Lous Wirth also believed that the city is not conducive to the traditional type of family life. to find out if they are related. The moral values learnt include:- -Obedience/loyalty. iv. Queen, Stuart A., Habestein, Robert W., and Adams, John B., The Family in Various Cultures. During this period he conducted extensive research and field work in rural Zambia particularly in the Eastern and Southern Provinces of the country. 41 Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. Communal activities: People participate in communal activities e.g. This paper aims at tackling the change in the anthropological view of marriage and kinship ties in the society. 6. They are free most of them and can get time for the younger generation. The government, the church and non-governmental organizations have built homes for the aged. a. Yet in some communities when a woman is pregnant she is not allowed to talk to her husband directly. There were clear guidelines, rules and regulations on the use and ownership of land. 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 polygamy3. Social change in Africa as everywhere else is ubiquitous. Physical causes of death i. iii. They include;- 1. But quite to the contrary, the clan seems to have a more supreme influence. It marks change from childhood to adulthood. Boys herd goats, cows, and livestock. Culture and values are adaptive .. The church also gives them food, and clothing and their daily needs. Laziness was condemned or punished to ensure that people owned what they had actually worked for. The . Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953), 24 Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969). Religion: Africans now get identified with new groupings e.g. 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. He is currently Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bridgewater College in Virginia. Anthropologists have discovered that there are only six basic kin naming patterns or systems used by almost all of the thousands of cultures in the world. There is socialization to raise boys and girls to become responsible and acceptable adults of the village, community, and ultimately society. Everybody in the community is expected to work hard. This symbolizes new life. Rethinking the Family: Some Feminist Questions, New York: Longman, 1982. 5. Edited by G.A. Marriage ceremonies brought people together as they came together to rejoice. 6 Ibid., p.10 Note also that special attention should be paid to the distinction between polygyny being practiced widely among people of Africa and it being the dominant form of traditional family pattern. Divorce and separation are discouraged. Names could also depict the character of the child. -The spirit of sharing. Elders are respected [32777] [42770]. 5. African spirituality is truly holistic. - In some communities it would last for several days. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that the study of kinship is the study of what humans do with these basic facts of life - mating, gestation, parenthood, socialization, siblingship etc. Children are attached to and cared for by many adults, including grandparents, aunties, uncles and older siblings [29064] [28917]. - Rainmakers are special people who have the ability to make rain. Although human beings have made tremendous progress during the last 150 years or so, yet they have not been able to wield full control over the nature. The youth are taught to be courageous in order to be able to face challenges in life e.g. Family plays a central role in African society. All the members come together in times of need. drought, famine etc. viii. 2. Herbalists find it difficult to carry out research due to financial constraints. f. The grave is dug in a special place e.g. .. 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. No one is allowed to take the life of another. - Life also continues after death, death does not mark the end of life but is just a change of state. Some names are given in the remembrance of the departed relatives. b. vi. (Buffalo: Amulefi Publishing Company, 1980). These views were expressed before 1930s and as late as 1960s. 3. vii. Mbiri Ya Achewa, 195? ii. - In some communities it would be thrown in rivers, forest in Banana plantations. Are made up of smaller units called clan. Christianity: Christianity has weakened African Kinship ties by introducing new ties by the Christian family. They have the ability to foretell what would happen in the future. - They would stay overnight and the following day they would go to bathe in the river with cold water. 7. Western Culture: Has provided the spirit of individualization. (Lusaka: Nalinga Consultancy/Sol-Consult A/S Limited, 1989), 38 Lucy P. Mair, African Marriage and Social Change, in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life, Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953) p. 126. Others reflect the problems the parents faced e.g. Consanguineal kinship: this kinship is based on blood the relationship meaning the relationship between parents and children also among immediate siblings. ix. 8. 25 likes 25,448 views. Lecture: Nexus kinship and blood has a taste if age-old ideologies. 