Study Guide for First Exam:

IDENTIFICATIONS AND SHORT ANSWER:

Tribe/Tribalism:
-Africans didnt/ don’t necessarily separate themselves into these compartments. -connotates specific lifestyles of evolution in society.
-connotation makes Africans seem primitive, because tribes are viewed as a primitive style.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: can tie along with how myths and stereotypes shape our view.
-european writers would describe African societies by these means, and this shapes how readers view
-a subjective experience

Sahel: shore, desert like the sea, where dessert gives way to the savannah
-trans-saharan trade route-pre 1500
-transhumance occupants- wet and dry seasons
HISORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: made a path for trading between areas in the sahel region: trans saharan trade-(peak) 8th century-16th century

Wet and Dry Seasons: No specific time
-very distinctive
-unpredictable when it will start
-based upon wind patterns
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: limits the time to farm, brings on transhumance, people moving with the seasons
During the wet season, it’s the season for malaria and the tsestse fly.

Tsetse Fly:
-sleeping sickness
-affects large animals, cattle, horses, (livestock).
-makes farming difficult
-affects transportation, food, and decreases the technology abilities.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: decreases some of the technological advances that some Africans may have had. Decreases food production, more dependent on human labor, makes it difficult for some long distance transportation.

Malaria:
-in the wet areas, the most deadly disease
-some Africans have immunity with sickle cell anemia.
-europeans and americans have more chance of dying when exposed
-affects kids and elderly because of low immune systems.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: wealth in people, keep having babies because chances are high that they will die before youth.
Also, Europeans seen as week during the 15-18th century, because they have no immunity. Malaria season is also during the wet season, and farming season. AND causes a low life expectancy, and also makes it difficult for Europeans to live in Africa, and move beyond the coast, so it decreases the ability of them to gain a lot of governmental power over the areas.

Griot/oral traditions
-pass down stories from generation to generation
-professional story tellers
-oral traditions
-african languages a lot of the time didn’t have writing systems, so they were mainly dependent of oral traditions and stories.
-can also compare different languages, and see the connections, and can make links with other languages and also other parts of the world.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: there may have been new interpreations of the stories: brings an issue of bias in the stories, because some of the stories may be changed as they move from griot to griot and as time passes on.

Wealth in People:
-Labor
- who is going to take care of you when youre old
-creates connections with families, and familial links between units.
-more people to do labor, more people to reproduce, more people means more economic stability, and also more power. – can move up in class based on size of the family unit.
-the life expectancy is low, people would have to have more children.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: allow people to move up in class, and also gives more political power to people based on the size of the family.

Bridewealth:
-exchange between families
-husbands family exchange resources to brides family
-bride leaves household to live with husbands family
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: the brides family is losing someone who is beneficial to them because of the idea of the wealth in people, so the husband reimburses them. Women praised because of their fertility, polygamy.

Age Grades:
-eldersparents marriageinitiation (circumcision)childhood.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: different levels of importance in a society, establishes job in the society and the family units.