The subject of "family patterns in Africa" is broad, encompassing complex realities across a diverse continent. Africa is plural, with each group of people possessing customs unique to them.
Traditional family life in Africa.
The Importance of the Extended Family
Generally speaking, each African belongs to a family which is much larger than an individual one. The African family is not only made up of a man, his wife and their children. By birth, the African becomes a member of a wider community that is also known as the extended family. The more the family is extended, the more it gets a feeling of pride and security.
The extended African family is a place to practice solidarity. One cannot conceive family life without sharing. One shares his sorrows and the joys with his extended family.
The great decisions are never made individually. For example, a father should not marry his children without discussing this with the extended family. It is inconceivable that young people marry without involving their families.
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The Role of Ancestors
The African family does not consist only of the union between living people. It is indeed extended to the ancestors. They play a big role in the dynamics of the family. In the African imagination, the dead are not dead. The ancestors maintain a relationship with the extended family. We refer to them when we relate, through our traditions, our moral values and our culture. Indeed death does not break the family tie. In some cultures the grave yard is also close to their home, a sign that they are part of the living family.
Marriage Customs
Marriage customs vary significantly across the continent.
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Lobola is intended to bring together two families, fostering mutual respect. It also indicates that the groom is financially capable of supporting his wife.
In some cultures the wedding is held at night when the moon is full. It is considered bad luck if the wedding takes place when the moon is not bright. The wedding celebrations can last several days but the bride’s parents do not attend because it is too sad for them and the event is intended to be a joyous one.
Scholars of the African traditional family agree that the one widely known aspect that distinguishes the African traditional family, say from the European one, is the perversity of polygamy. Polygyny was widely practiced in Africa and it often formed the backbone of the traditional African family patterns.
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A man can have as many wives as he can afford and the wives share the responsibilities of the daily chores, such as babysitting, pounding corn, preparing meals and washing clothes. The practice of polygamy brings more families together and deepens the interest of the welfare in others.
Polygamy in Africa.
In spite of the perversity of polygyny, there was evidence that it was on the decline. The major reason cited is that with increasing modern influences, marrying more than one wife became an economic burden. Even traditionally, ordinary citizens could not achieve marrying more than one wife. Often only Kings, chiefs and men who had wealth could afford it. Polygyny though set the tone and often determined the strength of the society and pattern of social organization of the traditional African family.
Rites of Passage
In African culture, a child learns at an early age how to become a good member of his tribe. Each member of the tribe belongs to an age group that has special services within the tribe. The rite of passage is a controversial African custom that varies from tribe to tribe.
Circumcision, which is usually performed on males is, in some cultures, performed on females as well. The African customs of tribal circumcision has often caused mutilation and even death. The victim seldom seeks medical care from a hospital because they are often abandoned by their family and their tribe for doing so.
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Case Studies: Baganda and Bemba
This chapter will briefly explore traditional African family patterns describing the patrilineal and matrilineal families. The case studies presented will be those of the Baganda of Uganda and Bemba of Northern Zambia.
Baganda of Uganda
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.” Commoners had two or three, chiefs had dozens, and the Kings had hundreds of wives.
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.” 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 father’s clan sent to be brought up by him.
Among the Baganda, the clan has remained the most important kinship entity. The clan is linked by four factors. First, two animal totems from one of which the clan derives its name. Second, an identifying drum beat used at ceremonies. Third, certain distinguishing personal names.
The Baganda practice the levirate custom. The man who is the heir to the widow has the additional family responsibility of adopting the widow’s family.
Although children among the Baganda are brought up in an unroutinized and casual way with a few rites of passage to adulthood, they seem to go through three distinct stages during their up bringing. The naming ceremony is very important early in the child’s life. Before this ceremony, the child is not considered a complete member of the clan or society.
Bemba of Northern Zambia
Among the Bemba people of Northern Zambia, marriage is matrilocal. “That is to say a man goes to live in his wife’s village, at any rate for the first years of his married life.” This is also true of marriage among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lala, Lamba, Chewa, Kaonde, and many others.
The basic family unit among the Bemba was not the nuclear family. But rather the matrilocal extended family comprised of a man and his wife, their married daughters, son-in-laws, and their children.
Polygamy or polygyny, which is a distinguishing feature in many traditional African families especially is patrilineal and patriarchal societies, is uncommon among the matrilineal Bemba. Where as chiefs have a number of wives, it is very rare to find ordinary men who have more than one wife.
The Bemba’s kinship is based on descent in the matrilineal line. This again is true among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lamba, Lala, Chewa, Kaonde, Luba, and others. A man’s legal entitlements and rights of inheritance are on his mother’s side. He has no rights on his paternal clan.
Power and authority in matrilineal societies ultimately lies in the woman and her brother. As such children at an early age learn that their father has little authority or responsibility for them. The father knows that his children are not his ultimate responsibility but his sister’s children.
Social Change and Cultural Bias
What is significant about the various descriptions of the traditional African family is that they are from back in the period before the 1940s and in case of the Baganda from the late 1800s. Social change in Africa as everywhere else is ubiquitous. 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.
