Thursday, 30 July 2015
Friday, 24 July 2015
Tribes of South Africa
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Location: Kwazulu-Natal Province in South Africa.
Population: 3.2 million.
Language: Kwazulu (Nguni).
Types of Art: The Zulu are best known for their beadwork and basketry.
There have also been some figural sculpture questionably attributed to them.
Zulu architecture is quite complex, and the dress or fashion of the Zulu
has been carefully studied.
History: The AmaZulu believe that they are the direct descendants of the patriarch Zulu, who was born to a Nguni chief in the Congo Basin area. In the 16th century, the Zulu migrated southward to their present location in South Africa (Natal Province), incorporating many of the customs of the San, including the well-known linguistic clicking sounds of the region.
During the reign of King Shaka (1816-1828), the Zulu became the mightiest military force in southern Africa, increasing their land holdings from 100 square miles to 11,500.
Shaka was followed by Dingaan, who tentatively entered into treaties with English colonizers. Mpande was the next King. He allowed the British extensive control over his peoples. By the time he died in 1872, the Zulu had enough of the English invasion. Cetewayo, who replaced Mpande, tried vainly for six years to avoid a confrontation with the British, yet in 1879 war erupted. Although the Zulu initially experienced some success, the British army eventually prevailed. In less than six months, Cetewayo was exiled to England, and the Zulu kingdom was divided to the British advantage.
The last Zulu uprising against European domination was lead by Chief Bombatha in 1906 with no success.
In recent times, Chief Buthelezi has doubled as the political leader of the Zulu, and the head of the Inkatha Freedom Party, leading the fight against Apartheid and the ANC, demanding a voice for his people who are more than three million strong. After 1994 this has change, as corruption and weak leadership has basically turned the IFP into a weak regional opposition.
Economy: Rural Zulu raise cattle and farm corn and vegetables for subsistence purposes. The men and herd boys are primarily responsible for the cows, which are grazed in the open country, while the women do most, if not all, of the planting and harvesting. The women also are the owners of the family house and have considerable economic clout within the family. In the urban areas of South Africa, Zulu, and in fact all Africans, was limited to labour intensive work and domestic duties, unless they go to the cities for education and work.
Tourism: The private sector and government has realized, that the development of tourism is a important tool for creating jobs, and to bring instant foreign capital into the country. South Africa has become a very well knownAfrican safari and travel destination in Africa.
Political Systems: As is evident by the history of the Zulu, the leader, or chief, isINVESTED
 with power based on his genealogy. He plays an important part in the internal governing of the Zulu homeland and also acts as a voice for his people on an national level.
Although the Zulu are officially ruled by the government of South Africa, they often act as a dissenting voice on the national scene. Even as Apartheid as an institution is beginning to crumble by 1994, and having extreme "Black Economic Empowerment" and 'anti-white' policies re-placed the old "Apartheid", the country is still entrenched in de facto racism (black racism / tribalism), now even more (2015), then during the Apartheid years. An high crime rate, weak corrupt government combined with black racism, has replaced Apartheid after 1994. With the death of Nelson Mandela, the the ANC-government has basically undone all his visionary work for South Africa. The current President, Jacob Zuma, is in the process of trying to turn South Africa into an one-party dictator state.
Religion: Zulu religion includes belief in a creator god (Nkulunkulu), who is above interacting in day-to-day human affairs. It is possible to appeal to the spirit world only by invoking the ancestors (AmaDlozi) through divination processes. As such, the diviner, who is almost always a woman, plays an important part in the daily lives of the Zulu. It is believed that all bad things, including death, are the result of evil sorcery or offended spirits. No misfortune is ever seen as the result of natural causes.
Another important aspect of Zulu religion is cleanliness. Separate utensils and plates were used for different foods, and bathing often occurred up to three times a day. Christianity had difficulty gaining a foothold among the Zulu, and when it did it was in a symbiotic fashion. Isaiah Shambe, considered the Zulu messiah, presented a form of Christianity which incorporated traditional customs.
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Wednesday, 22 July 2015
TRIBES OF AUSTRALIA
TRIBES OF
AUSTRALIA
People lived day to
day in family groups, banded together as hordes, and met at times of ceremony,
when one to several hundred members of a single tribe came together. Members of
different tribes met together at the largest ceremonies and gatherings, when
there might be over 1,000 people at one gathering.
Aborigines have
complex social and marriage laws, based on the grouping of people within their society. They
also have a complex kinship system where everyone is related to everyone else. In order to
understand the complexities of their social organisation, it is best to
consider it in the following way, dividing it first into three main aspects.
