Friday, April 9, 2010

Pre-Colonial Essay

Gabriel Chan
Humanities 1c
Pre-colonial Compare/Contrast Essay
3/25/10
The Ibo people in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the Bantu settlers in modern-day Gabon have large differences in their lifestyle; While the Ibo and the Bantu both farmed and hunted for food, the Ibo’s society was militaristic and martial compared to the Bantu’s smaller fishing communities. Right after the Week of Peace in Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo and his family begin to plant the yam seeds. “. . . Okonkwo and his family went to the farm with baskets of seed-yams, their hoes and machetes, and the planting began” (Achebe 33). Okonkwo and his family begin to plant the common Ibo crop, yams. Since the entire family is involved in the planting, the yams have a high level of importance to the Ibo. While the Ibo grew yams and other crops, the Bantu in modern-day got food from oil palms, bananas, yams, fishing, and hunting (“Gabon”). The Ibo in Things Fall Apart grew crops that were similar to the Bantu, but the Bantu were also able to fish because they lived along the coast of Gabon. The Ibo and Bantu live in totally different places, but they share the similarity of farming yams.
Even though the Ibo and Bantu are similar in terms of farming, the Ibo’s villages in Umuofia were martial and organized, while the Bantu settled in small fishing villages along the coast with a lack of organization. In Things Fall Apart, a man from Mbaino kills a woman from Umuofia and Umuofia offers to wage war against them. “Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic,. . .” (Achebe 11), so the people of Mbaino decided to avoid war with them. This shows that Umuofia’s neighbors fear Umuofia and the Ibo’s martial society. In contrast, the Bantu settlers in modern-day Gabon lived in small fishing villages because of the lack of threatening neighbors (“Gabon”, Africa: An Encyclopedia for Students). Even though the Bantu settlers did not need to develop a warrior society like the Ibo, the two groups of people both grew yams for survival.

Kikuyu vs. TFA

Compare and Contrast: Kikuyu vs. TFA
Pre-Colonial time in Kenya greatly affected the beliefs and cultures of the present. The Kikuyu people can be said to have come from the north high in the mountains of Kenya in around 1200. They have been known to be the largest of Bantu people. The Kikuyu settled south of Mount Kenya and highlands of central Kenya. During the 10th century the spread from this region into many other areas South of Kenya. The tribe was originally formed from a man named Gikuyu (“Pre-Colonial Times in Kenya”)
The social life of a Kikuyu is very similar to the clans in the town of Umuofia in Things Fall Apart. Kikuyu men and women both think that the males should be the leader of the household, and in Things Fall Apart there are many similar roles that are given. One example is when Ojiugo, Okonkwo’s youngest wife, “went to plait her hair at her friend’s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal…and when she returned he beat her very heavily. (Achebe 29)” Woman of the Kikuyu people are usually viewed as having more control when it comes to crop growing and disciplining small school aged daughters. Baptizing children and deciding on whether they should go to school or not is both the role of the men and women to decide.
Throughout Things Fall Apart the boys are classified more as farmers picking yams, than working with farm animals in the Kikuyu culture. “Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. (Achebe 33)” Girls of the Kikuyu are raised to work in farms and boys work with animals (“Kenya: Social Life”), the girls also have the responsibility of taking care of a baby or a sibling and helping the mother out with chores around the household.
Kikuyu history states that the head god, Ngai, took Gikuyu to the top of Kirintaga and told him to stay atop the mountain and build his home there. He was given a wife, Mumbi. Together they had nine daughters. There was actually a tenth daughters but the people of Kikuyu considered it bad luck to say the number ten. Usually when people counted, instead of ten they would say “full nine”. From these nine daughters there was then formed the Kikuyu clans- Achera, Agachiku, Airimu, Ambui, Angare, Anjiru, Angui, Aithaga, and Aitherandu- were created (“Religion in Kenya”). In TFA, the author mentions 9 villages in the first line of the beginning of the book; there is much evidence that there were nine different clans in each of the villages. “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. (Achebe 3)”
In Conclusion, the compare and contrast between the Kikuyu and the social life in Things Fall Apart are very similar and slightly different.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Economics of Pre-Colonial South Africa

