sake of amusing ourselves, we will give you a pot.”

As soon as the akakokolo got the pot, he set out for the spring. On getting there, he filled the pot hurriedly and put it on his head. No sooner had he started moving, than the bird started its song:

Semusajja agenda, Kaleeba

Ndabira abali eka eyo, Kaleeba

Akanyonyi Kali Kuluzzi, Kaleeba

Kambadde ensiimbi, Kaleeba

Ensiimbi n’obutiiti, Kaleeba

Kyo Kyoki, Kaleeba

Kyuka nondeeba, Kaleeba

The akakokolo did not turn to look at the bird. “This man is trying to resist me,” thought the bird, “Let me put in more effort.” The bird sang louder, but the akakokolo did not stop or turn to look at it. The bird started dancing, and doing tricks while singing, but the akakokolo still did not turn to look at it. It flew over him, but to no avail. 

The King, his wife and their daughter were still laughing when they suddenly saw in the distance, the akakokolo walking toward them with the pot on his head. Their laughter froze on their faces. They noticed the bird was still flying behind the akakokolo, trying to distract him. He finally got to the family, gently lowered the pot of water to the ground, and asked for the girl’s hand in marriage, as promised. The girl and her parents cried and cried, but a promise is a promise, so they had no choice but to give the girl to the akakokolo to be his wife.

The moral of this story was to caution against the arrogance of despising and underrating people who may look different in appearance, and to emphasize the importance of not judging a book by its cover. Children are also reminded that following a task to the end without letting themselves be distracted, pays off.

Vivian Birchall- Author and Host- Africa2U

References:

1. Africa, A Biography of the Continent by John Reader, 1998.
2. Cultural Atlas of Africa- Revised Edition, Edited by Ocelyn Murray, 1998
3. The oral traditions of the Baganda of Uganda: A study and Anthology of Legends, Myths,  Epigrams and Folktales, Immaculate N. Kiiza, 

Crafts and Specialized Skills in African societies

Historically, Africa has been known for producing art and craft from the available raw materials and historical influences.

The crafts from this region are distinct and include, textile, cultural artifacts, pottery, weapons, paintings, among others.

Different work, may at times represent different tribes, clans, regions or even events such as marriage, harvests, initiation ceremonies and celebration.

Women have historically specialized in handcrafted household accessories, while men specialize in more labor-intensive projects.

Rwandese Baskets
Photo Credit: Women of Famu

Ankole Baket with "Kalo"

Ankole Baskets
Photo credit: UG Pulse

   


                               

Some of the hand crafted items include mats and baskets. Often times, the same raw materials are used to make these two items.  Dried palm leaves, raffia and  reeds
The various mats and baskets were elaborately woven together using dried, dyed palm tree straw fiber.

One needs to note that these raw materials are bio-degradable and therefore kind to the environment. It is no wonder that  despite much of  being Sub-saharan Africa, being rated poorly and "isolated", on the global economy, it boasts of marine and terrestrial eco-systems that are endowed with unique tourist attractions.

A gourd with freshly churned ghee

The photo abovet shows a gourd that was specifically crafted to store ghee that had been freshly churned or for storing food.

Ebyanzi- Part of "Omugamba"
Photo Credit: Monitor UG

Omugamba is a collection of cultural pots given to an Ankole bride, at her traditional wedding day. It comprises of ebyanzi (åmilk pots), enkyeka (gourds), pots for storing ghee, herbs , a small pot for storing traditionally made moisturizer “amajuta” and a pot used to burn scented herbs in the couple’s bedroom.

Many of the traditional African instruments in the African societies, are made out of animal skin, wood, reeds, seeds and other products of nature.

Ugandan Drums, shakers and string instruments
Photos by Vivian Birchall

Children dancing at the side of the road being constructed

If only the world was as free spirited as little children enjoying music beats...

Indigenous Restorative Justice Processes in Africa

Historically, in many traditional African societies, individual identities were derived from larger group identities such as clans, tribes, villages, and different social classifications. These groups emphasized rectitude and good behavior, and that influenced their judicial system, which favored harmony among the people. Disputes were mainly settled between individuals.

I am careful not to present Africa as one homogenous community, cognizant of the fact that the continent is often misrepresented as one big country, with one culture.

However, I can safely say that Africans are extremely involved in the social life of their communities, a trend that is very evident among African immigrants in the United States, who replicate African Communities, form clusters of vibrant groups of people and exhibit a strong sense of community.

