African Families: Traditions and Culture

Dec 03, 2025 0

Each group of people has customs that are unique to them. Africa is a vast continent, with a huge number of people divided into lots of different groups and African tribes, each with its own cultures and traditions. Africa cannot be described accurately with a simple summary, and there is always more to learn about its land and people.

At least 18 major ethnic groups call Africa home, and well over a thousand different languages are spoken there, with some estimating the actual number of languages to be above 3,000. Africa is made up of 54 countries, including Kenya, Ghana, and Morocco. Other African countries may be less familiar to many, such as Senegal, Comoros, and Eritrea.

Culture and values can vary between ethnic groups in Africa, but most cultures have common threads. Family relationships, both immediate and extended, are highly valued. There is a strong expectation of respect for older members of society and those in authority. Care of the environment is practiced and encouraged.

Most Africans follow Christian or Islamic faith traditions. However, there are still some who follow traditional African religions, which include belief in one or more gods and honoring the dead.

With a culture that values extended family and oral tradition, it’s not surprising that oral tradition in Africa is used to pass family history from generation to generation. Tribes often have a “storyteller” responsible for memorizing genealogies and other important information. However, oral family histories may be lost due to war, death, migration, and other factors. That’s why FamilySearch is helping to preserve many of these oral histories.

The family in Africa is the basic social unit founded on kinship, marriage, adoption and other relational aspects. In its simplest form, it consists of a husband, wife and children, and in its complex and most common form it is extended to include grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters who may have their own children and other immediate relatives.

The extended family formed and still forms the basis of all social cooperation and responsibility. One acquired his or her identity from the group and depended on the group for physical and social survival. Through various rites of passage, one progressively became a fuller member of society and took on a role in ensuring the survival of the group through marriage and procreation.

The extended family was, and continues to be, the first religious community to which an individual belongs. It was through parents, grandparents and other members that one learned about religious and spiritual heritage. It was possibly where one learned about God, spirits, ancestors and the afterlife.

The extended family was and is also a means of mutual support. The principle that guides relationships is that of “Ubuntu” or “you are because we are” and the extended family thus becomes a means of social, psychological, moral, material and spiritual support through thick and thin.

Traditional African Family Patterns

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. As the African society has not been static, changes in the traditional family patterns will be briefly alluded to.

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. 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.

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.

Lobola is intended to bring together two families, fostering mutual respect. It also indicates that the groom is financially capable of supporting his wife.

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.

Among the Bemba people of Northern Zambia, marriage is matrilocal. During the period earlier than 1940s, marriages remained completely matrilocal during the couple’s entire life. But however, after a few years of contact with white civilization and subsequent social change, the custom has gradually changed.

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.

African American Families and Socialization

The family is an important social unit that can greatly influence ethnic identity and individual experience. In addition to facilitating the development of values, beliefs, and behaviors in children that will lead to competence as an adult, the African American family unit often functions to buffer its members from prejudice and discrimination. Further, it must provide the skills needed to deal with the sometimes conflicting expectations of African American culture and of Euro-American society.

African American families are far from homogeneous in terms of structure, values emphasized, and the means of socialization. In the early twenty-first century, traditional family structures continue to undergo change, and new structures evolve-in particular, more African American children are now born to unwed mothers than to married women.

Commitment to the family is the most important factor in the socialization of African American children. The existence of and reliance on the extended family for emotional, social, and financial support have been well documented and, to some extent, reflect the lasting influences of African tribal culture and the experience of slavery on the modern African American family. The familiar saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” exemplifies this concept of shared family and community responsibility for the well-being of African American children.

Although these terms are used somewhat interchangeably among Euro-Americans, African Americans often employ “household” to describe people living in the same dwelling and use “family” to designate extended family members living within and outside the home. Thus, family stability and marriage stability are not perceived to be synonymous, and family ties are maintained even after the dissolution of a marriage. Unfortunately, trends toward a reduction in multigenerational households may signal a decline in the availability of immediate support for single parents.

African American families have traditionally advocated a strong commitment to educational achievement and see higher education as the most important avenue to success in the larger American society. Evidence of this commitment can be seen in families across all economic levels who spend time talking to their children about school, college, and homework. Children, however, are more likely to model what they see rather than what they hear, making it less likely that children of non-college-educated parents will actually view college as a realistic option for advancement.

There is strong evidence that patterns of authority in two-parent African American households are more frequently egalitarian with flexible rather than traditional family gender roles. Similarly, the responsibilities of children within the family have long been driven by age and birth order rather than gender. First-born and older children, regardless of gender, are expected to help around the house and provide additional care for younger household members.

