The Bamana People In Mali

In 1956 a professor from the University of Michigan, Horace Miner, wrote an article in The American Anthropologist that has become a mainstay of learning for anthropology students. Miner published the article to show a fictional exotic society called “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” as an example of how one’s own limited perspective might affect the perception of a foreign culture (Miner, 1956, p. 503). The article uses subtle humor to make the reader more comfortable in examining cultural behaviors, physical appearance, and health as the reader soon discovers that the actual society being examined is the American society. To the reader, the article begins to sound very familiar after each paragraph is

On the caves in Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria, around 6,000-4,000 B.C.E of the Neolithic Period, an artist created an example of parietal art called The Running Horned Woman. Although the artist remains unknown, most historians believe that the Running Horned Woman emerged from the Tuareg, the nomadic indigenous people of the region who farmed and shepherded. Through the artwork and the Tuareg culture, many historians suspect the land of Tassili n’Ajjer transformed from a region full of grasslands to a desert. The artist of the Running Horned Woman creates this piece with a variety of elements of art, such as line, color, and space, and principles of design, such as movement, proportion, and emphasis. By selecting these elements and principles, the artwork focuses on the woman of the piece as the main subject.

Initiation Rituals are nothing new to different parts of the world or in different tribes. Different places have different initiation rituals, some far outside the norm and others mild. But the main goal is typical to go from one old status to a liminal status, and then into a new status, like for example entering Manhood. For western society, physical changes to the body through the body like the beginning of menstruation or the addition of more body hair would be some of the many physical changes that take place and signal the start of the transition to adulthood in this culture. It is not like that for everyone else, in many tribes such as the Fulani people, the people involved are put through a series or just one thing that will officially

The Mali Empire consisted of small kingdoms. All these Kingdoms pledged allegiance to Mali by offering annual taxes in the form of rice, millet, lances and arrows. Mali prospered from taxes that they collected from its citizens, All the trading goods brought in and out of the Empire were heavily taxed by the King. Most of the gold nuggets belonged to the King. However, some gold dust could be traded. Cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean were later used as money in the internal trade of the Western

Rituals marked important sites for the creation of gender identity. Ritual activities provided the stage settings for women and men to carry out socially appropriate behaviors marking key points along the moving edge of their life course. In the process, rituals posited a set of gender expectations that were complicated by the realities of everyday life, for ritual practices embodying definitions of masculinity and femininity were alive to other variables such as age, class, personal circumstances, or changing political relationships. Men and women constructed both each other’s honor and gender identity by means of a complicated ‘network of oppositions and dependencies’. Shows a view of gender constructs alongside the practical relationships and tasks that bound men and women together.

"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" is significant as it establishes the issue of representation in ethnography. The purpose of the article is to raise the question of how can we study a different culture from the outside and how can we understand our own culture from within. Culture can be defined in many ways, Tylor (1871) stated that culture is; “…that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Therefore, the article presents the topic of cultural relativism, arguing that there is no impartial viewpoint from which to assess cultures, that every culture should be interpreted and understood from the

This report is based on the book Thunder Rides a Black Horse written by Claire R. Farrer. This book is written in context of an indian group called the Mescalero Apache Indians. Their reservation and ceremonial grounds are based in the south-central part of New Mexico. The author is very familiar with this tribe as she claims to be like family with some of the members. She writes this book based on her visit to join in on one of their big traditions. It is called the puberty ceremonials. These ceremonies are where the young girls of the tribe are traditionally accepted as women into their society. The Mescalero Apache Indians still

Mansa Musa, also known as Kanka Musa, ruled the West African empire of Mali. He gained political and cultural power. Under his reign, Mali expanded its territories and strengthened its control of West Africa’s salt and gold trades. Mansa Musa expanded trade and territory, had religious tolerance, and made a pilgrimage to Mecca.

(II) The influential Spartan and Mycenaean Bronze Age civilizations were technologically advanced for their time, however, they still employed segregated rituals for the two different sexes. Males and females spent a significant portion of their lives separate from each other until they reached the day of marriage. The rituals were specifically used to mark differing poignant moments in the lives of maturing adolescents. While female coming of age rituals glorified the

There are many different cultures all around the world. There are different terms of the word culture, but the common term for culture is “the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.” One of the cultures that I am interested in is the Dogon tribe, also referred to as the dogon people. In their older literature the people were recognize as “Fabe” meaning pagan or stranger. The Dogon tribe is an ethnic group located in the country Mali, western region of Africa. There are three topographical regions of Africa; the plains, the cliffs, and the plateau, were the dogon tribe is located. Majority of the Dogon population is located along the Cliffs of Bandiagara. The dogon tribe language is classified as Gur or Voltaic, also a member of the Niger-Congo language family. The Dogon tribe is known to be farmers. The crops that they mostly planted were rice, onions, beans, tobacco, and sorrel. There also known to raise animals such as goats, sheep, and cows. Hunting and fishing is rare because game in the area is scarce.

This communications study will definer the important ritual of the initiation rites of womanhood in the symbolic use of costumes as form of human communication in Sierra Leone. The Sande female society in Liberia, Sierra Leone has a long standing tradition of using the Bundu Mask and hair-covered costume as a way for older women to welcome girls into womanhood after their three-month seclusion in the forest. In this manner, the costume serves as a symbolic welcoming gesture to young women that are entering into womanhood by the elder women of the community:

For centuries,women have been fighting an ongoing battle to achieve gender equality. In one part of the world however, women have laid down their weapons, and have yielded to the policy:“If you can't beat them, join them.” In the northern Albanian Alps, the practice of women living as men has been a lifestyle which has been assigned to females since the 15th century - whether by choice or family mandate. The “Burnesha ”or Sworn Virgin, is a practice in which a female renounces her gender to live out her life as a man.

Do you know the legend of Ci Wara? Ci Wara is a mythical creature that has the feature of half-human and half-antelope, who first introduced humanity how to cultivate the earth. The education of agriculture from Ci Wara brought great influence to a Mande people living in West African of Mali who were called Bamana people during 17th Century. Bamana people are well known as the best of agricultural society who still practice their traditional ritual. One of the significant creation of art works from Bamana people, is headdresses those were also called Ci Wara. Bamana people used headdresses for ceremony during the harvesting period in order to praise completion of agriculture. The headdresses and the ceremonial performance symbolize the spiritual belief of Bamana people who think all objects including animals, plants and non-imagery objects lived among sprits. In this research paper, the significant roles of the headdresses, Ci Wara, and impact of the creature, Ci Wara, to Bamana people will be explained through their the traditional and cultural value of art works. So here is the legend and the story of Ci Wara.

The usage of the Boli is that of a sacrificial purpose. The Bamana peoples in secret Kono initiation associations use the Boli, where there is an abundance of nyama present. The priests of the society can activate and use the nyama and with the initiates combine to protect the community by destroying malevolent forces. People in each society have there own view on the usage of the Boli. Some people are for the use and think that actively using Boli figures to activate nyama to protect the society from evil forces and feel very protected by this ritual. Other people fear the power of the Boli and are to powerful while being too mysterious and secretive. The power the Boli have

Gender can manifest itself in diverse ways depending on the society in question. In rural Albanian society, some women choose to live as men, or “sworn virgins,” by taking an oath of celibacy and following specific social and cultural conventions (Crossing Boundaries). Several facets of rural Albanian society must be considered in order to understand this phenomenon: the understandings of gender and the relationships which make it possible, the advantages that men experience which make it desirable, and the strict cultural logic concerning gender-appropriate activities which sometimes make it necessary. Although sworn virgins experience advantages in their roles as men, this practice should not be considered emancipatory.