Historically, the communities have been involved in the decentralized justice processes.  The traditional authority systems encourage the community to take an active role in resolving the conflicts and fixing the harm done.  It is common for people to approach justice through a restorative lens by making the victim central and focusing on their needs and how they can be met, while maintaining the unity of the community, clan or village.

In the past, it was normal to witness ritual feasting as the outcome of a process of reconciliation.

This is possibly due to the fact that in many African societies, neighbors, relatives and friends depended on each other. They raised each other’s children, harvested on each other’s farms, contributed to each other’s social events, and so it was only natural that they resolved conflicts together, through neighborhood “courts”. They focused on resolving conflicts through mediation, as opposed to pronouncing judgement, characteristic of their strong sense of community.

The approach to these cases was:

§ Involve dialogue and the community (Mediation and adjudication)


§ Promote individual and societal healing, through reconciliation. This sometimes ended with a meal or feast to confirm the start of the reconciliation process.

§ Emphasize harm & resulting obligations 


§ Keep victims’ needs and interests central 


§ Encourage offenders to understand and 
take responsibility for harm

Despite the weakening of pre-colonial indigenous restorative justice mechanisms by colonization, it is still evident to date. For example, my mother, was, until recently, a chairperson of the Local council, a village level administration of the country’s very decentralized structure, and when people in our “village” had disputes within the family or with neighbors, they came to our house to present their cases, hoping for a dispute resolution and some form of reconciliation.  As a family, we offered refreshments or food to the victim and the offender, as needed, depending on the timing of their cases at our home.          

The community I grew up in rarely opted for retributive justice.

There were many cases of retributive justice in the African societies too, but today, when we look at retribution, we agree that it worsens wounds because it separates justice from healing.

In modern East Africa, cultural and decentralized restorative forms of justice have played a big role in reconstructing social order in some post-conflict societies in Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, and others. Rwanda’s Gacaca restorative process, after the 1994 genocide, played a significant role in curbing the retaliatory feeling of those who lost their loved ones. Uganda adopted an agreement on grass-roots reconciliation with the former Lord’s Resistance Army rebels. These are transitional processes of healing from very serious crimes like genocide that have negatively impacted the lives of people in these communities.

Vivian Kobusingye Birchall

African Communities Living in Harmony with Nature

"Living in Harmony with Nature" episode, at Acton TV

This post provides a glimpse into how African ways of life are environmentally sustainable, and less dependent on money and industrial products.

Vivian wearing the bark cloth f
rom Uganda

Perhaps this contributes to many cultures on the continent being labeled as primitive or poor.

For centuries, Africans’ way of life of has rotated around making friends with nature in various ways that sustain the livelihood of the people. Communities are aware of what natural resources they have and creatively use those resources for their survival.

In many traditional African societies in sub-Saharan Africa, the communities engaged in numerous activities involving music, dancing, sports and weaving.  These activities continue to be supported by the environment, which provides raw materials for traditional African instruments, costumes, tools and toys. Many of these are made out of plant and animal products.

An African mother, teaching her children
household skills

Creativity and craft skills were passed on from one generation to another by the parents, clansmen, members of the extended family, or older siblings of the same sex, depending on the skill being taught.

It was common for children of the different sexes to learn the same skills until they got to a certain age where the boys were expected to take on more masculine roles like building huts or dwellings, hunting, carpentry, blacksmithing work, or training as warriors, while girls focused more on crafts that were used in the day-to-day activities of the household.

These creations and skills were applied to transforming the natural resources into practical tools for the communities.

Let me take you through some examples of what I mean.

Gourds and Calabashes:

One of the common crafts made out of plants among people of the various cultures in Sub Saharan Africa, is the gourds and calabashes that have historically been used for drinking and storage. 

A boy drinking from an
Ankole gourd 

A baby with an Ankole gourd

Among keepers of cattle, gourds have, traditionally been used for storing milk, churning ghee, which in the west is referred to as clarified butter, storing home made moisturizers, scented products and many other things.

"Eshabwe" in pots, and
gourds in the background

They were and still are used for serving and storing millet and sorghum beverages in many cultures.


Banana Plants:

 "Matooke"- Green plantain

These are a staple crop in East Africa. There are many varieties of bananas and plantains in the region.  These  provided bananas for food, snacks, alcoholic beverages, and ingredients preparation for medical procedures for the communities that grew them

"Gonja" - Yellow plantain

Bananas are culturally interplanted with cover crops, usually legumes like beans, peas and  ground nuts (peanuts), which provide plant protein, to the family's diet.

In some communities, weeds were controlled through established field mulching, dry seedless grasses, elephant grass  and coffee husks, before and even after the introduction of chemical weed killers. At my grandmother's garden, and my secondary (High) school, unwanted banana leaves  were also used for mulching. 