The written descriptions and therefore perceptions of the traditional African family were also a victim of the European colonial cultural bias and Christian values. In a more obvious way, this Eurocentrism did not treat polygamy, the African marriages and the extended family and any others of its “eccentricities” (regarded as such because they were different from European customs) as social phenomena that was legitimate and workable in its own African social circumstances and environment.
For example, in the polygynous African family, like among the Baganda, and many others, your father’s wives and brothers were not just mothers and fathers just as mere kinship terms. These carried with them all the heavy social obligations demanded of a mother or father, daughter or son. There was never a distinction between the biological and non-biological kin as far as primary parental obligations were concerned.
African American Family Reunions
Family reunions are important rituals that have long contributed to the survival, health, and endurance of African American families, helping to maintain cultural heritage even in uncertain and turbulent times. Although there is variation in how African Americans hold family reunions these days, some key elements remain constant. The family has been the bedrock of African American culture from times of slavery through the tumultuous days of mandated racial segregation.
One of the most devastating aspects of the slavery experience was its ability to weaken and distort this highly revered institution; fortunately, those attempts were unsuccessful.
Family reunions surfaced as vehicles through which cohesiveness could be restored and culture revitalized. They emerged as rituals capable of strengthening and stabilizing the African American family, and as tools for building strong and viable foundations for future generations.
African American family reunions continue to serve their earlier purposes, but also have new ones: these gatherings have now been identified as effective ways to communicate health information critical to African Americans.
African American Family Reunion.
With the end of slavery, searching for family members who had been separated or sold away became the focus of many formerly enslaved individuals. The number of years of separation did not deter people from hoping to reunite with lost loved ones.
The drive to discover and reinforce family connections has continued to guide the African American community through the tradition of family reunions. At these celebratory events, family history is recounted, traditions are taught, and bonds are strengthened through shared memories. Reunions are often held in significant places, where a family has historical roots, or where new generations have moved and thrived.
Key Elements of African Culture
Africa is a vast continent, with a huge number of people divided into lots (and lots) of different groups and African tribes, each with its own cultures and traditions. This melting pot of people is one of the many reasons that Africa is such a wonderful and fascinating place.
- Respect: African culture comes with some wonderful points, one of the main ones being respect.
- Communication: In many African cultures, you talk loudly. This is not in order to irritate those around you; it is to ensure that nobody thinks secrets or gossip are being whispered to each other.
- Dance: In Africa, we dance for everything. Getting married? We dance. Coming of age? We dance. Friday night? We dance. Funeral? We dance.
- Family: There is nothing more important in African culture than family. In most African tribes, ’family’ is not considered to just be immediate family, as in the Western world, but includes the extended family - aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Most importantly, though, and one of the traits that the Western world could take a few lessons from is the respect given to the elders in the family.
African Art and Folklore
Africa has a rich tradition of arts and crafts. African arts and crafts find expression in a variety of woodcarvings, brass and leather artworks. African arts and crafts also include sculpture, paintings, pottery, ceremonial and religious headgear and dress.
Like all human cultures, African folklore and religion represents a variety of social facets of the various cultures in Africa. Culture and religion share space and are deeply intertwined in African cultures. Folktales also play an important role in many African cultures.
Traditional Attire
Certain African cultures have always emphasized personal appearance, and jewelry has remained an important personal accessory. Many pieces of such jewelry are made of cowry shells and similar materials.
Zulus wear a variety of attire, both traditional for ceremonial or culturally celebratory occasions. Traditional male clothing is usually light, consisting of a two-part apron (similar to a loincloth) used to cover the genitals and buttocks.
In the Muslim parts of Africa, daily attire also often reflects Islamic tradition. The traditional attire for the Muslim men usually covers a minimum of the head and the range between the waist of the man and the knees, while the dress code for the islamic women is made to conceal and cover the hair and the body from the neck down to the ankles. There are some Muslim women who also conceal their face.
Cuisine
The various cuisines of Africa use a combination of locally available fruits, cereal grains and vegetables, as well as milk and meat products. In some parts of the continent, the traditional diet features a preponderance of milk, curd and whey products.
In Central Africa, the basic ingredients are plantains and cassava. Fufu-starchy foods (usually made from fermented cassava roots) are served with grilled meat and sauces.
In the Horn of Africa, the main traditional dishes in Ethiopian cuisine and Eritrean cuisine are tsebhis (stews) served with injera (flatbread made from teff, wheat, or sorghum), and hilbet (paste made from legumes, mainly lentil, faba beans).
The roots of North African cuisine can be traced back to the ancient empires of North Africa, particularly in Egypt, where many of the country's dishes and culinary traditions date back to ancient Egypt.
| Region | Staple Foods | Common Dishes |
|---|---|---|
| Central Africa | Plantains, cassava | Fufu with grilled meat and sauces, spinach stew |
| African Great Lakes | Maize (corn) | Ugali with meats or stews |
| Horn of Africa | Teff, wheat, sorghum | Tsebhis (stews) with injera, hilbet (paste made from legumes) |
| North Africa | Varies by country | Tajine (slow-cooked stew), couscous |