2. - Can interfere with an individuals reproductive system. Education of children has been left to teachers. Email: mtembo@bridgewater.edu, 2023 Mwizenge S. Tembo - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder: Book Review, Kinship and Clan of the Baganda of Uganda, Kinship and Clan of the Bemba of Northern Zambia, Eurocentricity and the Traditional African Family. Even traditionally, ordinary citizens could not achieve marrying more than one wife. 8. Other names may also refer to the characteristics of the mothers pregnancy or the nature of delivery e.g. Indeed this sense of kinship binds together the entire life of the "tribe . 5. The new hair that grows shows the beginning of new life. There is no bride price in our society. Although children are our main focus, we have a holistic approach to the problem . The midwives perform the following:- 1. - Many people have moved and have settled in foreign lands, which are not their ancestral lands. Elders act as role models to the youth i.e. In this system, all brothers of the father are called father, all sisters of the mother are called mother, all their children brother and sister. Traditional African society. Edited by Arthur Phillips, London: Oxford University Press, 1953. 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. Removal of teeth. Some of them are (i) Rites of passage (2) Good morals (3) Participation in communal activities such as ceremonies, work, leisure activities and worship (4) Sharing of property and ideas (5) Division of labour. Explaining Caribbean Family Patterns. According to Dziro and Mhlanga (2018), urbanization, HIV/AIDS, and poverty in Africa are all factors that stifle the effectiveness of informal kinship approaches to proper childcare and. 6. Spirit of sharing: In African Traditional Community there is the spirit of sharing of resources among the members of a community e.g. 3. Land Ownership: It is no longer communal affair but a private affair. It offers a general survey of the geographical environments they inhabited; their settlements, social structures and economies; and their religions and cultures. Schooling where children spend most of their time with teachers depriving them the time to be with elders. As such children at an early age learn that their father has little authority or responsibility for them. they are consulted before installation of a new king in some communities. Today the dead can be buried in cemeteries in towns. Religion: People have some religious beliefs, which promote unity, and every community believes in the existence of one God. - Patriotism. - Religious organizations assist widows to start income generating projects. 5. ELDERS They are people who are elderly in society. Those who did not have were assisted to acquire property by the community. KINSHIP SYSTEM - Kinship refers to being related to another either by blood or marriage. The birth of a child is no longer a communal affair but a family affair. Some are circumcised when they are still infants. Virginity is not highly valued and many people break their virginity at stage of adolescence. Most of these changes in most cases are in conflict with the African customs. 4. Importance of Kinship - Kinship system defines how members relate to one another i.e. Religious leaders such as bishop and pastor have replaced their duties. Colson, Elizabeth., Marriage and the Family among the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia., Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958. The naming of a child is therefore an important occasion, which is often marked with ceremonies. There are also accidental deaths e.g. Still, traditional families such as those in Family Ties and The Cosby Show dominated the ratings. factors. These changes have been brought about by:- i. Ch. INITIATION - This is the second major important stage in ones life. They are believed to be full of wisdom. Would you say in the Western marriage ritual of the priest leading on the saying of vowes, that the priest orders the groom to now kiss the bride, or put the ring on the brides finger, or ordered to be married for that matter? Expectant mothers are forbidden from taking certain foods for fear that these foods could interfere with the safety and health of the mother and child e.g. - Virginity is highly valued and girls who are not found virgin are ridiculed. 26 Audrey I. Richards, Bemba Marriage and Present Economic Conditions, The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers. Because of this, extended families among the Bemba are not really as large as those found, especially among patriarchal polygynous traditional families in other tribes be it in Southern, Eastern, or West Africa.28 Polygamy is relatively speaking uncommon in this area and the institution is not an essential part of the Bemba family and economic life as it is among so many Bantu peoples.29, The Bembas kinship is based on descent in the matrilineal line. v. There was a lot of fairness in the distribution of property. p.19, 45 Naboth M. J. Ngulube, Some Aspects of Growing Up in Zambia. (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1961)p.76. 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