Fertilizers: 

During my undergraduate studies, I conducted research on “contribution of indigenous knowledge to social economic development, with Masaka, Uganda, as a case study”. I focused on how indigenous ways of life contribute to the sustenance of communities.  One of my findings was that many rural communities used natural fertilizers like animal urine, in their gardens. These were non-toxic, low-cost and sustainable, since they used animals that were already on their farms.

Scrubbing dishes: 

The "Oluwawu" plant

Washing dishes is a regular activity in any household. One might wonder how dishes are washed in societies or communities without dishwashers and soap, in rural Africa. 

I do not know what every culture on the continent used, but I can share my personal and family experience.

At my grand mother and mother’s homes, as needed, we used the “Oluwawu” which is the “Ficus exasperata“ species. It is also known as the “sandpaper leaf.” It is native to tropical Africa. The main pupose of the "oluwawu" was to scrub dirty dishes. It works great and does not have to be manufactured. It is also biodegradable since it’s a plants so it does not damage the environment. 

Someone pounding friend cassava with
a mortar and pestle

The stump of the “Oluwawu” tree was also traditionally used for making “ekinu” (pestle) for pounding peanuts and (sesame), to make a powder for making peanut sauce, or a paste similar to peanut butter.

Extracts from the tree have also traditionally been used to treat ulcers and for anti-inflammation.



Baths:
Using my experience, again, all my life in Uganda, my family and I used “ekyangwe”, also known as sponge gourd, vegetable sponge or loofah, to scrub our bodies.  These sponges have become popular in the west, where they are commonly bought at stores, rather than grown at home.

"Omweso" - A board game, on a woven mat

In addition, many African communities today have carried on skills of using plants to make crafts such as woven mats, baskets, dolls, toys, bark cloth, and many other things that are significant to everyday life.

Children creatively using a rock
to play a board game, called "Omweso"

So, this has been a brief intro into the way African societies relate with nature. Imagine family life where the community uses plants, animals and nature in general, in the day-to-day activities.  Imagine not having to go to any stores to buy these things. The amazing part is that all these products are kind to the environment, because they are bio-degradable.

Teaching morals:

The natural environment also provided themes for storytelling and poetry, usually around a fire, in the evenings, shortly before dinner. These stories encouraged ethical and moral behavior. For example, among the Banyankole and Bakiga people in western Uganda, there is a poem that children were taught, to encourage them to work for what they eat. It goes:

Kikyere zakuhiinga,

tinyine agahiinga.

Kikyere zakushenya,

tinyine agashenya.

Kikyere zakushoroma,

tinyine agashoroma.

Kikyere ija turye,

kanfe kugurukyeera ndeebe!

Literally translated,

Woman: “Frog, go to dig”
Frog : “I do not have energy to dig”
Woman: “Frog, go fetch firewood”
Frog: “I do not have energy to fetch firewood”
Woman: “Frog, go pick vegetables”
Frog: “I do not have energy to pick vegetables”
Woman: “Frog, come let’s eat”
Frog : “Let me try to hop around and see”

I hope this has taught you something new about the way of life of the African people.

The Caucasian-South African Cultural Experience

There are many caucasian South Africans, whose ancestry is the English and Dutch settlers. I got the opportunity to chat with two of them, Kate and Twane, about their cultural experiences both in New England-USA, and South Africa.

Traditional Knowledge and Africa's History of Innovation

How did people learn life-saving skills in communities that did not have formal schools?

Like many indigenous societies worldwide, African societies have a strong tradition of storytelling, for passing on knowledge and information from one generation to the next. Today, it is supplemented with modern formal education. Societies throughout sub-Saharan Africa have preserved knowledge about the past through verbal, visual, and written art forms, giving Africa has the world's oldest record of human technological achievement. What history books and modern narratives have labeled primitive African activity, I call innovation of the time. Let me share some stories of knowledge in sub-Saharan Africa, and how it has influenced the world we live in.

Vivian Kobusingye Birchall,
 demonstrating how to use a grinding stone
in Acton, MA, 2017

I have childhood memories of watching family members in southwestern Uganda using grinding stones (“orubengo”) to grind millet and sorghum into flour for home consumption. The oldest stone tools in the world have been found in eastern Africa, and evidence of tool production from available materials has been found across sub-Saharan Africa. Some of these stone tools have existed for centuries, and many tribes in sub-Saharan Africa have continued to use them, even after interaction with Europeans. Mechanized grain mills, turned by hand, mule, wind or water, function on the same principles.