Economics of Pre-Colonial South Africa

By Jonny Barnet



Both the Ibo and San tribes have similar economics, because in each tribe, the people that were generally successful had and a way to do so . In the Ibo tribe, from the book Things Fall Apart, the people with a that had a title generally earned it from harvesting yams. This is similar to the San tribe from South Africa because people that had a lot of money, earned it from tendering cattle. These two ways from each tribe for becoming “favored” by the economy came from doing something well, and working hard with a certain job. Successful people in the Ibo tribe depended greatly on their yams, “If you split another yam of this size, I shall break your jaw” (Achebe 32). Although Nwoye is Okonkwo’s son, he is still threatening him for cutting the yam incorrectly. To someone that is successful in the San, tendering cattle is just as important to them "Men tended to spend their time tending to cattle which were not only sources of food but were seen as symbols of wealth and thus importance" (Beaton). The women of these tribes were treated poorly if they were married to someone successful (Beaton). In each tribe, the men that had money normally had around three wives. These wives were treated poorly as well, “’Sit like a women!’ Okonkwo shouted at her. Ezinma brought her two legs together and stretched them in front of her” (Achebe 44). This example of one of Okonkwo’s wives, Ezinma, being yelled at for sitting not like a female. This is a sign of Okonko being wealthy. One can tell that Okonkwo is wealthy in this situation, because the women treated like crap are normally married to someone successful. In the San, the wives of people that spent their time with cattle, would often be treated like this, and were talked to disrespectfully. The Ibo and San tribe were both tribes in which you became successful from doing one thing in particular. In the case of the Ibo’s, it was from harvesting yams, for the San’s, it would be from tendering cattle.

The Somalian Tribes Versus the Ibo

Joe Purtell
Humanities
3/25/10
The Somalian Tribes Versus the Ibo
Pre-colonial Somalians were politically similar to the pre-colonial Ibo. These communities had two similar political practices. The Somalians and the Ibo were both ruled by councils of elders and had a blood compensation practice. Many of the Ibo’s decisions were made by councils of elders, “The elders of the clan had decided” (Achebe 27). The Somalian tribes, the Dir, Issaq, Darod, Hawiye, Digil, and Rahanweyne for example, were ruled by councils of elders (Marian Aguiar “Somali”). The Ibo also had a blood price of sorts. When an Ibo woman was killed they asked for “a young man and a virgin as compensation” (Achebe 11). The virgin replaced the woman that was killed and the young man was eventually slaughtered. The Somalians had a similar practice with a different name, it was called diya, blood compensation (Marian Aguiar “Somali”). The Somalian tribes and the Ibo were similar, despite the fact that the rested on opposite coasts, nearly 3,000 miles apart.

Precolonial Paragraph

Kathleen Matthews
Humanities
3/25/10

Looking at Africa’s pre-colonial history some societies have similarities, but looking at Rwanda’s Hutu and Tutsi people and an Ibo village located in Nigeria, their pre-colonial past shows that the two societies political systems were very different from each other. In the Ibo society their government was a group of elders and high society men who came together to make important decisions for their tribe. Unlike the Rwanda government, the lords of the clan made decision together with the men of the society. In the Ibo society, success was not limited to a certain group of people. In the book Things Fall Apart, the narrator talks about a man named Okonkwo whose father was considered a failure and because of that Okonkwo was scared to be a failure too. In a conversation between two men, they talk about how Okonkwo impresses them because he “…has risen so suddenly from great poverty and misfortune to be one of the lords of the clan” (Achebe 26). Although, men who had more power or were an elder had more respect, Ibo’s government was not set up like a hierarchy system. While in Rwanda, their government was set up as a hierarchy. There would be a king, who then had official who were in charge of the clans around Rwanda, these officials were in charge of administration of agricultural lands, supervision of grazing lands/cattle, and recruitments for army (“Rwanda”). Rwanda’s society is made of up mainly of Tutsi, and Hutu people. From the Tutsi having a better diet, physical difference, and from being more developed they acquire all of the powerful and diplomatic position in Rwanda society while the Hutu were the common citizens and farmers of the state. As time went on someone with distinction of features of how one looks or if their occupation was raising cattle or in politics someone could be a Tutsi, while a farmer or lower class men would be Hutu (“Rwanda”). Being Hutu or Tutsi became a name instead of an ethnic group, "...the state in Rwanda defined rulers and subjects as belonging to two distinct social groups, pastoralist and agriculturalist, one noble, the other commoner" ("Ethnicity in Rwanda: An Interpretation"). Being Tutsi meant that you had the opportunity to be in politics and have power, while in Nigeria in the Ibo tribe someone who was a leader of the tribe that was respected would have multiple wives, barns full of yams, and a high title. In the Ibo tribe in Things Fall Apart, members of the tribe can take titles through expensive ceremonies, and by taking more titles, the higher up someone is in the tribes’ social and political system. In the book, it tells of a man named Okeye who is “not a failure like Unoka. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. And now he was going to take the Idemili title, the third highest in the land. It was very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all his resources together” (Achebe 7). This man is admired and respected, and someone who has a high title in the Ibo society is a leader of the clan. Therefore, unlike Rwanda political system in the Ibo tribe people would buy and work there way to politics, while in Rwanda it depended on which ethnic group you were born into so if you were Hutu you could be stuck with no power or voice for the rest of your life.