First, the physical structuring of society in terms of numbers – family, horde, tribe,
second, the religious structuring based on beliefs and customs, totems, and marriage laws,
and these beliefs divide people into moieties, sections and subsections,
totemic groups, and clans. Third, there is also a kinship system that gives
a social structuring. The social structuring and kinship system can become
very complex and difficult to understand for non-Aboriginal people, but is a
natural part of life for Aborigines, and its details vary from tribe to tribe.
The following lists
the three main aspects of Aboriginal social structure and then the details and
grouping within these are given.
1.
The physical
or geographical structuring of the society. A tribe or "language
group" of perhaps 500 people is made up of bands of about 10-20 people
each, who join together for day to day hunting and food gathering. Each band of
people can be called a "horde". Within each horde are
several families.
2.
The religious
and totemic structuring of the society. On a religious level, society
in much of Australia is divided into two moieties. These moieties
may be based on Ancestral Beings from the Creation Period. Within each moiety
are significant animals, plants, or places, which are of a highly religious
nature. Each person, as well as belonging to one or the other moiety, is also
connected to one or more of these subjects, called "totems". Sometimes
moieties are further divided into sectionsor subsections.
3.
The social
structuring - relationships between people – the kinship
system. The kinship system allows each person in Aboriginal society to be
named in relation to one another. This is seen when a non Aboriginal person
goes to live in an Aboriginal community, and proudly tells their friends that
they have been adopted by the group, being called a "mother/father",
"daughter/son" or "brother/sister" to someone. When
Aborigines accept an outsider into their group, they have to name that person
in relation to themselves, to allow that person to fit into their society. This
is because they need to have in their own minds the kinship relation of that
person to themselves, and that person must have a defined social position.
The value of a kinship system is that it structures people's
relationships, obligations and behaviour towards each other, and this in turn
defines such matters as, who will look after children if a parent dies, who can
marry whom, who is responsible for another person's debts or misdeeds, and who
will care for the sick and old.
The kinship system allows individual naming
for up to 70 relationship terms in some tribes. That is, far more than the
European terms "father/mother", "grandfather/grandmother",
"uncle/aunt" etc. It is also the system where brothers of one's
father are also called, in one sense, "father", and cousins may be
called "brother" or "sister". A person knows, of course,
who their real mother and father are, but under kinship laws, they may have
similar family obligations to their aunts and uncles, the same as they would to
their mother and father, and this is reciprocated. The common terms of
endearment amongst modern urban Aborigines, "brother" or
"sister", used when talking to people, are derived from these kinship
terms and associations.
These groups are
further described
a.
Tribes or
"nations". In Australia, tribes are really "language
groups", made up of people sharing the same language, customs, and general
laws. The people of a tribe share a common bond and in their own language,
their word for "man" is often the word used for the name of the
tribe. For example, in Arnhem Land, people are called "Yolgnu" when
they are from the Yolgnu tribe, and this is the Yolgnu name
for "man". People from another tribe are outsiders. Because a tribe
is like a small country with its own language, some tribal groups also use the
term "nation" to describe themselves, such as the Larrakeyah tribe
around Darwin calling itself the"Larrakeyah Nation".
Tribes were generally not a war- making group, they were not led
by a chief, and people generally use their moiety or clan name to describe
themselves individually, rather than their tribal name. There were an estimated
500 Aboriginal tribes in Australia at the time of European settlement. Of
these, about 400 still have people representing them, and in central and much
of northern Australia, these tribes are largely intact.
b.
Moieties. Throughout
Australia the moiety system divides all the members of a tribe into two groups,
based on a connection with certain animals, plants, or other aspects of their
environment. A person is born into one or other group and this does not change
throughout their life. A person belonging to one moiety has to marry aperson of
the opposite moiety. This is called an "exogamous" system, meaning
that marriage has to be external to the group. For example, in the northern
Kimberley, the two moieties are represented by the two birds, Wodoi the
Spotted Nightjar, and Djungun the Owlet Nightjar, who fought
in Lalai, the Dreamtime. Wodoi is associated with
certain plants such as the edible Cabbage Palm (Livistinia species)
and theKandiwal tree used to make spear throwers. Djungun is
associated with the Baler Shell, Rock Cod, Flying Fox and Corella.
Two stone piles in the photo represent the leaders of these two
northern Kimberley moieties, Wodoi and Djungun,
Ancestral Beings to the Ngarinyin people. Dicky Wudmurra,
far left, explains the legend of how these two ancestors fought each other at
this important sacred site.