Respect and appreciation for elders within and outside one’s family are also often important values among African Americans. African American grandparents, especially grandmothers, often play an active role in teaching, disciplining, and otherwise raising grandchildren. This favorable attitude toward the elderly, coupled with their continued involvement in the extended kin network, seems to give African American seniors a higher status in the family, and they report greater happiness compared with their white counterparts.

A belief common among African Americans, especially in middle-class families, is that each individual, in return for the emotional and financial support that enabled his or her success, should give something back to extended family members and to the African American community in general.

The church has traditionally played a pivotal role in the African American community and in the socialization of children. Being largely independent of the white authority structure, the black church has served to provide moral training, feelings of self-worth, and role models to black children. In addition, black churches operate a multitude of family-related programs, including schools, recreation groups, and family welfare and adoption services.

Family Structure and Poverty

Although the percentage of children raised in two-parent households has been declining overall, US Census figures indicate that the number of African American children being raised in single-parent households (typically mother-only households) is disproportionately high. According to a National Vital Statistics Report (based on census data) released by the Centers for Disease Control, in 2014, 70.4 percent of African American women who gave birth were unmarried-the highest proportion for any racial group. The percentage of all women giving birth in 2014 who were unmarried was 40.2. These findings are also closely linked to factors such as age and income.

Because African American households in general are significantly more likely to live below the poverty line, African American children are more likely to experience poverty and to be chronically poor than are white children. Being raised in severe and persistent poverty is related to lower scores on standardized tests of verbal ability and other measures of intellectual function.

The interpretation and meaning of these lower test scores continue to be hotly debated, and the social elements at play are often seen as a form of bias. What is less controversial, however, are the relatively low levels of educational attainment and constrained employment opportunities associated with African American youth and adults.

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.

Victories were won through the civil rights movement, the world became more accessible to African Americans through significant economic growth and legislative advancements. Media expanded their world view and national image. Technological innovations facilitated far-reaching communication, making it no longer necessary to remain in the communities of birth surrounded by parents and extended families.

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.

A noteworthy utility of family reunions has been their ability to give meaning and purpose to older men and women who emerge as custodians and transmitters of culture, while educating and empowering future generations of African Americans. Family integrity refers to processes through which men and women receive a sense of positive self-worth and value as they become elders. It develops through meaningful intergenerational communication in which the knowledge and wisdom of elders are welcomed and heeded, and results in validation and increased self-worth.

The climax of the reunion is the family meal. Within the context of sharing a meal, significant educational experiences occur. The final family action is worship. Many African American family reunions include attending one or more Sunday worship services: this provides a way to reconnect with spiritual traditions and invite the participation of a higher power in the health and welfare of the family.

African American family reunions date back to Emancipation. Former slaves would place “Information Wanted” advertisements in newspapers in search of family. The Great Migration, between 1915-1940, of nearly four million African Americans from the South to the North, would greatly inspire family reunions. This family tradition became a tangible symbol of memory and resilience that endured slavery.

These events serve as important rituals in African American families that are heavily enmeshed in centuries of American slavery. As waves of emancipation swept through the country, coinciding with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment guaranteeing enslaved individuals their freedom, many African Americans sought to reunite with lost family members and to define family roles and responsibilities in ways they believed best suited their new circumstances.

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.

Other African Customs

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.

In Africa, we dance for everything. Getting married? We dance. Coming of age? We dance. Friday night? We dance. Funeral? We dance.

Traditionally in many tribes of Africa, a groom must ‘pay’ the family of his bride-to-be. This payment - called lobola in South Africa - in days gone by (and still now, in rural areas), takes the form of cows.

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.

A predominant belief throughout sub-Saharan Africa is that of the spirits of the ancestors. Huge importance is placed on appeasing them. Many of the traditions, dances and ceremonies still practised in African culture are done so as a means of communicating with the ancestors.

Several of our African safaris include cultural tours and experiences in South and East Africa, from Ethiopia and Rwanda to South Africa and Botswana.

Table: Key Aspects of African Family Traditions

Aspect	Description
Kinship Bonds	Extended family plays a crucial role in emotional, social, and financial support.
Rites of Passage	Vary among tribes, including circumcision for males and sometimes females.
Role of Elders	Elders are highly respected and play an active role in teaching, disciplining, and guiding younger generations.
Family Reunions	Important rituals for maintaining cultural heritage, strengthening bonds, and communicating health information.
Polygamy	Practiced in some cultures, where a man can have multiple wives who share responsibilities.
Ubuntu	The principle of "you are because we are," emphasizing mutual support within the extended family.