Ibo verses Songhai

Luke Gruenert
Humanities 1c

Ibo verses Songhai

The political systems of the Ibo and the Songhai were very different because the Ibo was only a tribe, whereas the Songhai was an empire (“Songhai Empire" par. 1). The Songhai Empire was considered one of the largest Empires in all of Africa history (“Songhai Empire” par. 1). It was a culmination of many different clans and villages, and conquered lands. This was very different than the Ibo tribe, as the Ibo tribe contained only one specific people. To put it in perspective, the Ibo would have been a tribe that was conquered by the Songhai Empire. Because of their respective size and approach to power, their relative political systems were very different. “The Songhai village [was] divided into neighborhoods, each of which [elected] a chief. The chiefs [would] form the village council and elect the village chief from among their group. Typically, the chief is of noble descent” (“Songhai” par 3). The Songhai gained higher political position through being elected by the public, and by being of noble decent. In some occasions, family overpowered those who claimed the throne, and overthrow the rulers (“Songhai” par. 1). Although these people drew their own blood at the hands of the throne, the Ibo people seemed to gain a more powerful political position, as well as a higher social status by being successful. Because Okonkwo defeated a great wrestler in a match, he was “[raised] so suddenly from great poverty and misfortune to be one of the lords of the clan” (Achebe 26). Okonkwo, someone with no noble background, became one of the lords of his clan through success and fame, whereas the Songhai rulers inherited the eligibility to rule the throne. The Songhai Empire seemed to act more like a democracy, as they were first elected to the throne by the public. Then, they created a council and elected someone to be the head of that council (“Songhai” par. 3). The ibo were very focused on success and fame to gain a higher standing politically.

The Economic Similarities

Walker Bockley
The Economic Similarities

The villagers in the book Things Fall Apart and the early natives to sierra lone share many common aspects, but one that is especially similar are their shared economics. Both the regions seem to have the same economic advancement and both farm in a similar manner.

Both the tribe from the book and the mende people native to Sierra Leone shares the same fundamental farming economy both the cultures farmed for the same things such as, millet, yams, and vegetables. The importance of farming and life, that the village from the book even had yam festivals and often sacrificed to the god of the yams. Another thing that both these cultures share is that they both have leaned to use iron, the Mende people first discovered iron by 600 C.E, and the people in the book have even made guns.

These peoples shared a common way of life they both farmed for the same thing in the same ways, they both valued the same things and they both had the same level of technologic advancement.

































Citation

Chrisholm, Alistair. “Sierra Leone.” The Oxford African American Studies Center

The Agriculture of the Fulani compared to Agriculture of the Ibo

The Agriculture of the Fulani compared to Agriculture of the Ibo

The Fulani, who raised livestock, and the Ibo, who cultivated yams, had very different ways of agriculture; both ways influenced their economy and values. The Fulani relied very heavily on their animals, in fact, “the Fulani are the most thoroughly pastoral people of West Africa: more than half of them raise livestock” (“Fulani”). Fulani people are more dependent on domesticated animals than any other country in West Africa, including Nigeria, were the Ibo live. In the Ibo culture, they are more reliant on crops. Their livelihood depends so greatly on the weather that when it is to wet or to dry, the events are catastrophic. “That year the harvest was sad, like a funeral and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams” (Achebe 24). The success of an Ibo farmer depends on his crops. The Fulani and Ibo also used their farming aptitude to support their economy, but they did it in different ways. The Fulani traded their dairy products with other tribes, in exchange for cereals and vegetables (“Fulani”). They Fulani did not have vegetables like the Ibo, because they were nomadic (“Fulani”). The Ibo, on the other hand, sold their crops in markets. “The drought continued for eight market weeks and the yams were killed” (Achebe 23). The Ibo people sold their products in markets, unlike the Fulani. The Fulani and the Ibo differ because they the Ibo cultivate vegetables and the Fulani raise animals, and because they differ in agriculture they way they make money off their products differ. The Fulani of Cameroon and Ibo of Nigeria did not live that far part, but developed different ways of succeeding economically through agriculture.

