AFRICAN

TRIBES
 CULTURE
Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact.
Every human society has its own
shape, its own purposes, its own
meanings. Every human society
expresses these, in institutions, and in
arts and learning. The making of a
society is the finding of common
meanings and directions, and its
growth is an active debate and
amendment under the pressures of
experience, contact, and discovery,
writing themselves into the land.
ZULU SNAPSHOTS
 HISTOR
Y
 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,
incorporating many of the customs of
the San, including the well-known
linguistic clicking sounds of the
region.
 LOCATION Natal Province in South
Africa
POPULATION 3 MILLION

LANGUAGE Kwazulu (Nguni)

NEIGHBORING Sotho, Tswana, San

PEOPLE
 THEIR 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
 ECONOMY
 Rural Zulu raise cattle and farm corn
and vegetables for subsistence
purposes.
 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, are limited to
labor intensive work and domestic
duties.
 POLITICS IN ZULU
 The leader, or chief of zulu, is invested
with power based on his genealogy.
 Although the Zulu are officially ruled by
the government of South Africa, they
often act as a dissenting voice on the
national scene
 LU
N ZU
N I
HI O
FAS
 FUNCTIONAL DRESS
 Adultsare expected to cover their
thighs, men wear skins, women wear
leather skirts and beaded aprons. The
beadwork of young girls' girdles
should not contain red beads as these
are worn only by married women.
 DANCE IN ZULU
 Ingoma (isizingili) is one of the purest
remnants of Zulu culture: a traditional
dance performed by both sexes,
accompanied by a chant and the
rattle of the seed-pod ankle-chains,
usually accented with a high kick. The
dance is usually performed for
transition ceremonies, such as the
coming of age ceremony or weddings.
 ZULU MUSIC
 Isicathamiya refers to the soulful
acapella-type singing, with an
incredible range of harmonics. The
men stand in a line or an arc and
often improvise the lyrics, singing
about modern issues like crime and
AIDS as well as reminiscences about
life in rural Zululand and commentary
on township life
 RELIGION

 Zulu religion includes belief in a creator

god (Nkulunkulu), who is above
interacting in day-to-day human
affairs
 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
KIKUYU
 HISTORY
 The Kikuyu tribe was originally founded by a
man named Gikuyu. Kikuyu history says that
the Kikuyu God, Ngai, took Gikuyu to the top
of Kirinyaga and told him to stay and build his
home there. He was also given his wife,
Mumbi. Together, Mumbi and Gikuyu had nine
daughters. There was actually a tenth
daughter but the Kikuyu considered it to be
bad luck to say the number ten. When
counting they used to say “full nine” instead
of ten.
 LANGUAGE
 Kikuyu speak Kikuyu, a Bantu language,
as their native tongue. The Kikuyu are
closely related to the Embu, Mbeere
and Meru people who also live around
Mt. Kenya. The Kikuyu from the
greater Kiambu (commonly referred
to as the Kabete) and Nyeri districts
are closely related to the Maasai due
to intermarriage prior to colonization,
being geographical neighbours.

 Now a days
 In modern times, they are found living
throughout Kenya, but their main
territorial area is still surrounding Mount
Kenya. Towns like Nyeri, Muranga and
Thika are predominantly Kikuyu.
 To celebrate the history and traditions of
the Kikuyu, the Riuki Cultural Center has
opened near Nairobi, in the Kiambu
area. It is an up-and-coming tourist
attraction, and a place to see a
traditional Kikuyu village and see
performances of song and dance.
 POLITICALLY STRONG
 The kikuyu people have often held
positions of political and economic
power in post-independence Kenya,
which has created racial tensions
between them and some of the other
tribes, particularly the luo. This was a
main reason for the post-election
violence of december-january 2008.
Though many Kenyan tribes still live in a
"traditional" way, the kikuyu people
have greatly embraced modern life, and
are commonly found living in large
cities.
 KIKUYU RELIGION
 Though today many Kikuyu have been
converted to Christianity, their native
religion is similar to that of the Masai
and the Kamba. They worshipped a
single God whose name was Ngai, the
"great provider" who lived at the top of
the mountain. They believed that the
origins of their people were with a single
man and woman (named Kikuyu and
Mumbi) who were put on the earth by
Ngai. They had 9 daughters, who
married and founded the Kikuyu tribe.
 CULTURE
 Babies are named immediately after birth.
First born are named after the husbands
parents and the second child is named
after the mother’s parents
 In the Kikuyu culture boys and girls are
raised very differently. The girls are
raised to work in the farm and the boys
usually work with the animals. The girls
also have the responsibility of taking
care of a baby brother or sister and also
helping the mother out with household
chores.
FASHION STATEMENT
 DANCE AND MUSIC
 Traditional kikuyu music and dance is
pretty much extinct, although there
may well be exceptions connected
with the rare times when ceremonies
are conducted to pray to ngai for rain,
despite the majority of kikuyu being
christian.
 DOWRY & MARRIAGE

. The rule of thumb in negotiating the

dowry used to be:, whatever the
father of the bride paid for his
mother, that is what he would request
for a bride price.
 The whole community usually gets
involved. The women team up and
organize the menu, and they
contribute the food. The young men
and women team up and raise funds
for the wedding.
 WHEN WOMEN MARRIED
WOMEN
 In the olden times, older women used to
marry younger women.  These women
were either young widows or old
spinsters.  This was done as a way to
care for this groups of people.  The older
woman would take care of the young
"wife"  ( she was called a wife).  If she
had children, the kids last names would
be changed to hers.   If she didn't have
children, the  "husband" would chose a
man for her to have children for her.
 THE MAASAI WAY…
 Maasai, who are they ???


-- The Maasai are famous as herders and

warriors, once dominated the plains of
East Africa.
--Now, however they are confined to a

fraction of their former range.

 MASSAI WAY OF
LIFE
 For the MAASAI, cattle is what makes
the good way of life and milk and
meat are the best foods.
 The tribe is comprised of males age
groups who take initiations to become
warriors and then elders.
 Nowadays, the MAASAI have been
forced to take up jobs in towns.

 They have no chiefs although each
section has a Laibon who is the
spiritual head.
 The MAASAI worship one god which
manifests in all things as either
constructive or destructive.
 In the recent years the Laibons have
earned the reputation as the most
effective healers of Tanzania.
 Even in the age of western biomedicine,
they have not left the traditions of the
past.
 Types Of Art
 Maasai are best known for their beautiful
beadwork which is essential in the
ornamentation of body.
 Beading patterns are determined by each
age set and identify grades.
 Young men cover their bodies in with
beads in order to enhance their
appearance and may spend hours
working on ornate hairstyles which are
shaved off as they pass into the next
grade.
 Future Tense
 With rapid urbanization and
globalization, the future of these
tribes is grim.
 Most members of these tribes have
moved to cities in search of
livelihood.
 The existence of the traditions is in
danger at the hands of the future
generations.
 The Good Part
 Many educated youth have returned to
their tribes for the development and
upliftment of their homelands.
 For example, the Zulu homelands now
boasts of 2 elementary schools, and a
recovery centre.
 The farmers are also educated about
the modern techniques of farming for
adapting to the changing climatic
conditions.
 These tribes are a part of the world we
live in and demand equal integrity.

 Integrateour worlds and there’s a lot
that we can learn from them.
 THANK YOU
 PRESENTED BY:

 VipulMaini
 Mansi Sharma