Importance of Oral Tradition

A group oriented period, this liminal stage is crucial for the cementation of the collective identity that follow the initiates for the rest of their lives (139). After the circumcision, when the initiates commence seclusion, the mother’s brother usually host a party called an ekehonio. The celebrations that follow circumcision rituals are meant to reinforce and reestablish familial bonds that are an explicit sign of kin and communal relations. As illustrated by an ekehonio at Stephen Wambura’s home, the celebration includes a large feast, the distribution of presents and money, and where male and female initiates embark on a obosamba performance (songs sung by initiates) where they can show their oratory skills and leadership (149). Finally, the social scene also serves the initiates an opportunity to scope out and evaluate potential

When the Christian religion is introduced, preaching universal acceptance, many members of the clan who are dissatisfied with the Ibo religion are drawn toward it. Some of the title-less men described as 'women' in the tribe are immediately drawn to it. Nwoye, who dislikes the practice

Throughout most of documented history women of all cultures and civilizations have lived under patriarchal circumstances. In almost every religion and civilization women's status was not equal to that of a man's. Women in most cultures are looked at as subservient, obedient creatures that were put on this world for very few reasons, mainly to bear children and do what their husbands require of them. In fact, religions are a big part of the reason of this oppression due to the religion's reinforcement and justification of patriarchal conditions. In this week's selected readings from different aspects of Islamic, Byzantine Christian, and Western Christian cultures, it is very apparent as to how these three religions did reinforce and

When most western people think about Native American or African religions there is a certain stigma that comes with the topic. This is in part because there is a lot of misinformation in the world about Native American and African religions. When most westerners think of African religions they think of voodoo and black magic. Likewise, the view of Native American religions is still looked at through the lens of the pilgrims who wrote about Native Americans as being savages and less than human. These stereotypes were all formed from a lack of accurate information. African and Native American religions are very similar. It is difficult to find a lot of accurate information on African and Native American indigenous religions because of the lack of written history but there is a lot of oral history that has been passed down from generation to generation. From this information, it is clear that Native American and African religions have many more similarities than they do differences. Three of these similarities will be discussed in this paper. The first topic of discussion is the similarity between African and Native American people when it comes to their perception of the spirit world. Following this topic are the similarities between Native American and African views on the afterlife and finally, the diversity of beliefs within African and Native American religions.

In our society today, culture is not what it used to be hundreds of years ago. There is no more “pure” culture. Our culture today is enriched with many different traditions and customs that are being shared and adopted. Due to emigration and immigration, a variety of diverse customs, beliefs, and knowledge moved with every exiting and entering human being. Thus, changing and shaping the culture of many. Throughout the world, the beliefs and religious views of culture are dissimilar around the world. By taking the time to read, listen and learn about certain people’s culture, there will be knowledge and understanding that will be gained.

-After Nwoye is lured into the Christian religion and abandons his culture and family, Okonkwo is ashamed and states, "you have all see the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people" (172). Nwoye's father disowns him only because he chooses a path untraditional to his culture. The serious, frustrated, and unhappy mood that is created in Okonkwo's statement gives the reader an idea of how much the Ibo culture values tradition, choice, and family.

In all areas of life and society the treatment and well being of women have always been challenged. In many religions the role and status of its women are usually overwhelmed by the actions and roles of its men this inequality of religions between male and female allows these feelings and ideology of which sex is superior or inferior to bleed into a society’s culture thus shaping their treatment of their men and women.

(After beginning the interview and gathering information I decided to switch up my questions, and narrow them down to be more specific to her personally from what I had in my oral proposal)

The heritage originally from Africa had made us discover new and improved dimensions in religion and spirituality. Separated from kin, culture,

Women in Oceana culture are viewed as protectors and creators of life. Their assigned role accounts for much more than birthing children, their care and protection, executing domestic tasks and fertility of crops (Gale, 2004; Kleiner, p. 1112). According to Gale, women are responsible for “feeding the heirs of the deceased in mortuary ritual” (2004). Oceanic women are an integral part of stable village life. From an outsiders perspective their general role may appear mundane, but their integral role in being connected to the social aspect and networking within the village is as important a role as a males (Kliener, p. 1112). In Oceania villages, the god given power of giving and controlling life is immeasurable. Because women harness this power, men are then required to take back and restore the balance of Mana; this accomplished by denying women access to specialized knowledge, allowing the men flourish as authority figures (Kleiner, p. 1112). Gale views this alternatively, as “matrilineal” rather than unequal in balance, stating that restoring the balance is not about inferiority for the women (2004). While their roles do not provide them with power, specialized knowledge or status, women contribute to other rituals inside the villages alongside men (Kliener, p. 112; Gayle, 2004). The village women also produce art, except those items that would be directly linked to religious,

One of Achebe’s challenges was to illustrate the Ibo’s religious system. Even though the Ibo people had little contact with the outside world, they had developed their own beliefs and practices that became essential elements in their everyday lives. The Ibo religion played a role in the way they raised their families, communicated, entertained, and governed their society. Similar to those of the early Egyptian and Greek religions,

Imagine being able to tell stories for generations to come without ever having to write down a single word. Oral tradition is used to pass stories down from generation to generation through different forms of communication without any writing system. Oral tradition stories are told by word of mouth, riddles, storytelling, and songs. It cannot be changed although the narrator might embellish it. Oral tradition is how Africans perceived the past. The significance of oral Tradition is due to the stories holding so much information and knowledge. Oral tradition contributed to understanding pre-colonial history because the pre-colonial Africa was influenced by two major movements which are the expansion of islam and the dispersion of the bantu. Oral tradition gave us the perspective as to why the expansion and dispersion took place. Oral tradition has its strengths and weaknesses. A strength of oral tradition is that it is being told from word of mouth and more people will listen to a good storyteller than to go read a book about the history. However, a weakness of oral tradition is that many of the stories get forgotten, left out, or embellished. With each re-telling the story gets further and further away from the original. Oral tradition is a primary way of conveying culture and is a way of life in African history.

Oral recitation isn’t necessarily the best method to preserve religious text since errors may arise and alter the original meaning of a certain concept or idea. Although individuals with these stories and traditions may be able to preserve them through oral recitation, the generations after them may not be as effective. Furthermore, the interpretation could be different without having written text as one word could derail the original intent of a story and/or tradition. Nevertheless, these stories (myths) and traditions could be preserved through song and dance. Additionally, oral language changes as a result of the inclusion of other more complex languages. As a result, it becomes incredibly difficult to expand one’s religion as other languages are created. Therefore, the comprehension of religions lacks cultural development without written language since it was only exclusively known to a small group of people.

     Out of all of the continents, Africa is the most central. It is told that the first man was found in Africa, so with this, many feel that Africa is the birthplace of human culture. Within this continent, there are many different lifestyles, which are lived. Many blame the variety of lifestyles on western influence, but the truth is that different lifestyles began thousands of years before the west had influence on Africa. African’s

As such, firsthand approach to Indian tradition is lacking at large, and the idea of tradition being through the media of interpretative tradition has engendered the danger of a distorted view of tradition. The distortion often swings between two extremes – either in viewing tradition as Everything, or as Nothing.