Compare and Contrast Paragraph

Ayluonne Tereszk
Humanities
Compare and Contrast Paragraph
March 25, 2010

Through contrasting the Ibo tribe of Things Fall Apart against the Shona Tribe of Great Zimbabwe one can see that their versions of economy differed greatly. Whilst the wealth and economy of the Ibo tribe was based on the personal achievement of obtaining a flourishing farm and the exclusive trading of yams within the circle of households, the Shona Tribe’s economy was similar to modern times and was based on the expansive domain of their trading post and profitable resources of gold and ivory. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the economy seemed to have revolved around the agriculture of the land and thus a man’s wealth was gained through successful obtainment this attribute. The exhibition of an ideal wealthy Ibo man is Okoye, whom “had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. And now he was going to take the Idemili title, the third highest in the land. It was a very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all of his resources together” (Achebe 6). The possession of a bountiful yam farm allowed an Ibo man to purchase a multitude of brides and afford the elaborate ceremonies needed to accept the honor of a title. In addition, the only trading or distribution of a form of currency was in the form of yams and at times bags of cowries, and the exchange was within a group of Ibo households. When Okonkwo was beginning his farm he acquired yams from men in the tribe, such as Nwakibie who exclaimed, “I shall give you twice four hundred yams. Go prepare your farm” … “[Okonkwo] hoped to get another four hundred from his fathers friends at Isiuzo” (Achebe 22). The exchange of the Ibo’s form of currency was limited to other Ibo households or neighboring villages. However, Shona Tribe’s form of economy consisted of purchasing and trading the lucrative resources of their land and therefore involved correlation with outside sources. They founded their wealth upon the trade of gold and ivory and in fact when the abundance of these two resources was discovered, Great Zimbabwe became one of the most powerful and flourishing trading posts on the coast of the Indian Ocean (Great Zimbabwe). The civilization gained its wealth through this trade and “by the thirteenth century the hilltop village had become a major gold-trading center, located advantageously between the gold-bearing plateau and numerous African and Arab trading posts on the Indian Ocean coast…The presence of such luxury items [gold, china, pearls] from so far away demonstrates Great Zimbabwe's valuable connections with traders on the east coast of Africa” (Great Zimbabwe). The Shona Tribe gained and distributed wealth through associating with foreign civilizations and thus could be considered more economically advanced then the yam-exchanging civilization of the Ibo. In conclusion, the economy of the Ibo tribe was dissimilar to the Shona Tribe of Great Zimbabwe due to the fact that the Ibo’s economy focused on agriculture, yams and exchanging with the limited circle of Ibo’s while the Shona’s economy was based on trading gold and ivory with the world beyond theirs and resembles the exporting economy of the modern world.

The Axum Empire vs. The Ibo and the Nation of Umoufia

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Harry Sherman

Humanities

March 25, 2010

The Axum Empire vs. The Ibo and the Nation of Umoufia

Although the Axum empire began its downfall in the 6th century B.C.E, the Axum were considerably more technologically and artistically advanced than the Ibo, a tribe which existed in Nigeria centuries after the great Axum empire crumbled (“Eritrea”). While the Ibo lived in villages constructed from mud and played music on small percussion instruments, the Axumites constructed gargantuan intricately carved stone phalluses, cisterns to obtain water all year round, and buildings built with dry stone (Achebe 7, 55, Davidson 220, Butzer 474) . Furthermore, the Axum were more advanced in methods of agriculture, as they constructed terraces in the hillside to assist in growing crops, and developed a written language, all centuries before the Ibo even existed (Davidson 220, “Literacy”). In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, a novel which documents pre-colonial life in Nigera, the Ibo live in a village that consists of multiple mud-walled compounds with palm-leaf thatch to help protect from the rains (Achebe 7, 55). While this clearly shows the Ibo had graduated from nomadic tendencies to villages that allowed for intellectual and artistic advancement, the mud buildings lack the structural integrity, size, and architectural advancement that is exists with dry stone building. The difficulty to build with dry stone is extreme and requires technical know-how that the Ibo seem to lack. The Axum not only outperform the Ibo in construction of living space, the Axum also excelled in agriculture. According to Chinua Achebe, the Ibo practice slash-and-burn agriculture; he states that at the time of planting “every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms. The cut bush was left to dry and then fire was set to it,” (Achebe 32). Although Ibo agriculture provided enough food for the tribe, slash-and-burn relies entirely on flat, clearable land for agriculture. The Axum created terraced farming facilities that provided a greater area of fertile land for harvesting. Basil Davidson, a renowned scholar of Africa says on the subject of the Axumites agriculture practices, “all the surrounding hills were terraced for cultivation,” and “Hundreds of thousands of acres [in the Axum empire] must have been under the most careful cultivation,” (Davidson 220). The Axum even ousted the Ibo on the collection of water and the creation of art. Masters at stone building as they were, even created giant stone phalluses as art and built a stone cistern to catch water (Butzer 476). The final area in which the Axum empire outshines the Ibo, is in writing. Achebe fails to mention any system of writing in “Things Fall Apart”, and even hints at the Ibo only having an oral history (Achebe 54). By 400 B.C.E, the Axum developed a written language to accompany their superior stonemasonry skills and agriculture methods (“Literacy”). Because of the Axumites advancements in agriculture, art, and language, it is clear that the Axum empire, although the empire fell centuries before the Ibo even existed, were a far more advanced civilization.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Instructions

This is the blog where students at the Bay School will post their thoughts comparing the precolonial customs of the Ibo with those in another country.