A person belonging to one moiety has to marry
a person of the opposite moiety. This is called an "exogamous"
system, meaning that marriage has to beexternal to the group.
c.
Sections and
subsections (sub-classes or "skins"). Most tribes in central and
northern Australia also divide people further, into either four groups or eight
groups, based on their relation to one another. These divisions can be
described as "sections" when there are four, and
"subsections" when there are eight groups.
d.
Totemic groups. A
totem is an animal, plant or other object believed to be ancestrally related to
a person. In the Kimberley example above, people belonging to the Wodoi moiety
call the Spotted Night Jar their father. But they will also have other animal
or plant associates. For example, Jack Karadada, a Kimberley elder, is named
after his totem, the Butcher Bird ("Karadada" in local
language). A totem can be represented in nature in the form of a large rock,
tree, hill, river, or other landform. It may have a man made emblem such
as when a wooden pole, ceremonial board or other decorated object represents
it. Much of Aboriginal art is connected with the imagery of totems.
e.
Clans. The clan is an
important unit in Aboriginal society, having its own name and territory, and is
the land-owning unit. A clan is a group of about 40-50 people with a common
territory and totems, and having their own group name. It consists of groups of
extended families. Generally, men born into the clan remain in the clan
territory. This is called a patrilineal group.
Not all members of a clan live on the clan territory. The
sisters and daughters of one clan go to live on their husbands' clan territory,
if that is the tradition for that tribe. Although a clan has its own
territory, members of one clan will live with another, for the wives of the
clansmen have come from clans of the opposite moiety. One can think of this in
European terms as if a woman marries a man, but does not change her surname to
his. If her surname were her clan name, then despite marrying a man from
another clan, her clan name remains and she still belongs to the clan of her father.
f.
Hordes or bands. A
horde is an economic group, consisting of a number of families who might band
together for hunting and food gathering. It is a term for this group of people,
seen through the eyes of non-Aboriginal observers. A horde is not a distinct
group in the minds of Aborigines, who more regard themselves as belonging to a
particular clan, totemic group, or skin name (section or subsection kinship
group). Different members of these groups may be contained within the horde. At
the main camp, the horde separates into family groups who each have their own
camp fire and cook and eat separately, but who may share food between families.
g.
Families. A family
group can be quite large, consisting of a man and his wives, the children from
each wife, and sometimes his parents or in-laws. A man often has from two to
four wives, ranging from one to more than ten. Nowadays, most men have just one
wife.
Friday, 17 July 2015
THE ETHNIC CIVILIZATION-A WONDERFUL FOUNDATION
THE ETHNIC
CIVILIZATION-A WONDERFUL FOUNDATION
Indian Tribes
India is the home to
large number of indigenous people, who are still untouched by the lifestyle of
the modern world. With more than 84.4 million, India has the largest population
of the tribal people in the world. These tribal people also known as the adivasi's
are the poorest in the country, who are still dependent on haunting ,
agriculture and fishing. Some of the major tribal groups in India include
Gonds, Santhals, Khasis, Angamis, Bhils, Bhutias and Great Andamanese. All
these tribal people have their own culture, tradition, language and lifestyle.
Santhals
are the third largest tribe in India. They are mostly found in the states of
West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Assam. They belong to the pre- Aryan
period and have been the great fighters from the time of Britishers.
Munda
tribe mainly inhabit in the region of Jharkhand, although they are well spread
in the states of West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Orissa and Bihar. Munda generally
means headman of the village. Hunting is the main occupation of the Mundas
tribe.
Khasi
tribe is mainly found in the Khasi Jaintia hills in Meghalaya and in the states
of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. They
forms the large part of the population in the state of Meghalaya.
Angami
tribe belongs to the extreme north eastern part of the country, in the state of
Nagaland. The total population of the Angamis is around 12 million. They are
quite popular for their woodcraft and artwork. Sekrenyi is the main festival
celebrated among the Angamis in Nagaland
Bhils
are popularly known as the bow men of Rajasthan. They are the most widely
distributed tribal groups in India. They forms the largest tribe of the whole
South Asia. Bhils are mainly divided into two main groups the central or pure
bills and eastern or Rajput Bhils.
Bhutia
tribes are of the Tibetan origin. They migrated to Sikkim around 16th century.
In the northern part of the Sikkim they are known as the Lachenpas and
Lachungpas. Bhutias forms 14% of the total population of Sikkim. Losar and
Losoong are the main festivals celebrated among the Bhutia tribes.
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