1. Patterns of Life in Africa

2. Proverb of the Yoruba
Read the proverb on page 85 in your textbook (Ch 4 Section 2)
What does this tell us about the daily lives of the Yoruba?
What does the proverb tell us about male and female jobs?
What do you think they value?

4. Family Ties
Family loyalty was the bond that held societies together throughout Africa
Availability of resources helped to determine family sizes
Ex- hunting and gathering families would be smaller than civilized societies
Farming and herding societies had extended families
Parents, unmarried children, married children and their spouses and other relatives

7. Family Ties Farming Villages
Families pooled their labor so that everyone worked together
Clearing land, building homes and harvesting crops
All projects needed lots of people to help
Large families gave you plenty of labor
Living Areas
Shared a common living area or compound
Separate homes for different family members
Eldest male was the leader of the family
Children were taught that their work was needed by the family
Respect for their ancestors and those that came before them

12. Family Ties Lineage Clan United people beyond the extended family
Ability to trace their descent to a single ancestor
Linked different families together
Creates bonds of loyalty and responsibility
Kept all the different groups united with one another
Clan
Groups of lineages could form a clan- which traced itself back to a common ancestor
Shared duties and responsibilities to one another
Each clan had its own leaders
Strong sense of community and cooperation

13. Patterns of Government
African societies developed different governmental systems
Villages would unite to form a larger government
Village leaders would be picked for each village and they made the decisions for the village
Listened to the people and tried to reach a consensus on disagreements
Powerful empires like the Songhai and Mali had emperors
Question:
What would make a place more likely to have an empire or a group of villages?

14. Community and Consensus
Consensus- common agreement amongst the people
Village leaders stressed the good of the community over the individual
Ex- The Ibo of West Africa
In a dispute over land the leader and council would listen to both sides
The goal is to make both sides happy
After a decision was made the parties would exchange gifts to show that they were satisified

15. Economic Activities
Those not living in the larger city areas are mostly engaged in farming and herding
Savanna area was ideal for farming with good soil and rainfall
Subsistence Farmer- produce enough for their own needs with little surplus
Farming in forest areas required slash and burn methods
Hard on the soil and required movement after 2-3 crops to different areas

17. Herding Activities
Drier areas of the Savanna farming was not a viable option
In areas with no Tsetse fly most people were herders
Masai – live in East Africa and herd cattle
Herders lived off the cattle that they cared for
Food and clothing
Owning cattle gave people higher status in the society
Dependent on their animals for survival

19. Textbook Activity Analyzing Pictures Answer the following:
Look at the pictures on pages 86 and 87
Carefully look at the people, things and environment that you see
Read the captions of the pictures
Answer the following:
1.) What other tasks might members of this family share? (Pg 86)
2.) How does the environment influence how people live on the savanna (pg 87)

20. Lives of Women Major contributors to the wealth of a family
Did the planting, weeding, and harvesting
Sometimes took surplus crops to markets
Respected in society for their child bearing ability
Educated the young boys and girls in the villages
Prepared daughters for future roles as wives and mothers
Compare and Contrast:
How does this compare with the lives of women in the United States?

23. Lives of Women Social Status of Women Many places women had few rights
Varied from place to place
Wolof – made women their leaders
Ashanti- believed that women made land fertile (they were the landowners)
Many places women had few rights
Polygamy- practice of having more than one wife
Bride Wealth
In many areas women were married at 14 to 15
Men offered gifts to the brides family as a sign of respect
Bride wealth recognized the value of the wife
Both sides of the family gained something by this arrangement
It was similar to a marriage license in USA Society