Vivian, demonstrating how to use a grinding stone,
at Lesedi, in South Africa, 2008

Another childhood memory is of my mother applying traditional knowledge to cure different ailments, in the absence of modern medicine, or when modern medicine did not work. This happens in many African communities.  It is common to see multi-pupose plants grown in the yard and around African homes. For thousands of years, Africans have had a wide knowledge of medicinal plants that they still use, especially in areas that do not have access to modern health facilities.

"Omujaaja" Plant
Photo: Prossy Namirembe Byarugaba
(Copyright: Africa2U) 

For example, at her  house, my mother, Prossy, planted aloe vera, banana trees, and African basil (“omujaaja”). This native plant is used as a tea spice, but also has medicinal uses, to treat flatulence (“okutumbira mu lubuto”), constipation (“obuteyabya”) and toothaches. Our ancestors learned these things not in school, but through their own investigation, and knowledge passed down orally from their elders. Today, pharmaceutical researchers around the world have confirmed that extracts from this plant have a range of potential uses against pain, bacteria, parasites and diabetes.

Even various traumatic wounds could be treated. Traditional physicians would squeeze plant juices with antiseptic properties into the open wound, then use a red-hot metal tip to cauterize bleeding points and burn away damaged tissue. They would then stitch the wound closed with a tough thorn or awl and fibrous sutures. Finally, a fiber mat would be wrapped tightly around the wound to apply pressure and stop bleeding. These capabilities were not merely applied to injuries!

Robert W. Felkin (1853-1926), an expert and advisor to the Lancet on tropical disease, first traveled to Africa in 1878 with missionaries as a medical student. At the time, Europe and the rest of the world thought of the caesarian section as a last resort, to save the baby of a mother whose own life could not be saved. But in the Banyoro kingdom of western Uganda, he witnessed a caesarian as a routine procedure performed by a skilled, experienced practitioner and assistants, with both mother and baby surviving.

Banana wine served as an anaesthetic and antiseptic, the incision was sparingly cauterized and fastened closed with sharp spikes, and the mother’s abdomen was wrapped tightly. Within six days, the fasteners were removed, and when Felkin left after monitoring the mother for eleven days, both she and her baby were doing well. Felkin’s description and sketches of the procedure were published in the Edinburgh Medical Journal in 1884, the same year he gave an address, Notes on Labour in Central Africa, to the Edinburgh Obstetrical Society.

Banyoro knife used for caesarian section in 1879. Presented by Dr. R.W. Felkin to Sir Henry Wellcome, now in the Wellcome Collection, London. (Copyright: The Wellcome Trust.)

Of course, there have been many surgical advances in the last 150 years, but one does not usually hear that Europeans learned how to perform successful caesarian sections by watching Africans. Nor do we hear of ancient Egyptian medical records describing material from the papyrus plant being used to make tampons, or of many African tribes practicing inoculation against smallpox long before Edward Jenner’s vaccine, or of Masai surgeons drilling into the chest to partially collapse a lung as treatment for pleurisy or pneumonitis. But we must acknowledge the skills of pre-colonial Africans. They were experts, and innovators, in their time.

But knowledge and learning in Africa is not limited to food production and medicine.  During the golden age of the Mali Empire between 1300 and 1600, the city of Timbuktu, located at the border of the Sahara and the Sahel, was a center of trade and education. Scholars at its university had access to all the mathematical learning of the Islamic world at the time, including algebra, geometry and trigonometry.

Looking even further back, some of the oldest mathematical tools in the world, dating to the paleolithic era, have been found at the Uganda-Congo border and in Swaziland.  The Ishango and Lebombo bones are lengths of bone with series of notches carved on them.  Several theories of their purpose have been put forth, ranging from prime numbers or multiplication devices to tracking the phases of the moon.

Ishango Bone
(Afro Legends)

Another possibility is that the markings on the bone were used to track a woman’s menstrual cycle. Many African tribes associate menstruation with the moon; the Banyakitara, my father’s kin, call it “Okuza omukwezi,” literally translated “Going into the moon.” Of course, this could also imply that the bones were the first astronomical records – or that the first mathematicans and astronomers were women. That is a conversation for another time.

We may not know what they were tracking, but one thing is for certain – whatever it was, they invented a mathematical tool to track it, and that influenced how African people and communities tracked things.  As you can see, there is much to learn about past and present African ways of life. Some traditions have given way to modern ways of doing things, but others are deeply rooted in our way of life and are still applicable today.

Vivian Kobusingye Birchall

Traditional Knowledge and Africa's History of Innovation